Tools Overview

The RMI 360 Imaging Workflow provides a comprehensive set of ArcGIS Python Toolbox tools organized into three main categories.

Tool Categories

Setup Tools

These tools help you prepare your environment and configure initial settings.

Tool Name

Purpose

Create OID Template Tool

Creates geodatabase templates and schema for Oriented Imagery Datasets

Set AWS Keyring Credentials

Securely stores AWS credentials for S3 upload operations

Individual Processing Tools

These tools perform specific processing steps that can be run individually or in sequence.

Image and Video Processing

Tool Name

Purpose

Run Mosaic Processor Tool

Processes 360° video files using Mosaic Processor to extract panoramic images

Rename and Tag Images

Applies EXIF metadata and renames images according to configuration rules

Enhance Images Tool

Applies image enhancement (contrast, white balance, sharpening)

GPS and Spatial Processing

Tool Name

Purpose

Smooth GPS Noise Tool

Reduces GPS noise and removes outliers from position data

Geocode Images Tool

Assigns spatial attributes based on GIS reference datasets

OID Creation and Management

Tool Name

Purpose

Create OID Tool

Creates new Oriented Imagery Dataset feature classes

Add Images to OID Tool

Populates OID with processed panoramic images

Build OID Footprints Tool

Generates spatial footprints for OID coverage areas

Update Linear and Custom Tool

Calculates linear referencing and custom field values

Publishing and Output

Tool Name

Purpose

Generate OID Service Tool

Publishes OID to ArcGIS Portal as a web service

Copy to AWS Tool

Uploads processed files to Amazon S3 storage

Generate Report Tool

Creates HTML reports summarizing processing results

Orchestrator

The orchestrator provides automated end-to-end workflow execution.

Tool Name

Purpose

Process Mosaic 360 Workflow

Runs the complete workflow from raw video to published OID service

Typical Workflow Sequence

Standard Processing Order:

  1. Run Mosaic Processor Tool - Extract panoramic images from 360° video

  2. Rename and Tag Images - Apply metadata and standardized naming

  3. Smooth GPS Noise Tool - Clean and smooth GPS positioning data

  4. Geocode Images Tool (optional) - Add spatial attributes from reference data

  5. Enhance Images Tool (optional) - Apply image enhancement

  6. Create OID Tool - Create Oriented Imagery Dataset

  7. Add Images to OID Tool - Populate OID with processed images

  8. Build OID Footprints Tool - Generate coverage footprints

  9. Update Linear and Custom Tool - Calculate additional attributes

  10. Generate OID Service Tool (optional) - Publish to Portal

  11. Copy to AWS Tool (optional) - Upload to cloud storage

  12. Generate Report Tool - Create processing summary

Orchestrator Alternative:

Instead of running individual tools, use Process Mosaic 360 Workflow to execute the entire sequence automatically with a single tool run.

Common Usage Patterns

Basic Corridor Imaging

Use orchestrator with default settings for standard highway/railroad corridor documentation.

Research and Analysis

Run individual tools to experiment with different processing parameters and review intermediate results.

Production Workflows

Combine orchestrator for primary processing with individual tools for specific customizations or corrections.

Quality Control

Use individual tools to reprocess specific steps without repeating the entire workflow.

Tool Parameters

Most tools share common parameter patterns:

Required Parameters: - Input data paths (images, videos, or feature classes) - Configuration file path - Output locations

Optional Parameters: - Processing flags (dry run, skip existing, etc.) - Advanced settings (thresholds, quality settings) - Integration options (AWS, Portal credentials)

Configuration-Driven: Many tool behaviors are controlled by the YAML configuration file rather than individual parameters, providing consistency and repeatability across projects.

Next Steps