Quick Start Guide: Mavic 3 Enterprise

Recommended drone and camera settings

Setting	Set to	Question to ask yourself	Reason
Aircraft Model	M3E Series	Which drone am I using?	DJI Pilot 2 uses the same interface for the M3E Series, M300/M350 RTK, and M30 Series.
Camera	M3E	Which camera are you planning to use for this mission?	The mission parameters will differ for different cameras, so ensure this is set accurately.
Lens	WIDE	Which Lens am I using?	The mission parameters will differ for different lenses, so ensure this is set accurately.
Ortho	Ortho Collection	Am I performing a 2D photogrammetry mission?	In a 2D photogrammetry mission, the camera should only face straight down for the entire mission.
Ortho GSD	*default		*The Ortho GSD will change depending on your mission height. Once you set the Route Altitude, the Ortho GSD will be set accordingly. Changing the GSD setting will automatically change your mission height settings.
ASL/ALT	Relative to takeoff point	What elevation is your target altitude referenced to	Unless you are referencing to altitude above sea level (ASL) in the EGM96 geoid model, set this to ALT.
Route Altitude	200–400ft (60–120m)	How high should I fly compared to the take-off point?	The height balances how fast you would like to complete the survey (higher makes it faster) and the ground sampling distance you need (lower makes it better).
Elevation Optimization	Enable	Is the terrain or altitude expected to vary during the flight?	When enabled, the drone will take a few oblique images at the end of the flight.
Safe Takeoff Altitude	User preference	What is the height of the lowest potential obstacle in my survey boundary?	The drone will take off vertically to that height and then fly at a diagonal to the start point for the rest of the ascension to the start point. We recommend setting it to the same altitude as the mission.
Speed	*Max Speed Allowable	How fast should I fly?	*Unless you’re trying to reach the required 10 minute flight time, increase speed to minimize the overall flight time. In low light conditions, reduce the speed and the shutter speed to ~1/800.
Course Angle	User preference.  Adjust the flight direction with the slider.	What direction should I fly to cover the survey area?	Fewer turns mean more area covered per battery.  For linear/narrow surveys, use the Linear Flight Mission mode instead of Mapping.
Upon Completion	Return To Home	What should I do after completing the mission?	Using this setting is safer and prevents losing your drone. Once completed, the drone will go back to the home point automatically.
Terrain Follow	Disabled	Do you want your RTK-connected drone to follow the terrain?	This setting can only be used when using an RTK connection. We will leave this disabled since PPK corrections and processing will be used.
Target Surface to Takeoff Point	0	Is the terrain I want to survey at a different altitude than my home point?	Unless the terrain that you are surveying is at a much different height than your home point, leave this at 0.
Takeoff Speed	User Preference	How fast should the drone take off?	Faster takeoff speeds will slightly reduce the battery life but may be necessary on active sites.

Go to Advanced Settings
Side and Front Overlap	~80%	How much should each of the images overlap?	This provides enough overlap for some images to be missing or of poor quality while still building a contiguous model. The lower the detail on the surface below, the higher your overlap should be.  If you have a large area to survey, you can reduce the horizontal overlap (no lower than 60%) to increase the area you can cover per battery.
Margin	0	How much margin do you want to leave around the survey area?	Provided you have covered the entire area you would like to survey accurately, you don’t need any margin.
Photo Mode	Distance Interval Shot	What metric is used to capture images?	Distance shooting allows the drone to capture images with consistent overlap.

Camera settings

Camera setting	Set to	Question to ask yourself	Reason
Camera Mode	S (Shutter Priority)	How should the exposure be controlled?	S is shutter priority mode. Shutter priority tells the camera that a fixed shutter speed must be used. The camera can adjust the exposure and ISO.
Auto Exposure (AE)	Unlocked	Can the camera auto-adjust exposure?	This must be unlocked for the camera to adjust the exposure with aperture and ISO.
Shutter speed	1/1000	What should I set my shutter speed at?	To avoid motion blur. 1000 is usually a good place to start for sunny conditions. In low light conditions, reduce the shutter speed to ~800 and decrease the flight speed.
Focus Mode	AFC (Auto Focus Continuous)	How do I want my camera to focus on my site?	PLEASE NOTE: The M3E will automatically switch to Manual Focus (MF) at the start of each mission. This is expected, and no user input is required.

Go to Camera Menu (Slider icon)
Camera Slider Bars	Set to	Question to ask yourself	Reason
Image ratio	4:3	How much of the image should be cropped?	4:3 deletes nothing, utilizing the whole sensor.  Other settings will crop the images.
Image Format	JPG	What file format should I choose to save the photos?	Images must be saved in JPG format for processing.
Overflow settings
Lock gimbal while shooting	Enabled	Do you want the gimbal to lock in place while it takes a photo?	Leave this on the default setting. This will help prevent blurry images.
Mechanical shutter	Enabled	Do I want my camera to use the mechanical shutter?	A mechanical shutter uses conventional front and rear shutter curtains at the front of the sensor.  Leaving this turned off can introduce distortion.
Dewarping	Enabled	Should the camera apply dewarping?	This will help improve the accuracy of your data. Disabling this setting can lead to lower accuracy.
All other settings	Default setting

 

Verify

Verify the mission settings in the Mapping Checklist. Ensure you set the correct parameters for the mission and that Dewarping is turned on.