A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:

The easiest way to get cinematic camera movement is with a slider. ROV makes it even easier.

You might not realize it, but smooth camera movement is key to making great videos. The problem is capturing smooth moment is hard and requires special tools normally used by hollywood professionals. ROV brings this technology to the everyday user and makes it as easy as pressing record. Your phone moves and captures cinematic video or time-lapse simultaneously.

Shot on iPhone 7 Plus

Use a DSLR or Mirrorless camera on ROV PRO to capture amazing video and time-lapses.

ROV & ROV PRO come in the Everyday length

ROV & ROV PRO come in the Traveler length

App-connected devices are only good as the apps that control it. ROV uses two distinctly different apps to control it based on what you’re filming with. Our apps are heavily tested, and available for download. You can even use Rhino Storyteller without ROV to create amazing videos.

1) Night Lapse

This mode is amazing. Have you ever seen beautiful DSLR night time-lapses and thought “How'd they shoot that?”. Well, now you can shoot those on your iPhone with ease. Use the full manual controls to get the perfect exposure. ROV even moves your camera between shots to ensure motion blur doesn't ruin your shot. After your time-lapse is done, Rhino Storyteller automatically creates a video and plays it back for you to review. No rendering or downloading your images, just an instantly rendered time-lapse.

Night Lapse from Manhattan Bridge

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2) Time-Lapse

In Time-lapse mode, select how long you want to shoot for and the length of your final clip. Press record and your time-lapse will begin. It's that simple. Choose a longer exposure during the day for an amazing effect. Use the Moment Wide V2 lens to capture more of your landscape with amazing clarity.

When a Time-Lapse is started the screen auto dims and only shows the most recent picture captured to save your phone's battery life. We've taken 8 hour time-lapses with our iPhone 7 Plus.

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3) Slomo

In Slomo mode, choose your frame rate and increase the speed of your move for amazing actions sports shots. Checkout the scene below we shot with Shonduras at a remote mountain skate park in Utah. You can trigger your shot to start with a timer, by clapping your hands or using a bluetooth trigger.

Shonduras skating with ROV

4) Video

In video mode you can use auto controls or easily enable manual mode by swiping up/down or left/right for focus and exposure. Use the loupe tool to make sure your focus is tack sharp. Set your shutter speed, ISO, and White Balance all manually if your shoot requires it. An electronic level makes sure your shot is level even when your slider isn't.

Setting up ROV in the app is extremely easy. By default the direction is set to “Auto” which moves to the opposite end of the slider each move and the speed is set to Medium. You can change the direction, speed, and even have your move loop from end to end if you’re shooting a vlog or interview.

Trim & Rearrange

We couldn’t find an intuitive editor that we loved on the app store so we built one ourselves. The editor in Rhino Storyteller allows you to easily trim and rearrange clips using a vertical-style editing system. It makes it much easier to manage your edit on a mobile device. If you want to try it out, download the app now and work on the sample project to see how you like it.

Exposure, Speed, Muting & Music

On each clip, you’re able to adjust the exposure, speed and mute it if the audio is annoying. When you’re finished with your edit, add a compelling audio track and export your finished work.

If you’re using a DLSR or Mirrorless camera with ROV PRO, ROV Motion gives you control over your direction, speed, ramp, and allows you to loop if you’re shooting a vlog or and interview.

If you want to film with your GoPro or use another app to record like the standard Apple app or Filmic Pro you can control ROV with ROV Motion.

Time-Lapse mode let’s you setup a time-lapse in seconds. The intuitive interface lets you program just like you do in Rhino Motion. Set your shutter speed, test your exposure, set your clip length and increase your duration if needed.

Once your time-lapse starts, feel free to close the app and reconnect anytime for your status. The status LEDs will turn turquoise when a time-lapse is active so you know you can put your phone away and rest easy.

All-metal Unibody Rail

The unibody design of ROV sets it apart from any other camera slider ever made. Extruded from a single piece of aircraft grade aluminum and CNC milled to perfection, the ROV rail allowed us to store the motor, electronics, battery, and drive system all within the itself. From the outside all that remains is an ultra sleek, beautiful shape. Other sliders put their electronics on top of the rail which raises the center of gravity and makes it much less easy to pack.

ROV PRO comes in an exclusive gunmetal color that is polished and then bead blasted before being hard anodized.

High End Coreless Motor

We agonized over the motor selection for ROV. It had to be small but torquey, fast but quiet, and draw very little power. After testing dozens of stepper and DC motors we found a motor commonly used in medical and aerospace applications: Coreless DC technology. At low speeds it’s super quiet and can still pull a 5lb DSLR up a 30 degree incline during a time-lapse. Money.

Insane Battery Life

Raise your hand if you like charging your gadgets. That’s what we thought. No one. That’s why we built in a high capacity li-po battery into ROV. During normal use, you can expect to shoot for at least 24 hours without recharging (normal usage at medium speeds).

Low Profile iPhone Mount

Your iPhone is a beautifully designed piece of hardware, so why shouldn’t your phone mount be also? We designed the iPhone mount on ROV from scratch. It has an integrated ball head so you can adjust the angle of your shot with ease. The internal spring is strong enough to hold your camera secure during long time lapses but easy enough to mount with a single hand.

It also has a built in cold shoe mount so you can use accessories like the ROV Shotgun Mic without needing a special case.

Flush Folding All-Terrain Legs

We pioneered flush folding, all-terrain legs on our high end sliders. They’re there if you need them, but they fold out of the way when you want to mount to a tripod. The legs on ROV us a click-lock mechanism that allows you to easily adjust the angle of the legs while still holding strong.

Tripod Mounting (on center)

Being able to center mount your camera slider is crucial when you’re filmmaking on the go. We bolted a solid piece of aluminum to the bottom of the rail to ensure your slider doesn’t flex when mounting to a tripod. It’s tapped for both 3/8-16 and 1/4-20 and works perfectly with the ROV Tripod.

Professional 1/4-20 Ball Head (you get the iPhone mount too)

ROV PRO includes both the iPhone mount and a rock solid, silky smooth ball head. It features a a quick release plate that makes mounting your DSLR or Mirrorless camera as easy as a click. The ball head and the iPhone Mount both attach via 3/8-16 thread on the carriage which allows you to use them to shoot b-roll on the ROV Tripod when you’re using the other mount on your slider.

Sony A7s mounted on ROV PRO

DSLR Time-Lapse

ROV PRO is capable of capturing the same beautiful time-lapses our high end EVO gear is known for. Using an intervalometer built into the hardware, ROV PRO triggers you camera to take photos when it’s not moving to eliminate motion blur. Since the carriage is moving a lot less in this mode, the battery life will provide you with multiple days and nights of filming. An optional cable is required to trigger your DSLR during time-lapses. After campaign ends, we’ll send out a survey that will allow you to purchase the specific cable needed for your camera.

Long exposure time-lapse at Mt. Rainier

Premium Gunmetal Finish

ROV PRO features a beautiful, unmistakable gunmetal gray finish. We're still tweaking the final spec of the pantone and gloss level but it's unreal in person. It also has a hard anodize coating that makes it more scratch resistant than the coating on ROV.

ROV Backpacks ($80/$100 MSRP)

Backpacks and carrying cases are normally an afterthought for most companies. Not for Rhino. Our product cases are an integral part of the user experience. We went through countless revisions making sure every detail was perfect.

The ROV Backpack has room to store your slider, tripod, mic, lenses, filters and two side pockets for anything else you want to bring along. All of your filming equipment can be stored in a single bag.

Our professional pack when filming with a DSLR weighs upwards of 20lbs. Our complete ROV pack with 4 lenses, ND filters, mic, and tripod weighs under 6lbs.

ROV Everyday Backpack

ROV Everyday Backpack with ROV Mic, ROV Tripod, and Moment Lens set

ROV Tripod ($70 MSRP)

If you’re serious about using a slider, getting a solid tripod is critical. We partnered with a well known tripod manufacturer to create a simple and strong tripod that was affordable.

We hate twist lock tripod legs. You know the ones that you spin forever to get tight that still slip when you put weight on them? That’s why the leg locks on the ROV Tripod are cam based. The cams are recessed so they won’t catch on other gear when you’re storing it. The telescoping legs have 4 sections which allows it to pack down smaller than normal 3 section tripods. The octoganal tubing is thick wall extruded aluminum for better rigidity.

The ROV Tripod supports both ROV Everyday and Traveler but can only support a 2lb camera on the Traveler (heavier cameras will tip it over).

ROV Shotgun Mic ($60 MSRP)

Here at Rhino we have a saying that might surprise you, “Audio is everything”. If you have poor video quality and great audio, your audience will forgive you. But, if you have even the best visuals and your audio quality or soundtrack is terrible it’s all for not.

A good quality shotgun mic is one of the absolute essentials for an aspiring filmmaker. It allows you to capture great quality audio from either a subject in an interview or ambient sounds.

The ROV Mic is a battery-free shotgun mic that can clip on top of your DSLR or the phone mount that’s included with ROV & ROV PRO. It includes cables for both, a windscreen, and a nice padded case, although it’ll fit better stashed away in your ROV Backpack.

Moment New Wide Lens

Moment lenses are arguably the best glass around for mobile photography. Their new V2 line is even better than the originals and that’s saying a lot. They are built like tanks and the design and engineering that went into each one is second to none.

We partnered with Moment to include their New Wide lens in a couple of our bundles. It’s our favorite lens because the focal length of the standard iPhone lens is a bit to long for our taste. The Moment Wide is amazing for filming cities, landscapes, and even people.

A phone case is required to mount the lens to your phone and is included with the lens. You can pick out which one will fit your phone after the campaign ends (iPhone 6, 6+, 7, 7+, 8, 8+, X, Pixel, Pixel 2).

ROV has changed a lot since our original concept from 2 years ago. Initially, all of the electronics, battery, and motor were going to be in the carriage. It would simplify the system but it would have been bulky and tall. So we pivoted and opted for putting the guts at each end of the slider. This allowed us to make an extremely streamlined shape that would be easy to store carry with you.

We opted for using a DC motor over our usual stepper motors because we could get so much more torque with less power. We tested dozens of DC motors and they were all too noisy until we learned of Coreless DC technology. They’re quieter and more torquey all while using less power. All great news, but it came with a hefty price tag, 3x more expensive than our previous motor. The price you pay for quality is worth it.

As we built out this system, we started testing heavier cameras on it which yielded harrowing results. The rails weren’t rigid enough and we were getting strange vibrations in our test footage. At a very late stage in development we made the call. Scrap it and start over.

We completely reimagined what a slider could be and started iterating through different rail designs. It was this iteration that allowed our lead designer, Gabriel Collins to dream up the Unibody Rail, one of ROVs most striking features.

Rhino is a group of photographers, filmmakers, and engineers that love making great gear. Our first Kickstarter campaign was 6 years ago when we launched the Rhino Steady stabilizer. Since then, our Kickstarter community has been standing behind us at every launch. We wouldn’t be a company if we didn’t have the support of our backers. Seriously.

We stand behind our products with a Lifetime Warranty (on hardware, 1 year on electronics). We pride ourselves in making intuitive, high quality gear that empowers you to tell amazing stories. Less is more in our world. If you can setup your gear faster and easier and spend more time on your story, that's a win for us.

We hope that you enjoyed learning more about ROV and how it can help you make better films. Feel free to reach out through a message or comment if you have any questions.

Kyle & Rhino Team