How We Do It

Our offices are located a few minutes drive from Stansted Airport, between London and Cambridge, with easy access to both national and international travel networks.

We are able to operate virtually anywhere in the world, supported by a trusted network of licensed pilots and scanning specialists of diverse nationalities across the UK, Europe, and internationally.

We do not operate a single, fixed pricing structure across all projects. Instead, we adopt a flexible and adaptable approach, offering day rates, weekly rates, or fully inclusive packages tailored to suit each client’s scope and budget.

We are able to accommodate virtually any project timetable through our well-established network of aerial and terrestrial scanning specialists. When necessary, we have mobilised within hours, including attending crime scenes at very short notice. Nevertheless, the most successful projects benefit from a sensible lead-in period, enabling thorough planning and ensuring the most time- and cost-effective outcome. It should also be noted that most drone operations are subject to specific legislative and regulatory requirements that require additional time to organise and secure the necessary permissions.

By taking the time to fully understand our clients’ requirements, we are able to draw upon many years of experience to develop truly bespoke solutions. Our hybrid methodologies, combining complementary light- and image-based technologies, deliver the geometric accuracy and precision of laser scanning alongside the visual richness and detail of high-resolution photography.

The majority of our projects are completed within hours or days, rather than weeks or months. We endeavour to carry out data capture as efficiently as possible for several reasons: principally to minimise disruption to our clients and the public, and to ensure consistency in weather and lighting conditions throughout the survey. With this in mind, for larger commissions we often deploy multiple teams concurrently, thereby reducing the overall data capture window and maintaining environmental consistency across the dataset.

As the majority of clients require us to come to them, our technology has been designed and adapted to allow data capture anywhere in the World. Indeed, our reputation is founded upon the principle: Precise. Professional. Portable.

Given the right amount of time and preparation, not really. Certain materials and surfaces are more problematic, such as transparent objects, reflective and very dark surfaces and moving or flexible objects. However, there are methodologies we can adopt that significantly enhance the quality of the data captured.

We base our processing and delivery timetable on our clients requirements. Shorter delivery schedules will require more of our specialists to work concurrently. Ultimately, successful delivery depends upon clear and timely communication between ourselves and our clients from the outset.

With our clients embracing VR & AR, AI and the next generation of radiance fields (3DGS), much of our time is spent researching and implementing developments in sensors and software to keep us at the cutting edge of digital technology. We can therefore deliver in most recognised 2D, 3D & 4D file formats, dependent upon the needs of any particular project.

Unless specifically required to destroy or remove data upon a project’s completion (it does happen), we always keep multiple copies of both the raw and delivered data on our secure network.

Ownership of raw and processed data is primarily determined by the contract between Kittiwake Digital and our client. Unless covered by a prior agreement, we retain the IP of captured data, but the client who commissioned the work holds the right to use it for the intended purpose.