New Off Nadir Resolution Calculator

A quick update, I uploaded a new Python off-nadir resolution calculator to my GitHub:

https://github.com/geojames/py_offNadir_Res

It only works for low-oblique images (theoretically it would also work for nadir images if you set the pitch of the camera to zero). It calculates the pixel resolutions for the near field (closest to the camera), mid field (at the principal point), and the far field (furthest for the camera). It will also tell you the area that each image covers.

If your interested in how it works head over to the GitHub repository.

Calculating Spatial Resolutions for Aerial Imagery

I've often needed to calculate/predict the spatial resolution for aerial imagery collections that I do (the life of a remote sensing researcher). I wrote a Matlab script for some helicopter aerial photography as part of my dissertation research. But, I needed a more streamlined script for some of my current work with UAVs. So, here is a brand new Python script to do all the calculations for me (and you).

Agisoft Photoscan Crash Course (updated for version 1.1.6)

Finally, time for an update…this time to Photoscan Professional 1.1.6. In this tutorial, I am going to fly through the basics of getting a Photoscan project up and running without getting to deep into the details. If you are interested in the details of specific tools, I will refer you to the official documentation (Agisoft Photocan User Manuals).

The instructions for the previous version 1.0 are still here…
I also have discussions on cameras and camera geometry.

Online Point Cloud Viewer (Finally!!!)

I finally found what I been wanted since I started collecting 3D datasets 4-ish years ago, an efficient online point cloud viewer!

The viewer is by Markus Schütz over at potree.org. It only took a little while to get the code up and running.

Agisoft Photoscan Crash Course (v. 1.0.2)

*Updated version for Photoscan 1.1 is finally here*

A not-so-quick tutorial in using Photoscan to process a single photoset in Agisoft Photoscan Professional version 1.0 (1.0.2 or 1.0.3), for Photoscan version 1.1 please see the updated tutorial.

I have written this for various research groups at the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and Dartmouth College. I hope that this will help others get started as well. I also plan to add screen shots to this eventually, but for now this will have to do.

Mobile LiDAR / Point Cloud Veiwer

Just a quick post on something I found just in time for AGU, a mobile LiDAR / Point Cloud viewer app for Android (Google Play). I've been searching for an app like this since I started creating 3D datasets.


It works best with LAS files, which for Structure-from-Motion point cloud data you can export LAS files from CloudCompare. It seemed to have a problem with UTM coordinates (probably to a decimal precision cut off), but if you export the data in a "local" coordinate system it works beautifully. I also tried it on some OpenTopography LiDAR data and it works just fine.

PyScripter for ArcGIS 10.2

This tutorial is for my GEOG 490 students. I hope others find use in it too.

PyScripter is another Python GUI (Graphical User Interface) similar to the ones we've been using in class (IDLE and PythonWin). PyScripter has several advantages over these other programs, mainly the ability to auto-complete ArcPy, which really speeds things up.

Kinect Software Links

Here is some of the software I've tried out for getting data out of a stock XBOX 360 Kinect. There is a ton of info out there on hacking the Kinect to do your bidding in terms of 3D scanning.
SCANECT
RGB Demo
SCENECT

All of these use the OpenNI drivers for the Kinect

Bonus...some academic lit. on using the connect as a sensor
by Ken Mankoff in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

The Kinect: a low-cost, high-resolution, short-range 3D camera

- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3332/abstract

Updated SfM Software Links

My original post on SfM software is here.

There are a growing number of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) software packages out there, here are some of the ones that I've come in contact with. VisualSfM would be the place I would start...

3D Coordinate Transformations

JAG3D is a large software package that can be used for geodetic correction of survey data, however, buried within the interface is a nice compact module for performing full 3D coordinate transformations.


This tutorial is for JAG3D version 3.3.20110211 (published Feb. 11, 2011)

Data Prep for JAG3D

Instructions for preparing your Photosynth data for JAG3D Transformation.

Photosynth Software Links

A collection of software links to help with processing Photosynth data.