Note: there are a few known issues with the application. There’s agood chance you may encounter one or a few of them along the way. If you get stuck, just hit the reload button on your browser to startnew.
For a successful experience, keep it simple – use closed polygon’s,upload .KML files with a single polygon/parcel.
When imaging a large area, it’s a good idea to plan your altitudeand flight paths in order to:
• Capture thedesired resolution needed
• Make sure thatyou have enough overlap in your photos
• Know your maximum ground speed so that you do not reduce the overlap percentage by flying too fast
• Keep your aircraft straight and level
Check the weather for prevailing winds and map out two different headings. Once you’re on station, you can figure out which plan touse depending on the wind direction.
Elevation data for all US States, including Hawaii and Alaska (Alaskabelow 60N) Australia (SouthAustralia, New South Wales, Tasmania, & Perth [limited]); The Bahamas; Belarus; Buenos Aires (limited); Costa Rica; Czechia; Denmark; Germany; Greece; India (Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad,Mumbai); Ireland; Kenya; Namibia; Netherlands; New Zealand; Portugal; Puerto Rico; South Georgia-South Sandwich Islands; Russia (limited to Western Russia); United Kingdom.
Only .KML Boundary (closed polygons created with Google Earth) aresupported at the moment. Parcels up to 1,000 square miles are supported Only .KML files are supported for upload. Download paths as either KML or GPX or LITCHIformat files. Use a conversion tool like GPS Babel to convert it to another format If you import an unclosed polygon, the app will inform you that it will be closed If it hangs up or you get a memory warning, reload the page and try again
Common digital camera sensor sizes: Popular Canon & Nikon sensor resolution and dimensions: Or refer to your camera’s technical specifications to find the sensor resolution(pixels) and dimension (mm)
If your application is unable to read our GPX files correctly, it maybe due to the style of markup used. SkyIMD and other applications (such as GPSBabel) output GPX files using Track Point < trkpt>markup. Some applications utilize Route Point < rtept > markup. A possible solution would be to change SkylMD’s < trkpt> to < rtept>.
Here’s how that is accomplished:
• Check the “JOINPATHS” box and Save in GPX file format.
• Open the SkylMDcreated GPX file in a text editor and follow these steps in order
• Search for ‘trkpt’ and replace with ‘rtept’
• Search for ‘trk’and replace with ‘rte’
• Save file, or SaveAs… with “…rte” in the filename so you can tell the map art
• Try importing the modified file into your application
Data blocks only appear when a flight plan is created. They show different data points about each boundary and flight plan. Any adjustments you make can affect the data (e.g. Total Images maychange if you change the heading).
Click on the download buttons to download flight paths, or flight paths with camera trigger points. Select KML or GPX or LITCHI (beta20230909) file format from the select menu prior to clicking a download button.
If you import a thin boundary and no paths appear, use the NUDGEarrows to nudge it into place.
If you want two paths on each side of the corridor or street, adjust the side overlap percentage and use the nudge buttons to position the paths on either side of the corridor or street.
This is more apparent if flight paths are joined. Our online calculator does not compensate for the connecting paths between the main flight paths. Our flight paths calculate the distance between the first image in the path and the last image in the path, in a straight line.
To include elevation data with your plan, download a KML file with“Paths with Trigger Points.” Check the “join paths” box ifyou want a contiguous flight path. If elevation is available, eachimage location will contain elevation data, including altitude (AGL), heading, and ground elevation.
Note: if your flight paths straddle an area with elevation data andan area without elevation data, then the resulting plan may not contain elevation data - elevation data for a point is unavailable(SRTM “void”). The elevation data for the point, or the entire plan, may appear as “N/A” inside the file (“not available.”).
We use 1 Arc-Second Global data.
Very large parcels may take a few seconds to render on the screen. Until the flight plan is displayed, the user interface may appear to be unresponsive. It’s best to adjust your camera and flight parameters first, then import the very large parcel KML file. If the user interface seems to lock up for an extended time, refresh your browser and try again. Or try reducing the size of the parcel. Extremely large parcels are best saved as “flight paths” only. Very large parcels that are saved “with trigger points” may take some time to open and review in Google Earth.
If you plan to review the GPX file in Google Earth, select theoptions as shown in the following dialog:
Long edge heading is the heading of the longest edge of the polygonyou imported. When flights paths are first calculated and drawn overthe parcel, they will use this edge’s heading. If you change theheading, use this data point as reference to move it back to theoriginal direction.
If your parcel is in an area that has elevation data available,terrain data blocks will appear and display the terrain elevation variation, max elevation and minimum elevation inside the boundary. Terrain elevation data is approximate and based on image “triggerlocations.” Terrain data will beshown in Meters or Feet, depending on the AGL radio button selection.
Litchi CSV files have been uploaded and tested at flylitchi.commission hub, but we are not drone folks, and have not tried it with a drone yet.
If you use the Litchi format make sure you review thefile thoroughly prior to using it with your drone – we are not responsible for any errors that affect your drone.
Make sure you check elevations for each photo point – if the elevation is “0,” copy the previous point’s elevation into the point that has zero elevation.
To edit Litchi CSV files, we follow waypoint format as described here: https://flylitchi.com/help#waypoints-p3.
action type1 and action param 1 are for the first action of the waypointaction type2 and action param 2 are for the second action of the way point etc.. until 15 because a way point can have max 15 actions
-1 for action type means no action,
0 means “Stay For”
1 means “TakePhoto”
2 means “StartRecording”
3 means “StopRecording”
4 means “RotateAircraft”
5 means “TiltCamera”action param is the time in milliseconds for “Stay For”, and the angle in degrees for“Rotate Aircraft” and “Tilt Camera”