Case Study: Dandelion Air creates a detailed 3D model of Michigan Central Station with Pix4Dmapper

3D modeling using drone images for architecture

Dandelion Air used Pix4Dmapper from Pix4D to document Michigan Central Station in Detroit before renovations changed the historic landmark forever. Founder Aleksey Bochkovsky wanted to capture the building’s architectural details and create a lasting record of it from the air, but faced challenges such as strong winds, changing weather, and the difficulty of photographing a tall structure without including the horizon.

Pix4D helped Dandelion Air produce a detailed 3D model by combining a double-grid drone mission in Pix4Dcapture with free-flight imagery from DJI Go, resulting in 739 images processed in Pix4Dmapper. The workflow also included Lightroom pre-processing, a few MTPs, and point-cloud editing, delivering a high-quality 3D model that could support redevelopment, marketing, and reconstruction monitoring.

Dandelion Air

Aleksey Bochkovsky

Founder