Edit the camera model

Having the correct camera model information from your drone is important to achieving the best quality products in Drone2Map. The software uses these values to properly adjust the imagery and align it to an elevation surface. Drone2Map helps make this process easier by including multiple ways to edit camera model information. By default, an internal camera system database 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 system database, Drone2Map attempts to populate the values using EXIF and XMP tag information from the image's metadata.

Camera model information can also be stored in a user camera database. This database allows you to save and store custom camera model settings using a unique identifier. When loading imagery from the same camera model into a project, the user database can be selected instead of the system database to instantly retrieve your saved settings. Multiple camera model presets can be stored with the option to set any one of them as the default camera settings when you load imagery using that camera.

Note:

The user camera database is only available with an advanced license.

If you are processing a project with multiple cameras, they will be present in the Edit Camera Parameters pane, but you need to switch between them with the arrows at the top.

Note:

Only the 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. If they're not included, 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. Provide 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 valid values, processing will fail.

You can edit existing camera model information from the internal camera system database, user database, or image metadata. However, only the user camera database can save those camera parameters for future use. 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, or save custom parameters in CSV format. If you are using an Advanced license, options to save, remove, or edit a camera model in the user database are also available.

All supported camera models for Drone2Map are included in the following file: C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Drone2Map\bin\DigitalCameras.dat.

Edit the camera model manually

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

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 save the camera parameters for the project and close the Edit Camera window.

Use multiple cameras in the same project

Drone2Map supports the use of multiple cameras in a single project. These cameras can be of the same make and model or a combination of different cameras. The cameras can be pointing in different directions and will still be processed as a single surface. However, you still want overlap between the flights if you are going to create a continuous elevation surface or ortho image. When you have multiple camera models in a project, the Edit Camera pane detects this and you can switch between the camera models using the arrows near the top of the pane. Any camera parameters you define are honored for either camera model.

Create, update, and set default user camera models

When using an Advanced license, you have access to the user camera database. Options are in the upper part of the pane for editing existing saved camera models, adding new camera models to the database, and removing camera models from the database. Adding a new camera model saves it with a unique name so that it can be referenced for future projects. When you have multiple camera models for the same camera, the Update camera in user database button becomes active and you can choose the model you want to edit. Using the Remove camera from user database button removes the current active user camera model from the database.

Add a camera model

To add a camera model to the user database, complete the following steps:

1. Create a Drone2Map project and add images or open an existing project.
2. On the Flight Data tab, in the Manage group, click the Edit Camera button .
3. Define custom camera parameters in any of the editable fields in the pane.
4. Click the Add camera to user database button.

   A new window appears with fields for Camera Make and Camera Model.

5. Provide a name for the Camera Make and Camera Model options, or accept the defaults.

   By default, user-created camera models receive a numbered increment with each subsequent save if no other name is provided.

   Upon creation, saved user camera models can also be set as the default model for whenever imagery with that same camera is added to a new project by checking the Set as Default Camera check box.

6. Click OK to save the camera model and its parameters to the user database.

Remove a camera model

To remove a camera model from the user database, complete the following steps:

1. Create a Drone2Map project and add images or open an existing project.
2. On the Flight Data tab, in the Manage group, click the Edit Camera button .
3. From the Camera Source drop-down menu, select the User Database option.
4. From the Camera Model drop-down menu, select an existing saved camera model.
5. Click the Remove camera from user database button.

   A dialog box appears asking whether you want to remove the specific camera model from the user database.

6. Click Yes to remove the camera from the user database.

   This only removes the camera model from the user database. The system database retains the camera model information for that camera.

Export camera parameters

You can export camera parameter values to an external file before or after processing.

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 provide the new values in the appropriate text boxes.
3. Click the Export camera button.

   The Save Camera File As browse window appears.

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:

Camera model information from previous projects can be imported as a .d2mx file. These files 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 from a file, complete the following steps:

1. On the Flight Data tab, in the Manage section, click the Edit Camera button .
2. Click the Import camera button.

   The Camera File browse window appears.

3. Browse to and select the camera file (.cam, .csv, .txt, or .d2mx), and click OK.

   The Edit Camera window is updated with the imported values.