Underwater cinematography comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to achieving smooth footage. The Boxfish Luna ROV is designed to offer excellent stability underwater, but further post-stabilisation techniques can help elevate the quality of your footage. Zach Melnick, expert in aerial and underwater videography, shared the techniques he uses to achieve drone-like smoothness beneath the surface.
The Luna ROV’s design ensures solid stability even in deep water, providing precise control for capturing dynamic underwater shots.
With its proprietary eight 3D vectored thruster layout the pilot is able to direct thrust in any direction in a complete 360 degree sphere to ensure the Luna stays where you want it. The Luna is actively stabilised at all times to ensure the Luna remains at the correct depth, heading and pitch/roll for that perfect shot!
The Luna is not subject to the pendulum effects that ROVs normally exhibit when movement is started or stopped. Position hold is an optional add-on so that the Luna holds its position long term or in the presence of current.
Zach shared two main methods for post-stabilising underwater footage: Sony’s Catalyst software and the open-source Gyroflow tool, which utilizes the gyroscopic data captured by the camera to stabilise video. Watch the video to learn how to achieve professional-quality underwater shots with these techniques.
Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert are the filmmakers behind the documentary All Too Clear, which explores the devastating quagga mussel invasion in the Great Lakes. Underwater video in this documentary was captured with the Boxfish Luna ROV.
The documentary has been now released and will be broadcasted for free on TVO in Canada during October – November 2024.
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