Event Planning with Photogrammetry

Anyone that has been in the event planning space, knows how intense things can get. Managing human resources, equipment, logistics, participants and crowds. And every event planning journey starts with the venue or the location.

Event planning 1st step – venue 3D scanning

Venues can be complicated stadiums with every commodity ever or just a plain of grass. Today we will look at a venue that is unique and complicated enough to present a few challenges, but still very easy to scan using any drone with a camera.

The venue is Trakai Island Castle, built in the 14th and 15th centuries. As the name implies, the castle is built on an island in a natural lake and is one of the unique landmarks in the Baltic States. It has hosted refined jazz nights, operas, EDM concerts, rock concerts and many more types of events. The castle is connected to the mainland via two bridges.

Photogrammetric venue 3D model

Such a venue has drawbacks as well as useful features. The access is limited, unless one is using a helicopter or a boat, which is not feasible, usually. The limited access also means superb security and control in or out, it is a castle after all. A lot of drawbacks and advantages of the venue can be evaluated without even visiting the castle itself. How? A digital twin 3D model made with the help of photogrammetry.

 

DETAILED SCAN	NADIR + OBLIQUE
FLIGHT TIME:	1H 19 MIN
PROCESSING TIME:	14 H 40 MIN
PHOTO COUNT:	1221
SCANNED AREA:	22188 M²
FLIGHT TIME:	55 M
GSD:	1.51 CM/PX
TEMPERATURE:	+18C
WIND:	5M/S

Saving time with photogrammetry

The castle has been scanned using a Phantom 4 RTK drone, which is a good tool for specifically photogrammetric scans. But for our purposes, any drone with a decent camera would have sufficed. Visually, an even more superior result would have been possible if RAW images were to be taken and processed, while the RTK drone has only JPG image output. Nowadays, with an abundance of photographers having drones in their arsenal it is easier than ever to get quality data quickly.

This kind of input data does produce excellent results. The conditions were excellent and the castle has no special flight restrictions when it comes to drones, so we did a full multi orientation 3D oblique scan, available in the RTK drones’ control application

If we had a time limit for flying, a less visually pleasing but still useful scan could be achieved in 1/7th of the time the pilot took. Take a look.

 

FAST SCAN	NADIR
FLIGHT TIME:	11 min
PROCESSING TIME:	1 H 45 MIN
PHOTO COUNT:	225
SCANNED AREA:	22188 M²
FLIGHT TIME:	55 M
GSD:	1.51 CM/PX
TEMPERATURE:	+18C
WIND:	5M/S

Measuring the location for event planning

Now we have the full scene inside Pixpro and we can measure anything, including the area of various places inside the venue, space for the crowd, for a bar or a lounge, if needed. We can measure the height of any object in the vicinity as well as the elevation change of the ground.

• Mark and measure event areas

• Evaluate how many fences and barriers you are going to need

• Measure any slope precisely

• Watch a video demonstrating how fast and easy you can mark and measure objects in Pixpro.

Detailed inspection with photogrammetry

We can inspect things in detail as well by placing a point and seeing every image that the point is visible in. This might be required for documenting the damage that has been there already, before the event started, marking places where certain elements must be placed or attached. In essence, making 3D notes of the entire venue, with the ability to inspect the said notes visually.

• Point marked on a 3D mesh.

• List and preview of images selected point can be investigated in.

Line of sight tools in Pixpro

We can use Pixpro’s line of sight functions to determine approximate viewing and shadow areas for observation as well as sound design purposes. Line of sight function still requires a DEM to be used, but that does not diminish the usefulness of the functionality.

Event planning with photogrammetry - cheap way to save time

All of this can be accomplished inside Pixpro. There are still endless possibilities of data export from Pixpro into more specialized software, for accurate sound design, or even a modelling software for making visuals for videos or photos. With photogrammetry the only limit is your imagination. And nowadays with software such as Pixpro one does not need to spend hours upon hours learning to achieve results as discussed above. It is time to take event planning to the next step.

Try it yourself, and your next event will go even smoother than before.