/answers/how-much-data-does-a-computer-vision-project-need/index.md · 45 lines
---
title: "How Much Data Does a Computer Vision Project Need?"
description: "Less than most teams expect to start, and more than they expect to finish. A proof of concept can often begin with a modest set of labelled examples from your own cameras, especially when a pre-trained model is adapted rather than trained from scratch. What matters most is that the examples cover the real conditions: lighting, angles, seasons and the rare cases the decision depends on."
url: https://lidvizion.ai/answers/how-much-data-does-a-computer-vision-project-need/
site: Lid Vizion
index: https://lidvizion.ai/llms.txt
---
[Direct answers](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/)
# How many images or videos does a business need to start a computer vision project?
Less than most teams expect to start, and more than they expect to finish. A proof of concept can often begin with a modest set of labelled examples from your own cameras, especially when a pre-trained model is adapted rather than trained from scratch. What matters most is that the examples cover the real conditions: lighting, angles, seasons and the rare cases the decision depends on.
## What this means in practice
- Collect examples from the cameras and conditions the system will actually see.
- Include the rare and difficult cases, not just typical ones.
- Start by adapting a pre-trained model; train from scratch only if that clearly falls short.
- Keep a separate test set the model never trains on, and add new examples when accuracy drops.
## How Lid Vizion approaches it
We start with the business decision and operating context, define ownership and measurable milestones, then use configuration, integrations, automation, or custom software only where each earns its place.
## See it as a workflow
- [Field scouting from phone and drone images](https://lidvizion.ai/use-cases/field-scouting-from-images/): Turn the photos scouts and drones already capture into a map of possible problem areas, such as weeds, pests, disease or water stress, so agronomists can decide where to look first.
## More on Computer vision
- [How should a business handle privacy when a computer vision system sees people?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/how-to-handle-privacy-in-computer-vision-projects/)
- [How long does a computer vision project take, and what decides it?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/what-sets-the-timeline-of-a-computer-vision-project/)
- [How can a property manager or landlord use computer vision to compare move-in and move-out photos and document changes fairly?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/how-to-compare-move-in-and-move-out-photos-with-computer-vision/)
[Compare services](https://lidvizion.ai/services/) · [Use a planning tool](https://lidvizion.ai/tools/) · [Explore workflow use cases](https://lidvizion.ai/use-cases/) · [More direct answers](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/)
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Bring the decision, the constraints, and what a good outcome looks like.
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