GoPro cameras create stunning, high-quality images. They are durable, easy to mount, and have a wide field of view that can capture up to two images per second. The newest GoPro Models (Hero 5 and newer) have built-in GPS that allows easy upload of imagery to Mapillary. Other models (Hero 4 and older) lack built-in GPS, but you can use our iOS app integration to capture geotagged images with those cameras.
Recommended devices:
- HERO 11 Black ($499.99)
Note: The following GoPro action cameras are older models that are discontinued but remain compatible with Mapillary.
- HERO 5 Black
- HERO 6 Black
- HERO 7 Black
- HERO 7 Silver
The GoPro Hero 7 White lacks a built in GPS. Other devices, including the Hero 2, Hero 3, and Hero 3, may also be used if you have an iPhone and can therefore use the Mapillary app integration.
First time GoPro setup
Equipment needed
- Recommended GoPro device
- Charging cables
- Note: For longer capture sessions, you may need a car charger or external charging pack to keep your device fully charged.
- Memory SD card(s)
- Suction mount with GoPro
- Note: If your GoPro does not have a live preview screen built in, you must use the GoPro mobile app live preview feature or purchase a separate GoPro LCD Touch BacPac. Live preview helps to review your camera position angle prior to starting capture.
Device setup
Using GoPro without Mapillary mobile apps
- Start with formatting the camera’s memory card before each session.
- Note: this will remove all previously stored images, so be sure to backup or download your images first.
- Set the camera to 0.5 second interval time lapse mode.
- For older model GoPros: Connect a GoPro LCD Touch BacPac to preview your camera angle.
Using GoPro via Mapillary for iOS
With Mapillary for iOS you can control your GoPro directly from within the Mapillary app and geotag the images directly on your phone. The images are transferred to the phone and you can review, delete, and upload them as regular sequences in the app. This feature is currently not available on Android.
- Start with formatting the camera’s memory card before each session.
- Note: this will remove all previously stored images, so be sure to backup or download your images first.
- Set the camera to 0.5 second interval time lapse mode.
- Pair the GoPro camera and your phone using the GoPro app. Make sure "WiFi RC & APP mode" on the GoPro is enabled. Connect to your GoPro’s WiFi network from your iPhone.
- Open the Mapillary app and tap on the camera button Once in the camera screen, tap the +Cam button to add your GoPro.
Mounting
- You can mount your GoPro outside of your vehicle or inside your windshield.
To mount your GoPro on the outside of your vehicle:
- You can use a suction mount, or bracket mount (if you have a roof rack bar you can fasten your camera it).
- Suction mounts:
- Clean the surface of the vehicle off first.
- Press mount to clean vehicle roof and lift suction to tighten.
- Level camera angle using ball mount.
- Bracket mounts:
- Place the bracket on your roof rack bar.
- Fasten and secure the bracket tightly so it does not move while driving.
- Level camera angle using ball mount.
- Connect your GoPro camera and LCD Touch BacPac or iPhone with the Mapillary app to external battery power or car charger.
- After mounting, use the LCD Touch BacPac or mobile app preview to ensure that:
- The field of view is level with the horizon
- The camera does not show too much of the car hood or skyline.
- The rearview mirror and other car components are not in the way.
To mount your GoPro in the windshield :
- You can use a suction mount to attach your camera.
- Place your camera on the windshield, press the suction mount to the window and lift suction to tighten.
- Connect your GoPro camera and LCD Touch BacPac or iPhone with the Mapillary app to external battery power or car charger.
- After mounting, use the LCD Touch BacPac or mobile app preview to ensure that:
- The field of view is level with the horizon
- The camera does not show too much of the car hood or skyline.
- The rearview mirror and other car components are not in the way.
Capture Mapillary imagery using GoPro
Using the Mapillary iOS app to capture imagery on your GoPro
- Verify your camera has a good view by using the camera view preview on the Mapillary for iOS app screen. The camera should be level with the horizon and show no parts of your vehicle.
- Begin the capture from the Mapillary for iOS app. The app will control the GoPro to capture every 1 second.
- When you are finished capturing imagery, stop the capture session from the app. See the link below for next steps on how to upload.
Using your GPS enabled GoPro to capture imagery without the Mapillary app
- Mount the GoPro to your car/bike.
- Verify your camera has a good view by using a GoPro LCD Touch BacPac. The camera should be level with the horizon and show no parts of your vehicle.
- If your device is GPS enabled, proceed to step 5. If your device is not GPS enabled, see step 4.
- If you don’t have a GPS enabled device: you can capture images with you GoPro and use an external GPS tracker or your phone to track the necessary GPS data. Use an external GPS tracker or GPS tracker mobile app to record a .gpx track.
- Make sure you sync the clocks on your camera and the GPS tracker.
- Begin to capture imagery.
- After capturing, use a Mapillary script to assign a geotag to each image. to each image, then upload your images.
- Turn on your camera, press the capture button, and then start moving.
- When you are finished capturing imagery, stop your device from recording.
Note:
- Best practices for capturing:
- Avoid capturing at night and when it is actively raining or snowing.
- Avoid capturing too much of your vehicle hood, the sky, and the ground.
- Be sure to fully charge your device before capturing and charge it throughout the duration of your capture session.
Upload GoPro imagery to Mapillary
The two recommended methods for uploading GoPro imagery to Mapillary are the Mapillary Desktop Uploader and the Mapillary for iOS app. Using the Desktop Uploader is the best method, whether or not you used the Mapillary App integration. The mobile app can only be used for upload if you used the app integration for capturing the imagery.
Upload GoPro imagery using the Mapillary iOS app
- If you captured GoPro imagery using the Mapillary app for iOS, you can upload the images directly from the app after capture, or do it from the Uploads view later (you need to be connected to the camera at that time).
- The upload process works best when both the phone and GoPro are connected to a charger and images are transferred at night.
- Note that connecting the GoPro camera to a computer may turn off the WiFi on the camera, so make sure to turn it back on.
Upload GoPro imagery using the Desktop Uploader
The Mapillary Desktop Uploader is a desktop application that enables you to upload Mapillary imagery in bulk. The Desktop Uploader is available for macOS and Windows. The Desktop Uploader is meant for uploading imagery that is already geotagged by either the Mapillary app or your device; you can't add location information to images in the application.
Note: If your device does not record GPS information, you must use an external GPS tracker while capturing, then assign geotag to each image.
- Download the imagery you captured to your computer.
- Note: If you captured the imagery using the iPhone app integration, you need to first go to the Upload screen in the app and tap the "Add EXIF data" button. The images will be geotagged by the app, after which you can copy them to your computer as instructed here.
- Download the Desktop Uploader and run the file.
- Once you’ve installed the Desktop Uploader, open it and sign in with your Mapillary login credentials. You can’t use the application without signing in, so if you don’t have an account yet, be sure to first create an account.
- Drag and drop or browse for a folder that contains your images (to avoid errors, please make sure the folder name doesn't contain special characters).
- Note: You can’t add individual images, just folders. You can only add one folder at a time. However, the folders can contain subfolders—the uploader is capable of handling that.
- When you’ve added a folder, the images it contains will be pre-processed and you will see their locations displayed on the map. At this stage, the images are not yet uploaded.
- Note: If you’re trying to add a folder that contains images which have already been processed previously, the uploader will remember that and prompt you to resume the upload.
- Click on "Upload" to upload the imagery to Mapillary. It normally takes a few hours to process, after which you should be able to see your imagery on the Mapillary platform.
- For more help with the Desktop Uploader, see the respective article.
Upload GoPro imagery using other methods
Comments
14 comments
Is the gopro hero 5 stand alone ready to upload images. So yes how.
Are there examples sequences to see the results of images.
It has now a gps onboard.
Your text above: https://help.mapillary.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001590645-GoPro
"A downside with GoPro for Mapillary is that the cameras lack built-in gps so you have to use an external GPS recorder in order to geotag the photos"
Specifications gopro hero 5 (scroll down)
http://shop.gopro.com/EMEA/cameras/
thx
Hi Frank,
Thanks for your question! It's a good point that the Hero5 is different since it has built-in GPS. Therefore, you can use it according to the same instructions as the Garmin Virb (see here). We haven't had the chance to properly test it via the Mapillary for iOS app integration yet, but theoretically, it should work as well.
I don't have an example sequence for you from the Hero5 specifically, but since the resolution is the same as for the older models, it's probably going to be just as great as this one with a GoPro mounted on bike handlebars.
I've edited this help article according to your notes.
Best,
Katrin
Hey,
I tried out today with my Gopro Hero5 Session and my GoPro+ LCD, both worked fine first they connected and shooted as intendent! But the result was wrong. I was going around several Blocks and the result was a straight line ,15 km away where I actually caputered the pictures. Is there anything I did wrong? I will try out the second way with the additional app and combine pics and coordinates as well, but the normal connection within the mapillary app is way more convinient. Thanks a lot!
Good afternoon, I wanted to connect the camera to the Mapillar "Xiaomi yi action camera" connected on the WiFi with the application "yi Action", got the connection but Mapillari could not see the camera help fix it.
There is no GPS, you need to communicate with a smartphone to get a position
link to the official website of the camera manufacturer
https://www.yitechnology.com/yi-action-camera
Hi,
We don't have support for the Xiaomi Yi action camera in our app so unfortunately, you can't use it for this. To capture with it, you should follow the instructions in the https://help.mapillary.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001590645?without-app section. I.e. record the GPS track separately with your phone or another device, and later combine it with the photos and upload.
Katrin
Могу ли я добавить поддержку?
Not at this stage, but keep an eye on our blog and announcements as we hope to make more things available in the future.
I work for a Dutch Mobile Mapping company. We create mapping software and turnkey mapping systems. For the GoPro Fusion 360 we created a plug-in which grabs the imagery data and GPS data. See a demo movie at our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OGJTB60y-M&t=14s
We did the same for the Garmin VIRB 360. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlRJ-3RxY-o
Both cameras work well and can be used for mapping where the highest accuracy is not always needed.
Martin
Hi,
I have a GoPro Hero 5 with GPS.
In January 2020 I read through the instructions on this help page and set my camera up accordingly - mounted the camera to my bike, powered it up, enabled GPS, time lapse, 0.5s then cycled around town for 20 minutes.
At the end of the cycle I downloaded the file to my Mac then proceeded to try to upload via the Desktop Uploader - it´s not supported (I can´t remember why, this was in January). I then reverted to the command line utility and spent several hours reading the instructions before giving a go, to no avail.
I contacted the help desk and waited and waited for a response. When I eventually got one I replied and once more waited and waited. I contacted the help desk again and apparently my ticket was closed.
Anyway, I gave all the information I had to the person dealing with my case and again, waiting waiting waiting.
At the end of the day, we are nowhere near to a solution as my last email to them was never answered and I´m guessing because I communicated my frustration as the continual lack of actual help - I´m sure the agent helping me is a nice guy, but ultimately, was totally useless when it came down to getting a working solution. He was ultimately a middle man between a developer and I but communication was so slow and lacked any sort of assistance, always asking me to provide the same stuff I´d already provided.
This article is not helpful.
So just to be clear, the mapillary app is not compatible with the gopro 8 Black? I am able to connect to the camera via the gopro app but not with the mapillary app. Any input or help?
@Ian Van Giesen
Go Pro don't work with the Android App :-(
"This feature is currently not available on Android."
Are you using iOs or Android phone ?
I'm not clear from this article - is a GoPro Hero 3 still compatible with the Mapillary app? (I know it's old but it's what I have!). The opening para refers to Hero 4 or older with the app, but it's not in the list of recommended devices. Currently, the app crashes on me when connecting the camera - I'll stop trying if it's never going to work!
Looks like the feature of pairing the GoPro with the iPhone is not longer available?
Pairing GoPro with iPhone was a feature designed for older GoPro's which did not have GPS. The GPS from the phone would be used with the GoPro's camera. Given that GoPro's have GPS now, our recommend workflow is to capture on the GoPro and transfer the images/video to a computer, uploading with Mapillary's Desktop Uploader.
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