Deep dive into filming underwater VR with Blue Ring Imaging

Case Study: ecosphere

Problem

Faced with the mission to produce high quality VR180 footage for Oculus across three countries there was a fair stack of challenges to overcome. One of the biggest challenges was how to replicate the sense of wonder we all experience when we find ourselves truly immersed in nature. We wanted viewers to meet the wild and wonderful creatures that live in symbiosis with the planet, and provide access to places that many of us will never step foot, or flipper.

A few ‘ecosphere’ team members are passionate about the oceans. In particular Eric Cheng, our Executive Producer from Facebook’s Oculus, is an incredibly accomplished underwater photographer and cinematographer. Showing viewers the other-worldly environment that exists below the ocean’s surface, our coastal reefs, was an electrifying prospect for the team and deserved R&D time to build a first of its kind solution.

The ‘what’ was visually stunning reefs and the ‘where’ was the Misool foundation in Raja Ampat, an incredibly successful marine park and ‘No Take Zone’. There are few conservation organisations in the world with such successful and positive outcomes, or more beautiful reefs.

The ‘how’ was the real problem. We were pondering the ‘how’ when we were introduced to Casey Sapp from VRTUL and Jeremy Childress from The Sexton Corporation, an introduction which proved to be a promising step forward.

Solution

VRTUL and The Sexton Corporation have teamed up to combine their formidable skills and passions with a shared vision for bleeding edge underwater camera systems. Casey started VRTUL in 2015 with the intent to help build and manage high end underwater 180/360/VR cameras systems. Meanwhile, Jeremy heads one of the top marine engineering and design companies in the world, which has been in business for 40 years. Casey and Jeremy partnered exclusively to concept and build these prototypes systems together under both VRTUL and a new spin-off entity called Blue Ring Imaging. They rent and sell these high-end systems to clients including OceanX, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, SeaWorld, BBC, National Geographic, and Discovery. With every project, they expect unparalleled results, as they push the boundaries of what’s possible in underwater image capture.

So naturally, Casey and Jeremy were the perfect boundary-defying partners to bring our ambitious vision to life! In the summer and fall of 2019, Casey, Jeremy and the PHORIA team worked with Eric and underwater DP / imaging technician, Brent Schnarr, to create a 180VR housing system. While we all really wanted to make the K2 Pro work it seemed erroneous to build a housing system for what may well be a fleeting pre-production camera. The sensible choice was to build the system around the readily available E2-4K systems with frame level synchronization. With only a minor increase in the distance between the cameras, there wasn’t a significant impact on the viewing experience. So this was a relatively small price to pay for a platform that offered a lot more flexibility.

Challenge

Getting the colour right was a tall order. Those who have been diving will know that when it comes to underwater photography, representing rich colours accurately is challenging at best.

Recording in log modes and white balancing correctly can really help, but to capture the brilliance of these underwater worlds any deeper than around 7 meters, filters are a must. Eric worked with Brent to mount small custom cut magic filters on one of the underwater rigs. Attaching these filters to the rear of the lenses allowed us to balance the camera for deeper use without the need for artificial light.

We then set up the other filterless rig to be used for very shallow (up to 5m depth) or to be used with lights deeper down. John Ellerbrock from Gates Underwater Housings and Pete Lightowler from Down Under Aquatic Imaging & Lightpost Media were incredibly helpful in assisting with lighting solutions generously providing the team with a swathe of Gates G14 lights. These things pack a huge punch and proved to be perfect for capturing the details of anemone fish, as well as other wonderful corals and critters throughout the shoot. The passion and help of the awesome humans listed above enabled us to realise our vision of immersing viewers in the highest quality underwater environments through VR.

Tech Development

“The biggest tech challenge with underwater 180VR is getting two cameras to work like one. When there is power, record, or settings changes the cinematographer should treat the system as if working with a single camera rather than multiple then you can focus on the natural history rather than the tech. — Casey Sapp, VRTUL/Blue Ring Imaging

There was definitely some witchcraft performed by the Blue Ring Imaging team. With a Raspberry Pi mini-computer, integrated screen, and handheld buttons we were able to shoot for a variety of scenes almost forgetting that we were working with two cameras at once. The housing in total weighed almost 30lbs but it really is still amazing how much they were able to fit into that housing!!

A Word From Casey, CEO of VRTUL/Blue Ring Imaging

“The 180VR rig released in partnership with Phoria and Facebook is the culmination of 5 years of multi-camera technology development. We invested heavily in custom Raspberry Pi development for global controls, but we were also able to move rapidly through the prototype phase having already developed a separate 180VR camera on an ROV with ZCams. Based on over 9 months of development and 3D image testing we knew the stereo would be good, so it laid to rest a lot of the prevailing concerns had we not already tested it firsthand ourselves. A lot of the hard questions that needed to be figured out had been solved so the question was when we would pull the trigger on a high quality freeswimming 180VR rig then you guys came around! We were so excited ” — Casey Sapp, Blue Ring Imaging / VRTUL

Results

We feel the result is something truly magical. We have heard several accounts from keen divers that the ‘Raja Ampat’ episode quenched their thirst for diving, a formidable feat in a world grappling with indefinite travel limitations. This episode not only provides a vital insight into the delicacy and beauty of these underwater sanctuaries, but it takes us to ecosystems that many may never have the opportunity to experience.