Edit the camera model

Drone2Map includes an internal camera database that stores supported cameras and their optimal parameters. When a project is created, Drone2Map reads the EXIF information from the images and applies the appropriate camera model. For cameras that are not in the internal camera database, Drone2Map attempts to populate the values using EXIF and XMP tag information from the images.

Note:

Only Focal length (mm) and Pixel Size on the Sensor (mm)values are required to compute the camera model. These values are often included in the image properties, but not always. In this case, the Pixel Size on the Sensor value is estimated automatically for the 35 mm equivalent focal length for supported camera models using the following equation:

Pixel Size = CCD Diagonal / Image Diagonal(in pixels)

where:

CCD Diagonal = 2 * (Focal Length * Tan(FOV/2))

If this value is not automatically calculated, click the Calculate Pixel Size button ​ and choose Field of view (FOV), 35 mm equivalent focal length, or Dimension from the Sensor Specificationdrop-down menu. Enter the corresponding specifications for your camera model and click OK. The value for Pixel Size on the Sensor (mm)is now populated.

If Focal length (mm) and Pixel Size on the Sensor (mm) are not populated with a valid value, processing will fail.

You can edit existing camera models that are in either the internal camera database or the user camera database. When a camera is available to edit, the Edit Camera button becomes active. Once the Edit Camera tool is open, there are options to manually edit a camera, import camera parameters from a previous project, and save custom parameters in CSV format.

Edit the camera model manually

If you have optimized camera parameters that you want to use by default for a specific camera, you can manually enter them in the Edit Camera window.

To edit the camera model values manually, complete the following steps:

1. Create a Drone2Map project and add images.
2. On the Flight Data tab, in the Manage group, click the Edit Camera button .
3. Input the optimized values for the following:
   • Focal length (mm)
   • Pixel Size on the Sensor (mm)
   • Principal Point X (mm)
   • Principal Point Y (mm)
   • Radial Coefficient K1
   • Radial Coefficient K2
   • Radial Coefficient K3
   • Tangential Coefficient P1
   • Tangential Coefficient P2
4. Click OK to update the user camera database and close the Edit Camera window.

Export camera parameters

If you manually input new camera parameters, you can export the updated values to an external file.

To export updated camera values, complete the following steps:

1. On the Flight Data tab, in the Manage group, click the Edit Camera button .
2. Import or enter the new values in the appropriate text boxes.
3. Click Save As.
4. Browse to the location on disk where the camera values will be stored and click Save.

Import camera parameters

Use the Import tool to import edited camera values from a previous export.

Note:

Previous projects' camera model information can be imported as a .d2mx file. These files already contain the optimized camera model values as long as the initial adjustment step was run in those projects. This allows you to uncheck the Camera Calibration options in the Adjust Images section of the processing options and reduces processing time.

To import edited camera values, complete the following steps:

1. On the Flight Data tab, in the Manage section, click the Edit Camera button .
2. Click the browse button on the Camera File parameter.
3. Browse to the camera file (.cam, .csv, .txt, or .d2mx) and click OK.

   The Edit Camera window is updated with the imported values.