I work for a land surveying company in Virginia.?ÿ We recently (finally) added a drone to our survey instruments and have been testing out different software and methods for drone data collection and translation.?ÿ I've looked into both Virtual Surveyor and Global Mapper.?ÿ For those here who have used both, what differences can we expect??ÿ I realize that Virtual Surveyor is rather expensive, and Global Mapper seems to be very affordable.
Our main goal is to find software that can fill the gap between Pix4D and Carlson (w/ AutoCAD Map 3D). I would like to be able to manipulate point clouds, remove unwanted items (man-made objects, buildings, etc.) and export a DTM that I can use for eventual contouring in Carlson in addition to our field enhancement data.
If there is other software out there that someone can recommend, I'm open to listening!
Thank you in advance!
Chris Johnson
Global Maper can help reclassify point cloud data much better than Pix4d. For breakline extraction, and generating fine detailed DTM, with feature lines I prefer TopoDOT.
Not sure you understand the terminology. DSM, is the digital surface model which includes all features like the top of trees, building roofs, etc.?ÿ DTM is more likely your survey deliverable. This is the Digital Terrain Model, which is the lowest return in a point cloud.?ÿ
Yes, DTM is certainly what was meant. Thank you for the clarification, Lee.
I will take a look at TopoDOT.
Virtual Surveyor serves different functions than globalmapper. I wouldn't have a drone program without both.
I don't know anything about processing drone data, so this may be way off base.?ÿ Would the Carlson Point Cloud software cover what you need to do??ÿ Might be easy to integrate since you are already using Carlson (if it does the functions you need)?
@jon-payne Possibly. We have it, but I've heard second hand that it's not up to par with other software packages available. We're starting to run tests with our new equipment, so I'll get a chance to play around with it in the coming weeks.
in the coming weeks
Please keep us posted with your findings.?ÿ Also, by continuing to post with your experiences over time, you will have a better chance of finding more detailed and diverse responses from others in the future who may have missed this thread in the past.
I really like Global Mapper and it's classification tools. It works really well. Also, look into 3DSurvey. I have demo'd it, it's got some pretty nice tools as well. Cheaper than Pix4D too.
