Files to fly
Each file is one flight on one battery. DJI Fly can't open a KMZ directly: replace a saved placeholder route with it (Guide, step 2). Google Earth can't read DJI route files, so use the preview KML to look at the routes there.
Save and open
The plan is also kept in this browser between visits. Importing a DJI KMZ (from DJI Fly, WaypointMap or this tool) opens it as an editable waypoint path; a Google Earth KML polygon becomes a grid area.
1. Quick start
- Find the site. Search an address, paste coordinates (
34.1478, -118.1445) or drag the map. Hybrid shows street names over the satellite image.
- Add routes. A 3D model of a site usually needs three kinds of flight: a nadir grid over the whole site, an oblique cross-grid for the walls, and an orbit around each building or equipment yard. 3D site package adds all three in one go. Use a facade scan for close detail on one wall, or a waypoint path to click your own points.
- Draw. Click the corners of the area and double-click to finish, or click the centre of an orbit. Drag the corner squares to adjust; drag the small dots between corners to add one; right-click a corner to delete it.
- Tune. Every setting shows a recommended value, why, and a diagram of what it does (hover a setting). Leave Auto on unless you have a reason. Warnings appear under the route.
- Set the takeoff point (map button Takeoff). It is used for distances, battery, orbit start and terrain.
- Preview with Preview flight (bottom left of the map) and Footprints, which draws every photo on the ground so you can see the overlap.
- Export on the Fly & export tab: one KMZ per file listed, then load each into DJI Fly (step 2).
2. Load a KMZ into DJI Fly (Mini 5 Pro)
The Mini 5 Pro is not supported by third-party flight apps (DJI's Mobile SDK stops at the Mini 4 Pro), so the route goes into DJI Fly's own Waypoint Flight by replacing a saved route file. Use the DJI RC 2 screen controller or an Android phone; iPhone and iPad don't expose DJI Fly's files.
- In DJI Fly, open Waypoint Flight, tap two or three waypoints anywhere on the map and save the route. This is a placeholder. Make one placeholder for each KMZ you plan to fly. (If the waypoint folder doesn't exist yet, saving the first route creates it.)
- Connect the RC 2 or phone to this PC with a USB-C cable and choose File transfer on the controller.
- Open
Internal shared storage › Android › data › dji.go.v5 › files › waypoint. Each saved route is a folder with a long ID name holding a KMZ with the same ID. Use the date to find your placeholder.
- Copy that ID, paste it into Name the next download on the Fly & export tab, then click the KMZ you want. The file downloads with exactly that name. (Or rename the downloaded file yourself to
<ID>.kmz.)
- Copy the file into the placeholder's folder and replace the old one.
- Disconnect, force-close DJI Fly and open it again. Open Waypoint Flight › the route list and pick the route. Check the number of waypoints, the first waypoint, altitudes and the camera actions on the map before flying.
- Avoid editing and re-saving the route in DJI Fly. DJI Fly can rebuild a straight-line route when it is re-saved; if you do edit it, check the order of the points again.
3. How photos are taken
Photo at each waypoint (orbits, facades, small grids): the KMZ tells the camera to shoot at every waypoint and the drone pauses briefly at each. Nothing to start by hand. Each route file also turns the gimbal to the right angle at the first waypoint.
Timed Shot (grids and oblique grids): the KMZ only flies the lines, with waypoints at the line ends, so even a large site fits in a few files and the drone never stops mid-line. On the controller set Photo › Timed › 2 s (12 MP) before starting the route, press the shutter when the drone reaches waypoint 1, and stop the timer after the last waypoint. Restart the timer for each file. The speed in this tool is set so that one photo every 2 s gives the overlap you chose.
4. Recommended settings for 3D models
| Route | Altitude | Camera | Overlap | Purpose |
|---|
| Nadir grid | 50 m (164 ft) | −90° | 80% / 70% | Orthophoto, elevation model, roofs |
| Oblique cross-grid | 40 m (131 ft) | −60° | 80% / 70% | Walls, carport edges and columns, from four directions |
| Orbit, 2 rings | Auto from subject size | Auto, about −30° and −45° | 36 photos per ring | Each building, equipment yard, switchgear |
| Facade scan | 8–10 m from the wall | 0° (level) | 80% / 70% | Close detail: equipment, nameplates, conduit runs |
Detail and photo size at the current photo setting:
- Fly the nadir grid first, the oblique grid next and the orbits last, on the same day and in similar light. Keep the same camera settings for every flight of one model.
- Overlap matters more than altitude. Don't drop below 75% front and 65% side for 3D work.
- Shiny and moving things don't reconstruct well: PV modules, glass, water, cars, people and trees in wind. Fly obliques when the sun isn't reflecting off the modules toward the camera, and avoid busy parking times.
- Overcast days or high sun (short shadows) give the cleanest textures. Avoid low sun and patchy cloud.
- For survey accuracy, align the model to the site LiDAR or to a few ground control points; drone GPS alone is good to about a metre or two.
5. Camera settings on the Mini 5 Pro
- Photo size: 12 MP for Timed Shot (2 s minimum; 50 MP needs 5 s). 12 MP also has less noise. Use 50 MP only for close orbits and facades with a photo at each waypoint.
- Format: JPEG. Use RAW + JPEG only if you will develop the RAW files; photogrammetry software reads the JPEGs and their GPS tags.
- Exposure: Pro (manual) mode, shutter 1/1000 s or faster (1/2000 s in bright sun is fine; the lens is a fixed f/1.8), ISO as low as gives a good histogram, white balance fixed (Sunny about 5500 K, Cloudy about 6500 K), not Auto.
- Focus: for grids, focus on the ground at waypoint 1 and switch to manual focus so it doesn't hunt. For orbits and facades leave autofocus on.
- Keep it plain: 1× zoom (not the 2× Med-Tele mode), landscape orientation (the footprints here assume landscape), no Night mode or HDR photo modes.
6. Before you fly
- Rules: commercial work needs an FAA Part 107 certificate. Check airspace and get LAANC authorisation where needed (B4UFLY or Aloft), stay under 400 ft above ground, keep visual line of sight, and don't fly over people or moving vehicles. City parks need the City's permission.
- Heights are above the takeoff point. Take off from ground level at the site. On a sloped site use Check terrain; if the ground under the route is higher than the takeoff point the drone is lower than shown.
- DJI Fly settings: Obstacle avoidance set to Brake or Bypass (the drone brakes if it sees something during the route); Return-to-Home altitude above the tallest obstacle; max altitude and max distance limits above the route's highest and farthest point; signal-lost action as set in this tool.
- Curves dip: DJI Fly curves between waypoints, so the drone can pass below a waypoint's altitude between points at different heights. Keep clearance under the route.
- Battery: start each file at 95% or more. This tool keeps the reserve you set (30% by default) and splits long routes into more files.
- Wind: under about 8 m/s (18 mph). The Mini 5 Pro is rated to 12 m/s, but photos blur and lines drift in strong wind.
- Imagery offset: the satellite image can be a few metres off true GPS. Keep at least 10 m from structures on grids and add 5 m to orbit and facade clearances unless you've measured the offset.
- First flight: fly one short route in open space first to confirm DJI Fly reads the file, the camera fires and the headings are right.
7. Processing the photos into a 3D model
- Aerial3D Model (Kewo, free): open it to process the photos on your own PC into an orthophoto, DSM and DTM, a LAZ point cloud and a textured GLB/OBJ mesh, optionally fitted to site LiDAR. Put the photos from every route of the site in one folder.
- WebODM (OpenDroneMap, free): create one task with the photos from every route of the site. Start from the 3D Model or High Resolution preset, set feature quality and point cloud quality to high, and turn on the DSM.
- Align to the site: add ground control points, or align the result to the site LiDAR in WebODM or CloudCompare, so it lines up with the design files.
- Outputs: orthophoto and DSM (GeoTIFF), point cloud (LAZ), textured model (OBJ or GLB) and 3D Tiles. Claude and the Kewo 3D viewers can read GLB, LAZ and GeoTIFF directly.
- Keep the photos' EXIF GPS tags: don't run them through apps that strip metadata.
8. What's in the KMZ, and troubleshooting
- The KMZ is a zip holding
wpmz/template.kml (mission settings and waypoints) and wpmz/waylines.wpml (the route the drone flies), in DJI's WPML 1.0.2 format with drone code 68, which DJI Fly uses for the Mini 4 Pro and Mini 5 Pro. The layout follows a route that DJI Fly itself saved for a Mini 4 Pro.
- Every waypoint carries its own altitude, speed, gimbal pitch and heading. Orbit and facade headings are switched on at every point, not only the first.
- DJI Fly allows about 200 waypoints per route. The tool splits a route into files at a line or ring boundary when it would go over that, or over one battery.
- Google Earth shows nothing for a DJI KMZ: that's normal. Use Google Earth preview (.kml).
- Route doesn't appear in DJI Fly: check the file name matches the placeholder exactly (including
.kmz), it's inside the placeholder's own folder, and DJI Fly was fully closed and reopened.
- No photos: check the route uses Photo at each waypoint, or that Timed Shot was started.
9. Assumptions and limits of this tool
- Camera: 84° diagonal field of view, 24 mm equivalent, 4:3 photos; 12 MP = 4096 × 3072, 50 MP = 8192 × 6144; Timed Shot 2 s minimum at 12 MP and 5 s at 50 MP (DJI published specifications). Photo footprints assume landscape photos and flat ground at takeoff level.
- Flight time: straight lines between waypoints, about 2 s per photo stop and per corner stop, climb at 4 m/s, return at 10 m/s, 36 or 52 minute batteries. Wind changes real times.
- Terrain check: 90 m Copernicus elevation data through Open-Meteo. It catches hills and slopes, not buildings or trees.
- Maps: Esri World Imagery, no API key. Address search: Esri World Geocoder.
- The KMZ format follows DJI's WPML documentation and a Mini 4 Pro DJI Fly route. Check each new kind of route on the controller before relying on it.