3D Drone Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry turns a set of drone photos of a customer's roof into a measured, textured 3D model you can drop into the PV planner. You fly the site and upload the imagery, and the Portal returns a 3D model plus orthophoto you can import directly into the offer's 3D planning.

Who this is for

• Installer-admins enabling the service for the workspace, managing the subscription, and reviewing finished jobs.
• Account managers / planners uploading drone photos and importing the finished model into an offer's PV planning.

If you're looking for indoor LiDAR scans for heat-load planning, that's a separate flow in the Reonic mobile app, not this Portal-side service.

Before you start

• Your workspace needs the Photogrammetry service enabled. Your account manager can confirm whether it's active in your country and what the current per-job price is.
• Your user account needs the photogrammetry right, set by your workspace admin.
• To import a finished model into PV planning, 3D pre-planning import must also be enabled on your workspace.
• You'll need drone imagery of the site. Photogrammetry is outdoor rooftop only: photos or video. LiDAR and indoor capture aren't part of this flow.

Fly the site and collect imagery

1. Aim for at least 15 photos, ideally 60–100, with strong overlap between shots and good, even lighting.
2. Use a DJI drone where possible. DJI photos are best supported and tend to produce the best models. Other drones still work, though results can vary.
3. Circle the object and take photos at regular intervals so adjacent shots share strong overlap, both along the flight line and between lines.
4. Avoid harsh sun angles, which cast long shadows that confuse reconstruction. Overcast light is often better than direct sun.
5. Keep the gimbal steady. Motion blur reduces reconstruction quality.

Create a photogrammetry job

1. Open the Photogrammetry area in the Portal.
2. Click Create job. A new empty job is created with status Not started.

Step 1 — Upload images

1. Drop your photos (and any video files) into the uploader.
2. Position and orientation data is read from your images as they upload and kept with the job.

Step 2 — Review the flight path

The Portal renders the camera positions in a 3D viewer so you can verify coverage before processing.

1. Look at the rendered flight path. Each photo is a camera position.
2. The wizard warns you if photos are missing location data or if the image count is too low.
3. Fix problems here (add more photos, remove obvious outliers) before continuing.

Note: If the flight-path viewer doesn't show a path, your photos are likely missing location data. Re-check the drone's GPS settings and re-upload the original files, not re-exported copies that may have dropped that data.

Step 3 — Start the job

1. Leave Fast preview on (default) if you want an early low-resolution model while the full job continues. Switch it off if you only need the full-quality result.
2. Click Start job. Status flips to Running.

Wait for processing

1. Typical jobs finish in 15–45 minutes.
2. The Portal shows live status.
3. With Fast preview on, you'll get an email when the low-res preview is ready, then a second email when the full model finishes.
4. If processing exceeds 24 hours, the job times out and is marked Failed. You'll get an email and can re-try.

Open the finished job and import into an offer

1. Once status is Completed, view the textured 3D model and the orthophoto in the Portal.
2. Download the model file if you need it outside Reonic.
3. From the completed job, click Import to Offer / Pre-planning.
4. The model is attached to the offer's 3D planning and used as the measured base for placing PV modules. The offer keeps a link back to the job that produced the model, so you can always trace which job an offer's model came from.

Things to know

• Processing starts when you click Start job. There's no queue to wait in and no separate step to trigger.
• Billing is per job. Each completed job is billed via your Photogrammetry subscription. Your account manager can confirm the current price and any free-job balance on your workspace.
• Failed jobs aren't billed. Only completed jobs generate a charge.
• Re-doing a job. From a Completed job, Clear job outputs reverts it to Not started so you can re-upload and re-run. Any offers that already imported the previous model keep their existing 3D model. From a Failed job, you can re-try or upload additional assets.
• Refunds and credits. If a completed job was unusable and you need a credit, contact your Reonic account manager.
• What photogrammetry feeds. The output is used for outdoor PV planning in the offer's 3D planner. Indoor room hierarchy for heat-load and heat-pump planning comes from the LiDAR room scan in the Reonic mobile app. The two flows are independent.
• Desktop only. Drone-photo uploads happen in the Portal.

Frequently asked

Why did my photogrammetry job fail? Most failures come from the imagery itself: not enough overlap between photos, too few images, motion blur, harsh shadows or mixed lighting, or large gaps in coverage. Location data missing from too many shots will also cause a failure, because without it the geometry can't be reconstructed reliably. Re-fly with more overlap and consistent lighting, or upload additional photos to the existing failed job and re-try. If repeat attempts on a well-flown site still fail, contact your account manager to review the asset set.

My job has been running for a long time. Is something wrong? Most jobs finish in 15–45 minutes. Larger image sets and complex roofs can take longer, but anything still running close to the 24-hour mark is timed out automatically and marked Failed. If jobs consistently run slowly for similar-sized sites, contact your account manager.

The flight path isn't showing in the Review step. What's wrong? The flight-path viewer plots each photo's location. If that data is missing from your photos (non-DJI drone, GPS disabled, indoor capture), the viewer can't render a path. Check that location services were on during the flight, that your drone wrote location data to the photos, and that you're uploading the original files, not re-exported copies that may have dropped it.

How many photos do I need? Minimum 15, recommended 60–100 per roof. More photos with good overlap nearly always produce a better model than fewer photos at higher resolution. Circle the object and take photos at regular intervals so adjacent shots share strong overlap, both along the flight line and between lines.

What are the requirements for drone photos? In summary: outdoor rooftop imagery, location-tagged (DJI is best supported), at least 15 photos with high overlap, even lighting, sharp focus. Photos and video are both accepted. Your account manager can confirm specifics like recommended altitude or ground-sampling distance for your site type.

How do I upload drone photos for planning? Through the Portal's Photogrammetry area: create a job, drop your photos into Step 1 of the wizard, review the flight path in Step 2, start the job in Step 3. Once it completes, import the model into your offer's PV planning. Drone imagery always goes through a photogrammetry job first.

Can I upload my own roof photos instead of drone imagery? The service is built around drone flights: overhead, location-tagged imagery with overlap. Ad-hoc handheld phone photos generally won't produce a usable model. For sites where a drone flight isn't practical, talk to your account manager about alternatives.

How do I get the highest-quality 3D model? Three things matter most: (1) photo count and overlap, so fly more and overlap more; (2) even, diffuse lighting, where overcast is often better than harsh sun; (3) sharp focus and steady gimbal, with slow flight and no motion blur. Avoid extreme sun angles that cast long shadows, and reflective or featureless surfaces where possible.

Will photogrammetry produce the indoor 3D model for heat-load planning? No. Photogrammetry produces an outdoor roof model for PV planning. The room-wise 3D used for heat-load planning comes from the LiDAR scan in the Reonic mobile app, a separate flow. The two are independent.

Where do I see what each job cost? Photogrammetry usage is metered on your subscription. Your account manager can pull the per-job breakdown for any billing period; the invoice itself rolls all jobs in the period into a single line item.

Need help?

If a job fails repeatedly, the model quality is below what you need, or you have a billing question about a specific job, contact your Reonic account manager. They can review the job, issue a credit if appropriate, and help you tune your next flight.

Last updated on August 4, 2026