Time line Construction

[AH-1G]

I have been working on this time-line construction project since summer.
Though I'm showing a few images there are hundreds of pictures and countless hours of video between the initial phase and current phase.
I'm also currently working on a fast food restaurant time-line.
I have learned it is easier to video the whole process and then snatch a pictures frame from the video

 

[ArrUnTuS]

By taking the images out of the video you make them clear? no blur or anything?

Those images you've put up are from a videotape? slow flight? or any advice for the time of extraction?

 

[AH-1G]

By taking the images out of the video you make them clear? no blur or anything?

Those images you've put up are from a videotape? slow flight? or any advice for the time of extraction?

Yes images straight from the drone, I use GOM Player free download. Moving about 5mph. Once you have this running in GOM Player as you watch you can press the camera button and it takes that exact frame you want. Its then hidden in the GOM Player file folder, it's there instantly.
I do use a gaming computer that I purchased exclusively for 4k.
no blur

 

[AH-1G]

Oh the first two images of the construction phases was snapping pictures, I then realized I didn't need to do this to achieve the perfect shot by using video. Also I learned how to manually adjust my ISO and shutter speed, this helps with the quality of the video. I just starting using filters, wow, crisp as you can see in the last pic.

 

[ArrUnTuS]

Yes images straight from the drone, I use GOM Player free download. Moving about 5mph. Once you have this running in GOM Player as you watch you can press the camera button and it takes that exact frame you want. Its then hidden in the GOM Player file folder, it's there instantly.
I do use a gaming computer that I purchased exclusively for 4k.
no blur

It's very interesting. I have created 3D models taken directly from a video and then created the orthophoto. I hadn't thought of taking pictures out of a video frame. Let's see if I have a little time and run some tests. Anything to save work is always welcome. Thank you

 

[AH-1G]

It's very interesting. I have created 3D models taken directly from a video and then created the orthophoto. I hadn't thought of taking pictures out of a video frame. Let's see if I have a little time and run some tests. Anything to save work is always welcome. Thank you

Your welcome, that's what this forum is all about helping each other out.
let us know how it worked out.

 

[ArrUnTuS]

Your welcome, that's what this forum is all about helping each other out.
let us know how it worked out.

We don't have the limitation of a particular aircraft here, that's fine. The important thing is the working techniques and know, in many cases, that is really what the customer needs and be able to be prepared and do the work. I love the idea.

 

[jefferson3]

I have been working on this time-line construction project since summer.
Though I'm showing a few images there are hundreds of pictures and countless hours of video between the initial phase and current phase.
I'm also currently working on a fast food restaurant time-line.
I have learned it is easier to video the whole process and then snatch a pictures frame from the video

View attachment 31 View attachment 32View attachment 33View attachment 30

That is a great tip to grab photos straight from the video instead of scrolling through tons of stills to find the right ones.

I find it great as to how versatile these aircraft are depending on how you have things set up. I know people in the multimedia industry generally have the video settings to create blurry stills so that when it's playing you get a nice motion blur, but obviously if you want to get the stills out in a clear manner then you can just change the settings the other way!

 

[ArrUnTuS]

That is a great tip to grab photos straight from the video instead of scrolling through tons of stills to find the right ones.

I find it great as to how versatile these aircraft are depending on how you have things set up. I know people in the multimedia industry generally have the video settings to create blurry stills so that when it's playing you get a nice motion blur, but obviously if you want to get the stills out in a clear manner then you can just change the settings the other way!

The blur effect can be added later in post-production, recently I have been practicing with that. It's very simple to do. What is not so simple, or at least I didn't have it so clear, is to take good pictures of a video and what I see can be achieved. A smooth flight I'm sure helps.

 

[Dave Pitman]

If you capturing video with the goal of pulling frames remember to go for a higher shutter speed to reduce motion blur. For example, if your shooting 30fps the rule of thumb for pleasing video motion blur is setting the shutter at twice the frame rate, or at 1/60 of a second. Depending on the speed of the drone, this may be too slow to get sharp frames and would be better served with at least 1/250 of a second.

If you're trying to get both pleasing video and pulling frames for stills then you have to make some compromises somewhere.

 

[ArrUnTuS]

That's exactly why I was saying it. I've done 3D models based on videos but with statues or not very big things recorded by hand. I have never tasted large surfaces and in principle so that there is no blur or lack of necessary details, the idea would be to fly slowly and without sudden movements in order to make the 3D model with sufficient quality.

To extract frames, I think it would be the same methodology.

 

[BigAl07]

We do "Construction Progression" shots weekly for several clients. While everyone has their own "work flow" that they feel comfortable with but we do a separate flight for still images and video but we utilize 3rd party software for consistency. This way every flight is precise and identical making sure the shots/video are as well.

Using the above process we can do dozens of acres of still and video capturing in a matter of minutes with extreme precision. I have oen job site that I'm on site, start to finish, no more than 10 minutes and it pays GREAT.

 

[AH-1G]

We do "Construction Progression" shots weekly for several clients. While everyone has their own "work flow" that they feel comfortable with but we do a separate flight for still images and video but we utilize 3rd party software for consistency. This way every flight is precise and identical making sure the shots/video are as well.

Using the above process we can do dozens of acres of still and video capturing in a matter of minutes with extreme precision. I have oen job site that I'm on site, start to finish, no more than 10 minutes and it pays GREAT.

Unfortunately my Typhoon H is not compatible with a lot of the software out there. So we would then use CCC, Curved Cable Camera

 

[ArrUnTuS]

We do "Construction Progression" shots weekly for several clients. While everyone has their own "work flow" that they feel comfortable with but we do a separate flight for still images and video but we utilize 3rd party software for consistency. This way every flight is precise and identical making sure the shots/video are as well.

Using the above process we can do dozens of acres of still and video capturing in a matter of minutes with extreme precision. I have oen job site that I'm on site, start to finish, no more than 10 minutes and it pays GREAT.

When you talk about third-party software you mean to create flight plans so that they are all the same?

 

[BigAl07]

When you talk about third-party software you mean to create flight plans so that they are all the same?

Yes. Same flight path and same image/video settings time and time again.

 

[Dave Pitman]

That's exactly why I was saying it. I've done 3D models based on videos but with statues or not very big things recorded by hand. I have never tasted large surfaces and in principle so that there is no blur or lack of necessary details, the idea would be to fly slowly and without sudden movements in order to make the 3D model with sufficient quality.

To extract frames, I think it would be the same methodology.

Gotcha. Yeah, keep the shutter speed up and you can grab some decent sharp frames. They won't compare with nice sharp .dngs but will compare favorably with .jpg stills.

 

[Joseph Martinez]

Here I am sitting on my bed with my drone in pieces thinking about ways to make money and I thought time lapse of construction projects sounds easy. You guys made it seem like a pain in the butt lol. Any tips on how to practice or where to start?

 

[BigAl07]

Here I am sitting on my bed with my drone in pieces thinking about ways to make money and I thought time lapse of construction projects sounds easy. You guys made it seem like a pain in the butt lol. Any tips on how to practice or where to start?

First of all you want to be a very good UAS operator long before you try to sell your services. The last thing you want to do is over sell and under deliver. Actually the last thing you want to do is show up and have on site and have an "incident". Odds are you won't get a 2nd chance to make a good impression and negative news travels like wild fire in the industry. Don't shoot yourself in the foot and launch your services before you're ready.

Also I'll point out, it can be VERY stressful operating with a group of "Investors" and others standing over your shoulder watching your every move and asking 175 questions at once.

The "Easy" projects are Real Estate but be warned.. that market is insanely over saturated in most markets of the US already and getting worse each day.

How to practice? Find something of interest and practice taking pictures of it. It could be your house, your friends storage building, and old barn or anything where you have access to it (legally) and you can practice taking pictures from all different angles and heights.

Our clients give us a "shot list" of which images they require and then we have the liberty of adding to the list if we get on site and see something of interest or something that poses a concern in any way.

 

[Tim Jones]

I have not taken on one of these yet but might
the solo, has a automated smart shot called cable cam. you literally set up your camera angles along a flight path and save it.
Come back every day, and reload the cable and fly the exact same shot.

It takes dedication, hats off to the guys that can do it.
Here is one I had started with every intention of going back and doing this same shot over time.
That building is up now

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[BigAl07]

I have not taken on one of these yet but might
the solo, has a automated smart shot called cable cam. you literally set up your camera angles along a flight path and save it.
Come back every day, and reload the cable and fly the exact same shot.

We use Litchi for this same purpose. We don't do it every day though as not a lot changes day to day. Some projects 1x week, some 2x month, and some 1x a month.

We normally do one complete orbit around the construction site focused on the building/construction and taking images at specific points along the way. Then we do the same orbit shooting video. Then we'll do one much further out capturing the whole work site in frame. Lastly we will manually take "precision" shots that the client has asked for specifically.