Skip to main content

The Aurora presets are like Instagram filters for pro drone videographers

Aurora - Cinematic Color Preset LUTs by PolarPro
PolarPro, the company that boosts aerial drone video with custom-sized filters, is now developing filters for after the shot, too. On Thursday, May 18, PolarPro announced Aurora, a set of cinematic color presets designed for drone videography.

The software is designed to enhance D-Log video (the videographer’s equivalent to a RAW photo) by taking advantage of the file format’s wider dynamic range while helping users quickly enhance the color in the footage. The 12 cinematic color presets have two variations, one designed specifically for the camera profile on the DJI Mavic Pro and another for the Phantom Pro 4, with additional versions for more drone cameras expected to launch in the future. The presets are compatible with a number of editing programs, including Adobe Premier, After Effects, and Photoshop, as well as Final Cut X (with an additional plug-in) and DaVinci Resolve.

The presets offer a range of different color enhancements, with several including variations for warm, cool, and neutral colors. The Elektra preset adds a pop of color while Purity sticks with more natural color enhancement. Deep adds saturation and darker blacks and shadows while the Classic preset is designed for a Hollywood look with more pastel colors. Morpheus and Knight create their styles by pushing the greens and blues to enhance the video’s mood.

All of the presets are designed to enhance D-log, which offers aerial photographers a wider dynamic range but flat color profiles that require editing. Using the camera’s built-in color profile narrows the camera’s light capturing capabilities down to eight stops, PolarPro explained, while shooting in D-log has no color profile but a 12-stop dynamic range for more detail in the lightest and darkest areas and more control over the editing process. The new presets are designed to take advantage of the D-log format but helps minimize the required editing by quickly re-calibrating those colors.

The cinematic color presets sell for $30, with versions for the Mavic Pro and Phantom 4 Pro.

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Watch an acclaimed director use the iPhone 15 Pro to shoot a movie
acclaimed director uses iphone 15 to shoot movie shot on pro midnight

Shot on iPhone 15 Pro | Midnight | Apple

As part of its long-running Shot on iPhone series, Apple recently handed acclaimed Japanese director Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins, The Happiness of the Katakuris) an iPhone 15 Pro to shoot a short film.

Read more
How to remove location data from your iPhone photos
How to transfer photos from an iPhone to an iPhone

We all love making memories, and a great way to collect those memories is to take a quick snap of a gorgeous landscape, a party in full swing, or a particularly incredible meal. The Apple iPhone now also adds a location to your pictures, meaning it can collate those images together into a location-themed album, or show you all the shots you've taken in a specific location. It's a fun little addition, and it's one that adds a lot of personality to the Photos app.

Read more
‘Photoshopped’ royal photo causes a stir
The Princess of Wales with her children.

[UPDATE: In a message posted on social media on Monday morning, Princess Kate said that she herself edited the image, and apologized for the fuss that the picture had caused. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she wrote, adding, "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."]

Major press agencies have pulled a photo of the U.K.’s Princess of Wales and her children amid concerns that it has been digitally manipulated.

Read more