Formula for best shot of a tall building

[Geo_in_KS]

Hi,
I'm wondering if anyone can help me with this. Ive been studying how to get the best shots for exposure, lighting etc but one thing I'm struggling with is the following, Ill give an example.
Say I want to do a nice orbit video of a building 300' high and try to get a view of the building from ground to top all the way around.
Is there a good formula for what I should be at for radius, what pitch to have the gimbal at (and/or height of the POI)?

 

[AH-1G]

Geo, I have done many building using POI, however not a 300' building. How are you planing to keep VLS?
You may want 30° to 45° for your shoots. I'm not sure if there is a rule of thumb how far out. But you can use algebra calculations for 30 °and 40° at 300'
I think this may help?
Sine, Cosine, Tangent

 

[Geo_in_KS]

Yes, I normally use POI. VLS could be an issue, but I did a building the other day and I watched go around the end then walked to the other side. I did lose VLS for a few seconds but it wasn't long.
So, if after I drive over there, if I don't see I can keep it in sight I wont fly it, it depends on the size, angle etc.
As far as the algebra goes, thats my fail point!
I guess there maybe isnt a real easy way to accomplish what I hoped.

 

[AH-1G]

Yes, I normally use POI. VLS could be an issue, but I did a building the other day and I watched go around the end then walked to the other side. I did lose VLS for a few seconds but it wasn't long.
So, if after I drive over there, if I don't see I can keep it in sight I wont fly it, it depends on the size, angle etc.
As far as the algebra goes, thats my fail point!
I guess there maybe isnt a real easy way to accomplish what I hoped.

When I go out on a project I carry my lap top, this allows me to see what I may have missed or am not satisfied with.
It's always nice to have dozen batteries or more.
Hope it goes well and you'll have some spectacular images.

 

[BigAl07]

When I go out on a project I carry my lap top, this allows me to see what I may have missed or am not satisfied with.
It's always nice to have dozen batteries or more.
Hope it goes well and you'll have some spectacular images.

We learned the hard way to ALWAYS review your work in detail while you're on site. It only takes a few minutes to compare the shots to my script and make sure they are composed as needed.

 

[Geo_in_KS]

Ive been learning to carry the laptop with me too, fortunately I havent had any big fails with forgetting it yet, but I have had scenarios where I finished what I thought I planned to do only to get home and find out I didnt hit record or something.
More batteries are next on my "to get" list.

 

[R.Perry]

I learned the hard way that it is critically important to review all your photos before leaving the job site. The job on on right now averages 300 to 400 photos each day that I'm there. When I do mapping it is over 600. Most of my time is spent reviewing, and uploading photos, not flying. two hours of flying requires four to five hours of review and upload.

 

[Geo_in_KS]

I can understand that completely. Ive already spent countless hours sitting at the computer manipulating photos/videos; after less than an hour of flying.

 

[BigAl07]

I've got 3 Construction projects that are just now coming out of the ground (this is the easy portion of the project) and each of them I spend less than 10 minutes flying. Once I'm done flying I review every image to make sure it's clear and composed as expected. I do this one the job site before I even put anything away. Then while I'm in transit to the next job I start the upload process. Since they aren't close together I have a min of 30 min between jobs. Usually all of my images are uploaded to my Cloud Service prior to arriving at the next job. Once I'm home I will go through and "tweak" these images if needed but usually very few need any tweaking at this stage of the game. I replace the images that needed some attention with the "tweaked" files and send the finished report and link to images over to the client with my invoice (unless we have automatic payments set up in the contract)

I'd say for every 1 minute of flying I spend at least 5 minutes of "other" work but forunately a good deal of that I do while traveling so I'm multitasking for the meat of the game.

When the project gets more complex my processing times gets more because the images are much more important and complicated (a dirt field has less detail and structure than a completed fitness center ready to get their CO).

The above process is only for "Image Collection" and obviously does not include any stitching/processing time for mapping, Pano, or 360 projects.

 

[Norm Kokes]

I am doing a construction site project now and I use a mission setup in litchi. It does a good smooth job and all I need to do is verify the histogram is set correctly before mission start. I just did a 365 foot tall building and VLS while is technically required is not really practical. I verify there are no obstructions in the flight path and do the flight during off hours so there are few to no spectators. I use a tablet to monitor and can insert the ssd from the drone for review.

 

[Dave von Fintel]

I just got a job offer to map a construction job on a weekly basis for $160 per outing (2 + year project). It seems low, especially based on all the info above mentioning time spent in post. What do you guys think?

 

[daddioJP]

I've got 3 Construction projects that are just now coming out of the ground (this is the easy portion of the project) and each of them I spend less than 10 minutes flying. Once I'm done flying I review every image to make sure it's clear and composed as expected. I do this one the job site before I even put anything away. Then while I'm in transit to the next job I start the upload process. Since they aren't close together I have a min of 30 min between jobs. Usually all of my images are uploaded to my Cloud Service prior to arriving at the next job. Once I'm home I will go through and "tweak" these images if needed but usually very few need any tweaking at this stage of the game. I replace the images that needed some attention with the "tweaked" files and send the finished report and link to images over to the client with my invoice (unless we have automatic payments set up in the contract)

I'd say for every 1 minute of flying I spend at least 5 minutes of "other" work but forunately a good deal of that I do while traveling so I'm multitasking for the meat of the game.

When the project gets more complex my processing times gets more because the images are much more important and complicated (a dirt field has less detail and structure than a completed fitness center ready to get their CO).

The above process is only for "Image Collection" and obviously does not include any stitching/processing time for mapping, Pano, or 360 projects.

Very helpful advice. Are you just running your laptop off its batteries, or are you powered? And what method do you find the most efficient / cost effective for uploading while in transit?

 

[BigAl07]

I just got a job offer to map a construction job on a weekly basis for $160 per outing (2 + year project). It seems low, especially based on all the info above mentioning time spent in post. What do you guys think?

It all depends on how much time is involved for each outing. Drive, site review, flying time, processing, uploading, delivering etc.

One of my job sites is about 5 min from my office on my route home and I'm only on site fora few minutes. The images are not post processed at all so I shoot, verify, upload, and deliver. So this job is quick, easy, and very profitable for me. I have another one that is a 1hr drive, requires much more time on site (complicated site), and I have to tweak the images, combine images, and stitch images. For every minute of flying I have at least 5 min of processing etc and it pays the same as the job above. Fortunately I can usually book several jobs in the same area at the same time making it much more efficient for me.

 

[BigAl07]

Very helpful advice. Are you just running your laptop off its batteries, or are you powered?

Well actually both. Initially I'm running off of the laptop battery only but as the day goes on I'll have to use the power port in my vehicle to keep going.

And what method do you find the most efficient / cost effective for uploading while in transit?

I'm using my iPhone as a HotSpot unless I'm in an area where I can stop and get some free WiFi but usually FREE WiFi is slow WiFi. While I'm eating lunch etc I'll use a free WiFi if possible.