Carlson Drone-to-Deliverables

15Gb per month, on average?ÿthat amounts to only a project and a half for me.?ÿ

Appears to be a new product or service??ÿ

15gb would cover one of the projects I've done. After that they were 18gb and up. Rent pix4d for less and get a seat of virtual surveyor.?ÿ

Lee, I don't know if this is something new or not.?ÿ I got a email flyer about it, so I am guessing that the pricing and bundle is new.

Bionic, what is virtual surveyor? I am familiar with Pix4d but haven't heard of virtual surveyor.

Virtual Surveyor is software to extracts?ÿbreaklines?ÿand 3d terrain data from a point cloud. I use TopoDOT for this, but that only work inside of Microstation.

This is the second thread this month on the subject of low-cost?ÿdrone processing software cost. I would like to offer a service on a per project cost to small land surveying firms that can't afford the huge investment required for the processing software and hardware.

What would be a reasonable?ÿprice for this per project point drone data processing service, no long-term?ÿor monthly fees.

Lee, I don't know what is reasonable to process drone jpegs with ground control.?ÿ I can't get anyone to tell me what is a reasonable fee for flying and providing a completed project for an aerial orthophoto, contours, and quantities.?ÿ

I don't have anything right now, but I'll give you a shout when I do.?ÿ I can't really justify buying good software for it with no more than I get to do.

I charge the same if not more than a conventional topo.?ÿ There is added value in the high-resolution ortho-photo and the point cloud.?ÿ You need to educate your client about the added value. With the point cloud they can;

1. Cut sections anywhere
2. Make renderings
3. Fly thru and movies for presentations
4. Measure anything from pavement stripes to heights of buildings, wires, trees, etc.
5. See different types of surface materials of the ground and rooftops.

The list is endless.

I would not recommend Carlson Point Cloud. Its breakline extraction does not work for normal AutoCAD 3D polylines. You will have 1000s of vertices on each one you do. If you have a colorized point cloud, in Carlson Point Cloud you can select a color edge to create a 3D polyline but then it's easier and more accurate to manually do it if you have the color. Lastly, the visualization seems to be poor. We have another point cloud viewer where you can see the intensity of the return for things like pavement striping, on Carlson you do not see them. We could not find a setting that may change this. I was not at my company when we purchased Carlson Point Cloud but I was told the processing continues on into another round of software the company decided not to purchase. Maybe a mistake, but it isn't a great business model for a software to split the field to deliverable?ÿsoftware up into more than one price?

If anyone that uses Carlson Point Cloud that has solved these issues, I would love to know. Thanks

Lee,

How do you market large point clouds and imagery to construction and engineering clients? File size alone is prohibitive, do you have?ÿa software solution to help these guys navigate and actually use the classified point cloud or orthophotos for things like cross sections, renderings, and measuring? I know we could probably do those for them and charge for it...but more than likely they will want the same Civil 3D .dwg?ÿor reports they've always done themselves. That or they will want something that their?ÿcurrent CAD standards are based upon, which is never a point cloud.

?ÿ

Right now we are using point clouds to create the same DTM we've always created. Our clients?ÿdo not know how or have the processing power to design on top of a point clouds so they get a less accurate version that has been extracted and descimated to get small enough for them to use.

Thanks for sharing and replying here. Your posts have been helpful. I also respect the position on the tech you've taken on the subject.

Aaron,

I have yet to have a client ask for the point cloud. It is basically?ÿour raw data as surveyors, and not the deliverable. I often place the 3d mesh on a cloud server for the end user to view in 3d using just a web browser.

Using TopoDot with the point cloud (in RGB color) is a very efficient?ÿmethod to create breaklines, and spot grades for a conventional DTM or TIN. The deliverable has NOT changes,?ÿstill a CAD files and LandXML DTM or TIN. The added value is the color orthophoto and extra data I can provide, such as building heights, wire clearances, etc.?ÿ

Thanks Lee,

Most everyone I know hasn't changed the actual product with scans either. I just wanted to make sure I was trying to think as big as others might be. Every time?ÿI add a personal interaction with the data or dumb it down it kills me a little to know the processed cloud is much better than what we can put out at ground collection grid intervals/objects.

So TopoDOT has been good for you? I know there will be a manual side of the processing but is it more automated with a visualization that could see intensities (No RGB scans)?

What cloud service and browser app/website do you use for point clouds?

TopoDOT works well for me, it can view RGB and Intensity?ÿscans.

SketchFAB and Pix4D both have a cloud service (not free) to host spatial data.

Pix4D allows my clients to view the information in many different?ÿways, along with?ÿoriginal?ÿimages. They can also create profiles thru the mesh or point cloud.

Here is an example.

This can be viewed in any web browser on any device, including smartphones and tablets.

?ÿ

Great info, thank Lee.

We currently have some kind of subscription to Pix4d. Sounds like we need to look into the cloud hosting of point clouds.

Lee,

Is that a subscription to Pix4D model?

No, I have a perpetual license to Pix4d Mapper which includes the cloud service.?ÿ