This blog post comes from the latest case study we’ve added to our website: ‘Drone Aerial Photography — Aerial 3D Visualisations‘.
An increasingly popular use of drone aerial photographs is to combine them with computer-generated models of proposed developments — buildings which don’t even exist but can be rendered so realistically that it becomes hard to tell where the aerial photograph stops and the computer-generated model starts. This type of imagery is especially helpful:
- During the planning phase of new developments, allowing the planning office to get a very good idea of what a proposed development would look like (and how it would impact on the surrounding landscape) once completed;
- For estate agents, allowing them to market as-yet-unfinished properties using highly realistic imagery of the completed projects — after all, would you to put down a substantial deposit on a house which hasn’t been finished by looking at a photo of a building site? How about having seen multiple photo-realistic computer-generated images showing what the finished house will look like?
Over the last few years we’ve worked with a number of specialist 3D Visualisation Studios who have commissioned us to take drone aerial photographs of their clients’ projects, often from very specific altitudes and angles, which they will then use as the backgrounds for their computer-generated imagery. These projects are briefly outlined below.
Madejski Stadium regeneration proposal, Reading, Berkshire
One of the more complex projects involved photographing a large area of land next to the Madejski Football Stadium in the heart of Reading, Hampshire, which was at the heart of a large regeneration proposal for the city. Our client, Realm Communications, gave us very specific angles which they wanted us to capture for their end client — not only the altitude the photographs had to be taken from, but also the exact field of view of the camera. Working closely with Realm Communications on site, we were able to capture all the angles they required, and as a result, the project was given the green light in April 2017.
This project was particularly complex as it involved flying the drone in three different locations — all on publicly-accessible land. We worked closely with the management teams from both the stadium and the nearby Green Park business park to give us the necessary permission to fly the drone from their land.
You can find out more about this project in this blog post we wrote after taking the imagery back in 2015:
The project even made the BBC News when it was given the go-ahead last year (note: clicking the link below will open a new window. To return to our site simply close this new window)!
Using your mouse, rollover the images below (and the one at the top of this blog post) to see our drone aerial photographs before and after the computer-generated buildings were added. If you’re using a tablet or smartphone, just tap on the images to switch between the before / after imagery.
Private property marketing imagery, West Sussex
So far we’ve worked on three projects in West Sussex where two property developers and a private individual wanted to produce marketing imagery for their properties so they could be sold before the construction work was completed. For the first two projects we worked with 3D Visualisation firm JA3D, and instead of being told what angles to take, we were simply told to take the most aesthetically-pleasing photographs of the properties in question, and they would did the rest — adjusting and lighting their 3D models to fit seamlessly into the aerial photographs. For the third project, we supplied the aerial photographs directly to the property developer, and they then worked with a 3D Visualisation company to produce the finished marketing imagery.
Proposed supermarket in Hersham, Surrey
This project involved taking some very high-level aerial photographs of a proposed development site in Hersham, Surrey for Columbian-based 3D Visualisation firm MONOMO. Because the site in question was in the middle of a very congested residential area, we had to fly a fair distance from the site and use a longer focal-length lens to ensure the images we captured contained sufficient detail. The first angle shown below was taken whilst flying over the fields of a Pick-Your-Own farm, and the second angle was taken whilst flying over a complex of office buildings — in both cases permission had to be granted by the respective landowners in order to fly the drone from their land.
Over the years we’ve been very fortunate to work with some excellent 3D Visualisation studios who have kindly shared their experiences of working with us in the testimonials below.
“We’ve used Horizon Imaging’s services several times to capture drone aerial imagery of sites onto which we’ve superimposed computer-generated architecture, the result has always been on time, and with the specifications that were commissioned, even from overseas. Working with David feels like working with a team right at home, he is my first choice for Drone imagery in the UK.”
“We found working with Horizon Imaging a real pleasure while working on marketing drone images for a Reading Stadium development. David handled a lot of security, and access permissions, allowing the drone photo shot to go smoothly and within budget. His technical understanding of photography and his bespoke drone allowed us to achieve near exact matches of our proposed views. We, and the end client, were extremely pleased with the end results, and will be using David again.”
“This was the second time I have used David’s services for capturing some aerial photographs of my clients’ projects. Once again he was professional, well prepared, and most importantly got some great shots for my client. I could not fault his services and end product, and he is now my go-to guy for aerial photography.”
Do you work in the property or planning industries? Do you wish there was a way to realistically illustrate how a completed development will look from the air before construction work has commenced? We have many years of experience working with property developers and 3D Visualisation Studios to do just this, and computer simulation software has become so advanced that it’s almost impossible to tell where reality ends and the computer models start. Want to know more? Drop us a line today and we’d be happy to talk through the process with you.