Functionalities / How-to

Add a custom camera (iOS) - PIX4Dcapture

The custom camera option allows users to plan and fly missions with the correct overlap even if the camera is not included in the database of Pix4Dcapture.

In order to create a custom camera, name, focal length, sensor width, image width, and height and the minimum trigger time between pictures need to be defined. It is also possible to edit or delete a custom camera.

Note: This option is available for DJI drones only and for polygon, grid and double grid missions. Several custom cameras can be defined.

The procedure is the following:

1. Open the app.
2. In the Home screen, tap Settings.
3. In the Drone section, tap Camera.
4. In the Custom camera section, tap Add custom camera...

Information: Camera parameters can usually be found in the camera's user manual.

5. Enter Camera name.
6. Enter Focal length [mm].
7. Enter Sensor width [mm].
8. Enter Image width [pixel].
9. Enter Image height [pixel].

Important: The minimum triggering interval must be the same as the automatic triggering interval set for the camera in order to achieve the correct overlap when flying the mission. First step is defining the time-lapse directly in the settings of the camera, and then applying the same value for the Min. triggering interval [s] in the app.

10. Enter Min. triggering interval [s].
11. Tap Save to save the camera model.

custom_camera.jpg

Note: Some differences compared to flights with cameras in the app database:
  • According to the selected interval [s], the speed of the drone is adjusted to achieve the desired front overlap [%]. It is not recommended to apply a too small interval as the drone will fly very slowly if the front overlap is high.
  • As the triggering is based on time-lapse, pictures accumulate in the corners where the drone slows down to turn.
  • Missions flown with a custom camera cannot be synchronized. In other words, images cannot be downloaded from the drone to the device and the project file (.p4d) is not generated. This is, however, not a problem for processing.