Pix4D Releases Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced Mapping Platforms

Pix4D, a photogrammetry and drone-mapping industry leader headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, announced recently the release of Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced: new mapping platforms for online surveying workflows and construction site monitoring.

As standalone cloud products, these platforms run Pix4D’s photogrammetry algorithms for mapping and modeling reality from images.

Pix4Dcloud Advanced extends the functionalities of Pix4Dcloud to address the needs of construction customers with timeline-based monitoring and improved accuracy. Both products now replace the previous Pix4D Cloud platforms.

Pix4D (pix4d.com) develops cutting-edge software that converts images taken by hand, by drone, or by plane into accurate and georeferenced survey-grade 2D mosaics, 3D models, and point clouds.

Nikoleta Guetcheva, Head of Marketing of Pix4D spoke with GISCafe Voice about the new cloud solutions that contribute to the existing desktop and mobile product offering.

What were the features available in previous Pix4D Cloud platforms and what has been added with the two standalone cloud products, Pix4Dcloud and Pix4DCloud Advanced?

Pix4Dcloud is the equivalent of Pix4Dmapper Cloud with the exact same features set.

Pix4Dcloud Advanced corresponds to the former Pix4Dbim Cloud, with a new additional feature, AutoGCPs. Having a standalone cloud product will allow us to speed up the development and new features implementation.

Are the new products the results of customer demand?
Customer feedback is a priority for Pix4D and our studies revealed that our users need more flexibility in the platforms they have to use for specific projects. Allowing them now to work only on the cloud when needed is going in this direction.

When you say the new mapping platforms are standalone, what does that mean exactly?
Pix4D was actually cloud born in 2012 and then moved to desktop, because technology infrastructures were not ready. In 2016 we launched Pix4D Cloud as a feature of Pix4Dmapper. Today we launch Pix4Dcloud as a product that is independent from our desktop solutions (Pix4Dmapper, Pix4Dmatic, Pix4Dfields, Pix4Dsurvey). Every user can get only a PIx4Dcloud subscription, without working with any Pix4D desktop software.

Are the platforms integratable with other products?
Yes, Pix4Dcloud (and also Pix4Dcloud Advanced) are fully integratable with Pix4Dmapper, as projects can be uploaded from the desktop software to the cloud platform for processing after setting custom parameters, or only for visualization purposes. Outputs from Pix4Dsurvey can also be uploaded directly from the Pix4Dcloud interface for collaboration and sharing.

What does the map view, where annotations and overlays are automatically grouped, look like?

Here’s a screenshot of a 2D map of a construction site in Pix4Dcloud Advanced. On the center-left of the map you can see an annotation (in blue) and in the center-right (in green) the plan overlay. More demo datasets can be explored here for free and without the need to log in.

Are the same Pix4D photogrammetry algorithms used for these mapping platforms as were used for the previous cloud solutions?

Pix4Dcloud runs the same Pix4D photogrammetry algorithms as the previous platforms.

Give an example or two of common workflows for which Pix4Dcloud would be used.

When bundled with Pix4D’s Crane Camera, Pix4Dcloud Advanced is also the most straightforward solution to automatically capture and process construction site imagery without interfering with site operations.

• The Crane Camera takes images several times a day, uploads them automatically to Pix4Dcloud Advanced, delivering daily 2D and 3D data
• The project progress and plan site operations can be easily tracked remotely, without being on-site
• Project managers can add multiple design overlays and compare the as-built vs as-designed
• Collaboration and communication about the project status is streamlined with the team in the field, having the opportunity to easily inform them if an error is spotted, with supporting visual proofs
• The orthomosaic or point cloud can be manually exported in other 3rd parts BIM/CAD software
• The project progress can finally be shown in meetings with clients

Here is a further breakdown of the various features of the new Pix4Dcloud products:

Survey-grade accuracy on the cloud

With Pix4Dcloud Advanced, projects can now be processed with ground control points (GCPs) directly on the cloud. Pix4D has combined machine learning and computer vision in the AutoGCPs feature to pinpoint the exact center of a GCP target almost instantly with pixel-level accuracy, all automatically. Read more on Pix4D’s blog.

A refreshed, more powerful interface

All projects and datasets are now in one place: the drive. Projects and sites can be easily searched and there is no need to go from one application to another to open different project types.

On the map view, annotations and overlays are automatically grouped, to make work and collaboration easier. All grouped layers can be hidden with a click, and multiple annotation groups can be created and simply reorganized

Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced can be purchased independently from any desktop software to generate 2D maps and 3D models for online-only surveying workflows.

Explore demo projects for free and without an account on cloud.pix4d.com/demo .

Tags: cloud, data, geospatial, GIS, imagery, Infrastructure, intelligence, laser scanner, location, mapping, maps, mobile mapping, Pix4D, reality modeling

Categories: analytics, Big Data, climate change, cloud, data, drones, field GIS, geospatial, GIS, image-delivery software, location based sensor fusion, location based services, location intelligence, mapping, public safety, spatial data, survey, transportation

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