DJI Mini 3 ProDJI Mini 4 ProDJI Mini 5 ProDJI Air 2SDJI Air 3SDJI Mavic 3 ProDJI Mavic 3 ClassicDJI Mavic 4 ProDJI Mavic 3EDJI Mavic 3E C1DJI Mavic 3TDJI Mavic 3TADJI Mavic 3MDJI Matrice 4EDJI Matrice 4TDJI Matrice 4DDJI Matrice 4TDDJI Matrice 350 RTKDJI Matrice 400
The house sits in the centre of the circle, every capture point is the same distance from it.
At a glance
Altitude
by framing, often around 10 m above the roof
Camera angle
45–70° downward
Capture
still photos, no video
Mode
Point of Interest or Hyperlapse
Photos per flight
approx. 50–150, rather more than too few
Orbit
a full circle, a little past the start
Framing
the whole building in every photo, not too close
Common questions
How high should I fly a Point of Interest orbit?
What decides it is the framing, not a number: you look down at the roof at roughly 45 degrees, and the building fits into every single photo. For a detached house that is often around 10 metres above the roof and 10 metres away, always above all trees and neighbouring buildings. Lower gives you more detail but cropped images, and those are of no use to the model. Higher costs resolution on the object.
Which camera angle do I need for the orbit?
45 to 70 degrees downward. Shallower than 45 degrees fills half the frame with sky and background. Steeper than 70 degrees covers the roof well but cuts the façades short. And the façades are the reason for orbiting in the first place.
Can I upload a video instead of photos?
No, it takes still photos. Video frames are heavily compressed and blurred by motion, so the computation finds too few reliable points in them. Hyperlapse mode still works: it flies the circle by itself and can save the original photos along the way. Turn that on in the Hyperlapse settings and upload those photos, not the finished video.
How many photos do I need for a detached house?
50 to 150 per flight. Rather a few more than too few: too few leave gaps between the viewpoints, and only a new flight fills them. A few photos too many do no harm.
Do I have to fly all the way around the building?
Yes, a full circle. A side that was never photographed is missing from the model: you get a hole or a guessed surface there. If a tree or a neighbouring building is in the way, fly that part of the circle higher or wider rather than cutting it short.
Does the house have to be exactly in the centre of the circle?
Yes, as exactly as you can. A common mistake is an orbit that is offset from the building: on one side the drone is too close and crops the house, on the other it is far away and captures little resolution. Put the centre point on the middle of the roof, not on the spot where the drone took off.
Can I combine several orbits?
In principle yes, for example a second orbit at a different height. Whether the flights fit together depends on the drone, though: on some drones of the Mini series the altitude measurement is not consistent enough, and the orbits do not line up cleanly in the model. With the Mavic series it usually works without problems. Several orbits side by side to cover a large building are risky, on the other hand, because images go missing between them. That is what the area route is for.
Which drones can fly Point of Interest?
Almost every current DJI camera drone, from the Mini 3 Pro through Air and Mavic up to the Matrice. The full list is above, under the illustration. Older entry-level models such as the DJI Mini 2 SE lack the mode; with those you fly the circle by hand.
Do I need an RTK drone for Point of Interest?
No. Lengths and areas on the house are accurate to the centimetre without RTK. RTK is worth having if you read the roof pitch from the model: without it the building can sit slightly tilted in the model, and then both halves of the roof are off by the same angle.
