DJI Terra and DJI Modify

How to export your DJI Terra and/or DJI Modify project for Nira

Nira provides an easy way to share and collaborate on your DJI Terra mission projects. For optimal results, please follow the steps outlined below.

Currently Nira supports projects processed as Visible Light and LiDAR Point Cloud.  Multispectral support is planned for a future release.

1. In Process > Preprocessing (AT), make sure the XML Output Format option is enabled (with version 5 of DJI Terra, it’s on by default): Note: Even if you choose not to upload the XML, it's best to always enable the XML output.  It's a very small file.  Once reconstruction has finished, you cannot enable it without restarting the entire reconstruction process.
2. Select your preferred Coordinate Reference System (CRS). By default, DJI Terra assigns the UTM zone corresponding to where the photos were captured. This default setting works fine, but you can switch to another coordinate system if needed.  If you'd prefer to use a different coordinate system, please ensure it's Cartesian by following these instructions. Additionally, please be sure that both of the settings shown in the screenshot below match your chosen coordinate system:
3. Enable 2D Map if you'd like to create a 2D georeferenced orthomosaic map.  Map Tiling should remain disabled (default). In the screenshot below, “Tiling” is misspelled as “Tilting.”  We’ve notified DJI about this.
   
   Feel free to change the other settings to match the output you desire.  Just leave Map Tiling off (misspelled in DJI Terra as Map Tilting).
4. Enable 3D Mesh and OBJ File Format.  You can optionally choose to set quality to 100% (default is 50%).  If you have DJI Modify, you can choose to enable "Output Editable in DJI Modify".  Remember to export the resulting OBJ files from DJI Modify into the same directory as the original OBJ files:
   <DJI Terra Mission folders>\<username>\<mission name>\models\pc\0\terra_obj\
   
5. Enable Point Cloud if you want one to be generated and included.
   Be sure to enable Merged Output -- this will consolidate all the LAS files generated into one unified LAS file.
6. Enable Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) if you want one to be generated and included. For full compatibility with Nira, 3DGS output requires the 3D Mesh option to also be enabled. This is because DJI Terra currently has a bug with the coordinate reference system (CRS) of 3DGS files, requiring Nira to reference the 3D Mesh data for the CRS instead. We’ve reported this issue to DJI, and future versions of DJI Terra may resolve it. You can follow this help article to receive a notification of when DJI fixes this issue.
   
7. Click "Start Reconstruction".
8. Once the reconstruction is complete, navigate to you DJI Terra project folder and drag and drop the entire mission folder into your Nira dashboard:
9. You can optionally include the original drone photos:
10. Choose an Asset name and then click the right arrow button to proceed:
11. Choose Photogrammetry as your asset type and click Start Upload.  Within a few minutes, your asset will be ready for viewing and inspection:

Below you'll find an example asset that includes the 3D OBJ model, XML Aerotriangulation, and source photos for inspection: https://demo3d.nira.app/a/dGcQ_TK3RA-wa34JhuWIiQ/1

Visible Light

Files that will be uploaded when you drag and drop your mission folder:

• 3D Textured Mesh (multiple files):  *.obj + *.mtl + *.jpg (...\models\pc\0\terra_obj\)
• 3D Georeference coordinate data: metadata.xml (...\models\pc\0\terra_obj\)
• 3D Point Cloud (if enabled): cloud_merged.las (...\models\pc\0\terra_las\)
• 2D Map (if enabled): result.tif (...\map\)
• 3D Aerotriangulation data: BlocksExchangeUndistortAT_WithoutTiePoints.xml (...\AT\)
• Camera distortion parameters: sfm_report.json (...\AT\report\)
• Photo list: image_list.json (...\images\survey\)
• Photos (multiple files): *.jpg (photos are stored separately from the mission folders)

LiDAR Point Cloud

Files that will be uploaded when you drag and drop your mission folder:

• 3D Textured Mesh (multiple files):  *.obj + *.mtl + *.jpg (...\lidars\terra_obj\)
• 3D Georeference coordinate data: metadata.xml (...\lidars\terra_obj\)
• 3D Point Cloud (if enabled): cloud_merged.las (...\lidars\terra_las\)
• 3D Aerotriangulation data: BlocksExchangeUndistortAT_WithoutTiePoints.xml (...\AT\)
• 2D Map (if enabled): dom.tif (...\lidars\terra_dom\)  -- note: not available when "Substation Reconstruction" is enabled
• Camera distortion parameters: sfm_report.json (...\lidars\.temp\SfMForCalibrate\report\)
• Photos (multiple files): *.jpg ( ...\lidars\.temp\ImageCorrection\undistort)

Note: The main difference in output between Visible Light and LiDAR Point Cloud is that DJI Terra does not generate an image_list.json file, so Nira will instead need for you to upload the undistorted photos that reside directly within the mission folder.

Gaussian Splat data

Gaussian splat uploads from DJI Terra are supported by Nira, but you must also include textured mesh data. If you attempt to upload a splat without the accompanying mesh data, this error will be shown:

This is due to a data export bug in DJI Terra that we are hoping DJI will fix soon.

Additional data generated by DJI Terra

The following outputs are supported by Nira but require manual upload:

• Contour (...\models\pc\0\terra_contour\contour.dxf)
• Grid of Points (...\models\pc\0\terra_grid\terra_grid.dxf)
• TIN (...\models\pc\0\terra_tin\terra_tin.dxf)

Multipsectral and Elevation maps are not currently supported but planned for a future update to Nira:

• Multispectral
  • result.tif (...\map\)
  • NDVI.tif (...\map\index_map)
  • GNDVI.tif (...\map\index_map)
  • LCI.tif (...\map\index_map)
  • NDRE.tif (...\map\index_map)
  • OSAVI.tif (...\map\index_map)
     
• DEM (...\models\pc\0\terra_dem\dem.tif)
• DSM (...\map\dsm.tif)