Energy efficiency in photogrammetry: a comparative analysis of dataset, hardware, and resolution effects in Agisoft Metashape

Kolarek, Branimir; Davidović, Davor; Maričević, Marko (2025) Energy efficiency in photogrammetry: a comparative analysis of dataset, hardware, and resolution effects in Agisoft Metashape. In: Pap, Klaudio, (ed.) Proceedings 28th International conference on printing, design and graphic communication Blaž Baromić. Zagreb, University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts, Zagreb, pp. 28-40 .

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Abstract

Photogrammetry enables detailed 3D reconstruction from images but often involves computationally intensive workflows. While processing time is frequently analysed, energy consumption is a critical but less quantified factor, particularly concerning variations in datasets, hardware, and processing parameters. This study quantitatively evaluates the impact of dataset type (uniform Single-Source vs. heterogeneous Multi-Source), hardware platform (energy-efficient Apple Mac Mini M4 vs. high-performance Windows/NVIDIA RTX 4090), and input image resolution (4000px, 6000px, Native) on processing time and total energy consumption using Agisoft Metashape Professional. Experiments involved processing two 335-image datasets across the hardware and resolution configurations using a standard workflow with consistent ‘Medium’ quality settings, while monitoring time and energy usage. Results indicate the high-performance system was significantly faster (average 1.74x) but consumed substantially more energy (average 4.65x) than the energy-efficient platform. Energy consumption scaled approximately linearly with the total number of aligned pixels processed under constant settings. The Single-Source dataset demonstrated greater robustness, succeeding where the Multi-Source dataset failed in one low-resource scenario, although the Multi-Source dataset showed competitive or better efficiency in some successful tests on the energy-efficient hardware. These findings highlight crucial trade-offs between speed, energy efficiency, and robustness, providing empirical data to inform workflow optimisation based on specific project constraints.

Item Type:	Conference or workshop item published in conference proceedings (UNSPECIFIED)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	photogrammetry; Agisoft Metashape; energy consumption; processing time; hardware comparison; dataset quality; image resolution; Structure from Motion (SfM); energy efficiency;
Subjects:	TECHNICAL SCIENCES > Computing > Data Processing TECHNICAL SCIENCES > Computing > Process Computing
Divisions:	Center for Informatics and Computing
Projects:	Project title Project leader Project code Project type National Competence Centres in the framework of EuroHPC-EUROCC2 Karolj Skala; Maja Štula; Lado Kranjčević; Vedran Miletić 101101903 EK Skalabilni algoritmi visokih performansi za buduće heterogene distribuirane računalne sustave-HybridScale Davor Davidović UIP-2020-02-4559 HRZZ
Depositing User:	Davor Davidović
Date Deposited:	18 Feb 2026 12:07
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/11231

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