Photos, videos, LiDAR and drones: how to choose a 3D collection method
Compare photos, videos, mobile LiDAR, professional point clouds and drone aerial photography for what they are used for, acquisition costs, accuracy features and deliverables.
There is no unified best answer for 3D acquisition methods. Merchandise, indoor space, building space and large campuses require completely different equipment and routes. The correct approach is to first determine the use of the results, and then choose photos, videos, LiDAR, drones or multi-source fusion.
Photo collection: controllable quality, suitable for delicate objects
Photos can stably control the clarity, exposure and shooting angle, and are suitable for commodities, cultural relics, equipment and small and medium-sized spaces. Complex objects usually require surround shooting at multiple heights and angles. Its main cost is on-site shooting time and post-production footage screening, but input quality is usually easier to control than off-the-shelf video.
Video capture: fast, suitable for quick verification
Video can lower the threshold for collection and is suitable for quick mobile phone scanning, first verification and field recording. The system can extract valid frames from the video for reconstruction. Be aware of motion blur, auto-exposure changes, and repeated invalid shots. Important projects should control their movement speed and stay in key areas for additional shots.
LiDAR: providing a stable space skeleton
LiDAR can directly obtain spatial point clouds, which is more valuable for weakly textured walls, structural dimensions and geometric constraints. Mobile phone LiDAR is suitable for rapid indoor archiving, and professional laser equipment is suitable for higher accuracy and wider range. LiDAR point clouds often need to be fused with photos or videos to obtain both geometric structure and clear texture.
Drone: suitable for buildings, parks and large scenes
Drones can efficiently cover construction sites, campuses, energy facilities and terrain areas. Route altitude, course overlap, side overlap, exposure and positioning information will directly affect the completeness of the results. Facades, eaves and complex equipment areas usually require additional oblique angles of view, flying around or low-altitude supplementary shooting.
Multi-source integration is a common choice for enterprise projects
Large-scale projects can use drones to cover the entirety, use cameras to supplement facades and details, use LiDAR to provide structural constraints, and then manage materials, reconstruction and delivery in a unified platform.