ODM Orthophoto (GeoTIFF) — Install & Run Guide

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04. Produces a GeoTIFF orthophoto only — no 3D models, no point clouds.

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1. Install Docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the group change to take effect, then verify:

docker run hello-world

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2. (GPU only) Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit

Skip this section if you have no NVIDIA GPU.

First confirm your GPU is visible to the OS:

nvidia-smi

Then install the toolkit and restart Docker:

sudo apt install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
sudo systemctl restart docker

Verify Docker can see the GPU:

docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:12.0-base nvidia-smi

You should see your GPU listed in the output.

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3. Pull the ODM Docker image

Without GPU:

docker pull opendronemap/odm

With GPU:

docker pull opendronemap/odm:gpu

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4. Set up your data directory

ODM expects this structure under a datasets root — here we use /mnt/odm_datasets:

/mnt/odm_datasets/
└── my_survey/
    └── images/    ← place your drone JPEGs or TIFFs here

Create it:

mkdir -p /mnt/odm_datasets/my_survey/images

Rsync your images in:

rsync -av user@remote:/path/to/images/ /mnt/odm_datasets/my_survey/images/

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5. Run ODM

Replace my_survey with your project folder name. Adjust --orthophoto-resolution to match your target GSD in cm/pixel (e.g. 2 for 2 cm/px, 5 for 5 cm/px).

Without GPU:

docker run -ti --rm \
  -v /mnt/odm_datasets:/datasets \
  opendronemap/odm \
  --project-path /datasets my_survey \
  --skip-3dmodel \
  --skip-report \
  --orthophoto-resolution 5

With GPU:

docker run -ti --rm \
  -v /mnt/odm_datasets:/datasets \
  --gpus all \
  opendronemap/odm:gpu \
  --project-path /datasets my_survey \
  --skip-3dmodel \
  --skip-report \
  --orthophoto-resolution 5 \
  --feature-type sift

The --feature-type sift flag enables GPU-accelerated feature extraction, which is the main computational bottleneck. Early in the log output you should see a line confirming the GPU was found.

Optional: fast preview run

Add --fast-orthophoto to skip point cloud generation entirely and go straight to the orthophoto from sparse reconstruction. Much faster, lower quality — useful for a quick sanity check on a new dataset:

  --fast-orthophoto

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6. Output

When processing completes, your GeoTIFF will be at:

/mnt/odm_datasets/my_survey/odm_orthophoto/odm_orthophoto.tif

Open it in QGIS. Do not use Photoshop or GIMP — they do not understand the geospatial metadata embedded in the file.