PDF CEE 2019 - Johnny Miller - Drones for Public Good

Drone Journalism / Drone Activism
Some Practical Tips & Techniques

Infrastructure of Exclusion – Various Cities, USA
- Background: Visualizing systems and
histories of disenfranchisement and racism
through infrastructure.
- Project: To create a compelling multimedia
story with multiple components, including
drone photo/video, data visualizations, and
photo composites of historical imagery.
- Hardware/Software: DJI Mavic Pro drone,
Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop,
Adobe Premier Pro, Justicemap.org,
Shorthand.com.

Franklin Neighborhood – Detroit, USA
- Background: A neighborhood suffering from
high levels of blight and neglect, part of a
wider story on American infrastructure.
- Project: To create a high resolution map
using drones, overlay onto Google Earth,
and also use Juxtapose to compare the
new imagery with historical imagery.
Pix4D Capture, Pix4D Mapper, Adobe
Lightroom, Google Earth Pro (desktop),
Dropbox, Juxtapose

Lake Michelle / Masiphumelele – Cape Town, South
Africa
- Background: A strong division of inequality
exists in Cape Town between a rich and
poor neighborhood.
- Project: To create a high resolution map
using drones, overlay onto Google Earth,
and also use Juxtapose to compare the
new imagery with historical imagery.
Pix4D Capture, Pix4D Mapper, Adobe
Lightroom, Google Earth Pro (desktop),
Dropbox, Juxtapose

Johannesburg CBD – South Africa
- Background: Map the business
district of South Africa’s
commercial capital.
- Project: Create a 3D model of
Johannesburg using only Google
Earth. Create an annotated story
with that model.
- Hardware/Software: Google Earth
(online), Pix4D Mapper, Adobe
Lightroom, Sketchfab.com

Smith Island, Maryland USA
- Background: A low-lying island in an estuary with
multiple small towns, which is threatened by rising
sea levels.
- Project: To create an accurate, color-coded
elevation map; to create a 3D model of the towns,
and to create a looping GIF showing where flooding
would happen first.
- Hardware/Software: DJI Mavic Pro drone, Pix4D
Capture, Pix4D Mapper, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe
Photoshop, plas.io

africanDRONE – Who We Are
Our Vision
- African non-profit empowering civic drone
pioneers across the continent.
- Drones give citizens powerful new ways to
better understand their world.
- Drones improve public accountability.
- Special focus on journalists, activists,
changemakers
- www.africandrone.org
What We Do
- Empower African pilots through seed
funding
- Skills development
- Resource sharing
- Advocacy
- Networking opportunities for members.
- We use our platform to amplify existing
projects which use drones for social good.

Things to Think About
- How do we define “drone
journalism”?
- Is drone journalism different than
regular journalism?
- What sets drone visuals apart from
normal visuals?
- Should “drone journalism” be an
integral part of a newsroom? Resources:
• http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/
• https://africandrone.org/education/

Case Studies
- Smith Island, Maryland USA –
- Capturing and processing with Pix4D Mapper, adding to plas.io with an inundation
layer, screenshots to GIF via Photoshop
- Lake Michelle, Cape Town South Africa –
- Capturing with manual flight and processing with Pix4D Mapper, adding to Google
Earth as a “Super Overlay”, screenshots to Juxtapose using Dropbox
- Johannesburg CBD, South Africa –
- Capturing using Google Earth + screenshots, Adobe Lightroom to edit, processing
via Pix4D, and rendering into a 3D story via SketchFab
- Various Cities, USA –
- Using aerial imagery and compositing it into a single photo, reveal using Juxtapose
- Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya –
- Using selective Color in Photoshop through masking, creating a drone “Viral Video”

Pix4D Capture
- Background: There are multiple flight planning softwares (Pix4D, Drone Deploy, DJI GroundStation, etc.)
- Shoot in .jpg, one white balance color, 80/80 overlap minimum
- Remember to select the correct drone and camera to calculate GSD (ground sampling distance – the
resolution per pixel)
- Beware of altitude restrictions vs time (batteries)
- Grid mode is better than polygon mode - even for irregular flight patterns (you can always free-fly manually
as well)
- 2D will give you a fairly good 3D model as well, and do it much faster
- Make sure the focus on your drone is set properly
before you start
- Angle of camera - near to 90 degrees for ortho/2D (I use 85), more oblique if doing a 3D model of sides of
buildings, etc.
- Watch your start/end points
- I usually download, edit, and compress my files using Adobe Lightroom rather than upload directly using
app
Resources:
• https://www.heliguy.com/blog/2017/03/23/
dronedeploy-versus-pix4d/
• https://pix4d.com/tips-improve-accuracy-
drone-mapping-projects/

Pix4D Mapper
- Free 15 Day trial at pix4d.com
- Download files from drone to computer, import into Adobe Lightroom, export as
70% quality .jpg if you need to save space, into a single folder.
- Upload these images to Pix4D Mapper (online version). If in the field (no
internet), download Pix4D desktop (slower and more complicated). Processing
times will be much faster online than via desktop. Your images will have GPS
location embedded in them, readable by Pix4D.
- Final processing is visible on Pix4D (online) – you can take screenshots or
download files.
- Download – DSM (elevation map, only visible on GIS apps such as QGIS), .las
(needed for point cloud manipulation on plas.io), .fbx (needed for model
generation in SketchFab), and GeoTIFF (can be imported and then exported as
a low-res .jpg for viewing)
- What we will do today: Upload .las to plas.io Resources: https://support.pix4d.com/hc/en-
us/articles/202558499-Pix4D-outputs-with-
other-software-by-output

Plas.io and GIF output
- Online app – free to use
- Upload .las file and click on “inundation layer” at the bottom
- Move the slider and take screenshots at intervals, to create a
series of images from dry to fully flooded
- Import these screenshots into Adobe Lightroom, remove any
extraneous imagery (like your browser window), and export as
a 70% quality .jpg
- Take these images and create a GIF in Photoshop (see
“Resources” below)
Resources:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-
to/make-animated-gif.html
http://plas.io/

Final Outputs
- Color-coded elevation maps and high-resolution true color maps
to use as assets – depending on your GSD they may be 10x
more accurate than satellite data (3cm vs 31cm)
- Animated GIF to illustrate sea level rise
- 3D model to animate/annotate as you see fit

Pix4D Mapper
- Free 15 day trial at pix4d.com
- Download files from drone to computer, import into Adobe Lightroom, export as
70% quality .jpg if you need to save space, into a single folder.
- Upload these images to Pix4D Mapper (online version). If in the field (no
internet), download Pix4D desktop (slower and more complicated). Processing
times will be much faster online than via desktop. Your images will have GPS
location embedded in them, readable by Pix4D.
- Final processing is visible on Pix4D (online) – you can take screenshots or
download files.
- Download – DSM (elevation map, only visible on GIS apps such as QGIS), .las
(needed for point cloud manipulation on plas.io), .fbx (needed for model
generation in SketchFab), and GeoTIFF (can be imported and then exported as
a low-res .jpg for viewing)
- What we will do today: Import GeoTIFF to Google Earth Pro Resources: https://support.pix4d.com/hc/en-

Google Earth Pro / Historical Imagery
- Once you’ve downloaded the GeoTIFF (.tif) file, open Google Earth Pro and click “File>Import”. Your
.tif should flyover and open at the correct location on the globe. You may have options of how you
want the .tif to display, I recommend “Super Overlay”. This will create .kml files which you will be
able to turn on and off as layers.
- (Reminder: DSM .tif files will NOT show correctly on Google Earth or any other standard viewer.
Make sure you import only the .tif from your orthomosaic.)
- (Reminder: If your .tif file is too large, Google Earth will not be able to import it. In this case, you’ll
need to download Pix4D Desktop, and process the imagery there. You can download the desktop
version after you login to your Pix4D account. Once you process on Pix4D desktop, you’ll need to
access the folder titled “dsm_ortho>mosaic>tiles”. You can then then upload these tiles one by one
into Google Earth to get the final image (as seen at right).
Resources: https://support.pix4d.com/hc/en-

Google Earth Pro / Historical Imagery
- Now open the “historical imagery” button on your Google Earth toolbar. You will be able to see all
the available imagery from that location for the last 15 years or so. Turn off your drone overlay, and
take screenshots of every year that interests you.
- Edit/compress/upload your screenshots using Adobe Lightroom. Now you can either create a GIF
in Adobe Photoshop (See the “Resources” tab below) or choose your favorite two images into any
Dropbox folder.
- Go to https://juxtapose.knightlab.com/ in your browser. Upload your favorite two images into the
window. Label them accordingly, and share or embed the final animation.
- Final outputs:
- 3D model, Color coded elevation model, geo-referenced orthomosaic map, Juxtapose
animation, Google Earth overlay
Resources:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-
to/make-animated-gif.html

Google Earth
- Go to Google Earth Online (not the desktop version) at: https://www.google.com/earth/
navigate to Johannesburg, and select the “3D” option.
- Now you are going to take screenshots as if you were flying a drone through the city. Use the
“camera height” as a guide, and make sure you cover enough area and different directions,
in order to get proper coverage.
- (Tip: I have found the best results to be “flying” low enough to the ground so that Google
downloads the highest resolution imagery possible. Angle your “camera” downwards at
approximately 85 degrees, and fly in a grid pattern, exactly the same as a real drone would
do via Pix4D Capture. Remember to “spin” the camera around at the end of every grid line,
in order to capture multiple sides of every building. Take plenty of screenshots.)

Sketchfab
- Edit and compress your screenshots in Adobe Lightroom. Crop extraneous information and
then export .jpg at 70% quality to save space if necessary. Save to a unique folder.
- Process via Pix4D Mapper (online). Your screenshots will not have GPS data embedded in
them, but Pix4D will attempt to match them as if they did. If issues arise, take more
screenshots.
- Double-check on the quality of your model by clicking “3D model”. Does it look good? Are all
the sides of all buildings accurate and filled in, or are there holes? This type of 3D modeling
will always be more inaccurate than flying drones, but it can still yield high quality results. If in
doubt, take more screenshots and process again.
- Download the .fbx file from Pix4D, which is a 3D mesh that we need to upload to create a
realistic model. Upload the .fbx file into Sketchfab, which is an online service with a free
account option.
- Resources:
www.benkreimer.com

Final Output
- Click on “Manage This Model” > 3D Settings” to get to the editing window for
your model. Here you can choose to manipulate the lighting, sound,
background, or create annotations for your model.
- You can also choose “virtual reality” to set the viewer height and other
options for watching via VR or Google Cardboard, using a standard smart
phone.
- Click “Embed” or “Share” to use this model in your project. Be sure to credit
Google appropriately when sharing. You can read Google’s requirements
here.
- Resources:
https://help.sketchfab.com/hc/en-
us/sections/200509186-3D-
Settings?utm_source=website&utm_camp
aign=editor

Research and Flight Planning
- To complete this project I needed a full understanding of race-based separation in
the USA. There are multiple ways to parse this data, but census data is usually a
good start. Justicemap.org is a great resource. For other countries, you may have
your own maps – such as https://dotmap.adrianfrith.com/ in South Africa.
- Flight planning requires knowledge of air law, safety practices for drone piloting, air
traffic patterns, weather, where you plan to fly, and many more factors.
- Travel plans, budgets, and story preferences will direct you to particular cities, in my
case, I focused on Detroit.
- I knew that I needed a sleek package to put everything together, and Shorthand.com
allows me to bring multimedia elements together into a nice looking story.

Historical Imagery Compositing
- I needed to find historical archives of an area I knew had been excluded - in this case, central Detroit.
High-resolution Google Earth historical imagery only goes back to 1995 or so.
- I discovered that Wayne State Universityoffered digitizedaerial imagery from 1949-1997 of Detroit.
However, these images were not geo-referenced. So in order to match them together, I would need to
composite them in Adobe Photoshop, and then create a Juxtapose between 1949 and 1961.
- I imported the frames into layers in Adobe Photoshop. Then I resized the canvas appropriately, and
dragged and dropped each image to be adjacent to the correct image on the map (like a jigsaw
puzzle).
- When I was done, I had a photo composite of aerial imagery from both 1949 and 1961. I then resized
both canvasses to exactly the same dimensions, and “duplicated layer” from 1961.jpg to 1949.jpg. I
then reduced opacity by 50% and matched them exactly to each other – making sure every street was
correct. Then I cropped the excess, and saved them both.
- By uploading both images to Dropbox and then importing them to Juxtapose, I can reveal the history of
Detroit’s highways.

Constructing Story Elements
- This story involved travel to 10 different cities in the USA, and my challenge was how to
present all that information effectively.
- I compiled several drone videos that would run on 10-15 second loops within the
Shorthand, both as chapter markers and as story elements. These videos could be
added to Instagram or other social media platforms afterwards as additional marketing
tools.
- I found historical data such as charts and documents, which I compressed and
exported as .jpg, and brought into my story as evidence.
- I used still photos from the ground, from my drone, and from open-source historical
archives to build a beautiful, yet informative story. I also used a screenshot from a data
visualization company with an free portal, and a screenshot from Google Earth (all
properly credited).

Final Outputs
- The story was bought by The Guardian
and published on their own platform. They
refused to incorporate the Shorthand
format and ended up reorganizing the
story elements visually into a different
pattern.
- We cross-promoted their story with our
own social media posts using the story
elements outlined above.
- “Road To Nowhere” was shortlisted for the
GEN Data Journalism Awards in 2018.

The Lunatic Express – Nairobi, Kenya
- Background: A railway cuts through the center of
Kenya’s largest slum. The railway authorities are
seeking to move hundreds of residents further
away from the tracks, and into new
accommodation.
- Project: To create a compelling multimedia story
with multiple components, including a visual
aesthetic that would give it a “design identity”.
- Hardware/Software: DJI Inspire One drone,
Canon 5Diii, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe Premier Pro, Shorthand.com.

Research and Shot Planning
- This project was actually piggy-backing on top of a second commissioned story by
Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) called Slumscapes. The TRF correpsondent was
focusing on a road that was about to be built through Kibera. I used my time there to
shoot a second story on my “off day”.
- It is important to know local laws and customs before doing any work like this.
africanDRONE has compiled a list of drone laws in various African countries here, but
its always best to hire a local operator or fixer to accompany you.
- I spent multiple days inside Kibera for the previous story, making contacts and
getting familiar with the landscape. On the day that we shot, I hired a Kenyan
operator, and two security officers, plus a translator/fixer.
- I knew that I needed a sleek package to put everything together, and Shorthand.com
allows me to bring multimedia elements together into a nice looking story. But I really
wanted my visuals to have a “brand element”, something that would be immediately
noticeable in the busy media environment of the day.

Masking and Desaturating in Photoshop
- I decided to take my portraits of Kibera
inhabitants and give them a “colorized” look
that would pop. This became my “brand”
for the story.
- First I took the photo into Photoshop, and
duplicated the base layer. Then I took the
top layer, desaturated it by 80%, and added
a “layer mask”. Then be selecting my
brush, I could “paint out” the areas I wanted
to show through to the bottom layer, in
effect creating a colorized main character.
Resources:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/mas
king-layers.html

Final Outputs
- I added three short videos to my Shorthand, created by
using Adobe Premiere Pro. I used copyright-free music
libraries here and built the text using the legacy text tool
within Premiere. Some of the text was animated using
Adobe After Effects.
- I had a data journalist pull together information on Kibera
and build charts using the free software Atlas.
- I then arranged everything in a scrolly-telling website using
the Shorthand software. The final product you can see
here. We worked for more than two weeks with the IT team
at HuffingtonPost to convince them to adapt the Shorthand
format into their CMS.
- We then launched a social media campaign over the
course of a week to promote our story. Since we had
multiple discrete elements (videos, photos, data), and
since our branding stayed the same, we could promote
this story on many different platforms and still have it seem
homogenous.

Thank You!
Facebook: africanDRONE
Twitter: @africanDRONEorg
www.africandrone.org
johnny@africandrone.org

PDF CEE 2019 - Johnny Miller - Drones for Public Good

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PDF CEE 2019 - Johnny Miller - Drones for Public Good