Aerial videography in built heritage documentation: The case of Post-Independence Architecture of Malaysia

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has become increasingly affordable in the market and has been reduced to smaller sizes, providing an entry level UAV for any beginner. For this paper we have utilized the GoPro action camera as the chosen camera, since DJI has an established gimbal for it and also the fact that the GoPro setup is considered the entry level, which is available to anyone and also produces good quality. Recent research collaboration has identified built heritage in Malaysia with a scope of being built after the nation´s independence between 1957 and 1970. Three buildings from this category were shot with the UAV, the National Mosque, Tun Abdul Razak Apartments or famously known as the Pekeliling Flats, and the Rifle Range Flats in Penang. This research will present the utilization of UAV in documenting a built heritage, its challenges in operating the machine, and documenting the sites. This study also briefly describes how aerial videography can be beneficial for visualization artists. In addition to aerial capturing, one aspect of built heritage documentation deals with e-reconstruction including digital drawings, 3D modeling, virtual reality, etc. This can be achieved by using existing visual materials as a reference to generate a virtualized version of the building. In some points visualization artist needs full access to the building, as existing reference images are insufficient. But as mentioned above, sometimes access is limited to terms and conditions mostly related to safety. In this situation one of the best alternatives is to use UAV drones. Aerial videography can be beneficial for visualization artists, first as the reference, and secondly to be combined with virtualized materials for augmented reality purposes as the land where flats were located on, will be covered by newly built skyscrapers in the near future.