Do not upload these photos to Scanifly

Pre-Upload Photo Review

It is important to review your photos before uploading them to Scanifly. The types of photos listed on this page can cause your project to have issues when processing or may affect the final quality of your model in Scanifly.

1. Close-up of shingles / other surfaces

The reconstruction process relies on the software being able to understand where a photo is located in a scene. If the shot is too close up, there is not enough context in order to properly place the photo in the data set.

2. Sun Glare

Lots of glare is too bright to be recognized by the software, since the detail is lost in the photo when there is a lot of sun glare.

3. Whiteout/Overexposed Photos

When a photo is overexposed, the detail is lost and there is no way to recover the information for use in Scanifly's software.

4. Metal Roof Reflection

Beware of light reflecting off of a metal roof and affecting the camera lens and coloring. To avoid processing errors, remove the images with reflection, fly on a cloudy day, or use an ND filter.

5. Random "top down" (NADIR) pictures

For residential and small commercial projects where the data set is all oblique images, do not upload one-off top down view images, as it may result in processing errors. A nadir image is inconsistent with a data set of all oblique images, which causes model challenges.

6. Ground Photos

Sometimes when the drone takes off, depending on the make and model, it may take a photo automatically. These photos are in a drastically different location than the other photos in the data set, which can cause issues in Scanifly.

7. Horizon Photos

When flying around the site it is important to make sure the gimbal angle is low enough to not include any shots of the horizon. Example Residential Imagery

8. Moving Objects

The reconstruction process in Scanifly relies on the scene being relatively static. That way each photo can be relied upon for reconstruction, since nothing changes in between photos. If you are trying to shoot an active construction site, it is best to do so during non-active construction hours.

9. Discolored Images

Significant or intermittent cloud coverage or flying at dusk could lead to some images being dark or lighter than ones taken subsequently. The color inconsistency can lead to texture map discoloration and possibly lead to a processing error.

10. Higher Altitude

Images at significantly higher altitude compared to images at the heights of obstructions and the roof planes will throw off model construction.

11. Blurry Images

Images taken when the drone is flying too fast or in foggy weather conditions will result in blurry images. These have diminished clarity, causing site features to not map well.

12. Different Data Sets

Do not upload data sets from different days, as they will inherently look different. Additionally, the GPS in most drones uses a relative number for the height which is dependent on the exact take off location which is important and used for reconstruction.