Welcome to this quick start guide for 3Dsurvey 4.0 and later. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through a simple, end-to-end photogrammetry workflow, from importing images to generating a point cloud, 3D mesh, and true orthophoto in a single process.
Whether you’re new to 3Dsurvey or just getting started with version 4.0, this guide will help you create your first 3D model quickly and confidently.
Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Create a New Project
When you launch 3Dsurvey, you’ll see the fresh start welcome screen.
Click New Project.
A new window opens for image selection.
Select all your images and click Open.
Step 2: Telemetry Import and Coordinate System Setup
After selecting your images, 3Dsurvey opens the Telemetry Importer window. This is a crucial step, as it defines how your data is georeferenced.
To make this process simple, 3Dsurvey provides predefined regional presets:
Start typing your country or region name.
Select the appropriate preset from the list.
In this example, the project was captured in Slovenia, so the Slovenia preset is selected. The preset:
Automatically assigns the correct horizontal and vertical coordinate systems
Notifies you if a geoid file needs to be downloaded
Click Continue, and the geoid file is downloaded instantly if required.
Step 3: Telemetry Overview
You are now taken to the Telemetry Overview.
Here you can:
Review the coordinates of each image
Expand the panel to see additional details such as position precision, gimbal angle, and gravity-related height
View a map displaying the spatial distribution of your images
Once everything looks correct, you’re ready to begin the photogrammetry process.
Step 4: Bundle Adjustment
The first processing step is Bundle Adjustment.
Click the Bundle Adjustment button in the lower-right corner.
For most projects, the default settings are sufficient.
Click OK to start the process.
What is Bundle Adjustment?
Bundle adjustment is a fundamental step in photogrammetry. It calculates:
A consistent, best‑fit set of camera parameters
A sparse point cloud representing the overall structure of the scene
The resulting sparse point cloud can be thought of as the skeleton of your model. The pyramid shapes above it represent the positions where the images were captured.
Step 5: Reconstruction (Point Cloud, Mesh, Orthophoto)
With bundle adjustment complete, you’re ready to generate your final outputs.
Click the Reconstruction button.
Select the results you want to generate:
Point Cloud
3D Mesh
True Orthophoto
If you only need an orthophoto or a mesh, you can skip generating the point cloud. Each output has advanced settings available, but for your first project, it’s best to leave them at their defaults.
Click OK to start reconstruction.
Processing time depends on your hardware and dataset size. In this example, all three outputs were generated in about 30 minutes on a standard laptop.
Step 6: Reviewing the Results
Orthophoto
The orthophoto provides a precise, georeferenced top‑down view of your project. You can:
Zoom and pan
Crop the area of interest
Export the result to formats such as JPEG, PDF, or GeoTIFF
3D Mesh
Switch to the Mesh tab to explore your project in full 3D. Here you can:
Rotate, zoom, and inspect the model
Visually analyze surfaces and structures
More advanced mesh tools are covered in dedicated tutorials.
Point Cloud
The Point Cloud tab offers a different set of tools tailored to point‑based analysis. For example:
Perform classification for terrain or object separation
Prepare data for volume calculations, followed by surface generation
CAD Tab
The CAD tab is one of the most powerful parts of 3Dsurvey. It enables:
Vectorization
Precise measurements
Project documentation
As with other advanced features, detailed CAD workflows are covered in separate tutorials.
What’s Next?
That’s it! You now know how to create a complete 3D model in 3Dsurvey, from images to point cloud, mesh, and orthophoto.
From here, the possibilities are endless. Explore additional tutorials to dive deeper into analysis, measurements, and professional deliverables.
If you want to include image orientation with GCPs in your workflow, please refer to 3Dsurvey 3.0 Beginner Workflow Tutorial.
Happy 3Dsurveying!
This tutorial is based on the demo gravel pit site dataset which is available for download.
