ReferenceManual OrthoVista (English) 61

REFERENCE MANUAL

OrthoVista 6.1

All rights to this publication are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission from Trimble Germany. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the agreement. It is against the law to copy this software on magnetic tape, disk, or any other medium for any purpose other than the licensee’s personal use.

Copyright 2001, 2015 Trimble Germany All rights reserved. OrthoVista Software Manual for OrthoVista Version 6.1 and higher Trimble Germany reserves the right to make changes to this document and the software described herein at any time and without notice. Trimble Germany make no warranty, express or implied, other than those contained in the terms and conditions of sale, and in no case is Trimble Germany liable for more than the license fee or purchase price of this product. Sample data “CastleRock” used in this manual provided courtesy of Digital Globe Incorporated. The sample imagery is of Castle Rock, Colorado U.S.A. The imagery has 5 m ground resolution and is in NAD83 UTM zone 13. Units are in meters.

1 Introduction to OrthoVista ........................................................ 1

1.1 Quick start ................................................................................................... 1

1.2 What is OrthoVista? ................................................................................... 1

1.3 Available Versions ..................................................................................... 1

1.4 What can OrthoVista do for you? ............................................................. 1

1.4.1 Manual or semi-automatic adjustments ................................................................. 2

1.4.2 Balancing and tilting .............................................................................................. 2 1.4.3 Mosaicking ............................................................................................................ 3

1.5 How does OrthoVista fit into your workflow? ......................................... 3

1.6 Will OrthoVista solve all your imagery problems? ................................. 3

1.7 How can you be trained in OrthoVista? ................................................... 4

1.8 Installing OrthoVista .................................................................................. 5

1.9 What are the system requirements for running OrthoVista? ................. 5

1.10 Windows installation .................................................................................. 5

1.10.1 Windows registration ............................................................................................. 5

1.11 Linux installation ........................................................................................ 5

1.11.1 Linux registration ................................................................................................... 6

2 Getting Started with OrthoVista ............................................... 7

2.1 Invoking OrthoVista ................................................................................... 7

2.2 Exiting OrthoVista ...................................................................................... 8

3 Basic Concepts ......................................................................... 9

3.1 Main window ............................................................................................... 9

3.1.1 Show Histogram .................................................................................................. 10 3.1.2 To Front ............................................................................................................... 10

3.1.3 Display Layers ..................................................................................................... 11 3.1.4 Viewing Control ................................................................................................... 11

3.1.4.1 “Single-shot” versus “Continuous” mode: ..................................................... 12

3.2 Shortcuts ................................................................................................... 12

3.3 Language Selection ................................................................................. 12

3.4 Plugins ...................................................................................................... 13

3.4.1 Image support plugins (image formats) ............................................................... 13 3.4.2 Georeference data support plugins (report formats)............................................ 13

3.4.3 Image adjustment plugins (image processing) .................................................... 13

3.5 Rotated images ......................................................................................... 14

3.5.1 Rotation of output mosaic .................................................................................... 14

3.6 File management ...................................................................................... 14

3.7 Project Dialog ........................................................................................... 15

3.7.1 Mosaic ................................................................................................................. 16

3.7.2 Images ................................................................................................................ 19 3.7.3 Tiles ..................................................................................................................... 20 3.7.4 Vectors ................................................................................................................ 21

3.8 Defining the processing area .................................................................. 26

3.8.1 Using a tile definition with simple parameters (standard file extension is tsp) ..... 26

3.8.2 Using an ESRI ARCshape file as tile definition ................................................... 29 3.8.3 Using an explicit tile definition file (standard file extension is txt) ........................ 30 3.8.4 Using a tile definition with simple parameters from a text editor (standard file extension is tsp) ................................................................................................................. 30 3.8.5 Loading a tile definition file: ................................................................................. 33 3.8.6 Clipping to Area of Interest .................................................................................. 33

3.9 Loading input image data ........................................................................ 33

3.9.1 Background pixels ............................................................................................... 37 3.9.2 Display mapping .................................................................................................. 37

3.10 Specifying a custom area ........................................................................ 38

3.11 Selecting one or a group of tiles: ........................................................... 39

3.12 Begin Processing ..................................................................................... 40

3.13 Clearing the defined processing area .................................................... 40

3.14 Image Commander ................................................................................... 40

3.14.1 Generation of Overviews ..................................................................................... 41 3.14.2 RGB Channel Assignment .................................................................................. 41

3.14.3 Radiometrix ......................................................................................................... 42 3.14.4 View Image ......................................................................................................... 42

3.15 Radiometrix Editor ................................................................................... 42

3.15.1 Adjusting images with the Radiometrix Editor ..................................................... 42 3.15.2 Save/Reject changes of the Radiometrix Editor .................................................. 55 3.15.3 Radiometrix Editor: Background information ....................................................... 55

3.16 Color Picker .............................................................................................. 55

3.17 Status Dialog ............................................................................................ 56

3.18 “Move To…” Dialog .................................................................................. 56

4 Processing Options ................................................................ 57

4.1 Output options .......................................................................................... 58

4.1.1 Specifying the Output Directory ........................................................................... 58 4.1.2 Meta Data Directory ............................................................................................ 58 4.1.3 Output Image format ........................................................................................... 59

4.1.4 Output Report format ........................................................................................... 60

4.1.5 Save Background Information for Output Images ............................................... 61

4.2 Adjustment options .................................................................................. 61

4.2.1 Specifying radiometric adjustments for single images ......................................... 61 4.2.2 Per-Image Selection ............................................................................................ 64 4.2.3 Image group adjustment ...................................................................................... 64

4.2.3.1 Global Tilting Adjustment ............................................................................. 65 4.2.3.2 Contrast adjustment options......................................................................... 67

4.2.3.3 Reflections Removal .................................................................................... 69 4.2.3.4 Per Image Selection ..................................................................................... 71

4.2.4 Mosaic adjustment .............................................................................................. 71

4.3 Output Selection ....................................................................................... 76

4.3.1 Saving adjusted images ...................................................................................... 76 4.3.2 Generate Seam Data (*.cld Files)........................................................................ 76

4.3.3 Save Vector Seams ............................................................................................. 77 4.3.4 Save Vector Seams for each image .................................................................... 77 4.3.5 Seam simplification tolerance .............................................................................. 77 4.3.6 Save Mosaic Output ............................................................................................ 77 4.3.7 Options for Saving Adjusted Images and Mosaic Output .................................... 77

4.3.7.1 Internal Name of Output ............................................................................... 78 4.3.7.2 Directory ....................................................................................................... 78 4.3.7.3 File Name Format ........................................................................................ 78 4.3.7.4 Ratio ............................................................................................................. 78 4.3.7.5 Number of channels and RGB component setting ....................................... 78

4.3.7.6 Channel assignment .................................................................................... 78 4.3.7.7 Example for 4 Channel RGB and Infrared image ......................................... 79

5 Advanced Information ............................................................ 81

5.1 Multi-Channel Image Support ................................................................. 81

5.2 Batch Mode Processing Capabilities ..................................................... 81

5.2.1 Examples ............................................................................................................ 82

5.3 Using user-defined vectors ..................................................................... 82

5.4 Radiometric Models ................................................................................. 83

5.5 Hot spot removal ...................................................................................... 85

5.6 Intensity Dodging ..................................................................................... 85

5.7 Coordinate reference ............................................................................... 86

5.8 Non constant pixel size, odd offset of orthophotos and tiles .............. 86

5.8.1 Non constant pixel size ....................................................................................... 86

5.8.2 Odd offsets .......................................................................................................... 87

5.9 Processing large blocks .......................................................................... 88

5.9.1 Two step processing ........................................................................................... 88 5.9.2 Subdividing a block in sub-blocks........................................................................ 88

5.10 Processing speed ..................................................................................... 89

6 End User License Agreement ................................................. 91

Reference Manual OrthoVista

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1 Introduction to OrthoVista

1.1 Quick start

Here’s a guide that refers you to sections of the manual that will get you started quickly with OrthoVista: If you already have OrthoVista installed and running, you can use icons found on the toolbar to guide you through the three simple steps to processing image data with OrthoVista: Load image data. This icon invokes the Choose Directory dialog so that you can specify the location of your input data and load the imagery for processing. Select processing area. This icon invokes the Custom Area dialog where you can define the image area to be processed. You can select all images or use your mouse to define a processing area. Process imagery. This icon invokes the Processing Options dialog. Simply specify an output directory, adjust any processing options if necessary and click the Process button.

1.2 What is OrthoVista?

OrthoVista is a powerful software product that improves the quality, utility and value of ortho-rectified, digital image mosaics by performing a series of radiometric adjustments designed to match color and intensity across component images and producing seamless image mosaics.

1.3 Available Versions

OrthoVista is available in a Full, Lite and Education version. OrthoVista Lite is considered being a small business solution for small companies dealing with smaller projects. The lite version can easily be upgraded to the full version by just changing the license on the dongle. The lite / education versions have the following limitations:

Up to 250 images or 12 pushbroom images can be processed in one project

Parallel processing limited to two processes/threads

No batch-processing

1.4 What can OrthoVista do for you?

OrthoVista computes radiometric adjustments that compensate for visual effects such as hot spots, lens vignetting and mismatches between adjacent mosaic images. In addition it offers a powerful set of tools to manipulate the radiometry of


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single or group of images. Finally OrthoVista automates production of high-quality, photogrammetric orthophoto mosaics, providing the capability to define mosaic production quickly and easily on a project-wide basis.

Sample data set before OrthoVista processing. Figure 1:

1.4.1 Manual or semi-automatic adjustments

The built-in Radiometrix tool offers a set of tools to correct gradation, intensity, contrast, color and saturation, both manually and semi-automatically. Additional tools for selective color correction in hue, saturation and lightness as well as the possibility to record a macro have been added. Besides the functions in the Radiometrix Editor, tools like the histograms and Color Picker can be used to check the changes.

1.4.2 Balancing and tilting

OrthoVista removes solar reflection “hot spots” and improves visual uniformity of most orthophotos by balancing the intensity and color variation across each frame. The software compensates for lens vignetting and various illumination effects by matching the color and intensity of adjacent input images in order to provide smooth and consistent radiometric image properties across all images. OrthoVista can correct color and intensity defects introduced during scanning or other processing as well. Further on water reflections can be eliminated and images can be interactively changed in color, brightness, contrast and saturation.


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Sample data set after OrthoVista processing Figure 2:

1.4.3 Mosaicking

OrthoVista can be configured to generate seamless image mosaics from large numbers of individual orthophotos for use in Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing applications.

1.5 How does OrthoVista fit into your workflow?

OrthoVista works with digital orthophotos in standard formats. The imagery produced by OrthoVista is immediately ready for delivery to clients or applications that use orthophoto mosaics. OrthoVista processes the individual orthophoto images and accompanying geodetic information that are typically produced by a soft-copy photogrammetric workstation or an orthophoto production system. Because processing can be performed in the background or after hours, OrthoVista can dramatically increase production efficiency.

1.6 Will OrthoVista solve all your imagery problems?

While OrthoVista does an excellent job of performing radiometric corrections for a majority of the imagery that’s processed, there will always be extreme cases that automated image processing cannot address satisfactorily. Likewise, while OrthoVista will produce seamless mosaics most of the time, you may encounter problems with some cases involving exceptionally demanding imagery. Here are some specific issues that may be encountered during radiometric correction and mosaic production:


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Definition of background pixels. By default OrthoVista treats 0,0,0 as background. You can modify OrthoVista’s interpretation of background values. See the “Setting Preferences” for information on manipulation of background pixel values.

Processing Options). This will promote a more stable solution, but will leave “hot spots” in unbalanced imagery. Another option is to define an area to be excluded from processing as discussed in the chapter 3.7.4 Vectors.

Contrast adjustments. Severe contrast differences between adjacent images can result in a detectable visual difference between images. Radiometric adjustments have two methods (multiplicative and additive), which have different contrast effects. Experimenting with these methods may show that selecting one method may provide better results than the other for a given set of images. An effective approach is to manually adjust the contrast of input images that have extremely disparate contrast properties with the use of the OrthoVista Radiometrix Tool.

Trimble is committed to improving and enhancing OrthoVista. The software is continually addressing more of these demanding situations and will get better and better at handling problematic data; however, it’s important to note that results may not be “perfect” when dealing with particularly difficult imagery.

1.7 How can you be trained in OrthoVista?

To get a quick start in using and understanding OrthoVista we offer an online training package “OrthoVista I Tools & Functionality”. Closer information you can find at Learning Center (http://learn.trimble.com/lms/)


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Furthermore we offer on-site trainings either at your place or here in Stuttgart. We are pleased about your interest. Contact us at [email protected]

1.8 Installing OrthoVista

To install OrthoVista, load your distribution DVD-ROM or download an archive file from the OrthoVista download page on the Inpho or Trimble Geospatial website: http://www.inpho.de or http://www.trimble.com/geospatial/aerial-software.aspx

1.9 What are the system requirements for running OrthoVista?

Processing time is determined mainly by CPU speed and even more important disk access speed. OrthoVista requires a 64bit operating system with at least 4GB RAM.

Always try to run OrthoVista with image data on fast, local disk storage device. Should you use network drives, we strongly suggest to always map the network drives, use a 1 Gbit network or even faster otherwise the processing performance will be severely affected.

1.10 Windows installation

Just start the setup.exe and follow the installation instructions.

1.10.1 Windows registration

OrthoVista uses a hardware dongle to protect the software. You will get the dongle when you purchase OrthoVista. It is also possible to run OrthoVista with a server license where the dongle is managed and located on a server accessible via the network.

1.11 Linux installation

You will find a detailed description in the Installation.pdf

http://www.inpho.de/


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1.11.1 Linux registration

Starting with version 4.3 of OrthoVista, the Linux version of our software uses hardware licensing via WIBU CodeMeter. This requires that the CodeMeter software is installed and running on any computer that should run the software, even if the license is acquired over the network. The latest version of the CodeMeter runtime is always available under: www.codemeter.com For convenience, the current version is bundled with this software. Installation files for Debian based systems (Debian, Ubuntu, ...) can be found under opt/inpho/deb-packages, those for rpm based systems (SuSE, RedHat, ...) can be found under /opt/inpho/rpm-packages. Both directories contain subdirectories for 64bit systems (amd64 or x86_64). Please pick the appropriate installer package for your system and install it as usual. After installation, you might delete the directories /opt/inpho/deb-packages and /opt/inpho/rpm-packages.


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2 Getting Started with OrthoVista

2.1 Invoking OrthoVista

To start OrthoVista, use one of the following instructions:

On Windows systems, double-click the OrthoVista icon.

On Linux systems, type orthovista (or the alias you’ve assigned) at any command prompt. (Remember that Linux is case-sensitive.)

The OrthoVista Main Window and Project Dialog Figure 3:

Once started, OrthoVista displays its main window and the project dialog. Using the software generally involves three simple steps that can be initiated using the icons below available in the main window’s toolbar: Load image data. This icon invokes the Choose Directory dialog so that you can specify the location of your input data and load the imagery for processing. Select processing area. This icon invokes the Custom Area dialog where you can define the image area to be processed. You can select all images or use your mouse to define a processing area. Process imagery. This icon invokes the Processing Options dialog. Simply specify an output directory, adjust any processing options if necessary and click the Process button. Refer to the OrthoVista Tutorial for more help getting the software up and running quickly. To start using OrthoVista, you need georeferenced image data. This data must consist of individual orthophoto images and accompanying geodetic reference information.


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OrthoVista works with a variety of georeference data generated by common mapping, remote sensing, photogrammetry and image processing software. Orthophoto data typically are produced using a soft-copy photogrammetric workstation, an orthophoto production system and/or various remote sensing software packages.

2.2 Exiting OrthoVista

To quit OrthoVista: Select Quit from the File menu.


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3 Basic Concepts

3.1 Main window

OrthoVista provides a number of tools that control the way in which your imagery is displayed in the main window.

Main window Figure 4:

Once you’ve loaded your image data, you can manipulate the display using either:

The icons displayed on the left side of the main window.

The Display Layers pop-up menu.

Display Layer Popup Menu Figure 5:

To activate the Display Layers pop-up menu, right-click in the main window and hold the mouse button down for at least 1 second.


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Note: The layer “Editing” is not used in OrthoVista, as it toggles the currently digitized seamline while editing.

3.1.1 Show Histogram

To display histograms of single images, right-click on a certain image and hold the mouse button down for at least 1 second. A pop-up menu allows you then to open the histogram of this image.

Image histogram Figure 6:

3.1.2 To Front

If images overlap each other at a certain position, OrthoVista displays the last loaded image on top of all the others. To change the sequence of images, right-click on a certain position and hold the mouse button down for at least 1 second. A pop-up menu allows you then to select a certain image which will be then on top of all others.

Selection of an image to be on top Figure 7:


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3.1.3 Display Layers

The Display Layers Tool Bar contains a number of tool buttons to toggle the display. Each option can be turned on and off independently.

Images: Displays the input images within the ortho borders. Ortho Borders: Displays the borders of the input images in red. Tile Borders: Displays the tile definition borders, if any are defined. Output Areas: Displays the physical area (Tiles) to be processed. Seams: Displays seam polygons in Seam Editor, does not display any information in OrthoVista itself. User Vector Data: Displays the borders of loaded user vector data like exclusion areas, seam areas and water areas. Names Display: Displays names of images and tile definitions.

3.1.4 Viewing Control

The View Control Tool Bar contains a number of tool buttons used to change the area displayed in the Main Window.

Zoom window mode: This is the standard mode for zooming. By clicking and holding the left mouse button, drag a rectangle over the desired view area. Release the left mouse button, and the view display will zoom to the defined area. A single right click will zoom back to the previous zoom level. Note: If the zooming rectangle is too small, no zooming will take place. To zoom into a tiny rectangle, you might have to use two subsequent zooms. Panning mode: When panning is active, you can ‘grab’ the image shown in the Display Area and drag it to a new position. This is similar to using the scrollbars of the Display Area. See also 3.1.4.1. Zoom-in mode: While in this mode, each click with the left mouse button will re-center at that location and also zoom in by a factor of two. A single right click will zoom back to the previous zoom level. See also 3.1.4.1. Zoom-out mode: In this mode, each click with the left mouse button re-center at that location and also zoom out by a factor of two. A single right click will zoom back to the previous zoom level. See also 3.1.4.1. Zoom reset button: This button resets the zoom stack and shows the whole project in a ‘fit-to-view’ zoom level.


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3.1.4.1 “Single-shot” versus “Continuous” mode:

The panning and the zoom in/out buttons operate in two different modes. A single click on the button involves a single-shot operation. Once this operation is activated the view control falls automatically back to the “zoom-window” mode. Double clicking these buttons enters the modes permanently until a different zoom/pan button or the zoom-window button is pressed.

3.2 Shortcuts

Zooming, panning and window sliders can be also controlled by using hard-key shortcuts. The following shortcuts are supported:

Shortcut Function

+ Zoom in

- Zoom out

F Full Screen or Reset Display

C Center Position

Arrow Keys Move Slider up/down/left/right

3.3 Language Selection

OrthoVista supports multiple languages for the user interface and messages. In addition to English (the default language) there is support for German, Russian, Spanish and Chinese, other languages may follow. The current language may be selected using the Language Selection Dialog, available in the Setup menu (second from left, in case you are unable to read the entries in the current language) as item “Language…” (second from bottom):

The language dialog searches for language files installed on the system and offers all available languages in the drop-down box. To pre-set the language for all users of the system, the application has to be started with administrator privileges and the checkbox has to be activated. Support for other languages may be added independent of the software and may be provided by third parties. Please contact our support team if you are interested in providing an additional language. The OpenGL font setting is not used in OrthoVista and Seam Editor, this setting should be left unchanged.


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3.4 Plugins

OrthoVista supports an innovative architecture that packages specific product functionality into modules called “plugins.” The advantage of using a modular architecture is that OrthoVista only loads the modules required to perform the processing jobs that you specify resulting in faster, more efficient processing. Plugins support third-party development and product customization. They encapsulate product features such as image format support and specific image processing capabilities. This allows independent development and delivery of schedule-critical and/or proprietary processing modules. Plugins are grouped into several categories; you can get details on each specific plugin from OrthoVista’s Info menu.

3.4.1 Image support plugins (image formats)

OrthoVista accepts a variety of image formats:

TIFF (scanline or tiled) and GeoTIFF

JPEG (read only, limited to 51MPixel uncompressed image data)

ADS (uncompressed and TIFF/JPEG, no hardware compression)

BigTIFF (scanline or tiled)

BIP/BIL/BSQ To determine which specific image formats are supported by your installation of OrthoVista (e.g., list the image support plugins that are currently installed), select About Plugins from the Info menu and select Image Support Plugins. A dialog will display the plugins currently available and provide detailed technical information about image formats and their specifications.

3.4.2 Georeference data support plugins (report formats)

These plugins are used to read and write image georeference information.

GeoTIFF .tif format

Worldfile .tfw and .tifw (for TIFF images), .jgw, (for JPEG images) and .bpw, .blw, and .bqw (for BIP/BIL/BSQ images) formats

Vision Softplotter .rpt format

Zeiss Phodis .inp format

ER Mapper raster file format .ers GeoTIFF Note: OrthoVista handles GeoTIFF files that contain the image and header data in the same file, and supports the following tags in GeoTIFF format:

ModelTiepointTag

ModelPixelScaleTag

ModelTransformationTag Other tags that describe projections as well as extensions that are not supported will be carried through the process and written in the output files without alteration. More information concerning GeoTIFF can be obtained from OrthoVista’s Info menu.

3.4.3 Image adjustment plugins (image processing)

Many of OrthoVista’s processing capabilities are implemented as plugins:

hot spot removal

intensity dodging


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global tilting adjustment

reflections removal

mosaic space resampling

plain mosaicking

sheet centered mosaicking

adaptive feathering

feature detection

seam applicator Check the Info menu to determine the plugins currently installed. Custom plugins may also be developed to meet an individual customer’s specific image processing requirements.

3.5 Rotated images

OrthoVista can accommodate rotated input images. It can also rotate the output image so that mosaics are generated with arbitrary pixel row/column azimuths. If all input images are not aligned, then image sampling is required. OrthoVista applies a bilinear resampling using existing image pyramids. Consequently, processing of rotated images can be substantially slower than processing non-rotated imagery. OrthoVista automatically detects input image rotation when it reads the input orthophoto georeference data.

3.5.1 Rotation of output mosaic

Use the mosaic space specification, available in the project dialog. For further information, please refer to chapter 3.7.1 Mosaic. The canvas orientation button represents the North Direction.

3.6 File management

Create a new project: Creates a new project and clears data that was previously loaded in OrthoVista. Open an existing project: Displays a file selection dialog where you can select and load an existing project. Save the current project: The project itself and the selected processing area respectively tile definitions are written to disk. Imports a “Configuration File”. The configuration is imported and written into the orthovista.cfg file located on the directory “C:\Documents and settings\All Users\Application Data\Trimble\Inpho5\Settings” (on Windows 2000 and Windows XP) respectively “C:\ProgramData\Trimble\Inpho5\Settings” (on Windows Vista/7).


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Saves the parameter settings into a user defined “Configuration File”. Printing the display OrthoVista allows you to print what appears in the main window. You can output to printers and/or postscript files. To print the current display: Select Print Display from the File menu. The printed output represents what is on the screen, so zooming and scrolling the main window will change what is printed. For best results, resize the main window to match the proportions of the page to which you are printing.

3.7 Project Dialog

The project dialog allows parallel to the handling in the main window, four additional options:

Mosaic: for resampling and rotations

Images: for image handling

Tiles: for loading, defining and selecting tiles

Vectors: for vector data handling The selection of the meta data directory is listed in all 4 tabs.

The project dialog includes also some information about the number of loaded images, the usability and the activation/deactivation status of the images. This information is located in the lower left corner of the project dialog.


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3.7.1 Mosaic

The Mosaic Space Specification allows resampling the input data and aligning it to a new reference point. The reference point is always referring to the corner of the pixel, not the center of the pixel. For resampling, the bilinear resampling using existing pyramids will be applied.

Note: changing the mosaic space specification requires a new tile definition and selection. Therefore please change mosaic space specifications, prior to the tile definition and selection.

OrthoVista rotates the view of the input images. Tile definitions and selections are always displayed parallel to the main window. The main window stays aligned with the output mosaic. The specified angle is represented with the canvas icon in the lower left corner of the main window.

The below graphics explain the display of the project in main view for a non-rotated project in comparison to a rotated project:

Non-rotated images:

Imported orthos, pointing north Defined tile definition, always parallel to main window Axis of main window

Orientation angle of 0 degrees for output tiles


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Canvas, showing the north direction

Rotated images:

Imported orthos, pointing north

Defined tile definition, always parallel to main window Axis of main window Orientation angle of 20 degrees for output tiles Canvas, showing the north direction

Automatic: The existing georeference (Reference Point) of one image will be used and all others will be resampled accordingly. Defined by Reference Point, Angle and Pixel Size: Allows defining manually a new reference point, a rotation and a pixel size Defined by Reference Point and Unit Vectors: Allows defining manually a new reference point and unit vectors like in a TFW file Reference Point (pixel corner): This option allows defining manually a new reference point (X and Y) that should be used for resampling. Column Vector: Defines the column vector in X and Y. The values refer to the first and second entry in the TFW file: 0.100000

0.050000 0.050000 -0.100000

20 deg


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2571491.475000 5647965.975000

Row Vector: Defines the row vector in X and Y. The values refer to the third and fourth entry in the TFW file: 0.100000

0.050000 0.050000 -0.100000 2571491.475000 5647965.975000

Angle: The angle can be keyed in to define the rotation of the output images. In case the “Defined by Reference Point and Unit Vectors” option is used, the resulting angle value from the column entry is displayed. Pixel Size: Allows defining a new output pixel size. This option can be used to down sample images to a specific ground sample distance (GSD) or to unify varying GSDs to one size. Changing the pixel size will result in resampling of the images. Apply Changes: Applies the changes and updates the main window. In case apply changes is not used, the main window might represent different values compared to the defined mosaic space specification. Pending Changes and Active Settings: To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, the dialog shows always the “pending changes” before applying them to the project and the current “active settings” which are being represented in the main window.


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3.7.2 Images

Loading orthophotos by file or directory Like in the main menu, the project dialog allows to load either single or a group of files or a whole directory. See also chapter 3.9. Unload selected images allows to unload images after they are selected first in the project dialog. Change file path allows changing the file path of images after they are selected first in the project dialog. This function is needed after having loaded a project file and the file path of the images in the project file is no more correct.

To change the path, select images first, press the Change Path button to select a directory. The new directory will then be automatically applied. The meta data directory can be changed as well by using the Browse button. Activating/Deactivating images allows activating/deactivating images after they are selected first in the project dialog. Only activated images are displayed in the main menu and processed. Select/Unselect images allows selecting/unselecting images for the Radiometrix Editor after they are selected first in the project dialog. The columns in general represent the status of individual images Name Lists the image name

Georeference Checks for information about the georeference. The tool tip


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window for a georeference entry shows some additional

information about the image’s georeference.

Image Is the image online? The tool tip window shows some additional

information about the raster image.

Usable Can the image be used and is e.g. not corrupt?

Active Lists the activation/ deactivation status of the image

RDX sel. Lists if an image is selected for radiometric changes in

Radiometrix Editor

Single Lists if the image has been activated for single image adjustment

Group Lists if the image has been activated for Image group adjustment

Output Lists if the image has been selected for output of adjusted images

3.7.3 Tiles

Load tiles allow loading tiles from a tile definition file. See also Chapter 3.8. Create a new tile definition file allows creating a new tile file (*.tsp). See also Chapter 3.8. Edit selected tile definition allows editing the select tile definition file (*.tsp). See also Chapter 3.8. Unload tiles allows to unload a tile file after being selected in the project dialog.


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Mark/unmark tiles for processing allows to mark/unmark tiles for processing after they are selected first in the project dialog. Mark all edited tiles for processing. Clear the edited status of all tiles selected in the project dialog. The Edited status is automatically modified by the Seam Editor when seam lines influencing a certain tile are modified. Once seams are modified with the Seam Editor the changes have to be applied with a Seam Applicator run. In order to avoid that all tiles have to be reprocessed, the Edited status helps to check which tile has to be re-processed. The Tiles list can be sorted for Edited and non-Edited tiles and once sorted the tiles can be selected and marked for processing. If further on seams are modified it is helpful to set the tile status back to not-Edited before starting a new Editing.

3.7.4 Vectors

The vectors tab in the project dialog provides all functions for the vector file handling. Compared to previous versions, the vector file handling has been removed from the HotSpot Removal, the Reflections Removal and the Building Outline functionalities and is located centralized in the vectors tab in the project dialog. Load vectors from file allows loading vector data files for further usage. Supported formats are AutoCAD DXF and ESRI ARCshape. There is no naming restriction as the type of the vector layer needs to be assigned in the vector layer properties. Note: Vector data is not imported into the OrthoVista project file. The project file only contains a reference to the original vector data file. Take care not to remove vector data files you need to be available in OrthoVista or the Seam Editor.


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Edit the selected vector layer settings: allows assigning and modifying the layer usage, type, complex polygon status, visibility and color. Depending on the layer usage, options and default settings will change.

File Name: Lists the name of the loaded file. This entry cannot be modified. Layer Name: Lists the name of the selected layer. This entry cannot be modified. Layer Usage: Allows the selection of the layer usage. Options are:

Ignored: Files and Layers can be loaded for display purposes only. Layers will not be used during processing. Hot Spot Removal: OrthoVista can skip radiometric balancing to the area within a polygon that is used for the Hot Spot Removal function. Polygons are typically used as exclusion areas for the radiometric correction. Please see the table below for further details. Area of Interest: This function allows loading one or several polygons which can be used as project boundary. Clipping the block to a specified area can be utilized as inclusion or exclusion area. Generated Seam: Seamlines being generated in a previous OrthoVista run can be loaded for visualization purposes. Building Outlines: Building outlines mark exclusion areas for seam lines. The automatic seam


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line finding functions (Feature detection) will then avoid these areas. Import of closed polygons in DXF and SHP format are supported. Note: If an exclusion area covers the complete overlap, the seam line may go straight. Reflection Area: Polygons describing the water area have to be used for the removal of reflections on water bodies. It is necessary to define the Reflection Areas with closed polygons. Several areas can be defined. If a defined area is within another area, the inner area defines an island which is then treated as an exclusion area for the Reflection Removal. Currently the Reflection Areas must be imported via a DXF file or ArcShape file. Please see below table for further details on the layer usage options.

Layer Type: Allows the selection of the layer type. Options are: Lines, Inclusion and Exclusion. Please see below table for further details. Complex Polygon: When the option “Complex Polygon” is set to status “yes” then the import routine analyses all the polygons. To skip the analysis, the polygon definition needs to fulfill two requirements:

(1) The polygon must not be self-intersecting, i.e. there must not be any line

segments that intersect each other. In case partly overlapping areas are found, they are merged together to one common polygon if the “Allow Complex Polygon Definition” is switched on.

Two polygons overlapping Result “Complex Polygon” activated Figure 8:

(2) The vertex order of the digitized polygons for Reflection Area is

important.

Water Area

Land Area/Islands


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Recommendation: Water area digitized counter-clockwise Figure 9:

If the status of “Complex Polygon” is set to “no”, the direction how polygons are digitized is important. In this case digitize the outer water areas counter-clockwise and all islands clock wise. If a polygon with the type “left exclusive” is used, then the water area may also be digitized clockwise and the islands have to be digitized counter-clockwise. If the polygon definition does not satisfy both requirements, the status of “Complex Polygon” must be set to “yes.

Note: In case of “Complex Polygon” - for large Reflection Area Definition files the analyzing can take a considerable time (several hours). In case partly overlapping areas are found, they are merged together to one common polygon. So enable this option only if you would like to combine polygons to one and you don’t like to consider the digitization direction. Layer Visibility: Allows to activate the layer display in the main window. Please note that visualizing larger files in the main window might take several minutes. It is not necessary for the processing to activate the display of the vector layers in the main window. Files are being used for the selected processing as long as soon as the layer usage is selected. Layer Color: Allows changing the display color of layers in the main window. Default colors are:

Hot Spot Removal: purple Area of Interest: green Generated Seam: Building Outlines: red Reflection Area: blue

Unload selected vector file allows unloading selected vector data files. Unloading single layers from a vector file is currently not supported. Changes the file path for selected vector files: allows modifying the path of already loaded vector data files, in case file locations have been changed.

Layer Usage

Layer Type

Description

ignored Lines Files and Layers can be loaded for display purposes only. Layers will not be used during processing. Inclusion

Area

Exclusion Area


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Hot Spot Removal

Inclusion Area

Digitized Polygon

Hot Spot Removal corrected Area

Non-corrected Area

Exclusion Area

Digitized Polygon

Hot Spot Removal corrected Area

Non-corrected Area

Area of Interest

Inclusion Area

Digitized Polygon

Output Area

Clipped Area

Exclusion Area

Digitized Polygon

Output Area

Clipped Area

Generated Seam

None Loaded Seamline

Display Background color Files and Layers can be loaded for display purposes only. Layers will not be used during processing.

Building Outlines

None Polygons representing building outlines are treated automatically as exclusion areas for the seamline detection (Feature Detection algorithm only)

Reflection Area

Inclusion Area

Digitized Polygon

Land Area

Water Area

Exclusion Area

Digitized Polygon

Land Area

Water Area


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3.8 Defining the processing area

For your convenience, you can define specific areas of the input image data for processing. Each area defines an output file. Radiometric corrections are only computed for the areas that are defined by the collection of all processing areas. OrthoVista’s processing does not include images whose area is not included in a defined processing area. A common first step in production operations is to create a tile definition file. Often, the output tile definition is created during flight planning or project management activities. OrthoVista can read tile definition files and use them to define output mosaic boundaries. The following sections describe alternative techniques to define the image processing areas.

3.8.1 Using a tile definition with simple parameters (standard file extension is tsp)

To create this form of a tile definition file, use tile definition creation dialog from the Project Dialog window. First step is then to define a tile definition file first. All changes defined in the tile definition menu are then directly applied to the stored tile definition file. Note: The images must be loaded before defining the tiles. The tile definition has to know pixel size and image location to work correctly.

Reference Point The Reference Point can be either keyed in or picked in the main window using the left mouse button. It describes the


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East/North of any exact corner. The aligned to information displays the coordinates rounded according to the loaded georeference of the images. Please note that the output tiles will be generated according to the aligned value.

Tile Size The Tile Sizes are X(E-W) and Y(N-S) tile dimensions in ground units, e.g. meter. The aligned to information displays the coordinates rounded according to the loaded ground sample distance of the images. Please note that the output tiles will be generated according to the aligned value.

Tile Skip The Tile Skip is optional and can be used to define overlapping tiles.

Tile Count Tile Count specifies for each direction (east, west, north, and south) the quantity of tiles starting at the reference point.

Name Pattern The name pattern editor can be used to automatically create output file names for the tiles. Name patterns may include coordinate values (east, north), incremental indices (east-west, south-north) or simple text. Make sure that no duplicate names for the tiles are being generated. Name Pattern Editor

Add Select a new name pattern (coordinate values, incremental indices or text). Edit Edit existing patterns. Remove Remove existing patterns Up/Down


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Defines the order of the name pattern. Up and down can be used to change the existing name pattern order. The pattern fields can have the following values: Coordinate

Direction indicator: Select whether the x or y coordinate is to be written to the name pattern string. Reference specifier: Define if the coordinates shall be displayed for the ceter or for one of the four tile corners Trim to field width: Define the field width Truncate by: Truncate by a number of digits to cut off the last digits ofa coordinate value Pad with leading zeros: Fills the specified field width with leading zeros if the coordinate value is too small. Index


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Direction indicator: To name the output tiles with incremental indices, define the direction indicator whether index number of the 1st, 2nd… tile from east to west or from north to south is to be used. Trim to field width: Define the field width for the index numbers. Pad with leading zeros: Fills the specified field width with leading zeros if the index number is too small Text

Text: Any explanatory comment can be written to the name pattern.

Apply The Apply button overwrites existing tile definitions in the OrthoVista Project Dialog and automatically stores the changes in the earlier defined *.tsp files.

3.8.2 Using an ESRI ARCshape file as tile definition

An ESRI ARCshape file defining the tile extents and names can be imported. The file can be generated using different software packages like the DTMaster. Important is the following specifications are being fulfilled:

- The ARCshape file must contain polygons - The associated database must contain a column called NAME of type

C(haracter). The database may contain other columns also - For each polygon there needs to be a corresponding database record where

the content of the NAME column defines the tile name – the database must not contain other records

- The order of the polygons in the file must match the order of the database entries defining their name

- No duplicate tile names are allowed - Currently limited to maximum 10 000 polygons per file. In case files >10 000

polygons need to be loaded, the shp tile definition needs to be split in different files.


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3.8.3 Using an explicit tile definition file (standard file extension is txt)

To create this form of tile definition file, use any text editor, spreadsheet, or processing script to write an ASCII .txt file in the format below. OrthoVista ignores lines where the second column has double quotes ( e.g., “”). The file consists of data in five columns:

<tile-id> ascii string

<northwest-X-coordinate> floating point number

<northwest-Y-coordinate> floating point number

<southeast-X-coordinate> floating point number

<southeast-Y-coordinate> floating point number

A sample file might look like this: "TileID" "NWx" "NWy" "SEx" SEy"

"tile-A1" 470000 4510000 480000 4500000

"tile-A2" 480000 4510000 490000 4500000

:

:

These files are read by a tile definition plugin. Select About Plugins from the Info menu to determine the tile definition plugins supported by OrthoVista and to obtain detailed specifications for each format.

3.8.4 Using a tile definition with simple parameters from a text editor (standard file extension is tsp)

To create this form of a tile definition file, use any text editor, spreadsheet, or processing script to write an ASCII .tsp file in the format below. File is a 'keyword value(s)' format with content: NOTE: Keywords INCLUDE the ':'(colon) character!

------------ #Everything after a '#' character is comment TileCorner: x0 y0 TileSize: dX dY TileSkip: dX dY TilesToWest: nXW TilesToEast: nXE TilesToNorth: nYN TilesToSouth: nYS TileNameFormat: fmt # end of file ------------

Where: : x0, y0 : are East/North of any exact corner : sizeX, sizeY : are X(E-W) and Y(N-S) tile dimension : dX, dY : are X(E-W) and Y(N-S) distance between tiles : nXW : number of tiles to west of corner : nXE : number of tiles to east of corner : nYN : number of tiles to north of corner : nYS : number of tiles to south of corner : fmt : format for the output file names (see below)


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TileSkip is optional and defaults to TileSize and can be used to define tiles, which overlap each other. TileNameFormat is optional. The default is a row and column based numbering that guarantees unique tile numbers. Example:

#----Start of File # place tiles on even 10k grid # NOTE: all units are 'world/ortho' units TileCorner: 120000 1320000 TileSize: 10000 10000 # assume corner is upper left (N/W) of project area # and that project area is covered by 5 by 7 tiles # but we also want to pad one extra column to the west # NOTE: units are 'number of tiles' TilesToWest: 1 # pad one column west of corner TilesToEast: 5 TilesToNorth: 0 # no rows above corner TilesToSouth: 7 TileNameFormat: t%03.3ulx%03.3uly #----End of File

NOTE: numbers are expressed in decimal notation (e.g. the decimal is represented by a '.'(dot) character. Do _not_ use ','(comma) characters! Format String Description: A format string can be an arbitrary string that contains placeholders for tile specific information. The placeholder structure is as follows: Structure Option 1:

a '%' sign

an optional '0' (leadingZeroIndicator)

an optional number (fieldWidth)

the character 'e' or 'n' (eastNorthIndicator)

Structure Option 2:

a '%' sign

an optional '0' (leadingZeroIndicator)

an optional number (fieldWidth)

an optional '.' followed by a number (cutLength)

'ul', 'ur', 'll', 'lr', or 'c' (cornerSpecifier)

the character 'x' or 'y' (rightUpIndicator) The first structure is to include the horizontal ('e') or vertical ('n') tile number. It is printed using up to 'fieldWidth' digits. If there is a 'leadingZeroIndicator', there are exactly 'fieldWidth' digits; missing digits are padded with 0. Given the horizontal tile number 13, '%3e' gives '13', while '%05e' gives '00013'. The second structure is used to include the X ('x') or Y ('y') coordinate of a tile corner or the center in the tile name. The 'cornerSpecifier' is 'ul' for the upper left corner, 'ur' for the upper right corner, 'll' for the lower left corner, 'lr' for the lower right corner, and 'c' for the tile center. 'fieldWidth' - as above - specifies the


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maximum number of digits in the output, and 'leadingZeroIndicator' also behaves as described above. In addition, 'cutLength' gives the number of digits to be truncated from the right after rounding the coordinate value. Example: Assume the x coordinate of the upper left corner is 167874.738. First this is rounded to integer, giving 167874. A placeholder structure '%ulx' will thus result in '167874', '%8ulx' gives '167874', and '%08ulx' results in '00167874'. If 'fieldWidth' is less than the number of digits, digits are truncated at the left. For our example, '%4ulx' results in '7874'. To truncate from the right, 'cutLength' can be used. Thus '%.2ulx' gives '1678'. A combination might be '%2.3ulx', which results in three digits cut from the right, then taken the rightmost 2 digits: '67'. One more example: assume your coordinates are in meters, and you want a three-digit kilometer value of the lower left corner. The tile name must have the prefix 't_' and the X and Y values have to be marked with 'E' and 'N'. The format string for this tile specification is 't_%3.3llxE%3.3llyN'. For a lower left corner of (7521344.0 ; 13557412.0) the tile name will be 't_521E557N'. Example with TileSkip:

TileCorner: 10000 10000 TileSize: 1000 1000 TileSkip: 900 900 TilesToWest: 1 TilesToEast: 1 TilesToNorth: 1 TilesToSouth: 1

Above settings lead to following tile corner coordinates:

Example with TileSkip definition. Figure 10:

9100/10900 11000/10900

9100/900 11000/9000

10000/10000


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The corners of the tiles are computed as follows:

The given TileCorner defines the upper left corner of one tile (shaded tile).

There are no more tiles to be generated to the south – east as the one already defined

To the north – east, north – west and south – west the TileSkip value of 900 units is added and then an area of 1000 by 1000 units is defined. See tiles 11, 12, 22 so that the tiles overlap each other by 100 units.

TileSkip defines the skipping distance from upper left corner to the next corner in x and y. At this corner then an area of TileSize dx, dy units is defined.

3.8.5 Loading a tile definition file:

Select Load Tile Definition from the Setup menu. OrthoVista displays the Open dialog. Locate and select your tile definition file and click OK. OrthoVista displays the tiles you’ve defined in blue.

Note:

- TileSpec files must have the file extension “tsp”

- Explicit tile definition files can have the file extension “shp” or “txt”.

3.8.6 Clipping to Area of Interest

Tile definitions and selections can additionally be used with the “Area of Interest” option, to clip the output area to a predefined polygon. For further information, please refer to chapter 3.7.4 Vectors

3.9 Loading input image data

To process your input image data, you need to specify the location of the input-image data along with the georeference data (e.g. tfw). The image-data files and the georeference data files must be in the same directory. Note that all the georeference data files found in the directory will be utilized. If you don’t want to process a specific image, move the georeference data file to another directory before proceeding. Alternatively, you can load individual image files rather than all of the files in a directory Note: If you are using GeoTIFF images with accompanying geodetic reference data files (e.g. TIFF world files) the OrthoVista status window will inform you that there are 2 georeference information. In this case, the TIFF World files (tfw) are overruling the geotiff information. To load input imagery from a directory: Select Load Orthos by Directory from the Setup menu or press the corresponding icon buttons. OrthoVista displays the Find Directory dialog. Select the directory containing the input images and click OK. OrthoVista loads the imagery into the main window and displays the boundaries of each individual input file in red. To load input imagery by file:


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Select Load Orthos by File from the Setup menu or press the corresponding icon button. Select either tfw, ads or tif (in case of geotiff images) files. OrthoVista displays the Specify Input Files dialog. Select the input image(s) and click OK. You can load each image individually or select multiple images. If you select multiple images, OrthoVista checks for georeference information (e.g. tfw files) and loads only these files. Once you’ve loaded your input imagery, you can modify the display as explained in the previous section. In case of ADS Pushbroom files select the ADS files to load the images. This will then load automatically all files belonging to an ADS file. General Preferences By Selecting the Set General Preferences function the following Global settings window is started.

General Preferences Dialog Figure 11:

Standard Cache Size This parameter defines a cache size, which is used to cache meta data for computation purposes.

Note: Beside the given Cache Size, OrthoVista needs more memory to process data, especially when “Save Vector Seams” is activated. If too much cache size is defined with larger projects the physical memory will be reached. The operating system will then either kill OrthoVista or the computer uses the virtual memory, which slows down


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processing considerably. According to our testing, a larger cache size does not necessarily speed up processing but can enhance the reaction time in the Radiometrix Editor or if rgn files keeping Background Pixel information are large.

Seam Editor Cache Size This parameter defines a cache size, which is used to cache meta data and images for Seam editing. For 64bit operating systems, the cache size can be set to 1024 when having at least 4GB RAM in the computer

Log File This parameter is for problem tracking only. Should you have a problem with the OrthoVista processing then it might be helpful to define a log file and enable the Verbose switch. When done try to reproduce the problem and send the Trimble Geospatial support team the log file.

Display Background Color This parameter defines the background color of the OrthoVista main window area.

Email Settings

OrthoVista allows sending emails once a process has finished. The email address and SMTP settings are defined within the email settings dialog.

Enable Parallel Processing OrthoVista allows parallel processing for the generation of region files, the HotSpot Removal, Feature Detection and for writing output images when this option is enabled. When enabled the number of parallel processes can be selected. Maximum number is 16. Do not select more processes then cores are available on your computer. Should you have only one core (CPU) available we suggest to enable this option but to select 1 for the number of sub-processes. Dependent on the file IO speed there might not be much improvement in speed between 2 sub-processes and more. Only by improving the file IO 3 or even 4 sub-processes will allow faster processing.

Overview Generation Overviews or a Full Set of Overviews are down sampled (minified) images of the original input image. They are stored in separate Files in the same directory as the input images. They have the file extension .pyr. The overview files are very important for a fast display of the images and for fast processing. Therefore we strongly suggest generating overviews if they do not exist. If the parameter “No Overviews” is activated OrthoVista will not create Overviews. If the parameter “Single Overviews” is activated, then OrthoVista will generate one single Overview per image (if it does not already exists) with an extension of about 1024x1024 pixels. If the parameter “Full Set of Overviews” is activated, then OrthoVista will generate several overviews with a down-sampling rate factor of 2 from overview to overview. A full set


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of overviews allow a much faster zooming into the images, and is especially helpful if you use the images in the Seam Editor. If “Delay Overview Generation” is activated, then OrthoVista computes the Overviews only if they are opened for display or accessed for computation. Otherwise OrthoVista will start the overview generation in a multi-threaded mode as soon the images are loaded. Note: No computation of overviews for an image is done if either one or several overviews already exist.

Enable Background Checking To enable automatic detection of background pixels, click on the Enable Background Checking checkbox. If your images have no background pixels you can disable this parameter. If disabled all pixels will be treated as valid image data, and the processing is faster.

Minimum Non-Background Image Data Value

Maximum Non Background Image Data Value To set the pixel values that will be considered background, change the minimum and maximum values in the Image Data Values box. If your images have black borders, set a range from 1 to 255 for 8 bit and 1 to 65535 for 12/16 bit images. If they have white borders, set a range from 0 to 254 for 8 bit and 0 to 65534 for 12/16 bit images. If you do not have black or white borders, disable Background Checking. You can define the Min/Max values independent on the input or output image resolution (8, 12 or 16 bit). The 16bit options give higher resolution steps. Note: If you define the Min/Max range from 1 to 254, you are defining both black and white as background information. In this case OrthoVista tries to fill such background colors with valid image data from overlaying images. If such areas cannot be filled from overlaying images, OrthoVista uses the parameter Output Background Color to fill the areas. It is possible that a white area is transformed to black or vice versa.

Output Background Color

This parameter defines the color to be used to fill Background Color areas if the areas can’t be filled by valid image data.

Display Mapping To control which image data are displayed in a specific display channel, change the values in the Display Mapping boxes. See also chapter 3.9.2.

Note: Changing the settings for Min/Max Image data values and Background Checking invalidates all meta data files generated with the previous settings: This includes:

*.rdx Radiometrix data files

*.rgn Boundary Region files


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*.bal Image Balancing files

*.tlt Group Adjustment files

*.cld Seam Definition files If you apply the changes, you have to delete all previously generated meta data files in the meta data directory and the *.rdx files manually. In addition you have to restart OrthoVista before the changes are effective.

3.9.1 Background pixels

Images are considered to have two pixel types consisting of either “image pixels” or “background pixels.” A common situation in which this occurs is when a rotated image is ortho-rectified. For example, if a square image is aligned 45-degrees from North and is rectified into a North-South coordinate system, the resulting data file will consist of a diamond-shaped area of image pixels surrounded by triangular areas of background pixels. Because background areas are commonly produced during ortho-rectification operations, OrthoVista provides several options for handling them. A significant feature of OrthoVista is the ability to automatically detect the border between the background pixels and the image pixels. The distinction between image and background pixels is controlled by the Image Data Values minimum and maximum values. By default, background pixels are defined as pixels, which have an intensity value of 0 (0,0,0 for black) or 255 (255,255,255 for white). These values can be adjusted higher or lower respectively to determine what will be considered background pixels. If the pixel intensity value is greater than or equal to the minimum and is also less than or equal to the maximum, then this pixel is considered to be a valid “image pixel.” If the intensity is outside of this range (and is connected by other background pixels that touch the edge of the data file), the pixel is classified as a “background pixel.” In mosaicking, the pixels will be treated as background if they are outside the edge of the image data. However, in image balancing, all values that are background will be ignored no matter where they are located.

3.9.2 Display mapping

OrthoVista allows handling multi-channel images. But a color monitor can display only 3 channels as RGB images. For a multi-channel image it is therefore necessary to define which channel shall be combined to show up as Red, Green and Blue. See also chapter 3.14.2 for a description of the RGB channel assignment. Note that grayscale images are always displayed as grayscale independent of the display mapping settings (e.g., the 0 image channel is displayed equally in the display R, G and B channels). The image channels are denoted by the names Red, Green, Blue and if more channels are available with a number starting with 0. For example, a grayscale image has only channel 0. A typical color image has three channels: Red, Green and Blue. The display has three-color channels: red, green and blue commonly identified as R, G and B, respectively.


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You can use these setting to view individual image channels. For example, if you want to view only image channel 0 (typically the red channel of a color image) as a grayscale image, you can set all display channels to this same image channel.

3.10 Specifying a custom area

If you don’t have a tile definition file, you can use this function to define tiles for processing. To specify a custom area: Click Select Area

Custom Area dialog Figure 12:

Click in the Tile Id box and type a unique name for the new tile you want to define (e.g., ”area01”). Be sure to use different names for each Tile ID you define. OrthoVista will warn you if you try to use the same Tile ID twice.

To define the custom area, do one of the following:

Click and drag a rectangle in the main window.

Type exact coordinates in the data entry boxes and click the Add Tile button.

Click the Select All button. OrthoVista displays the custom area you’ve defined (green shaded). The new tile will be stored in the project as an area to be processed. You can select multiple areas for processing at the same time, just be sure to use different names for each Tile ID. To deselect the area, left-click on the main window while the Custom Area dialog is still open.


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3.11 Selecting one or a group of tiles:

After having loaded tiles with Load Tile definition (see chapter 3.7) it is necessary to define which tile shall be processed. This definition is done with the Tile Selection. To select an area of predefined tiles, you can select individual tiles or groups of tiles. Choose Select Tiles.

Select Tiles dialog. Figure 13:

Select From Layer drop-down box:

Choose Tile Borders to define a processing area by clicking on the blue tile borders (assuming you’ve loaded a tile definition file).

Choose Ortho Borders to define a processing area by clicking on the red image borders to select all tiles that overlay the image.

Selection Mode.

In “Tile Borders” mode, you can define the processing area by selecting individual tiles (by their tile or orthophoto borders) or by dragging to select multiple tiles. If you set the Selection Mode to “Single Tile,” simply click each tile in the main window that will become part of the processing area. You can select one or more tiles. If you click on a tile again it will be deselected from the processing area. If you set the Selection Mode to “Select Area”, you can use your mouse to click and drag a selection rectangle around a group of tiles to define the processing area. Dragging a rectangle across tiles that are already selected will deselect them from the processing area.


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Tile selection Figure 14:

The tile selection display can be turned on or off using the bottom icon found on the left side of the main window. To deselect one or a group of tiles:

In “single tile” Selection Mode, click on the specific tile to be deselected.

In “select area” Selection Mode, drag through the selected tiles again to deselect them. (Note that when the Select Tiles dialog is open, this operation replaces the zoom operation in the main window.)

3.12 Begin Processing

The begin processing button starts the setup window for processing options, and allows starting the process after having defined some of the parameter options. See chapter 0 for a detailed description.

3.13 Clearing the defined processing area

This function clears all previously defined processing areas and tile selections. It should be used if you want to restart with new definitions of processing areas or tile selections.

3.14 Image Commander

The Image Commander allows to

Generate overviews for the images

Assign which channels of an image contain the RGB channels

View single images


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The Image Commander is a tool available for all ApplicationsMaster applications and is now also integrated in OrthoVista. The main purpose for OrthoVista is the assignment of the RGB channels.

Image Commander window Figure 15:

3.14.1 Generation of Overviews

Select first the images for which overviews shall be generated and then press the button Generate Overviews.

Generate Overview option dialog Figure 16:

Define your options for the overview generation and press then the Start button. Note: The Schedule Task option is at time not supported in OrthoVista. For more detailed information, please refer to the ApplicationsMaster Reference Manual.

3.14.2 RGB Channel Assignment

The channel assignment allows you to define if and which channel of your image contains the Red, Green and Blue bands. This assignment allows you later on to address the channel with the names Red, Green and Blue. Select first the images for which you would like to assign the RGB channels and then press the button RGB Channel assignment.


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RGB Channel Assignment option dialog Figure 17:

Define now if your selected images contain RGB information and in which channels they are.

3.14.3 Radiometrix

This option allows you to start the Radiometrix Tool. See chapter 3.15 for a detailed description on the tool. The difference here is that the Image Commander lets you select the images for which you would like to use the Radiometrix Tool.

3.14.4 View Image

The image viewer allows selecting a certain image and start then the Image Viewer, which is also a standard viewer developed for the ApplicationsMaster environment.

3.15 Radiometrix Editor

During normal processing, OrthoVista matches the colors, contrast and intensity from one image to the next throughout the processing areas. If the input images are fairly uniform in color, contrast or intensity, you probably won’t need to use the Radiometrix Editor. However, if some images were flown at different dates or if the film or scanner settings varied for different images (or groups of images), you can use the Radiometrix Editor to make corrections to the selected images. The Radiometrix Editor also can be used to stretch the histogram of 16 bit images that appear dark or almost black. The reason for the dark images is that usually the digital sensors only are able to record 11, 12 or 14 bit, but store the image in a 16 bit format.

3.15.1 Adjusting images with the Radiometrix Editor

By starting the Radiometrix Editor the first time OrthoVista computes for all images the min/max and mean values in color/intensity/contrast and saturation. These values are then displayed in different tabs.


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Radiometrix Editor Figure 18:


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Shortcuts

The following shortcuts are available to activate specific functionalities for further usage.

Shortcut Function

S Select Images

U Unselect Images

M Activate Modify

z Activate Zoom

Arrow Keys Move point in curve correction

Zoom in/out

Can be done by pointing with the cursor on a position and pressing the “+” or “-“ keys on the keyboard. If zoom is selected zooming can be also done by dragging a rectangle with the left mouse button. Pressing the right mouse button zooms to the previous zoom level.

Selecting/Unselecting images

The Selection/Unselection of images can be done either in the project dialog or in the main window. Selection/Unselection in the Project Dialog is done by selecting first images of the image list and pressing then the select or unselect buttons. Selection/Unselection in the Main Window is done by pressing the Select/Unselect button in the Radiometrix Editor and then clicking with the left mouse button on an image or by dragging a rectangle. All images can be selected or unselected by pressing in the Radiometrix Editor the

Select All or Unselect All buttons.

Color Space

The color space shows the average color of each individual image. The red dot in the center of the color editor represents the center of the color space (perfect gray).

Intensity/Contrast Space

The intensity/contrast space shows the average intensity and contrast of each individual image. The intensity changes from left to right (dark to bright) and contrast changes from top to bottom (low contrast to high contrast). The red line represents the mean intensity.

Saturation Space

The saturation of the images is displayed in the so-called YUV color model. In the YUV color model the color is decomposed into three components called

Y - luminance

U - Cb: Chroma channel, U axis, blue component

V – Cr: Chroma channel, V axis, red component The range of the U and V values is from –0.5 to +0.5 U = V = 0.0 is gray, +/- 0.5 are the extreme color values.


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Each dot represents the average of the U/V values of an image. The red line represents the centerline of the UV range. To make adjustments, you should zoom into the dot display area since very small changes have a large impact on the saturation which is highly important to image quality. Changing the position of an image along/parallel to the red line, enhances the saturation for all colors. Moving the dot away or closer to the line changes the saturation for a specific color only. Note: in case a group of images is selected, the center of the image group is represented as a green dot. This can help the user to estimate the manual modification in an easier way.

Selective Color Correction The Selective Color Correction function allows changing particular colors in images without affecting others. This is done using the HSL color space. (H=Hue, S=Saturation, L=Lightness). The reset button resets the values to default. Hue: Hue describes the individual values on the chromatic circle

It can be modified for the reds, oranges, yellows, greens, aquas, blues, purples and magentas of a color.

0 60 120 180 240 300 360


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Default settings Hue Figure 19:

Modified settings for purples – The blue has Figure 20:changed in the swimming pool

Saturation: Saturation is the colorfulness and is being described in Percent in a range from -100 to +100. The default value is 0 Percent.

Saturated, pure color = +100%

Medium saturated color = 0%

Neutral gray = -100%


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Default settings Saturation Figure 1:

Modified settings for Reds – The car is now having the Figure 2:maximum saturation of red component

Lightness: Lightness describes the amplitude of light or the intensity of the color impression. The maximum value would be represented as white, the minimum value as pure black.

Full lightness = +100

Neutral gray = 0%

No lightness = -100%

Automatic Gradation and Intensity correction

This function automatically manipulates the histogram of images, basically to enhance brightness and color. To do this, the histograms of the images are analyzed and the brightest and darkest values are determined. Then the brightest value is defined as white and the darkest as black, and all the other values are proportionally spread. The automatic correction helps to get good results if the full image color range is using the complete histogram, e.g. a 12 bit image stored in a 16 bit file or if the image has a color cast. However the interactive correction can be more precise. To use the function select first the images to modify (See further information below). Then press the “Run Auto-Adjustment” button. The Automatic Gradation correction is preferred for RGB images, as also slight color casts can be corrected. The Automatic Intensity correction is preferred for IR (infrared) imagery, as here, color changes are not wanted.


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Channels:

Common Adjustment Based On All Channels Analyzes the histogram of each color band individually. The darkest value of the color bands altogether and the brightest value of the color bans altogether is used as a reference to create a histogram of the “mixed channel”. The amount of stretching for the “mixed channel” is proportionally applied to the individual color channels. Therefore, the automatic manipulation based on all channels should not result in a color cast.

Individual Adjustment for Each Channel Each histogram is stretched individually not considering the other bands. Therefore, this automatic manipulation usually will also change the color which in most cases is not wanted.

Images

Note that the adjustments are only affecting selected images. However, different options are available to complete the necessary histogram manipulations. Common Adjustment Based On All Images

Analyzes the histograms of all images no matter, if selected or not. This option might be used to adapt few selected images to the rest of the block.

Common Adjustment Based On Selected Images Analyzes the histograms of the selected images only. This option might be useful if by nature the selected images have a different color or intensity compared to the rest of the block, e.g. water images.

Individual Adjustment for Each Channel Performs a histogram manipulation for each image separately without considering all other images. This option might produce a block of images that are looking very inhomogeneous.

Magnitude of Correction:

According to the settings for all images or all selected images the software computes the min/max values of the image histogram. The auto-adjustment modifies the histograms of the images by considering the magnitude of correction.

Original histogram of one or all selected images Figure 3:


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Correction with 100% magnitude Figure 4:

In this case, the histogram is stretched using the full extents of the color range (0-256 respectively 0-65535).

Correction with 90% magnitude Figure 5:

In this case, the difference between the min/max values of the histogram to the maximum extents is computed and the histogram is stretched to 90% of the missing data range.

Note: The gradation and intensity correction overwrites enhancements made with the contrast/intensity, saturation and color editor. As a general rule: If you intend to work with all functions of the Radiometrix Editor, always work through the tabs from left to right.

Cutoff Percentage

This option allows to cutoff a certain percentage of the dark and bright pixels of the histograms before they are stretched. The option helps to automatically enhance the images much better as there might be noise on the dark and bright side of the histogram that might badly influence the histogram and therewith the images. Note: Do not cutoff too much as you might lose image content.

Interactive Gradation Curve and Intensity correction

This function allows modifying the gradation curves or intensity of only selected images. The changes can be made on individual channels or on the mix channel. Gradation curves are the most flexible tool for image enhancements. The advantage is, that the darkest and brightest image values are not changed (compared to stretching a histogram too much), so that no texture is lost.


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--> X The x-axis of the diagram represents the input of the pixels. The y-axis represents the output values. The dark values (0) are on the left. The linear line represents identical input and output values. To change the color balance/intensity, first select the images you want to modify (See Modifying Images below). Then select the channel you want to modify and activate the Auto Preview button to see the changes in the main window immediately. To change values, click on the curve with the left mouse button. Keep the mouse button pressed and release the button on the desired position. Doing this allows to add as many points as necessary. Each point represents a vertex of a polygon. The resulting modified curve is a B-spline.

To modify vertex points, click on the point with the left mouse button and drag the point by keeping the mouse button pressed. To delete vertex points, click with the right mouse button on the point to delete. The Apply button saves all changes in the corresponding “rdx” files of the images and the curve is then changed back to a straight line.

Note: The gradation and intensity correction overwrites enhancements made with the contrast/intensity, saturation and color editor. As a general rule: If you intend to work with all functions of the Radiometrix Editor, always work through the tabs from left to right.

Macro recording:

The macro functionality allows recording a set of changes that can be reproducible applied to selected images. The macro has to be recorded on a selection of images, whereas the tabs need to be used from the left to the right side. The macro recording and application is especially helpful when working with large data sets. Therefore please select a subset of representative images for the recording of the macro and apply it afterwards to additional images. Please note that not all


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functions are supported during the macro recording. These functions will be deactivated as soon as the recording is started.

Record Macro

This starts the recording of the macro. The recording can only be started if one or several images are being selected. Changing the selection during the recording is not possible.

Stop/Undo Preview Stops the macro after the recording and resets the changes that were applied to the images to their initial state.

Stop/Apply Preview Stops and directly applies the recorded changes to the selected images. This option can be used if all images that should be corrected are already selected.

Save Macro Saves the macro to a text file (*.rdm). It includes all changes in text format and should not be edited! The file name is suggested based on the recorded Radiometrix Editor functionalities: aG = automatic gradation mG = manual gradation aI = automatic intensity mI = manual Intensity IC = Intensity/Contrast Sat = Saturation UV = Color RSC = Selective Color Correction

Load Macro Loads a previously stored macro for further usage on selected images.

Apply Macro Applies the loaded or recorded macro to a selection of images.


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Examples:

Situation before working with the gradation correction Figure 6:

Correcting all channels – images are too bright Figure 7:

Correcting all channels – images are now darker Figure 8:


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Correcting all channels – images are now darker and have more Figure 9:contrast

Correcting upper row of images and blue channel only – too blue Figure 10:images are better adjusted to the other images

Modifying contrast/brightness/color/saturation of images

These editors are more intuitive to use than editing gradation curves however, be aware that gradation curves are more flexible to use. To modify images:

Select images to be changed.

The corresponding dots in the Radiometrix Editor will be highlighted and the center coordinates of the selected images are displayed with Selection Location.

Select Modify

Click with the left mouse button on a position in the Radiometrix window. This position will be the new position of the group of selected images and the selected images are respectively changed.


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Situation before and after modification with pointer to new Figure 11:position

Relative Mode shifts the average value for the selected images while preserving the relative relationship (and differences) between them.

Absolute Mode moves each selected image to the same position. This will cause all the selected images to have the same average value. This can be desirable in giving the group a consistent look; however, it can also shift images away from “true” relative colors. For example, moving the color space of an image containing a brown field to the same colors of an image of a grove of green trees can cause the brown field to look green.

Original Position of selection relative modification

50 % relative/absolute absolute modification

Now go to the various Tabs with the mouse, and reposition the desired selected images by selecting the new location with a left mouse button click.

The selected images will move to the new location and if the main window is displaying the input orthos, the color or contrast/intensity or saturation of the selected images will be changed.

Continue with changing the images until you are satisfied with the enhancements.

new position

new position

New location

new position


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History of Changes

The History of Changes lists all functions that were used in one session. By clicking into the list of changes, the functionality with the used settings will be opened and can be changed. The undo and redo buttons allow a step-by-step change of the listed steps.

History of Preview Changes

The history of preview changes is only available in the manual gradation and manual intensity option. The single steps used in these two options can be undone step-by-step.

3.15.2 Save/Reject changes of the Radiometrix Editor

By pressing the “Ok” button all changes are saved for further use and the Radiometrix Editor will be terminated.

By pressing the “Cancel” button all changes are rejected and the Radiometrix Editor will be terminated.

By pressing the Undo Changes button any changes made to images since starting the Radiometrix Editor will be undone.

By pressing the Reset to Source button all changes are reset and the original color/intensity/contrast values are recomputed from the source images.

3.15.3 Radiometrix Editor: Background information

When starting the Radiometrix Editor for the first time, OrthoVista generates a rdx file for each image, on the directory where the images are stored. This makes it necessary that the protection setting for this directory is write enabled. When the Radiometrix Editor is started afterwards, it reads all changes stored in the rdx files. All changes done with the Radiometrix Editor will be taken into account when processing the images. Note they are even used if you have defined none for Single image and Group image adjustment under Processing Options.

3.16 Color Picker

The color picker allows checking the color of a certain pixel or the mean color of a selected area.


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Color Picker Window Figure 12:

To pick a color of a pixel or a mean color of an area the Pick Point/ Select Area button must be activated first. Then you have to either select a single pixel by clicking with the left mouse button or drag a rectangle. The color picker displays the RGB color values of the pixel or the mean value of the selected area. If several images are overlapping each other at the selected position, the software displays the mean value of all overlapping images. Once such a color is available, it can be assigned to the parameter settings “Display Background Color” or “Output Background Color” or “Reflections Removal Base Color” with the Use as button. If the images are changed with the Radiometrix tool the color picker will immediately change the color according to the changes triggered by the Radiometrix Tool. Multiple Color Picker instances can be active at a time. Each Color Picker indicates its position by a small circle (for points) or a rectangle (for areas).

3.17 Status Dialog

The Status Dialog informs about the current status of the processing but also contains information about start and termination of a process. In addition it displays warnings, errors and messages. The status dialog is automatically opened as soon as OrthoVista writes information into the status dialog.

3.18 “Move To…” Dialog

This dialog allows moving the display centre to an arbitrary position given by its X and Y coordinate.

Entering coordinates and clicking the Move To button re-centres the display at the given position.


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4 Processing Options

Once your imagery is loaded and the processing area is defined, you can process imagery using OrthoVista. Almost all image-processing options are controlled in the Processing Options dialog. To begin processing: Select Begin Processing

Processing Options dialog Figure 13:

The Processing Options dialog maintains and displays the settings from your last processing run, so you only need to decide which settings to change from your previous session. However, the Output Directory location is not saved. The output directory has to be defined with each start of the Processing Option Dialog. To start processing, click the Close And Process button. OrthoVista processes the images defined by Tile definition or Area definition. A status window shows the status of the processing. When the processing is complete, a small dialog window notifies you that your output images are available. The processing options you specify are automatically saved for the next processing run. The Close button closes the window without processing but saves the current settings.


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The Cancel button closes the window without processing and without saving the current settings.

4.1 Output options

4.1.1 Specifying the Output Directory

The Output Directory is the directory into which the adjusted imagery and/or new mosaics will be written. To specify the output directory either:

Click in the Output Directory box and type the appropriate path for the directory.

Click the Browse button and use the Select Directory dialog to browse for the desired output directory.

Remember to specify an Output Directory location different from the input image directory location.

4.1.2 Meta Data Directory

OrthoVista generates the following meta data files.

.rgn (region) files contain information about valid image areas. Valid image areas are those areas that do not include background color information

.rrn (rotated region) files contain the same information like the .rgn files, but for rotated imagery.

.tlt (global tilting) files contain information generated by the global tilting adjustment

.bal or .spb (single image balancing) files contain information generated by the single image adjustment

cld and fda files contain the seam lines and blending information for the Feature Detection mode

cld and agd files contain the seam lines and blending information for the Adaptive Feathering mode

autoseam.trn files contains additional blending information for Adaptive Feathering

Other interim files are generated during the processing and after a normal stop of OrthoVista automatically removed. These files are interim files that are not important for later processing.

The definition of the Meta Data directory is no longer optional. If not defined, OrthoVista computes the above-mentioned data and stores it on the same directory, as the input files are located. By default OrthoVista defines a meta data directory called “meta” which is located on the output directory. The purpose of the Meta Data directory is:

Speed up processing. Data is computed then stored and used later when needed again. For instance, the region (rgn) information is needed in OrthoVista and „Seam Editor“. If you run OrthoVista before using „Seam Editor“ and store the meta data, „Seam Editor“ has not to re-compute the information and therefore the project setup is much faster.

Transferring balancing and tilting information from one sub-block to another. For instance if you have to process a large block in two separate parts it is helpful to process the first part and store the meta data. Then to process the second part later on with overlapping images to the first part and use the same meta data directory. Meta data, which is already available, is not re-computed but used. With the help of this you transfer then tilting and


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balancing information from part one to part two. The result is that the radiometric difference between the two parts would be lower as compared to running the two parts independent from each other.

Note: Do not use the same Meta Data directory if you just want to re-run OrthoVista with different parameters, as OrthoVista does not re-compute the information if it exists, resulting in no difference between the different runs.

4.1.3 Output Image format

OrthoVista supports a variety of image formats. TIFF, BigTIFF and BIP/BIL/BSQ are standard, but other formats may be supported through the use of plugins. To find out the specific image formats supported by your installation of OrthoVista, select About Plugins from the Info menu and select Image Support Plugins. To specify the image file format for the output images, select the desired format from the Image Format drop-down box. Each image format also has a variety of options that can be accessed by clicking the Options button next to the Image Format drop-down box.

Note: When changing the image format, the extension for the output filenames will be changed according to the format to reduce confusion and incompatibility with other image programs. Modifying software configuration options may overwrite the specific extension for each file type.

For the TIFF and BigTIFF format, additional options may be specified from the TIFF/BigTIFF Options dialog.

TIFF and BigTIFF Options dialogs. Figure 14:

Options for TIFF/BigTIFF image format: Layout: Supports Tiled TIFF/BigTIFF and Scanline TIFF/BigTIFF. Sample Format: Supports a variety of Tiff formats.


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Overview: When checked, OrthoVista includes one down-sampled image overview or a full set of down-sampled images as supported by the TIFF format. The Overviews are stored either in a separate file or within the output file itself. The separate files will be located on the same directory as the output files. The overviews, especially a full set of overviews make the display faster for software that supports this TIFF capability. For the BIP/BIL/BSQ format, additional options may be specified from the Options dialog.

BIP/BIL/BSQ Options dialog. Figure 15:

Layout: Supports band interleaved by pixel or line or sequential.

4.1.4 Output Report format

To specify the georeference file format for the output reports, select the desired format from the Report Format drop-down box. Some report formats have a variety of options that can be accessed by clicking the Options button next to the Report Format drop-down box. GeoTIFF Note: OrthoVista handles GeoTIFF files that contain the image and header data in the same file and supports the following tags in GeoTIFF format:

ModelTiepointTag

ModelPixelScaleTag

ModelTransformationTag Other tags that describe projections as well as extensions that are not supported will be carried through the process and written in the output files without alteration. More information concerning GeoTIFF can be obtained from OrthoVista’s Info menu. The fractional precision and notation of coordinates stored in the TiffWorld file can be changed with optional parameters.


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TiffWorld file format options Figure 16:

The notation style options are

Fractional which generates coordinates with a notation like 12.123456

Exponential which generates coordinates with a notation like 0.12123456e4

Automatic generates dependent on the coordinates either the fractional or exponential format

4.1.5 Save Background Information for Output Images

If this option is activated, OrthoVista automatically generates the region files (rgn files) for the output images. This greatly reduces the time for activating the images in the Seam Editor, if and only if you load in the Seam Editor your output images. What you only do when you use the Save Adjusted Images option and you load the adjusted images in the Seam Editor or when you do the mosaic file editing in the Seam Editor. In most cases you don’t need this function.

4.2 Adjustment options

OrthoVista supports for some of the adjustment options parallel processing. Automatically depending on the used hardware the parallel processing will be activated and up to 8 processes can run in parallel. At time the parallel processing is supported by the region generation, the Hot Spot Removal and the Feature Detection. Please find speed tests about the processing time in the Release Notes.

4.2.1 Specifying radiometric adjustments for single images

The following radiometric adjustment methods are available for processing individual images and are described in detail in the following paragraphs:

None

Hot Spot Removal

Intensity Dodging Hint: From experience with many data sets we can say that Hot Spot removal and Intensity Dodging should be only applied when your images show lens vignetting effects or color variances. If either Hot Spot removal or Intensity Dodging has to be applied, the Hot Spot Removal function works better for color images and the Intensity Dodging function better for black and white images.

NONE

If you select None, single image processing will not be performed on individual images. This is the default and should be selected whenever possible.

Hot Spot removal

Applies correction to compensate for effects such as illumination “hot spots” and lens vignetting. See also chapter 5.5. Corrections are applied to each input image individually. For hot spot removal, additional options may be specified from the Hot Spot Removal dialog.


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Hot Spot Removal dialog. Figure 17:

Hot spot removal Options:

Images with large Background Areas Should be activated if the images have many pixels with background color. If this option is not activated but the images have large background areas, the relevant images will be skipped for Hot Spot Removal

Sampling Grid Size. The number in this box defines the number of samples taken in each of two directions from each of the input images to derive the optimal balancing parameters for each image. The grid size value affects the quality of the balancing correction in the output image. Larger values produce better quality but require more processing time. The data range is 40-300 if “images with large background areas” is deactivated and 50-2000 if “images with large background areas” is activated.

Note: At least 1500 valid samples are required for the Hot Spot Removal

Example: An image is covered with about 20% valid image pixels (80% background color). 1500 samples need to cover 20% of the image 1500 samples = 20% 7500 samples = 100% Sqrt(7500) = ~87 => 100 To make sure enough samples can be derived, a sampling grid size of 100 should be defined.

Method. The “method” defines the algorithm used to perform the radiometric corrections. Often, one method is better than the other for certain types of projects. Additive is generally much faster than Multiplicative (see the ”Additive vs. Multiplicative” section in Chapter 6 “Advanced Techniques”).

Maintain Intensity. The Maintain Average Input Intensity checkbox defines whether the software will ensure that the average intensity of the output images after radiometric


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correction will match the average intensity of the input images. Average Intensity “on” best preserves input image intensity.

Apply Color Correction (For Color Images Only). When enabled, individual image processing includes correction for systematic color trends within individual images. If disabled, color remains unaffected and only the intensity is modified during processing.

Intensity Dodging

Performs intensity modification to remove complex intensity variation within images. Corrections are applied to each input image individually. See also chapter 5.6. For Intensity Dodging, additional options may be specified from the Dodging options dialog.

Dodging options dialog Figure 18:

Intensity dodging options:

Grid size and Sample Size. Together the two "Sampling Grid" options work as follows. Assume only one dimension (e.g. across a row) for illustration - but the algorithm works in two dimensions. For illustration, assume a (very) small image with 36 by 36 pixels. If GridSize=4, this image will be sampled at 4 equally spaced locations in each direction. At each location, many of pixels are sampled. SampleSize determines the number of pixels sampled at each location. E.g. if SampleSize=3, then three adjacent input image pixels will be used in the computation. Of course the sampling is done in each of 2 dimensions, so that a SampleSize=3 actually includes 9 pixels in the computation at each of the 16 (4x4) locations. So for this example, there are a total of 1296 pixels of which 144 pixels (3x3 x 4x4) are used in the computation. This example is illustrated graphically in the following: The "+" indicates the location on which each sample is centered (remember this will actually be done in each dimension - so that for a 36x36 pixel image, a grid of 4x4 locations will be selected. ----+--------+--------+--------+----

At each location, a sample of contiguous pixels is taken. Below, the "X" indicates pixels used in the computation. In two dimensions, a patch (e.g. 3x3


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for this example) is sampled. ---XXX------XXX------XXX------XXX---

If the SampleSize parameter is 0 or negative (e.g. <=0), then the samples expand until they touch the adjacent samples. Therefore, in such a case (the default), ALL pixels of the input image are sampled. ----+--------+--------+--------+----

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Note that the location points, still determine the amount of detail used in the computation ( e.g. order of the mathematic model being fit). Sample Size defaults to value "-1" which means to use *ALL* pixels of the input image (compatible with previous behavior). This can be set to a small value to provide faster image dodging -- e.g. 200 or perhaps 500 should work fine in many cases (unless there are unusually large bright/dark areas in the image) and will run faster. But to get best results we suggest using the parameter –1.

Method. The method defines the algorithm used to perform the radiometric corrections. Often, one method is better than the other for certain types of projects (See the “Intensity Dodging” section in Chapter 6 “Advanced Topics”).

Maintain Intensity. The Maintain Average Input Intensity checkbox defines whether the software will ensure that the average intensity of the output images after radiometric correction will match the average intensity of the input images.

Apply Color Correction (For Color Images Only). This option is not available for this method.

4.2.2 Per-Image Selection

If Hot Spot removal or Intensity Dodging is applied, it is possible to define on a per image bases in which image the functions shall be applied. By default all images are selected.

Individual Image selection box for applying single image Figure 19:adjustment

4.2.3 Image group adjustment

Image group adjustment allows applying two different functions. The Global Tilting Adjustment function compares images radiometrically in the overlapping areas and computes with the comparison result radiometric adjustment parameters for the images. The Reflections Removal function tries to detect and eliminate e.g. sun reflections on water areas.


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Note: Both functions cannot be applied during the same OrthoVista processing run since they would interfere with each other. We suggest that you first process with the Reflections Removal option and use then the resulting images for the global tilting adjustment.

4.2.3.1 Global Tilting Adjustment

The following radiometric adjustment methods are available to compute corrections to compensate for intensity/color/contrast variation between adjacent images and are described in detail in the following paragraphs:

Global Tilting Adjustment

None If you select None, radiometric image processing will not be performed between adjacent/overlapping images. Global Tilting Adjustment performs radiometric adjustment to compensate for intensity/color differences between adjacent/overlapping images. For the global tilting adjustment, additional options may be specified from the Tilt Options dialog.

Global Tilting Adjustment dialog. Figure 20:

Options for global tilting adjustment:

“Adjustment Iterations”. The global tilting adjustment is an iterative algorithm. This number determines the number of iterations that are performed. A value of 2 or 3 is usually sufficient. Larger values increase processing time but can be helpful in solving light falloff effects.

“Grid Size” Global Tilting is using a grid cells to compare overlapping parts of the images for computing the adjustment values. By default a grid size of 80 by 80 cells is used. The Slider allows alternating the default (slider in the center). When set to Coarse 20 by 20 grid cells are used. When set to Fine 140 by 140 cells are used. For images with large radiometric differences we suggest to increase the


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default value up to fine. Images with low radiometric differences or with a large overlap we suggest to lower the default up to coarse. The larger the value the higher the processing time of the global tilting process.

"Hold extreme corners at input values": If activated, the image corners located at the extreme corners of the mosaic are not radiometrically changed. Default is “Do not hold extreme corners”. This parameter should only be activated in cases where the global tilting adjustment produces extreme corners that are too bright or too dark. Review the following Figure. Input for the example are 4 single images – upper left was dark – upper right was white – lower right was gray – lower left was dark at the lower left edge and gray at the upper right edge.

Hold extreme corners Do not hold extreme corners Figure 21:

Adjust Color If this option is activated then the software performs an intensity/color adjustment.

Before (left) and after (right) intensity/color adjustment Figure 22:

Adjust Contrast When activated the software performs a contrast adjustment. See chapter 4.2.3.2 for a detailed explanation of the function and its parameters.


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Before (left) and after (right) intensity/color/contrast adjustment Figure 23:

“Maximum Gray and Color Difference” The global tilting adjustment is done by comparing images in the overlapping areas. The difference between the images is used to compute correction values. Global tilting might lead to unsatisfactory results in cases where the image content in one image which does not occur in the overlapping image or at least not on the same position. Good examples of this are clouds and sun reflections on water. To avoid this problem, adjustment options provide a method to define percentage levels of gray and color differences. This value determines if a gray or color difference at a certain position shall be used or excluded for the tilting adjustment. Figure 20: shows the default values. Note: Define these values only, if you do have images containing extended clouds or sun reflections on extended water surface. These two parameters are newly introduced with version 4 of OrthoVista. If you would like to have the same processing behavior as with former versions, you have to define 100 percent.

4.2.3.2 Contrast adjustment options

The Contrast Adjustment allows reducing or eliminating brightness/contrast differences between images from north to south and east to west. Such differences are mainly caused by shadows. Such brightness/contrast differences in the images can be already greatly reduced by generating orthophotos containing image information from the center of the aerial images and having enough image information so that orthophotos overlap but do not overlap too much.


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Orthophotos with full extent and reduced extent Figure 24:

The above figure shows on the left a data set with orthophotos having the full extent of the aerial images. The big brightness/contrast differences can be clearly seen in east-west and north-south direction. On the right it shows a data set processed with OrthoMaster containing only information of the center of the aerial images but having an extent large enough so that the orthophotos overlap by about 15%. In this data set the differences in east-west direction are already eliminated. Still differences in north south are available but compared to the left example the differences are smaller and therefore OrthoVista will not have to make such adjustments.

Note: If you do not have east-west and north-south contrast differences, then don’t enable the contrast adjustment as it takes more processing time to do this kind of adjustment.

Global Tilting adjustment options with Contrast adjustment Figure 25:

Maximum Contrast Difference The contrast adjustment is done by comparing images in the overlapping areas. The difference between the images is used to compute correction values. The contrast adjustment might lead to unsatisfactory results in cases where the image content of the overlapping images is too different (e.g. one image shows a cloud where others show the ground). If this option is activated and the contrast difference is above the limit then the observations at a certain position are not considered for the adjustment.

Contrast Ratio Contrast Ratio defines a scaling factor for the correction value computed with the adjustment. Because of speed issues the correction values are computed with the overview levels. As in overviews always the contrast is reduced compared to the original image level, the correction values might be too low. The Contrast Ratio 100% means that the correction values are used as computed. A value of e.g. 120% defines that the computed contrast values are scaled with a factor of 1.2. The valid range is 50% to 200%.


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Contrast Target The function computes for all the images the contrast values. The Contrast Target defines now the target value for the new contrast. Minimum means in principle that the image with the lowest contrast defines what shall be achieved. Whereas maximum means that the image with the highest contrast value defines what shall be achieved. This parameter therefore allows defining if the resulting files shall have a more strong or soft contrast.

Example of contrast adjustment with the settings above Figure 26:

4.2.3.3 Reflections Removal

The reflections removal function checks for sun reflections and tries to eliminate them. The area which is checked and modified for sun reflection must be defined by a DXF file. When sun reflection is found, the area is smoothed to filter out the reflection. The smoothing can be influenced by changing the smoothing degree from low to high. In addition to the smoothing, the area can be filled with a certain color which represents the mean color of the water area. Along the given water area the software is blending the area with the surrounding area to get a smooth transition between water and non-water areas. The blending distance to the left and right is given in pixels.

Reflections Removal Options Figure 27:

Texture Smoothing First of all, the Reflections Removal function eliminates only the reflections, but


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structures such as waves and underwater elements within the images are kept. These structures can be smoothed with the texture smoothing filter.

The above figures show from left to write an original orthophoto section with sun reflection on the water. The next image shows then the result of the Reflections Removal function with low filtering and further on with high filtering.

Intensity Only The following figure shows again the section processed with intensity only.

In some cases, this method may cause color artifacts (we used here CIR images which contained a high red color cast). To avoid such color artifacts, you should use a base color to process the reflections removal.

Use Base Color

The above image was processed with a base color and a low texture smoothing. The sun reflection is completely removed, with no added color

Color artefact


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artifacts as they can occur with the “Intensity Only” option. The base color can be easily defined with the Color Picker (See chapter 3.16).

Feather Distance

The Feather Distance defines the blending area in pixels on each side of the to be defined Reflection Area.

4.2.3.4 Per Image Selection

For Global Tilting, single images can be considered as fixed by excluding them from processing. These images are not modified, but they are still used in the adjustment process of neighboring images. The per-image selection comes in useful when adding new images at the edge of an already processed mosaic.

4.2.4 Mosaic adjustment

The Mosaic Method drop-down box allows you to specify the algorithm used to fuse individual images into a mosaic:

Plain Mosaic

Sheet Centered

Adaptive Feathering

Seam Applicator

Plain Mosaic

Generates mosaics by arbitrarily placing one image “on top of” the other. It is the fastest mosaicking method; however, geometric seams are restricted to image edges and no feathering is performed. This method should be used if you already have fitting mosaics and you want to combine them to larger mosaics.

Sheet Centered

Generates an image in which all data for a single output tile are drawn from a single input image. This means that within an output tile there is no mixing of data from multiple input images. For this to be effective, orthos should be produced on a sheet-centered basis, and the completely contained sheets should be within one input orthophoto. This method allows you to color balance and radiometrically adjust images and then to crop each one to an appropriate sheet extent. The result is a set of sheets, which are produced with pixels from only one image. However, the images will have been radiometrically adjusted so that the resulting sheets will match when reassembled. This method should be used if you want to cut out images from existing images and you want to be sure that data be taken from a certain image.

Adaptive Feathering

Merges individual input images into a seamless mosaic. This method performs digital adaptive feathering that replaces conventional manual procedures. The method automatically computes a ‘blending function’, which determines how to combine the individual input images into the output mosaic. A blending sharpness


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parameter controls the steepness of the blending function, which in turn controls the default width of the blending function. In areas of complex relief displacement (e.g. buildings), the blending function is automatically made steeper, so that the image-to-image transition occurs more quickly in these regions. Additional options may be specified from the Adaptive Feathering Options dialog.

Adaptive Feathering Options dialog Figure 28:

Options for adaptive feathering:

Support True-Ortho Mosaic Enable this option if you have to process orthophotos that do have small background pixel areas within the images (e.g. True-Orthophotos). If not enabled, the software might not detect these areas and might then not fill them up or blend them with other overlapping images.

Area Type The area type gives parameter setting suggestions for different terrain types. User defined allows modifying the parameters as you like. If you select a certain terrain type the parameters are fixed to Inpho’s suggestions.

Alpha Grid Size. Determines the amount of detail considered during the adaptive feathering computations. Larger values produce a more detailed and complex transition boundary between overlapping images. Note that the processing time is strongly dependent on this value. Hint: Use the default settings Urban, Mixed, Rural dependent on the terrain type. As for images which are much more long than wide, like the ADS40 images, the standard settings are not optimal. For these type of files 3 default settings called ADS40 urban, ADS40 mixed and ADS40 rural are selectable.

Sharpness. Controls the sharpness with which one image blends into another. Larger values produce a quicker transition. For example a value of 0 (not typically used) would produce an equal weighting of images throughout the overlap region. A value of approximately 2.5 produces a very smooth transition (similar “feathering” across an approximately 1/5 of the overlap region). A larger value such as 20 produces a very sharp transition within approximately a pixel width. Hint: We suggest using a Blending Sharpness of 3 with small-scale orthos and a Blending Sharpness of 5 to 7 in urban areas or large-scale orthos. For forest areas use a Blending Sharpness value of 4 or 5.

The following examples show an urban area with an image scale 1:4000. It is obvious that a grid width of 80 is too low since cars are not detected and the seam line cuts the cars. The blending sharpness setting of 2.5 is too wide for this area type. Cars would be blended which would lead to ghosting effects.


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Left image: Grid Size 200 and Blending Sharpness 2.5 Figure 29: Right image: Grid Size 200 and Blending Sharpness 7

Processed with: Grid Size 80 and Blending Sharpness 7 Figure 30:

Feature Detection

The Feature Detection function is a second method allowing automatically derived seam lines. Feature Detection is better adapted to urban areas than the Adaptive Feathering function, and it can also be used in different areas such as mixed and rural. The Feature Detection function is in general slightly faster than Adaptive Feathering with seam lines avoiding more features, like buildings, especially in urban areas. Parameters of the Feature Detection function:


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Feature Detection parameters Figure 31:

Area Type The area type gives parameter setting suggestions for different terrain types. User defined allows modifying the parameters as you like. If you select a certain terrain type the parameters are fixed to Trimble Geospatial suggestions.

Feature Size Feature Detection works by subdividing an image into small cells and comparing the radiometric content of these cells. Cells that fit together are used to define the seam line. The parameter Feature Size defines the size of a quadratic cell in pixels. The cells should be small enough to contain details of features being not mixed up with other features. On the other side the cell should not be too small to avoid long processing times.

Feature Granularity Defines with which image resolution the processing is done. The following three granularities are offered. Fine – Processing on image resolution 1:1 Normal – Processing on image resolution 1:2 Coarse – Processing on image resolution 1:4

Use Maximum Values For each cell radiometric parameters are computed. Either the mean or maximum values are used to compare cells with each other.

Minimum Coverage Determines if a cell is considered being part of the overlap or not. A cell is part of the overlap if more than “Minimum Coverage” in percent of the pixels in this cell are valid pixels in overlapping images.

Blending Threshold Specifies if a cell is blended or not. If the computed value is lower than the threshold, the cell is blended between overlapping images. Smaller values lead to sharper blending, while higher values may introduce ghosting effects.

Use Edge Detection Specifies if an edge detection method is used in addition to the feature detection method to define the seam lines.

Edge Detection Weight Determines the weight of the edge detection differences compared to the radiometric differences. A value of 1 defines an even weighting of edge detection and radiometric difference.

Add Border Distance Specifies if an adaptive border distance should be added or not. If activated an adaptive border distance is added to keep the Seamline in the middle area of the overlap. It can be deactivated if the images have less overlap or if building outlines are used.

Seam Applicator

Generates seamless mosaics with the help of seam polygons defined with the Seam Editor


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The complete process of mosaicking with manually defined seams consists of two main steps: 1) define a polygon partition for the mosaic with OrthoVista SE program; and 2) apply that polygon definition during OrthoVista processing via the Seam Applicator. The polygon data are transferred between the two steps via the meta data directory. Here it is assumed that a polygon partition has been defined, and that the partition data have been stored in a meta data directory of your choosing (See OrthoVista SE documentation). In order to run the Seam Applicator it is necessary to define the meta data directory on which the Seam Editor has stored the seam polygons. This is accomplished by specifying a directory in the OrthoVista processing options dialog (See section: Meta Data Directory). Complete the other fields in the processing options dialog, as you would normally do - except, ensure that you select "Seam Applicator" as the mosaicking option. Additional Seam Applicator options may be specified from the Seam Applicator Options dialog. When Seam Applicator has been selected, this options dialog can be accessed from the "Options" button next to the mosaicking method selection box.

Seam Applicator Option Window Figure 32:

Fixed Width/Adaptive Blending The blending defines if a fixed blending width should be applied or a adaptive blending. The adaptive blending is better for rural areas as radiometric differences are minimized.

Adaptive Blending (preferred method) Blending is done in the frequency domain which avoids ghosting effects but generates a smooth transition. Please note that the seam may still be visible for orthos that do not match. The adaptive blending also works for tiles that touch each other, but do not overlap. The blending width can be specified with the slider (urban – rural), whereas rural uses a larger blending as the urban setting. The larger the blending width, the more time consuming is the blending process.


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Feather Size The feather size is given in pixels and defines the blending width with which one image blends into another. With the feather mode, you define how the blending is performed. Two options are available:

Linear Linear blending between the overlapping images

Inverse Distance

Blending with a functional curve dependent on the blending width and radiometric differences between the images

Blend Output Area Borders

By default the blending is only done along the seam lines, which are interactively defined in the Seam Editor. If you activate this mode then OrthoVista will blend also along the orthophoto border, which might lead to unwanted effects.

Tip: If you know beforehand that you will have to quality check and likely edit the automatically detected seam polygons generated by the Adaptive Feathering or Feature Detection run, then you can save time by using the Adaptive Feathering or Feature Detection and run the process to generate the seam polygons but not the mosaics themselves. You do not absolutely need the mosaics for the seam editing.

4.3 Output Selection

4.3.1 Saving adjusted images

Activate the Save Adjusted Images checkbox to output radiometrically corrected versions of individual input images which can be viewed and used independently of the mosaic. This checkbox does not affect processing of the mosaic. The Options dialog defines further on how the mosaics are saved.

4.3.2 Generate Seam Data (*.cld Files)

If activated OrthoVista generates and saves the Seam Data as cut line definition files (*.cld) to the meta directory. The export selection offers the choice between the generation of the cld files only and both cld and DXF files.


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Note: This option must be activated if later on you would like to edit the seam polygons with the Seam Editor. Saving seam data increases the overall processing time by about a factor of 10 to 15%.

4.3.3 Save Vector Seams

OrthoVista allows saving the automatically generated seams (e.g. by Adaptive Feathering) in a DXF file. The seams are exported as 2D Polyline into the Layer “SIMPLIFIED”. In addition to this a boundary around the whole area is exported. This boundary is stored in the layer “BOUNDARY”. The purpose of the seam export is to document the results and to overlay the DXF data on top of the mosaics in order to check the result.

4.3.4 Save Vector Seams for each image

If activated OrthoVista saves the seam lines in individual DXF files for each image. These DXF files could be imported in the Seam Editor e.g. for images flown at a later time to use exactly the same seam lines as with the first mosaicking process.

Note: this works only if the images have the same size, position and image border pixels as the originally used images.

4.3.5 Seam simplification tolerance

OrthoVista internally treats seams pixel-wise. If this kind of data would be exported to DXF, the file size would be very large. Therefore the “Save Vector Seams” function simplifies the pixel information and changes it into polyline. The Seam Simplification Tolerance defines the maximum displacement of the polygon against the individual pixel positions. Default is a simplification factor of 3.

4.3.6 Save Mosaic Output

If enabled then OrthoVista saves according to the settings for “Mosaic Adjustment” mosaics, also called tiles. The Options dialog defines further on how the mosaics are saved.

4.3.7 Options for Saving Adjusted Images and Mosaic Output

Output options Figure 33:

The output options define the File Naming Format, the Output Ratio, number of channels to be written and allows to assign channels. Several definitions can be made at the same time and allow to save different file formats in different channel


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combinations. All defined channel combinations will be processed one after another.

4.3.7.1 Internal Name of Output

Several different data formats can be defined. For each definition, OrthoVista will later on save on different directories adjusted images and/or mosaics. New definitions are made by pressing the Add button. The Remove button allows removing already defined names. The Default setting can’t be removed and will always be processed. In addition, new defined sets will be processed as well.

4.3.7.2 Directory

The Directory display shows on which directory the files are stored. For each Internal Name definition a subdirectory below the output directory will be created. Only the default settings are saved on the output directory directly.

4.3.7.3 File Name Format

%s is a placeholder in case of Save Adjusted Images options for the input file name and in case of Save Mosaic for the tileID. The file naming format can be modified by adding alphanumerical characters in front or behind the %s placeholder. Never remove %s, as then your output file names are no more unique and OrthoVista will then not generate all files but overwrites them several times. Example: Input file name 1 = orthophoto1.tif Input file name 2 = orthophoto2.tif %s is then the placeholder for “orthophoto1” and “orthophoto2”. In case of output format is set to %s Save Adjusted Images would save 2 orthophotos with the names orthophoto1.tif and orthophoto2.tif. In case of output format is set to abc_%s_north Save Adjusted Images would save 2 orthophotos with the names abc_orthophoto1_north.tif and abc_orthophoto2_north.tif.

4.3.7.4 Ratio

You can use OrthoVista to generate down-sampled output images. To do this, enter an integer number larger than 1 to generate output images at a scale smaller than that of the input images. For example, if you type 2, 2 by 2 pixels are taken to resample a new pixel, which means that the width and height are divided by 2 and the image size is reduced by factor 4 (2x2 pixels). If you activate the “Average pixels during down-sample” toggle, averaging input pixel neighborhoods will produce the output pixels. This results in a smoother-appearing result and should be usually activated.

4.3.7.5 Number of channels and RGB component setting

The parameter “Number of Channels” defines how many channels shall be saved. It allows e.g. to convert a 4 channel image to a 3 channel image. Output RGB components defines if the output file shall have the information that the output file contains RGB channels or not.

4.3.7.6 Channel assignment

The channel assignment table allows defining which input channel shall be mapped to which output channel. By default the channel assignments lists the


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same number of input channels as output channels. These settings can be used directly or can be modified from the user.

4.3.7.7 Example for 4 Channel RGB and Infrared image

In the following it is assumed that the input images are multi-channel images containing 4 channels. The first three channels are RGB and the fourth channel contains Infrared information. The output shall provide two different image types containing just the RGB information and in another file containing the Color Infrared images. When the Options dialog is called the first time it comes up with the default settings.

Default settings of 4 channel RGB-IR images Figure 34:

In a first step the default settings are now modified, so that by default only RGB images are processed.

Modified Default settings to save RGB images Figure 35:

In a next step a new definition (Add..) is made for an additional color infrared image (CIR) output.


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Settings for a CIR output Figure 36:

Note: OrthoVista is generating with the above settings a set of RGB images directly in the output directory and a set of CIR images in a subfolder named “CIR”.


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5 Advanced Information

5.1 Multi-Channel Image Support

OrthoVista supports multi-channel images. If the multi-channel images contain RGB channels then it is important to define the RGB channels with the Image Commander in a first step. The RGB channels are treated then as an RGB image whereas all other channels are treated as single bands. Should you have to process RGB images which are stored in 3 band images like ERDAS Imagine is doing this, you should also use the Image Commander to define the RGB channels. Processing of single bands of multi-channel images.

The effect is the same as if: 1) original image bands were separated into separate grayscale images; 2) each of the separated grayscale images was adjusted in a single channel mosaic; 3) the single band mosaics were recomposed into a multi-channel mosaic. Each channel is adjusted to its a-priori average value. Therefore mosaic-wide average relationships between image channel values are maintained. Summary: The following describes the behavior of radiometric adjustments when operating on multi-channel imagery.

HotSpot: Each channel is adjusted independently based on a mathematical model of the 'hot-spot' effect. Each channel's intensity value is adjusted to match that channel's own target value.

ImageDodging: Each channel is adjusted independently based on an abstract mathematical model designed to produce uniform intensity. Each channel's intensity value is adjusted to match that channel's own target value.

GlobalTilting: Each channel is adjusted independently for each image to best match the corresponding channel of the neighboring images.

Mosaicking: During all mosaicking operations (Plain Mosaicking, Sheet Centered, Adaptive Feathering, Feature Detection) all image channels are blended by the same amounts at the same locations. Therefore, the relative band-to-band intensity values are preserved across transitions from one component image to another.

File format support: Currently supported multi-channel image formats include the TIFF or BigTIFF variants and also BIP/BIL/BSQ formats

5.2 Batch Mode Processing Capabilities

The following options control startup behavior and are useful for batch processing. -project=projectFileName -config=configFileName -batch The project file is the same as the project file saved by OrthoVista. The config file is the same format as the OrthoVista "orthovista.cfg" configuration file. Only parameters that are defined under Setup Preferences are stored and retrieved from the config file.


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The precedence of config file use is: No arguments: Use default file (orthovista.cfg) on the directory “C:\Documents and settings\All Users\Application Data\Trimble\Inpho5\Settings” (on Windows 2000 and Windows XP) respectively “C:\ProgramData\Trimble\Inpho5\Settings” (on Windows Vista). The -config argument: Use specified file in place of default The project and config files can be created (in advance of processing) by interactively defining an OrthoVista project then saving the results into an OrthoVista project and config file format. The config file of version 4.5 upward defines non-project related parameters like the cache size settings, parallel processing on/off and number of parallel jobs and the log file verbose. All project related settings are stored in the new project file format “ipd”. OrthoVista version 5.5 still supports project files and configuration files of older versions (ovd, cfg). If these files are given, OrthoVista 5.5 treats them as they were treated with former versions.

5.2.1 Examples

Preload Specific Project File The following will start OrthoVista and load input data from the file 'myproject.ipd'

OrthoVista -project=myproject.ipd Batch Mode Processing The following will run OrthoVista in batch mode. The input data (e.g. source images, and area to be processed) will be read from the project file 'myarea.ipd'. The global settings like the Cache Size will be read from the configuration file 'myoptions.cfg'. If the cfg file is not defined the default orthovista.cfg file is used to define necessary global settings. OrthoVista -batch -project=myprj.ipd OrthoVista -batch -project=myprj.ipd -config=myoptions.cfg

5.3 Using user-defined vectors

Exclusion areas can be used to avoid using data from “anomalous” areas during radiometric processing. For example, it may be desirable to avoid using pixels within large water bodies during processing. During radiometric adjustments, OrthoVista determines the intensity (and color) of the input images by sampling the images in a two dimensional pattern which extends to cover all images. If a large area represents a “non-characteristic” intensity or color (e.g., large water bodies), the samples taken from this area can bias the computed solution from what is desired. For example, a bay may span many images. Some images may have very little land area covering only an edge or a corner of the image. Other images may show no land at all. The exclusion


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area polygon file has to be loaded in the vector tab in the project dialog and needs to be set to “Hot Spot Removal” for the layer usage. It will then be used during the Hot Spot Removal. OrthoVista allows displaying vector data of the e.g. exclusion polygons as described below: 1. Load file into the vector tab in the project dialog using the Load Vector from

File button. 2. To activate the display, open the layer for editing and set the layer visibility to

“active”. Apply the changes to update the view. Depending on the selection of Layer usage or layer color, the displayed color of the vector data can change.

3. To easily deactivate the display of all loaded vector data files, toggle the User Vector Data button from the display options.

5.4 Radiometric Models

Under single image balancing options in both Hot Spot Removal and Intensity Dodging options (see the following two sections respectively), there are two methods for balancing image intensity. OrthoVista supports either additive or multiplicative methods as options for intensity balancing. These are two models by which the scene intensity (signal) and unwanted intensity (noise) may be combined to produce the observed image (measurement). Conceptually, the balancing model can be thought of as mathematical function that represents the image intensity as a function of position within the frame (e.g., I(x,y)). The intensity observed at the image is a combination of two functions: the desired scene intensity (e.g., S(x,y)) and the undesirable intensity variation (e.g., N(x,y)). The job of intensity correction is to remove the N(x,y) component from I(x,y) so that only S(x,y) remains. The first is the Additive model, viz.: I(x,y) = S(x,y) + N(x,y) The second is the Multiplicative model, viz.: I(x,y) = S(x,y)*N(x,y) Note that use of a “logarithmically sensitive” detector (e.g., film density values) effectively transforms a multiplicative model into an additive one. Application of the additive model produces results in which intensity values are shifted or offset from those of the input imagery. Therefore, the additive model affects primarily image intensity values. For example, consider only a small image area (so that the (x,y) dependency can be neglected). The result of using the additive correction would then tend to shift the intensity histogram for this area to the left or the right. It would tend to leave the shape unchanged (other than end clipping effects). Note however, that the histogram shape for the entire image (not shown) is affected because of the spatial dependency over large image areas.


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Additive Balancing: Affects primarily image brightness

Input Histogram

Additive Offset

Additive Correction Method Figure 37:

Application of the multiplicative model modifies input intensity values with both a “gain” and an “offset.” Therefore, the multiplicative model affects both image intensity and image contrast. For example, considering the same small image area as in the above example, application of the multiplicative method would tend to stretch or compress the histogram in addition to shifting it to the left or the right. Multiplicative Balancing: Affects both brightness and contrast

Input Histogram

Multiplicative Gain

Multiplicative Correction Method Figure 38:

Although it is possible to select a preferred model based on analysis of data lineage and theoretical considerations, it is generally more pragmatic to try each method on data sets representative of an application. Then, use the model that works best. In addition to selecting the method that works best for you, another practical consideration is the amount of processing time required for each method. Since the Multiplicative method is an iterative procedure, it can require considerably more processing time than the Additive method, typically increasing processing time by a factor of 3-to-5. A maximum value can be set on the number of iterations for the multiplicative method.


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5.5 Hot spot removal

The hot spot removal method for single image processing consists of a mathematical model for handling image "hot spots" common to aerial photography. This model is based on physical laws representing scene illumination and light propagation. To provide maximum utility under a variety of actual conditions and to mitigate sensitivity to special cases, the physical model is simplified to its fundamental components. The locations at which the image intensity is desired to be a specific value are distributed across the image in a grid pattern. The number of grid elements is controlled by the Grid Sampling Size parameter. The value to which the image intensity is transformed is either the explicitly provided value or the computed image average value. The choice depends on the setting of the Maintain Average Input Intensity option. When selected as the balancing method, hot spot removal is actually implemented in two components. The first is the intensity model as just described. The second component is a color model. The color model is decoupled from the intensity model and can be independently enabled or disabled via the Apply Color Correction checkbox. When Apply Color Correction is enabled, the image color is adjusted with a low-order detrending algorithm. This is useful to compensate for strange color variation within an image (e.g., compensate for color change during the course film scanning as the scanner warms, etc.). Considerations: Pros:

Based on physical lighting model

Allows color trend removal Cons:

Can be sensitive to “high-order” departures from simple model (e.g., water glint, changing soil types, etc.)

Can overreact near image corners and edges The Excluded Area section allows you to use ArcView shape files or DXF files to exclude an area from balancing operations. Either type in the path and filename of the shapefile, or use the Browse button to select the desired file and exclude the area inside the selected vectors from image balancing operations.

5.6 Intensity Dodging

Intensity Dodging is one of the single image or balancing adjustments. As the name implies, the intensity dodging method attempts to “flatten” the intensity of an image by suppressing large-scale variations. This balancing method does not affect image color; only the intensity is adjusted. Intensity dodging is conceptually similar to the ”dodging” technique applied in photographic darkrooms. In the photo lab case, a technician modifies the image by lightening dark areas and darkening light ones. This is essentially how the intensity-dodging algorithm works, at a level of detail controlled by the Grid Size parameter. This method is an abstract algorithm and does not have a physical interpretation. The dodging method utilizes two-dimensional mathematical equations. These equations modify the image intensity so that it takes on a specified value at locations arranged on a regular grid. The intensity dodging method can be applied in one of two modes, additive or multiplicative.


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The locations at which the intensity is forced to a specific value are distributed across the image in a grid pattern. The number of grid elements is controlled by the Grid Size setting in the Dodging options dialog. The larger the number of grid elements, the more uniform the intensity of the resulting image. The value to which the image intensity is transformed is either the explicitly provided value or the computed image average value. The choice depends on the setting of the Maintain Average Input Intensity option. Intensity values used in the adjustment are computed using pixel neighborhood average values computed at each of the evaluation grid positions. The size of the pixel neighborhood is determined by the Sample Size option. With a very large number of grid values, the resulting image will have a fairly flat or uniform intensity. For example, a grid size of 2 implies one grid location at each corner of the image. Therefore, after adjustment (using grid size of 2) each of the corners should exhibit nearly the same average intensity.

Note that this method is most appropriate if the image scene content is relatively homogeneous across the images. However, if image scene content changes dramatically, this method may overcorrect image intensity in some areas.

Considerations: Pros:

Is conceptually similar to “dodging” performed in a photographic darkroom

Capable of modeling complex intensity variations

Very stable computation across entire image Cons:

No physical basis for this model

Does not provide color trend removal

5.7 Coordinate reference

The reference of the coordinates in the georeference files concerning the pixel position depends on the georeference definition. In all georeference files, but TiffWorld and GeoTIFF, the reference is the outer border of the pixel (lower left corner, upper right corner ...). In TiffWorld the reference is the center of the upper left pixel in the upper left corner. GeoTIFF allows different definitions. This definition is stored with the coordinates in the GeoTIFF header.

5.8 Non constant pixel size, odd offset of orthophotos and tiles

5.8.1 Non constant pixel size

OrthoVista can handle only

Orthophotos with quadratic pixels having the same size in x and y. If Orthophotos have non-quadratic pixels then OrthoVista will compute a mean value for the pixel size and treats the orthophoto like the pixel size would have the mean value.

To avoid geometric offsets based on adopted pixel sizes, please use images with quadratic pixels only.


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5.8.2 Odd offsets

In case orthos with so called odd offset are being imported, OrthoVista will prompt an information message. To compensate the odd offset, OrthoVista will then automatically define or use a manually defined reference point and does a bilinear resampling using existing image pyramids. There are 2 odd offset cases:

Orthophotos having an odd offset Figure 39:

Orthophotos do not overlap exactly and pixels are not being aligned properly.

Tiles with odd offset against orthophotos with no odd offset Figure 40:

Orthophotos are aligned correctly, but the tile definition is shifted relative to the input pixels of the orthophotos. If one of the two upper cases appears, OrthoVista always applies bilinear resampling using existing image pyramids, instead of applying a geometric shift in order to align the pixels correctly. However it is advisable to make sure that the data being used for the processing is aligned correctly. You will never get problems with odd offsets if you make sure with your orthophoto generation that the coordinates of the upper left corners of the upper left pixel are dividable with whole-numbers by the pixel size. Also the coordinates of the upper left corner of your tiles should be dividable with whole-numbers by the pixel size.

Note: The tfw files define the pixel center of the upper left corner. Therefore if you check the coordinates of the orthophotos then subtract ½ pixel size in x and add ½ pixel size in y to get the upper left corner of the upper left pixel..


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5.9 Processing large blocks

With the introduction of OrthoVista V4.0.0, the memory management of OrthoVista was changed completely. From this version on, the meta data is no more kept completely in memory but stored on the disk if not currently needed, and if the given Cache Size overruns. With this technique OrthoVista should be now able to handle any size of a block and any number of images. But still with this version, it might be necessary to subdivide large blocks in sub-blocks.

Not enough disk space available

A block part has to be delivered before another one

Processing time for the whole block lasts too long

If you have to run large blocks we very much suggest installing as much RAM as possible in the compute. If you have problems running a large block, we suggest two methods to successfully complete the process. For large blocks you should not enable the option “Save Vector Seams”. With the introduction of 64bit systems, OrthoVista is now able to handle any size of a block and any number of images. For large projects, the workstation should be equipped with at least 8GB RAM.

5.9.1 Two step processing

This method can be used if the RAM overruns. The Radiometric processing (apply “Radiometrix” changes, apply single image adjustments, apply global images adjustments) can be done in a first step and the “Adaptive Feathering” can be done in a second step. To do this, load all images, select all images, set your processing options, select “Save Adjusted Images” and switch off “Save Mosaic output” and process the images. Load then in a second step all radiometrically adjusted images set “Single and Group Image Adjustment” to None, switch off “Save Adjusted Images” and switch on “Save Mosaic output” and process the mosaics. Advantage of this method:

Not so much memory is needed to process a block

Steps 1 and 2 are leading faster to a result. Disadvantage of this method:

More disk space to save the adjusted images needed

Process has to be started a second time interactively. Whereas this disadvantage can be avoided by using the batch processing functionality

There is no guaranty that employing this method will not lead to a memory overrun because of fragmentation problems

5.9.2 Subdividing a block in sub-blocks

If you have to subdivide a block in sub-blocks, you will face two problems.

The first problem is that the radiometry of the single sub-blocks might be different resulting in final mosaics that do not fit together as well. Overlapping the sub-blocks by one image and using the meta data files can reduce this problem. By doing this sub-blocks are bridged via the meta data, and the mosaics along the sub-blocks will radiometrically fit.


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The second problem is that the seam lines of the “Adaptive Feathering” function will not fit together, and you could have geometric problems along the sub-blocks like shifted buildings. Defining the sub-blocks so that they do not intersect developed areas can reduce this problem. If this is not possible, you will have to use the Seam Editor to correct seams in such situations.

5.10 Processing speed

The processing speed depends very much on following facts:

Size of the block

Available memory of the computer and computer speed

Orthophoto overlap: Should not be too large. 20 - 30% is optimal.

Orthophotos are rotated against each other: OrthoVista must resample the images several times, which is very time consuming. Please rotate such images once beforehand. (Select "Rotate adjusted images before saving")

Orthophotos are rotated against the mosaic area OrthoVista must resample the images several times, which is very time consuming. Please rotate such images once beforehand. (Select "Rotate adjusted images before saving")

Multiplicative - additive method The multiplicative method works iterative and therefore needs more time than the additive method.

Hot Spot Removal Sampling Grid Size

Adaptive Feathering Alpha Grid Size

Feature Detection Feature Size and Feature Granularity

Scan resolution and color images Larger images have more pixels requiring more processing time. In addition color images have to be transformed several times into different color spaces requiring more processing time than B&W images.

Overviews. Each image should have at least one overview. The overview speeds up the image display very much but also the processing of data. A full set of overviews is advisable in case you work interactively with the images in OrthoVista but especially in „Seam Editor“.

Number of iterations set for Global Tilting Adjustment

Contrast adjustment on/off The color adjustment should be always enabled. But the contrast adjustment should be only done if necessary.

RAM. Your computer should be equipped with at least 8 GB of RAM. In case this is not enough RAM, it is possible to have physical RAM overruns and Virtual Memory has to be used. In this case, memory will be swapped to the disk by the operating system. This leads to a slower processing time.

Cache Size For 64bit operating system a cache size of 1024 can be used if the workstation is equipped with at least 8GB RAM.

Enabling Sub-Processing When sub-processes are used for writing images then writing of the images


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is about 2 times or even more faster. Writing images might need a big portion of the overall OrthoVista processing time.


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6 End User License Agreement

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