Rapid class
Also known as: whitewater class, river grade, class I-VI rapids
The international scale from Class I to VI that rates river rapids by difficulty and danger, used by paddlers and rafting guides.
Updated
What it means
The International Scale of River Difficulty grades rapids from Class I to Class VI. Class I is moving water with small waves; Class II brings easy rapids with clear channels; Class III has irregular waves and maneuvering; Class IV requires precise control in powerful water; Class V is long, violent and risky; Class VI is extreme and rarely run.
The class tells a viewer how serious a rapid is. A video of a Class V drop means something very different from a Class II wave train. Commercial trips, often filmed with a boat-mounted camera or by guides, usually run Class III and IV, which is the range most kayakers and rafters film.
How it works in practice
Mention the class in a title or description, since it gives context that pictures cannot. Flat, wide POV footage hides difficulty, and the class tells viewers how hard the water really is.
Film big rapids from the shore as well as from the boat. On Class IV and V water, a static shot of the whole rapid shows features that a helmet camera, see helmet mount, misses entirely.
Rafting outfitters often film customers on the biggest rapid of a trip from a fixed spot. Ask for the files, and combine them with your own POV for a richer edit.
What to watch out for
Class depends on water level. A Class III rapid can become Class V in flood. Do not treat footage from one season as a guide to another.
Never paddle above your level to get footage. Rapid ratings exist because each step up brings more danger and less room for mistakes.
Camera angles distort difficulty. Wide lenses and high mounts make big water look smaller, and fisheye distortion flattens drops. Shore shots and low angles show the size of a rapid much more honestly, and a person or boat in frame gives a clear sense of scale.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip finds the big moments of a river trip, drops, splashes and peak action, across boat and shore cameras. It removes calm water and duplicates and cuts the rapids to the beat of the music in one highlight.