Developing Rylo
This blog post is the first in a series of posts that will chronicle the development of Rylo. When we started two years ago, we set out to make it easy for anyone to capture and share videos that looked great. The inspiration for Rylo came from the observation that there are two key ingredients that make up a great looking video: fluid camera motion and good shot composition.
Camera Motion
In film, various techniques for achieving smooth camera motions have been developed over the course of a century. Initially cameras were placed on tripods, then on moving platforms and cranes to achieve panning, dollying and tracking. In the 70s, the invention of the Steadicam body harness brought stabilized free-flowing camera motion to film.
However, motion stabilizing equipment can be unwieldy and sometimes even requires multiple people to operate. Despite this, the use of these rigs in film is so widespread, that it’s near impossible to find a contemporary movie which wasn’t shot using them.
Shot Composition
Shot composition or “framing the shot” consists of selecting the camera’s field of view and arranging the subjects in the video frame. Once a composition has been decided, a camera operator then carefully controls the camera such that it always follows the action. Executing the right camera motion to maintain the desired composition requires meticulous planning and often involves multiple takes (attempts).
The Challenge
While these techniques work for film, they do not translate well to everyday moments. The challenge is that life, unlike a movie set, is spontaneous. It’s difficult to know where to point the camera in the moment. Worse still, you often only get one take, because some moments happen once, and never again.
In addition, portability matters a lot more. A tripod is of no use, if you’ve summited Mount Tam, while the tripod is sitting back home. Our goal, therefore, was to find a way to achieve fluid motion and good shot composition in a portable form factor, in order to make it easy for anyone to capture beautiful video wherever they are.
To solve this, we decided to build a compact camera that would capture everything around it. With full 360° capture there’s no longer a need to point the camera during recording. Simply press record, capture everything, then pick the perfect composition after the fact. This makes it much easier to always get the shot that you want. No planning, production crew, or stabilization rigs required.
A New Camera, From Scratch
We started developing Rylo by first prototyping brand new algorithms for video stabilization that would take full advantage of 360° capture. Our goal was to fully remove unwanted camera shake without requiring you to carry any additional equipment. We then tested these algorithms on camera prototypes assembled with hot glue and zip ties.
Once we knew that the algorithms were going to work, we set out to design the hardware. By building the hardware second, we ensured it would work in perfect harmony with the software.
As the hardware team refined the physical design over the next year, we began the process of iterating and distilling the software down to the essential elements. The biggest challenge was finding intuitive ways to interact with 360° content.
A different way to think about 360 video
Most 360 cameras have a focus on virtual reality. While you can capture immersive content with Rylo, we also wanted to use the 360 nature of the camera in different ways. With a full sphere of content, Rylo can achieve a level of stabilization that just isn’t possible on traditional cameras with a narrow field of view. We’ll discuss this topic in more detail in a future blog post. For now, here’s what stabilization looks like on Rylo:
Furthermore, because Rylo captures in 360°, it can be held or mounted in any orientation, and yet the output will still remain horizon leveled.
This also means that you can decide whether you want to output a portrait or landscape video after the fact. In an upcoming app update, we’ll also give you the ability to select a super-wide cinematic crop.
With Rylo, the shot composition and camera motion also happens after-the-fact. We created a feature, called Points, which allows you to control the camera motion over time. With Points, you just tap and hold on your video at any time to say, “at this time the camera should point here.” Here’s what that looks like:
Points allow you to achieve camera motions that would traditionally only be possible using bulky motorized gimbals. In addition, they give you the ability to frame the shot just right at every moment in the video.
Timelapses also become really stunning with 360° capture, because it is possible to output fluid camera motions even at speeds 16x faster than real-time. Furthermore, the follow tool allows you to lock the camera to follow a subject or building facade. With only a few taps you can create stunning timelapse flybys that are captured simply by holding up Rylo.
Points along with Timelapse and Follow make some of the more advanced cinematography techniques accessible to everyone. In the long run, we think 360° capture will fundamentally change how people shoot video.
Make it simple
One of our values at Rylo is to be relentless in the pursuit of simplicity. The experience begins from the moment Rylo arrives on your doorstep. We package everything you need to get started: Rylo, an SD card, a charged battery, an Everyday case, and a pouch.
Once you place the battery in your camera, you’re ready to get out and shoot. The first time you open the app, it introduces you to the key features that you’re going to use to make stunning videos.
Another very important choice we made was to let you connect Rylo directly to your mobile phone with a USB cable. Transfers using the cable are faster than a wireless connection, and no configuration is necessary. This means you don’t need to wait until you get home to your computer — you can simply plug Rylo into your phone to view, edit, and share your content right away.
Shipping Now
We started shipping the first batch of Rylo cameras last week. We’re excited to hear what you think. You can find us on Instagram at instagram.com/rylo, or Facebook at facebook.com/rylo.
The Rylo 360 camera is just the beginning. If you want to help us build what’s next, click here. Subscribe to our blog to receive updates on the behind the scenes story of Rylo, as well as sneak peaks at what’s to come next.
Alex Karpenko
Co-founder, Rylo Inc.
Originally published at www.rylo.com.
