LibGuides: GIS &amp; Geospatial Data Services: Drone2Map

Install Drone2Map

Drone2Map software is used for processing collection of individual aerial images, like those typically collected using digital camera sensors mounted to UAVs (drones), to produce orthomosaic images that can be georeferenced and used in GIS software. Please note that UT Austin users have a license for Drone2Map standard which provides access to all major Drone2Map functionality, though some advanced features like 3D point cloud and 3D mesh generation are not included.

This page will walk you through the process of installing and licensing Esri's Drone2Map software on your personal computer. Please be aware that Drone2Map can only be installed and used on a computer that runs the Windows operating system and meets the other minimum system requirements. If you have a Windows PC you can start following the steps below to load Drone2Map onto your machine, but if you are interested in installing the software on a Mac please first refer to the guide in the right column which provides an overview of options for running Windows on your Mac and take care of this set up before proceeding to the installation instructions below.

1.	In your web browser, navigate to https://utexas.app.box.com/s/4z1hshtzxdtd9w4ngf4yyoixhnem63ea which is the Box page used by UT Liberal Arts Information Technology Services (LAITS) to provide access to installation files for Esri software to members of the campus community. Once there, find the folder titled "Drone2Map" and click on it to be taken to a subdirectory that contains a list of folders which contain installation files for the most recent releases of the software. Once you are in the "Drone2Map" folder, click on the subdirectory for the latest version of the software (unless you have a specific reason for preferring an older version, then select the older version you want) and you will be taken to a list of installation files for that version. Click on the link for the .exe file whose name starts with "ArcGIS_Drone2Map_" to download the installation executable that you will run on your machine to install the software. You do not need to download any of the other files on this page.
2.	Once you have downloaded the installation .exe file, browse to the location of this file on your computer and double click on it to run it. It will ask you where you would like to save the uncompressed installation files. Pick a location on your file system and give it a minute or so to complete the decompression process. You will receive a notification when this process is complete and, if you look closely, you should notice that there is a check box in this notification window. If you leave this checkbox checked, as it is by default, the software installation wizard will open automatically after you close the notification window. This wizard will ask you to accept the Esri terms of service agreement and will walk you through a few more simple steps that you can go through fairly quickly as the default settings preconfigured for each step should be fine for most installations (it is best to adjust these setting only if you have a strong reason for doing so). Once you have completed the last step in the installation wizard, the installation process will start and should complete in a few minutes minutes.
3.	Once the software is successfully installed, you will need to make sure that you have an ArcGIS Online account that is linked to the University of Texas ArcGIS Online organization and is licensed to use ArcGIS Pro before you can actually open and start using the program (you will notice that you are prompted to log in with a licensed ArcGIS Online account when you first open the software and you can proceed past this point without entering valid credentials). To create a UT linked ArcGIS Online account, you can follow the instructions provided at https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/gis/set-up-ut-arcgis-online-account and once your accounted is created, open ArcGIS Pro and log in using the Named User License option. See screenshots below for reference as you go through the ArcGIS Pro license configuration process of selecting Named User licensing, selecting the ut-austin ArcGIS Online organization, confirming the ut-austin ArcGIS Online organization selection, and logging in with your UT Austin credentials.

Drone2Map Mac Installation Instructions

Options for Installing Drone2Map on a Mac

Drone2Map software is only compatible for the Windows operating system and thus can be a little difficult to install for those who have Mac computers. There are fortunately a variety of different ways Mac owners can use Drone2Map which are described below:

1.	Use Bootcamp, which is a free program included by default on all modern Macs, to install Windows as a complementary operating system on the computer. Once Windows is installed, you can choose to boot into Windows at startup or into macOS. To install ArcGIS software, just boot into Windows and startup and follow the steps listed in the center column of this guide. This approach provides ArcGIS Desktop software like ArcMap with full access to the resources (RAM, CPU, etc.) of the computer because it is only running one operating system at a time, but it can be a little complicated to set up and requires rebooting in order to switch between operating systems.
2.	Another free option is to download and install VirtualBox on your Mac. Virtualbox is a application that will allow you to install Windows on your Mac and run a virtual instance of it inside the Virtualbox software that can run simultaneously with your other macOS applications. It operates in the same general manner as Parallels and VMWare Fusion which are described below. Keep in mind that this approach may cause ArcGIS software to run more slowly and to experience performance issues, because running Windows and MacOS simultaneously will utilize more RAM than just running Windows on its own using Bootcamp. It does however make it a little easier to move files around and is convenient in that it does not require rebooting to switch between operating systems.
3.	The final options is to purchase and install Parallels ($80 full price, $40 education pricing available) or VMWare Fusion ($80) so that you can run Windows in a virtual machine (VM) while booted into macOS. This approach has the same advantages and disadvantages as the Virtualbox approach described above, but paying for a virtualization software product rather than using Virtualbox does entitle you to customer support that you may find useful when configuring Windows on your Mac.