Using “texture” image from Drone2Map for ArcGIS?

Question

ESRI's Drone2Map beta produces various outputs; LAS, dem, hillshade, orthomosiac, etc. One of these is "Texture.jpg" file. This image is not projected but it looks like as if I should be able to apply to the sides of structures and vertical "faces" of features.

Does anyone know how this can be done in ArcScene and if not in ArcScene, what sofware would allow me to do this and how?

capture 1: UAV data processed in ESRI's Drone2Map and viewed in ArcScene (notice vertical faces are stretched.)

capture 2: a top-down view of the "texture" image created by the Drone2Map process

Answer 1

I was also trying to find out about textures in Drone2Map, but I didn't get a reply from ESRI.

So I tested the trial versions of Agisoft PhotoScan Professional (www.agisoft.com) and Pix4D PhotoMapper Pro (www.pix4d.com) and they both create a 3D mesh which is textured and colorized on all surfaces.

However, these 2 programs are as expensive as ESRI Drone2Map. They don't have all the GIS features, but then you need ArcGIS to use Drone2Map also.

I found Agisoft runs faster and is better optimized, but Pix4D has better support for some things like the low-quality cameras found on low-cost drones.

The workflow I chose is to do photogrammetry with Agisoft, convert the cloud/mesh using CloudCompare and LAStools, then finish off in QGIS.

Answer 2

Meshlab (http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/) should allow you to project the data onto the sides of the buildings properly but it won't be georeferenced. I'm not sure if arcscene was intended to project ortho's like that. Maybe there is a view included in the drone2map package that can view these files together properly.