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Support > Pix4Dmapper Capture App / Pix4Dmapper Mesh > Getting Started and Manual

(iOS) Pix4Dmapper Capture App - Manual

Updated: October 19, 2015 23:38

(iOS) Pix4Dmapper Capture App Manual

Login page
Sign up page
Home screen
Settings
Map view
Camera view
Status
Start grid mission
Start free flight mission
Mission manager
Tutorial/help

(iOS) Pix4Dmapper Capture App Manual

Login page

Access: The login page is displayed the first time the App is opened or when the user is not logged in with his Pix4D User Account.

To use Pix4Dmapper Capture App to easily and optimally convert images to 3D models, a Pix4D User Account is needed. Log in requires Internet. It can be
skipped up to 5 times so that Pix4Dmapper Capture App can be used temporarily without login.

The login page has 2 links:

Sign up: Click on this link to sign up for a Pix4D User Account.
Skip (n): Click on this link to skip log in. n is the number of times the login can be skipped.

And 2 fields:

Email: Email of your Pix4D User Account.

Password: Password of your Pix4D User Account.

And 1 buttons:

Log in: Press this button to log in.

Sign up page

Access: On the login page click Sign up.

The sign up page allows to create a Pix4D User Account.

It contains 1 link:

Log in: Goes back to the login page.

And 5 fields:

First name: Your first name.

Last name: Your last name.
Email: Email of your Pix4D User Account.
Password: Password of your Pix4D User Account.
Country: Your country.

And 2 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the sign up.

Sign up: Creates a Pix4D User Account.

Home screen

Access: The home screen is displayed when the App is started and the user is logged in. The home screen can be accessed from the Settings, Map

View, Camera View by selecting the home screen icon . From the Mission Manager, click on Back at the left of the toolbar. The home screen cannot be

accessed during a Mission.

The home screen contains the following items:

: Opens the login page.

 : Log out from your Pix4D User Account.

Grid Mission: Plan and fly a grid mission.

Free Flight Mission: Plan and fly a free flight mission. This is recommended for advanced users.
Mission Manager: Opens the mission manager that allows to convert your missions to 3D models and maps.
Tutorial/Help: Opens the page that gives access to the online getting started help page.

Settings

Access: On the Map View or Camera View, click Settings.

The settings allow you to change the settings for:

The grid mission

General options

Grid mission

The grid mission settings that can be adjusted are:

Overlap: Sets the frontal overlap between the images. The side overlap is computed such that the side distance between 2 images is 2 times the
distance between 2 images on the same flight line.
3 type of overlap can be selected.
Low: The images are taken with a 70% frontal overlap.
Medium: The images are taken with a 80% frontal overlap. This is the default overlap.
High: The images are taken with a 90% frontal overlap.
Drone reliability/speed: The App computes the maximum speed the drone can have for a given overlap and flight altitude. By default the speed is
set to fast, which corresponds to 100% of the maximum speed. Reducing the speed might help to reduce blur in the images.
5 types of speed can be selected:
Slow: 60% of the maximum speed.
Slow+: 70% of the maximum speed.
Normal: 80% of the maximum speed.
Normal+: 90% of the maximum speed.
Fast: maximum speed.

Low overlap Medium overlap High overlap

General options

The general options that can be set for the App are:

Sync automatically: When this option is enabled, the missions are automatically synchronized from the drone to the device at the end of the
mission. By default the option is enabled. If the missions are not synchronized, they can be synchronized later on following: 204057579.

Map view

Access: In the home screen click Grid Mission. The map view can also be accessed from the App toolbar by clicking the map view icon .

The map view is the main view for a mission. Before a grid mission it is used to set the position of the grid and to take off. During a mission, it shows the position

of the home point , the position of the drone , the positions where the pictures have been taken as well as as the status of the mission.

The map view displays the following items:

Allows to change the flight altitude. The altitude can be set between 30 and 100 meters or 90 and 300 feet. By default the altitude is 50 meters or

150 feet.
 Allows to set the minimum horizontal and vertical distance between two images acquired in free flight mode. The minimum horizontal and vertical

distance can be set between 30 and 100 meters or 3 and 50 feet. By default the minimum horizontal and vertical distance are set to 5 and 3 meters or 3
and 3 feet respectively.

Displays the device's GPS position.

Displays the grid position for the grid mission. By default, the grid size is 50x50 meters or 150x150 feet.

Move the grid: Press with the finger in the middle of the grid and drag it.
Rotate the grid: Press with the finger on one of the arrows on the border of the grid and rotate it.
Resize the grid: Press with the finger on one of the small squares on the grid border and drag it.
Green grid: The grid size is optimal to fly the mission with a fully charged battery.
Yellow grid: The grid size is might be too large to fly the mission with a fully charged battery or it is too small to give optimal 3D models and maps.
Red grid: The grid size is too large to be able to fly the whole mission with a fully charged battery.

Displays the grid size and estimated flight time for the grid mission.

Shows the home point, i.e. the point at which the drone takes off. When doing a grid mission the drone lands automatically at the home point when

the mission is finished.

For a grid mission, shows the last waypoint of the mission. When the drone reaches this point, it comes back to the home point and lands.

Shows the position and orientation of the drone. The green arms are in the back of the drone and the red arms in the front. The green line shows the

path the drone has flown.

Shows the locations where the pictures were recorded

The map view contains the following buttons:

Centers the map on the device's GPS position.

Displays a map background.

Displays a satellite background.

Moves the grid to the center of the screen.

Starts the grid mission. It will guide the user through security checks before the drone takes off.

The drone aborts the grid mission and comes back to the home point for landing. The images that have already been taken are synchronized

with the device.

Starts a free flight mission. It will guide the user through security checks before the drone can take off.

Pauses the image acquisition when flying a free flight mission.

Resumes the image acquisition when flying a free flight mission.

Stops the image acquisition and the free flight mission. The .p4d project file is created and the images are synchronized with the device.

Camera view

Access: In the App toolbar, click the camera view icon .

The camera view shows what the camera is currently viewing. It allows to orient the camera if needed by using the 2 following buttons:

Move the camera up.

Move the camera down.

Note:

If the displayed camera view is bad or if there is no camera view, this does not mean that the mission is failing. It is very likely due to a bad video
stream transmission from the drone to the App.
Each time a picture is taken, the screen becomes black.
The camera cannot be moved if the remote control is not turned on.

Status

Access: In the Map View or Camera View, click the battery status icon .

The status displays the telemetry of the drone. It is available each time the device is connected to the drone.
The following status are displayed:

Status of the drone's battery.

Status of the Wi-Fi range extender's battery.
Number of GPS satellites available. At least 6 satellites are required to take off.
Status of the SD card. The status can be:

Inserted
No SD card
SD card full
SD card unformatted
Has error
Unknown SD card error

Speed: Ground speed of the drone in [m/s].

Alt: Altitude above the ground of the drone in [m]. 0 altitude corresponds to the altitude at which the drone was started.
... m away: Ground distance between the home point and the drone in [m].
Connection status: Displays if the App is connected to the drone through Wi-Fi or not. The status can be:

Connected: The App is connected to the drone Wi-Fi.

Connected Wi-Fi: The App is connected to the range extender Wi-Fi.
Disconnected: The App is not connected to the drone.

Start grid mission

Access: In the Map View, when doing a grid mission, click .

When the button Start mission is pressed a wizard guides the user through different checks before the drone takes off and starts a grid mission.

Warning window
Connection window
Takeoff window

Warning window

The Warning window displays safety instructions that have to be read carefully.

It contains 2 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the mission.

Next: Goes to the next page of the start mission wizard.

Connection window

The connection window displays a summary of the grid settings. It also displays if the App is connected to the drone through Wi-Fi or not. The Wi-Fi connection
can have 3 status:

Please connect to drone Wi-Fi: The App is not connected to the drone.
Connected to range extender Wi-Fi <wifi_name>: The App is connected to the range extender Wi-Fi. <wifi_name> is the name of the drone's Wi-
Fi.
Connected to drone <wifi_name>: The App is connected to the drone Wi-Fi. <wifi_name> is the name of the drone's Wi-Fi.

It contains 3 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the mission.

Wi-Fi Settings: Opens the App settings. Click Settings and scroll to the Wi-Fi settings.
Next: Goes to the next page of the start mission wizard. It is enabled only if there is a Wi-Fi connection between the App and the drone.

Takeoff window

The takeoff window displays a checklist that has to be validated before the drone can take off. Each item of the checklist can be in one of these status:

Item is validated.
Item is currently being checked.
Check failed.

The takeoff window contains the following checks:

Connected to drone: Verifies that the App is connected to the drone through Wi-Fi.
Drone GPS satellites: (n/m): Verifies that the drone is connected to at least 6 GPS satellites. n is the number of GPS satellites detected, m is equal
to 6, the minimum number of GPS satellites required to take off.
Homepoint set: Verifies that the home point is set. The home point is defined by the drone's position at takeoff. This requires to have enough GPS.
The home point can be reset by switching the S2 switch.
Phone storage (n MB found): Verifies that there is enough space on the device to synchronize the images at the end of the mission. n is the
amount of free storage on the device.
Battery level (drone) sufficient: Verifies that the drone and range extender's battery level is enough (at least 20%).
Ground station connected: Verifies that the drone is connected to the App.
S1 switch position correct: Verifies that the S1 switch is placed at the top position.
Drone SD card inserted: Verifies that the SD card is inserted.
Drone close to grid: Verifies that the drone is close enough to the grid, i.e. that the drone is maximum 150m away from the center of the grid.

The takeoff window also contains 2 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the mission.

: Press the button and the drone takes off.
 Start free flight mission

Access: In the Map View, when doing a free flight mission, click .

When the button Take pictures is pressed a wizard guides the user through different checks before the drone is allowed to takeoff and starts a free flight
mission.

Free flight warning window

Connection window
Takeoff window

Free flight warning window

The Warning window displays safety instructions that have to be read carefully.

It contains 3 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the mission.

More information: Opens the online getting started guide.
Next: Goes to the next page of the wizard.

Connection window

The connection window displays a summary of the free flight settings. It also displays if the App is connected to the drone through Wi-Fi or not. The Wi-Fi
connection can have 3 status:

Please connect to drone Wi-Fi: The App is not connected to the drone.
Connected to range extender Wi-Fi <wifi_name>: The App is connected to the range extender Wi-Fi. <wifi_name> is the name of the drone's Wi-
Fi.
Connected to drone <wifi_name>: The App is connected to the drone Wi-Fi. <wifi_name> is the name of the drone's Wi-Fi.

It contains 3 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the mission.

Wi-Fi Settings: Opens the device's Wi-Fi settings.
Next: Goes to the next page of the start mission wizard. It is enabled only if there is a Wi-Fi connection between the App and the drone.

Takeoff window

The takeoff window displays a checklist that has to be validated before the drone can take off. Each item of the checklist can be in one of these status:

Item is validated.
Item is currently being checked.
Check failed.

The takeoff window contains the following checks:

Connected to drone: Verifies that the App is connected to the drone through Wi-Fi.
Drone SD card (n MB found): Verifies that there is enough space on the SD card. n is the amount of free space on the SD card.
Battery levels sufficient: Verifies that the drone and range extender's battery level is enough (at least 20%).
Drone GPS satellites: (n/m): Verifies that the drone is connected to at least 6 GPS satellites. n is the number of GPS satellites detected, m is equal
to 6, the minimum number of GPS satellites required to take off.
Homepoint set: Verifies that the home point is set. The home point is defined by the drone's position at takeoff. This requires to have enough GPS.
Phone storage (n MB found): Verifies that there is enough space on the device to synchronize the images at the end of the mission. n is the
amount of free storage on the device.

The takeoff window also contains 2 buttons:

Cancel: Cancels the mission.

: Press the button to start taking pictures.

 Mission manager

Access: In the home screen, click Mission Manager.

The mission manager displays the different missions that have been taken with the device and allows to convert them to 3D models and maps.

The mission manager toolbar contains 2 buttons:

Back: Goes to the home screen.

Select: Allows to select multiple missions and to delete them.

For each mission, an icon displays the status of the mission:

Mission not synchronized

Mission not uploaded

Mission uploaded

Mission error

Mission not synchronized

The images of the mission are on the SD card and have not been synchronized with the device.

Sync with drone: Starts to synchronize the images from the SD card to the device. The App connects automatically to the drone through Wi-Fi.

Mission not uploaded

The images of the mission have been synchronized from the SD card to the drone but have not yet been uploaded to your Pix4D User Account.

Reduce images for fast preview: Uploads half resolution images with lower JPG compression quality. This option is enabled by default.

Note:
This option reduces the image size from 5MB to 1MB and thus the upload time is 5 times
faster.
The visual quality of the mesh is slightly lower.
For measuring applications, it is advised to use the full size images.

Upload to Pix4DCloud: Uploads the mission to your Pix4D User Account.

Mission uploaded

The mission has successfully been uploaded to your Pix4D User Account. A quick 3D preview is available as well as the full dataset that can be downloaded to
your computer for advanced outputs and editing.

Mission error

An error occurred and no .p4d file has been generated. Therefore, the precise geolocation needed by Pix4Dmapper is lost. To process the mission, images
have to be copied from the SD card. For more information: 204886335.

Mission manager toolbar

The toolbar has 2 buttons:

Allows to share the .p4d project file of the mission through mail.

Opens the online help page.

Tutorial/help

The tutorial/help screen contains the following items:

Getting Started: Opens the getting started guide.

Manual: Opens the online manual.
App Overview: Plays the App overview animation.

Related articles
(iOS) Pix4Dmapper Capture App - Getting started
How to Process images acquired with different models of DJI
(iOS) How to manually transfer the images and .p4d file from the device to the computer
(iOS) Mission manager error: No .p4d file
Pix4Dmapper Mesh - Step 1. Transfer images and image geolocation acquired with Pix4Dmapper Capture App

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