Beginner Tips for Drone Mapping - My Workflow

[@stevemcintosh5322]

A fan from Scotland, UK. All I've got to say is YOUR BRILLIANT... Thanks...👍🏾😊

[@albertchang1612]

Starting using Drone Deploy due to your previous mapping vids, so naturally I couldn’t click on this one fast enough! 👀 Oh, fun fact. While shooting vids during golden hour gives ya nice lighting and shadows, when mapping that’s the last thing ya want. Happy flying, and thanks for the upload!

[@GoTravelPlanet]

Great Video BiIIy,. What is the finaI step, how do you wrap up a project and how do you deIiver it to a customer?

[@dovahbravo]

You’re a Saint and a Scholar. Thanks G.

[@gabrielc344]

Shout out to you brotha! Thanks for stopping by Drone Workforce Solutions! I look forward to working alongside you

[@nickgrady3221]

This could really be a question toward anyone with the knowledge: When wanting to start a drone mapping business, where do you learn the fundementals for this? I want to have all my ducks in a row before approaching potential clients, so I would love to know/learn more. I'm talking the how to talk to construction/farmers or whoever to educate them on how you could help, what type of documents you need to make a legitimate contract, what and how do you deliver a final product (PDF's, Orthophoto, etc...). I absolutely don't mind readying/watching videos and I am attempting to do this on as little a budget as possible. I have reached out to some local companies that do it and they will not meet up with me, at least yet. I am not giving up on that yet! Thank you in advance, and thank you for the awesome video's Billy Kyle! (And I know I say mapping, but I wanting to do anything and everything I can using a drone. So mapping isn't the only thing I am looking at if you have advice on other things.)

[@markwheeler7029]

Billy, I saw one of your video's where you added some extra video of a fire house to enhance the 3D image. Am I right that you just uploaded those additional photos with your original flight plan photos and the software knew how and where to stitch them into the original flight photos. Thanks Mark

[@richardstyrsky5310]

Curious about this as well.

[@LangeTech]

Love your videos! What happens when you need to swap a battery mid-mission? Will DD pause and resume the mission? Thanks

[@joelmulder]

Jeff Lange Yes. It’s a built in feature, and you can map an area of any size you like. You can just keep landing and switching/recharging new batteries.

[@Time2FLYAlDiaz]

Solid tutorial! Billy. Dronedeploy still doesn’t offer 3:2 aspect ratio for DD it defaults to 4:3. Im using the I2 with x4s, had a small 3 acre roof inspection today, client wanted 3:2 but was ok with 4:3. Thanks for sharing.

[@bigboat8329]

How do you land clients??

[@billykyle]

Isn’t it a pain? You’d expect they would let you shoot 3:2 images standard... weird

[@add9197]

Among all of the videos out there on this hours is the best. I really like it and it's very encouraging. I have DJI pro and wondering if Drone Deploy would work with it. Pls let me know if you have a reference for this information. Thanks and all the best.

[@brianbracherphotography]

Looking to start some mapping work so just gone through your drone mapping playlist of videos for a second time, really helpful and easy to follow. You mention GCPs but don’t think you have covered this? Be great to have a video on using / creating GPCs including what hardware you use. 👍

[@yogena22]

requires land surveying equipment etc.

[@strongislanduk]

Fantastic to see your workflow, this is an area I'm interested in exploring and this is an incredible introduction, thanks!

[@GoTravelPlanet]

Awesome video Billy. I'm interested in knowing how much can you charge for a job like this, or an agricultural mapping. I don't believe a Mavic Air 2 would be ok for this, looks more like a job for a Phantom

[@austinpeel119]

Thank you for this video. This was very helpful in my planning and understanding of how to get better stitching and higher definition.

[@billykyle]

Cool! Glad it was helpful, good luck

[@jhonydeep7259]

First congratulations for de video, very good informations, thanks a lot. >Please Which drone do you normally use for mapping fields like that?? Spire 2? Another thing, I notice that you are using a iPad holder with a different mounting, which one it’s that?? Looks likes the Crystal Sky mounting base, but with iPad holder on top!! I couldn’t figure out!! I checked your gear and it wasn’t there!

[@billykyle]

It's the tablet mount that comes with the Inspire 2.

[@ahughan]

Great stuff thank you. My client is looking for measurements, building length and width, length of driveways and walkways, etc. How is the measuring tool, especially in the trial version as I'm just getting started. Thanks.

[@highanddryful]

Hi Billy I am so pleased I found your channel. Im brand new at droning and want to jump straight into things re mapping as I live in the country and wish to map my property. I'm just not clear on one thing, Does Drone Deploy also allow the processing of photos to create my maps after the flight? Or do i require additional software?

[@PríncipeCristiano123]

Billy is it possible to stitch a couple complete maps together? To have a bigger one

[@DanielCastro-pm7jg]

Very informational video. Thank you. I just have a question about changing the battery when the charge runs low. Will the drone will automatically return to takeoff location? And once battery is changed out with a charged one, how to you continue the mission?

[@larryschneider8245]

I'm new to drones, at this point, I am learning about the different drones, so when I have the money saved, I will know what to purchase. I love how you put your presentation together and I will be looking for more videos that your record to coninue to expand my knowledge base. I do have a question, after planning your mission and let's say it takes 3 battery changes. After starting your flight from the first battery change, how does the drone know where to fly the to so the mapping can continue recording? Or do you have to remember where it stop taking pictures?

[@smallbizzbigtalk7908]

Are you using the P4P for your maps or something like an inspire?

[@sebastianhurtado9146]

The best drone for mapping according to my research its the P4 Pro v2, its way more precise than the inspire, i hope this comment helped a lot.

[@zoranm6432]

Great video...a question on the best way to do battery swaps on large missions, am I correct in assuming when the drone returns to home in order to swap batteries do I need to exit Drone Deploy or do I just turn off the drone swap battery, restart drone and resume mission on a Drone Deploy.

[@shippingtons]

Great info Billy. A question for you. I have access to some agricultural land 3 of the 4 boundaries have trees along them. The land is on a slope. Will I have to allow for the land dropping away when calculating for height above the trees or does the software and my Mavic Pro 2 allow for this?

[@thenimitpatel]

I know this is 3 years old but it was a great intro for me as I interviewed for a company that does drone mapping work. I'd like to use my drone to make more money this seems like a great idea with all the rapid development happening in my state

[@billykyle]

Cool! Happy it was still able to help.

[@lilipok3521]

For which company did you interview? And how’s it going overall? Also, do you have any tips on how to get started in drone mapping?

[@amosoliver5678]

Hi Billy great work on the channel. When you edit drone footage for real estate how long does it take for you to edit a 1:30 to 2 minute video how do you know when your done and when to stop before you go over board with the editing I am just new too editing and would appreciate any hints and tips.

[@JordanHandwerker]

If you’re mapping and need to swap out batteries does the program stop and pick up where it left off at?

[@billykyle]

Yes it does.

[@JordanHandwerker]

Billy Kyle solid thank you 🍻

[@geotechie5600]

@@billykyle do you have to hit return to home at certain percentage? or do you not worry about it and the software does it automatically? when taking off after replacing battery just let the drone also do the work? Thank you.

[@MagicBiscuitShow]

Billy, does this (Drone Deploy) still work with the DJI drones (specifically, the P4 Pro Plus v2.0's integrated Android driven screen) ... since DJI had now instituted a "no rollback on the firmware" updates ... APPARENTLY ... to stop owners from using 3rd party software, by making the new(er) firmware incompatible with it. Example: Litchi. So, does Drone Deploy, etc. still work with these DJI ongoing firmware updates? Thanks, Chuck (N.E. Florida) : +)

[@anupkumar.r7108]

Which flight planner or mission planner can be used for DJI mavic air2S

[@patdresser6271]

Billy I have been looking at drone deploy web sit and I am unsure of which I would like to get to learn with. Rental property homes for sale and small agricultural properties and deer leases it seems pretty expensive for hobbyist. So could you give and idea which one would be better suited for what I am wanting to do Thanks for your time in advance

[@topphoto9855]

Is there a way to export the 3-D file so it can be viewed and manipulated in a browser or other program?

[@NJDRONEMAN]

You're the best lol - make it so easy to under stand gonna try one today thanks

[@ritviksapra1368]

Can I change the angle at which the drone's camera should be while mapping? I'm trying to make a project for mask detection of the people in crowd. So the drone could automatically start in open public areas, and take photos of people. It would then run a DL model to predict who hasn't wear a mask. For this, I need the camera angle to be very much forward and not 90 degrees to the ground.

[@samadair7019]

So, once you do the map program and fly the mission then upload images, how/what software do you use to view all the information. If it’s within the DD platform/website, then how do you export so the client can also view and use the data?

[@billykyle]

DroneDeploy does the stitching as well, so you would upload it to the project you created. There is an export button on the bottom left hand side of the screen. Personally, I like sending my clients the link to the DroneDeploy project so they can make use of all the tools.

[@suhasm8779]

How is Dji Air 2s for Drone mapping and photogrammetry...My Acutal question is that it has a fixed aperture 2.8, will it affect mapping. Plz let me kno

[@youradventure0710]

Great overview thank you , is there a system that automatically transfers video into the cloud and bypasses memory cards? Thank you

[@resonationtv]

Could you use a DJI mini pro 3?

[@abbyhakim99]

How do you change the batteries during a mission

[@AJOXCHANNEL]

Can I now what apps u used?

[@EricSNeitzel]

Another rock solid video! Question: I use my Phantom 4Pro for all my mapping. I haven’t used my Inspire 2. Have you used yours to map?

[@ScottOwens28]

Drone Deploy only works with DJI drones correct?

[@SpeedisSpeed]

How do you share the maps with clients?

[@thedarkriver1]

Hey Billy! I have a C-fly Faith 2 Pro en route (mid-grade budget drone) Do you think it is capable of mapping? 4k cam, 35mins flight time etc etc

[@mr.h.4501]

Wow.. the software is expensive to use. As a one man shop with your drone, how much can someone make a year doing this? How do you know what to even charge a client? Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@mapperstwo]

Billy Great Video, what type of produce do yo deliver, hard copy or digital file

[@bigboat8329]

Digital file always.

[@billykyle]

Usually I will deliver the DroneDeploy link so that the client can make use of all the tools that it has to offer.

[@mapperstwo]

Billy Kyle thanks for the info

[@thegman7523]

For the bleachers underneath do you run a horizontal pass to get more data?

[@droneserve2180]

Fantastic work Billy

[@lucm1178]

Hi, are you using GCPs to get better precision espacially when taking measures on your maps (for construction sites for instance) ? If you do what hardware do you use to plot these GCPs ? Thanks a lot for your video and all your work. Very helpful.

[@mapperstwo]

I was wondering about the same thing, as a Photogrammetrist we used GCP’s for our Aerial Photography. Great videos, I’m going to investigate possible jobs in our area

[@Network_51]

Billy, as I am a lower-end drone owner (Mavic Air), I was curious to know what drone mapping was, because I am now hearing so much about it. This has by far, been the best explanation that I've seen. This was perfect!!! Thank you!!!!!!

[@Big007Boss]

Wondering what is the accuracy of the measurements?

[@wizbang99]

Hi BILLY. BOY I THOUGHT MY MIND WAS GOING. BUT IT WAS BETTER THE 2nd TIME. ALWAYS THANKS FOR YOU HELP👍

[@billykyle]

Lol, thanks!

[@mbeluleslie4213]

if change height during mission would it not alter the accuracy?

[@jameswhite8159]

How do I get my drone to go straight to where I won't it go to?

[@krisdillon2127]

Hi mate, what tablet do you use /recommend? P4P. Cheers kris

[@Perrylayne105]

Awesome. Thank you for this.

[@richardortiz2322]

what drone was used for this mission?

[@JV-gi1hs]

Can u do mapping with dji mini 2?

[@AdamCanFly]

I did my first practice mapping mission, but the upload is stuck at 96%. Anyone have any idea why, or how to fix it?

[@ralphrab8239]

Hello, which drone do I need to do a map? A cheap one.

[@aliirham9791]

What is battery runs off when drone is mapping , can i change battery while mapping

[@hmustafa851]

Hi Billy. i got a question i hope you could help me answer. I just configured my Matrice 600 for mapping using a Sony A7iii. Since the camera is a bit more complex than the ones found on smaller drones. What do you suggest i should do for camera settings In terms of setting the focusing and exposure?

[@sjohnson2461]

Does DroneDeploy work with the DJI Air 2S?

[@kristenmoon4405]

How do you export the 3d and 2d images for a client though?

[@pmh1nic]

Thank for a very informative video.

[@roncaballero9520]

How do you fly a single mission with two batteries?

[@gopinathl5288]

Is there any possibility to use mavic mini for mapping?

[@StanCook]

Billy, great video tutorial. I have always wondered about mapping but never crossed the line before. Thanks for that. Here is a question that might seem obvious but I need an answer. What do clients use drone mapping for? The one you showed here. Why would a school want that mapping? Why a farm? That is the part I'm not sure of. Thanks for all you do.

[@Colin-kk8rz]

Out of order

[@StanCook]

@@Colin-kk8rz click the other one. One was bad.

[@bigboat8329]

Roof inspections are one reason. Maybe someone wants to keep track of large scale crop growth? I dunno. Construction sites are another big one so that companies can keep track of progress.

[@StanCook]

@@bigboat8329 Ya, I am trained in roof inspection and it does not require mapping. I don't know, there must be something more to it.

[@billykyle]

Mapping has plenty of benefits. For agriculture it can show plant health, for construction is can help project manager make measurements on the fly and track progress, and for mining it can give plants accurate elevation views as well as measurements of their stockpiles. Check out DroneDeploy’s website to see some of the examples they give.

[@prof.milkdickphd5170]

can i do it with the mini 2?

[@HyperShift]

Ive flown missions multiple times and everytime I try to continue a flight it stops my progress.

[@dmmediaflorida3710]

Dont forget GCPs and the type of shutter the drone has, but yes for beginners this is good. Orbital shots will improve the detail on the maps. I sub :)

[@murph3194]

Hey Bill. Thank you for your info and channel. Quick beginner question: For these longer multi-battery missions, what kind of micro sd card would you recommend?

[@Rob-dp3vr]

64G Samsung high speed transfer sd card. Plenty of memory and transfer speed to do what you need. Buy a few of them.

[@johnduncan8537]

Thanks for putting this together. Very informative.

[@kevinjablonski8242]

I'd love to get a 3d (or topographical) image of my small ranch (14hect) so I can landscape/develop it. It's in Costa Rica. Any suggestions?

[@cre8tivity06]

So if your battery dies, does it auto land so you can change the battery then once it’s back in the air continues with the flight plan? Do you know if Dronedeploy can work with the DJI Crystal Sky monitor? I do have it on my iOS devices already but I use my CS for all my flights now.

[@billykyle]

If the battery gets low then the drone will RTH

[@LaszloBagi]

Does this work with the DJI Smart Controller?

[@bigboat8329]

Yes it does sir!

[@livus360visuals6]

I have the Mavic Air 2 and the new Air2S and apparently I cannot use them for mapping with any platform, Dronedeploy does not work with these drones, and neither does Pix4d nor Measure. Does anybody have any suggestions please? I'll end up buying a used Phantom 4 I think

[@Kash1596]

Any mapping software for the Mavic air 2?

[@dronearon3085]

drone link drone harmony .drone harmony is the best more features

[@sohaibsinan3369]

Can I use Mavic Air 2 for Mapping?

[@Mr1970827]

Hello billy I would love to get into the mapping. I have an inspire 2 and I really want to start into that, just moved to Texas and I don't know anyone here that's into the drone business, so any help is appreciated

[@foodiemikec]

I work for mass appraisal and feel this would be beneficial to keep our maps up to date. I have a few questions, is there an email address I can shoot them over to?

[@petekris6969]

Billy, what drone do you use for mapping? I watched your video on passing on Phantom for 2020, but I hear that is best for the price range. I have a Skydio 2 on order with them stressing their new enterprise softwares, but Ill be lucky to see it this year. Thanks!

[@kareeminyourdream]

Fantastic video

[@jakereed6754]

Hey Billy any recommendations on a laptop for doing mapping and video editing just getting into the video part of the drone and mapping in the $500 to $800 Range

[@RayRay-si6ok]

Computer prices and specs change daily. I would suggest a gaming laptop or pc. They have fast processors,good graphic cards and large memory.

[@arlodowgwilliams2605]

Thanks Billy I will try it !!

[@billykyle]

Awesome! Good luck.

[@gabrieldillon11]

just subscribed, i am thinking of this route for local agri business opportunity

[@FabioCormack]

Thanks for the video!

[@jesusfernando978]

Thanks

[@jve89]

I've watched countless of drone mapping videos but 1 question remains... Why would people hire you to map their terrain? What would be the benefit of it to them? Where can they use it for? Nobody explains this in their videos!

[@ashoktalbut123]

Thank you brother, ur too good a teacher.

[@SCAerialsSteveCarpenter]

Hey Bill, what happened, this looks to be the same video you posted only a couple of hours ago?

[@billykyle]

The opacity on one of my clips was accidentally at 0%😁 Had to re export.

[@SCAerialsSteveCarpenter]

Billy Kyle Thank You!

[@Eli-lb1lc]

Billy Kyle oh so that’s what happened lol.

[@sharksfan2011]

Hey Billy, great vid thanks for posting. I have a mapping job that got postponed from Feb 2019 to Feb 2020 because of all the rain we had in California this year. I was to be mapping some “marshland” type of areas and due to all the rain, it was a lake instead of marsh so the job was cancelled. I used drone deploy’s trial version to practice and although the mapping went fine, I could never figure out how to download the files so I could print to a large format printer. The client wants the final product to be a 6ft wide by 20ft large print to be in their clubhouse. I have the large format printer, so all I need are the stitched print files. Perhaps it was the trial version and it’s limitations, but do you have any experience or ideas how one would obtain the final “print-ready” jpeg? I’m sure the file would be massive. If anyone else has experience with this I would appreciate your input as well. I have until Feb 2020 to figure it out. :-)

[@bigboat8329]

I think Billy made a video here on how to export maps. Try looking around

[@erictate2095]

I have done several large prints for clients. I export the high resolution tif files, I then clean those up a little in photoshop and export out as a high res jpg, but it's helpful to be scaled to the size you are wanting to print at. I have had one of mine on a billboard and others on 4'X8' and 5'X10'. In all honesty DroneDeploy is getting better, but Pix4D has a lot more latitude to allow you to get the best possible deliverables possible.

[@sharksfan2011]

@@erictate2095 Awesome. Thanks Eric for the feedback. I think DD does not allow the .tiff export in the free version so that would explain that. I will also in the meantime checkout Pix4D. Thanks again!

[@garycummings1706]

Thanks, very inspirational.

[@timdaugherty7612]

Fundamentally I have a hard time understanding why the software is so expensive....and I'm mildly surprised the basic 2d mapping features aren't just built into DJI Go. The math of flying a grid of shots doesn't seem that complicated, and stitching photos is already built into Photoshop (etc.). I must be missing something.

[@anthonyk27]

Thank you so much. I have been wondering what mapping was, and if my drone could do the work. This was about as informative as it gets. Thank you

[@AerialLandscapes]

Hey man good info, ttys 👍

[@انصارالرسول-ب6ح]

بالتوفيق💓😉

[@fireislandmavic5939]

superb thank you

[@TheBenfm24]

Hahaha I took a drone class at WCU. We did our mapping in the same area!

[@StanCook]

Billy, I look forward to hearing more about mapping from you. I contacted Drone Deploy with an idea about helping new pilots that can't afford $95 a month not even knowing if there was mapping work in their area. They did not seem to care. The attitude kind of turned me off.

[@sidneyjoseph5682]

Shout Out to the Dub C!

[@AfdalAmran]

whats going on guys