The drone flies the grid once. At every capture position it takes five
photos: one straight down for roofs and surfaces, then four oblique ones to
the front, right, rear and left. The camera then rests until the next
position. Every part of the site is captured from five directions without
flying the area more than once.
Without Smart Oblique: five separate routes
If your drone lacks the mode, you fly the same job as five routes. First the
grid with the camera pointing straight down, for roofs and surfaces, then
four flights with the camera locked to one compass direction each. Because
the camera stays put, the drone covers the line forwards, sideways and
backwards.
Only the nadir flight fits the site exactly. Each oblique route is offset
against its viewing direction and extends beyond the boundary there: looking
right means starting outside on the left, otherwise the buildings along that
edge would be missing from the model. The flight app plans this offset
itself; you only draw the area.
mapping with Smart Oblique (DJI Pilot 2) or five separate routes
Photos per flight
medium
Area
draw it as large as you want it in the model, with a little margin: the satellite map is not accurate to the centimetre
Common questions
When do I use the area route with oblique images instead of Point of Interest?
As soon as there is more than one house: several buildings, a business park, a street. The circle around a single object cannot be stretched over an area, the grid can. For a single building in detail the area route is the weaker choice, because the drone stays further away than with the orbit or Smart 3D Capture.
What is Smart Oblique?
A capture mode of the DJI Enterprise drones. The drone flies the grid only once and swings the camera at every capture position: one photo straight down, four tilted to the front, right, back and left. That way every spot in the area is photographed from five directions in a single flight.
What if my drone cannot do Smart Oblique?
You fly the same job as five separate routes: one grid with the camera pointing straight down, then four grids with the camera locked, one per compass direction. The model is just as complete, the flight simply takes much longer.
Why do the oblique routes extend beyond the area?
A tilted camera does not look at the point below the drone but some way to the side. If you look to the right, you have to start outside the area on the left, otherwise the buildings along that edge never get a façade shot. Only the flight with the camera pointing straight down fits the area exactly. The flight app plans the extension itself; you only draw the area you want in the model.
How high do I fly the area route?
30 to 80 metres above ground, with the camera tilted 45 to 70 degrees. Lower brings more façade detail but needs more lines and therefore more flight time. The tallest building in the area decides: the drone has to clear it with a safe margin.
Which drones fly the area route with oblique images?
The DJI Enterprise drones, that is the Mavic 3 Enterprise series, the Matrice 4, the Matrice 350 RTK and the Matrice 400. The full list is above, under the illustration. Consumer drones such as the Mini, Air or the regular Mavic have no area route in their app.