One solve

Drone photos + video in one model

Fly photos for accuracy and video for coverage, then align them together. Here is when to use One solve, how to fly for it, and what to upload.

What it is

Photos and video see different things. Straight-down and angled drone photos are sharp and evenly spaced, but they miss steep walls, overhangs and the sides of buildings. Video flown along those walls sees what the photos missed.

One solve puts both into the same alignment. Twinbly works out where every photo and every chosen video frame was taken, all in one 3D layout. You get one model, not two that don't line up.

Think of it as one jigsaw: the photos are the border and the sky, and the video fills in the hard middle.

When to use it

Use it for

·Gorges, canyons and cliffs.
·Building facades and tall structures.
·Quarries and steep terrain.
·Areas under tree canopy where photos only see the treetops.
·Any survey where you also flew video to cover what the photos couldn’t.

Skip it when

·It’s a photos-only survey. Use the normal Survey Console upload.
·You have fewer than 80 photos. Use the regular create flow.
·It’s video only. That isn’t supported yet.
·You’re mixing ground phone footage with drone footage. Ground and air views rarely match each other, so keep this to drone footage.

How to fly

·Photos first. They are the backbone that holds everything to scale and position. Fly your usual mapping grid straight down, plus a pass with the camera tilted about 45°, with 70–80% overlap.
·Turn on video subtitles before you record. In DJI Pilot 2 / DJI Fly camera settings, switch on Video Subtitles. That writes a small .SRT file next to each video with the drone's position for every moment. Without it, Twinbly can't place the video.
·Fly video slowly and smoothly along what the photos missed, with the camera pointed at the wall or facade. Overlap the photo area so the video ties in.
·Keep moving. Twinbly only keeps a video frame when the drone has moved to a new spot, so hovering adds nothing.
·Same day, similar light. Shadows that move a lot between the photo and video flights make matching harder.

What to upload

·On twinbly.com → MegaSplat → New project, drop your whole flight folders: photos, .MP4/.MOV videos and their .SRT files, which must have the same names as the videos.
·When usable video is found, One solve is selected for you. Each clip shows how many frames it contributes.
·Twinbly picks the video frames, tags them with their position, resizes everything to one size and uploads a single package. Up to 4,000 images in total: if you go over, video frames are thinned evenly.
·Keep the tab in front until the upload finishes. Browsers slow down background tabs.

Choosing a size

·The highest setting trains at 3,840 px on the long edge, Balanced is 2,400 px and Preview is 1,600 px.
·Twinbly measures your upload speed and pre-selects the largest size that uploads in about 3 hours.
·Larger means more detail but a longer upload. On a slow connection, Preview is a fine first look; you can re-run at a larger size from a faster connection later.
·The price is shown before you start. For example, the Ashley Gorge test (3,304 images at Preview) cost about $8.

After it finishes

·The result is one model in your Library.
·For full detail on a big site, open it and choose Tiled refine. That splits the model into detailed tiles that stream together. Tiled refine is quoted and charged separately before it runs.

If a clip is excluded

Excluded clip

“No positions”

The video has no .SRT file next to it. Turn on Video Subtitles for future flights. For this upload, make sure the .SRT is in the same folder with the same name as the video.

Excluded clip

“Positions not readable”

The .SRT is from a drone or firmware whose format Twinbly doesn't read yet. DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise subtitles are supported. The rest of your upload still works without that clip.

Excluded clip

“Can’t play this video here”

Your browser can't decode the file, often HEVC/H.265 video. Try Chrome or Safari on a recent Mac, or record in H.264. The rest of your upload still works without that clip.

Limits

·Positions come from the drone’s GPS, and video frames carry standard GPS. Treat the result as a visual model, not a survey-grade (RTK-checked) measurement.
·Requires at least 80 photos. Video-only is not supported yet.
·Up to 4,000 images and about a 12 GB upload per job.

General capture tips

How to capture footage that aligns and trains cleanly.