Photogrammetry Apps Comparison (by a noob)

dsandson · Mar 19, 2019

Some extra photogrammetry software sources;

Site Scan by 3DR - online platform - includes the new H520-G drone
PhotoModeler
IMAGINE Photogrammetry

Free;
VisualSFM (note, non-profit/academic only)

Open Source;
Colmap
Meshroom (UI for AliceVision framework)
MicMac
Regard3D (new one to me!)

Information from here.

I've heard good reports of siteScan, but it looks expensive. I havent tried any of the other opensource alternates either. AliceVision looks interesting, and has some more advanced features versus ODM along the lines of camera calibrations. Maybe other features too.

Dougcjohn · Mar 19, 2019

dsandson said:
Some extra photogrammetry software sources;

Site Scan by 3DR - online platform - includes the new H520-G drone
PhotoModeler
IMAGINE Photogrammetry

Free;
VisualSFM (note, non-profit/academic only)

Open Source;
Colmap
Meshroom (UI for AliceVision framework)
MicMac
Regard3D (new one to me!)

Information from here.

I've heard good reports of siteScan, but it looks expensive. I havent tried any of the other opensource alternates either. AliceVision looks interesting, and has some more advanced features versus ODM along the lines of camera calibrations. Maybe other features too.

The Open Source programs, have not even heard or seen... will examine out curiosity.

Great resource of links!

SmokinAmerican · Mar 26, 2019

Well I ask Yuneec and here is their answer.

Yuneec EU – Customer Service

Mon, Mar 25, 3:53 PM (1 day ago)

to me

Dear Mr.Herzog,

thank you for your email.
Correct, we do recommend Px4D but you may also search for programs like, Altizure, Drone Deploy and Photoscan-Agisfot.

At the point of view we have no recommends to the E-10T but that may will follow soon.

Sincerely / Best regards

Ihr/Your Customer Support Team

YUNEEC Europe GmbH
Nikolaus- Otto-Strasse 4
24568 Kaltenkirchen | Germany

T- +49 4191 9326-20
E-[email protected]

Kind of wish that had an answer that seemed a little more with triumph

dsandson · Mar 27, 2019

Yeah that was a bit brief... almost germanic - efficient and blunt!! Perhaps Yuneec UK might be more forthcoming? They've been pretty helpful for a lot of forum members.

arruntus · Mar 27, 2019

dsandson said:
Yeah that was a bit brief... almost germanic - efficient and blunt!! Perhaps Yuneec UK might be more forthcoming? They've been pretty helpful for a lot of forum members.

Do not have the slightest doubt, the answers I have received from Yuneec Germany, although correct, sometimes leave you with more doubts ???

arruntus · Apr 2, 2019

Video that I think is interesting on this subject.

arruntus · Apr 8, 2019

The second part, I think they are interesting videos for those who start or for those who haven't used any of the programs.

seowashdc · Apr 9, 2019

Dougcjohn said:
@dsandson, great discussion and list of products. Great complielation.

I've been focused on Agrisoft, Capturing Reality, Pix4D and ReCap Photo for 3D component and Pix4D and Pix4D Field, MapsMadeEasy, UgCS, and several others for mapping with 3D potential. The UgCS is a strong interest and capabilities.

The total associated package price (product license & anual support/service fees) is a major consideration before actually performing & using products within a profitable small business... which is my position as I attempt to ramp up conservatively and avoid high license or service expenses initially... wanting to avoid purchasing licenses then later abandon and use other products.

I found the "renewing 3 month" intro price of Capturing Reality a strong plus to it's high quality product... company quickly adding & enhancing their product. If they continued this option, much lower cost for full product. But the low anual cost of AutoCAD's ReCap Photo is about the lowest cost but comes at a price as a cloud only service. It was also interesting you found Agrisoft slow; they've marketed & reviewed product as much faster than Pix4D with better results in detail & mesh points.

Appreciate your collection of information. Have you used these products listed, based on reading reviews or used their evaluation demo products? My reference is strictly reviews, YouTubes, etc for most products... minimal hands on.

Helpful thread for those of us considering these high priced packages. Great central reference of links!

What are the computer requirements for using UgCS? Do you need a heavy duty machine like you do with Pix4d?

arruntus · Apr 9, 2019

seowashdc said:
What are the computer requirements for using UgCS? Do you need a heavy duty machine like you do with Pix4d?

UgCS is to plan flights, not to process images, like Pix4Capture. Pix4Dmapper is the application that processes the images, it already needs a lot of power, depending on the size of the project.

Dougcjohn · Apr 9, 2019

Check out their page,
Ground Station Software | UgCS PC Mission Planning, scroll to bottom for system requirements.

They used to be more limited and used Pix4D for stitching,etc. They state you can use Pix4D or other, and use their own tool sets.

For Data Point processing, you'll need Pix4D, Photoscan, etc.

Their base requirements are quite low, Win7 or Mac, 4GB Ram, 1080display, basically any video card from 2004 upwards, Duo Core CPU.

If planning to use their tool set, I'd assume much more power and video.

Their support is pretty prompt, drop'em a line with questions.
[email protected]

seowashdc · Apr 10, 2019

And this has been what I've struggled with, in trying to figure out what to use: cloud based applications and save the cost of getting a better computer, or putting out a lot of money for the downloadable software and a better computer.

Dougcjohn · Apr 10, 2019

seowashdc said:
And this has been what I've struggled with, in trying to figure out what to use: cloud based applications and save the cost of getting a better computer, or putting out a lot of money for the downloadable software and a better computer.

Kinda in the same position, I'm probably even lower... I've read & evaluated a bit... but on the Newbie side overall.
More fascination of the technology driving the need to get into the market than the market driving the need to acquire at the moment for me.

I'm leaning more towards the Ownership of a perpetual license that I can retain in current version or upgrade on my own time frame.
A good comparison is Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. I purchased LR v1 up through v6, and PhotoShop ended with CS6 Mst Suite. I haven't done the CC subscription. It's now been what... 6-7 yrs of CC subscription and on-going. I'm still using LR6 & CS6 Suite, Owned. It's currently fully supported by Mac Majave & Win10 1809 (not sure on 1903) and runs great on my older hi-end hardware.

If the software runs and meets my needs, I'm not anxious to upgrade hardware or software. The processing performance on local mid-upper personal hardware scale will easily outperform Cloud and associated bandwidth. Some of the products are simply not justifiable for a small startup shop like me, some aren't very expensive overall. Several of the open freeware products listed above may be worth trying, if only to gain experience & understanding of "what's what" before major purchase decisions.

I like the growth of UgCS, they're on a fast path adding features and new modules compared to just 18 months ago. Their price isn't extreme at $600 to Own full version. They don't require yearly support contracts. Then again, the MapsMadeEasy for the cost of an iOS app may provide the collection if not limited on number of photos in the mission, then processed on Owned software.

The Agisoft Metashape @ $3500 is $1500 lower than Pix4Dmapper @ $5000... both a little pricey than preferred. I like the CapturingReality's RealityCapture $100 per 3 month special price, and the Rep indicates they have no short term plans to end the special.
But on a cloud product, AutoCad's Recap Pro (Reality Capture) @ $40 per month or $320 per year is hard to beat for over all cost.

Taxes this month and still assimilating products.

Dougcjohn · Apr 10, 2019

On the UgCS Web site, it does include the paragraph:

Application | UgCS Photogrammetry Tool for UAV Land Survey Missions

www.ugcs.com

Step six: data processing
Starting UgCS PRO version 2.12 UgCS MAPPER is launched - a desktop geo-referenced image processing software, to create 2D maps in-field, requiring no internet connection. In-field assembled map provides certainty for UAV surveyors that acquired images quality and density is sufficient. This information is crucial to decide whether the flight should be repeated before leaving the surveying area.

To make a more detailed analysis and 3D models from acquired images, third-party software can be used. UgCS Team experience is that Agisoft Photoscan is a very powerful and flexible software, but some users may find that for getting the desired result too much input effort is needed. Most uncomplicated solution for users is the online service DroneDeploy. All other software packages and services will fit somewhere between these two in terms of complexity and output quality.

It's indicating the ability to perform 2D maps in-field, and recommends Agisoft Photoscan as 3D solution.

MrMotley · Apr 11, 2019

Dougcjohn said:
Kinda in the same position, I'm probably even lower... I've read & evaluated a bit... but on the Newbie side overall.
More fascination of the technology driving the need to get into the market than the market driving the need to acquire at the moment for me.

I'm leaning more towards the Ownership of a perpetual license that I can retain in current version or upgrade on my own time frame.
A good comparison is Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. I purchased LR v1 up through v6, and PhotoShop ended with CS6 Mst Suite. I haven't done the CC subscription. It's now been what... 6-7 yrs of CC subscription and on-going. I'm still using LR6 & CS6 Suite, Owned. It's currently fully supported by Mac Majave & Win10 1809 (not sure on 1903) and runs great on my older hi-end hardware.

If the software runs and meets my needs, I'm not anxious to upgrade hardware or software. The processing performance on local mid-upper personal hardware scale will easily outperform Cloud and associated bandwidth. Some of the products are simply not justifiable for a small startup shop like me, some aren't very expensive overall. Several of the open freeware products listed above may be worth trying, if only to gain experience & understanding of "what's what" before major purchase decisions.

I like the growth of UgCS, they're on a fast path adding features and new modules compared to just 18 months ago. Their price isn't extreme at $600 to Own full version. They don't require yearly support contracts. Then again, the MapsMadeEasy for the cost of an iOS app may provide the collection if not limited on number of photos in the mission, then processed on Owned software.

The Agisoft Metashape @ $3500 is $1500 lower than Pix4Dmapper @ $5000... both a little pricey than preferred. I like the CapturingReality's RealityCapture $100 per 3 month special price, and the Rep indicates they have no short term plans to end the special.
But on a cloud product, AutoCad's Recap Pro (Reality Capture) @ $40 per month or $320 per year is hard to beat for over all cost.

Taxes this month and still assimilating products.

I feel the same, the initial cost of setting up seriously in this game can be pretty high. I've invested in a good PC and am using a mixture of open source software.
I also agree with you about Recap Pro although as per my original post beware of the token based system I think Recap and some of the other seemingly cheaper cloud processing services use. It can very quickly become an expensive service.

Jagerbomb52 · Apr 11, 2019

Some might find this video useful

Dougcjohn · Apr 11, 2019

Didn't see this one listed...
SimActive
It’s been receiving great reviews and looks very complete and the structure of program well laid out.
Nice array of videos and training material too.
Unlimited photos, each photo up to 50 meg.
Looks to do it all... mapping to 3D modeling

SimActive | High-End Mapping Software

High-End Mapping Software | Rapid processing of imagery from drones, aircrafts and satellites. Start mapping today with Correlator3D.

www.simactive.com

Offered as a monthly @ $295 or perpetual 1 time license @ $5900. Another one on the pricy but nice program.

MrMotley · Apr 12, 2019

Dougcjohn said:
Didn't see this one listed...
SimActive
It’s been receiving great reviews and looks very complete and the structure of program well laid out.
Nice array of videos and training material too.
Unlimited photos, each photo up to 50 meg.
Looks to do it all... mapping to 3D modeling

SimActive | High-End Mapping Software

High-End Mapping Software | Rapid processing of imagery from drones, aircrafts and satellites. Start mapping today with Correlator3D.

www.simactive.com

Offered as a monthly @ $295 or perpetual 1 time license @ $5900. Another one on the pricy but nice program.

Great find! Not heard of this one before. I'm downloading the trial version right now.

Dougcjohn · Apr 12, 2019

Just in reading and watching a few videos, doesn't appear to have flight control component. Appears to be for all forms of post work.

MrMotley · Apr 12, 2019

Meh, it seems pretty quick and wasn't at all taxing on the PC. Easy to use and all the usual outputs but for the money nothing special. Pix gives much better overall package if you want to spend the money.
Personally I'm loving ODM more and more, the more that I use it.

4N6Guy · Jan 1, 2021

I've tried most of the OpenSource stuff out there and many of the retail offerings. I use Pix4D for large accident sites, and I use Recap Pro photo for things that have shiny surfaces, like vehicles. It seems to do better for that type of thing that Pix does. The Pix4D price structure kinda got ridiculous there for a while, but their cheapest option, that only let you save things as meshes isn't as big a handicap as a lot of people think. I think that option was $40-45 US. Take the mesh, open it in CloudCompare, highlight the mesh and then hit the "sample" button and set your parameters and, voila!, instant point cloud. Set GCPs in the original capture and then you can use Cloud Compare to set the scale. It adds a step to the workflow and another 5 minutes, but with CloudCompare being OpenSource and Pix4D at $45 a month, who cares?

CloudCompare's probably the best OpenSource program, like ever. The stuff you can do with it is amazing. It's the Swiss Army knife of 3D programs. There are FARO filters, so I can integrate my FARO pointclouds with point clouds generated from Pix4D and Recap, etc.

Recap Pro and Recap Pro photo are a helluva bargain, also at the $40ish per month price tage. You get Recap Pro, that you can register point clouds with and create flythrough videos, etc, and you get Recap Pro Photo for the captures. It works great on vehicles, I run the photos through an HDR program first and give them a lot of grain, which seems to give me a better result.

Here's a Camaro that run up under an 18-wheeler that was done in RecapPhoto several years ago. They've gotten even better since then. This was about 130 photos...I was lazy with the image capture and didn't put the camera on the floor, ergo the occlusion on the undercarriage. Better photos would reduce that, if not eliminate it.