The value of drone photography and video in the A/E/C industry

Glyphs to pixels

The world has never been static and, increasingly, neither is the way we communicate. Glyphs, drawings, words, pictures, books, audio recording, moving pictures…the historic progression of how we communicate is well known. Focusing on digital communication, one finds a similar progression from text-only to text and pictures to, increasingly, animated images and video. In less than a generation, we have progressed from landline phones to handheld devices that displays video in seconds.

Technology also permeates the design and construction industry. Computer-aided architectural design (CAAD) is ubiquitous, providing architects with a tool that renders buildings in two and three dimensions. Increasingly, designers are using CADD to create flythroughs of buildings that are in the planning stage. This moving technology allows designers to preview their buildings with clients showing a building in the context of a neighborhood or flying just above ground level to mimic what it might feel like to walk or drive through a space.

Documentation in the A/E/C industry

What has lagged until recently is dynamic documentation of completed work. The beauty of a finished building photographed at dusk with lighted windows is how most projects, from residential to skyscrapers, are recorded– artistic shots that rarely include people. Architecture as sculpture, these images are found on every design firm’s website and rightly so. They are heroic and beautiful but they fall short of telling the whole story. Engineering and construction firms show construction sites and men in hard hats but rarely document completed projects.

Increasingly, architecture, engineering and construction firms are using drone photography and video to document their work. This makes sense for many reasons, not just because the technology is readily available (although that makes it easier and more affordable). Moving images show context, scale and activity in ways that static photography can only evoke. Infrastructure projects become compelling and understandable when documented using drone photography and video. What cannot be seen at ground level, from one vantage point, is revealed when shot from above — roads curve through hills, intersections buzz with activity, viewers travel through tunnels. Just as virtual flythroughs provide clients a sense of what a built project will look and feel like, a video of a completed project shows how that vision became reality. Five seconds of video provides texture and richness to a website homepage and creates engagement with prospective clients and employees.

Conclusion

Professional drone photography and video are not only possible, they are increasingly the standard for A/E/C firms that seek to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. Static websites with small inset photos made sense when we all had flip phones and dial-up internet. Today, we have the technology to both create and view exciting, dynamic websites.