Apple Launches 'Submerged' Short Film for Vision Pro, Outlines Upcoming Content

[Principle_Level]

I have literally demoed this to 4 people since just last night, and I **** you not, every single one of them said it is the coolest thing they've ever seen in their life bar none.

I have been to the Vegas Dome theatre and the experience reminds me of that, but feels even more immersive somehow.

I have seen and used a lot of VR and and am very hard to impress at this point but my jaw actually dropped when I watched this last night and every single other person I've shown it to has had the same reaction.

 

[axantas]

I * am * impressed.
This is absolutely smashing. A "3D-movie" is a movie with a third dimension behind the wall. Here you become part of the movie, because it happens around you. This is a completely new kind of movie.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Amazing the number of ‘newbie’ members who pile here to gush about Vision Pro.

Reveal yourselves, disciples of Tim Cook!

 

[knowsuchpeace]

Amazing the number of ‘newbie’ members who pile here to gush about Vision Pro.

Reveal yourselves, disciples of Tim Cook!

what do you mean?

 

[axantas]

what do you mean?

Nothing he means...

Just ignore this kind of posts. We should not encourage them by reacting. It is normal in all threads about the VisionPro. They do not add anything valuable to the discussion.

 

[Dr32Degrees]

I got my AVP on launch day; I am in no way Daddy Warbucks, but I did have a couple of phones, an iPad Pro, and a MacBook to trade in, which took a bunch of the sting out of the price (I think I walked out for under $2200). I have used nothing but Apple devices since the Apple II, and this is the single priciest Apple product I have owned since a PowerBook I bought in the late 90s.

I found a use case for it: the Mac screen sharing has completely changed how I work from home, and the focus it provides is an unexpected bonus. Most of the immersive stuff has been really cool - light years beyond my Q3 - but along the lines of Soaring Over California at Disneyland. Cool, but nothing earth-shattering.

This video was a completely different experience altogether, and if this is where entertainment media is headed, count me in! You could almost smell the saltwater, and the sense of claustrophobia was unnerving; however, in the quieter moments, like when they were at the table eating, it honestly felt like you were sitting with both actors. AirPods Pro or Max make it even more impressive.

I understand those who badmouth it for being $3500, but it is the first of the hundreds (thousands? I am an old guy lol) of pieces of tech I have owned for which I would dare use the term "futuristic". It is amazing, and I sincerely wish the price would come down on this thing so that more folks could experience it.

 

[titanium_man]

I have literally demoed this to 4 people since just last night, and I **** you not, every single one of them said it is the coolest thing they've ever seen in their life bar none.

I have been to the Vegas Dome theatre and the experience reminds me of that, but feels even more immersive somehow.

I have seen and used a lot of VR and and am very hard to impress at this point but my jaw actually dropped when I watched this last night and every single other person I've shown it to has had the same reaction.

Maybe they can use the vision pro recording technology to create content for Vegas Dome and a new type of communal experience of this sort may be the future of cinema, but people don't want to wear VR headsets.

 

[newyorksole]

yeah, many will put down the vision pro because it's not realistic for very many users. But that's not the point of this product. Apple needed to make it good enough to attract a respectable number of users so that they could get real world usage and feedback to help improve the software and hardware. They went high end knowing that as they improve things hardware costs could drop so that in later years they could then deliver a great experience at a more affordable price point. It's their foot in the door.

it’s amazing that most people don’t realize this lol

 

[Abazigal]

Puts Apple’s decision to embrace services in the proper context. If developers and creators don’t support a new platform like the Vision Pro, then at least Apple has the infrastructure to do it themselves.

 

[nfl46]

Wow, this was incredible! I can't wait to watch Apple TV shows in such an immersive way. I'd love to see a show like Severance presented like this. They should at least add environments that mimic the severance workspaces for seasons 2!

Yes! This would be awesome. I am still taken back from watching movies and tv shows on the AVP with AirPod Pros. Holy ****. It makes me not want to go to the movie theaters anymore. The experience is surreal.

I am sooooo ready for Apple to give us a Big Screen type of app where we can all join a movie theater to watch a movie together or even do karaoke. I do this a lot using my Quest 3 and it’s awesome.

 

[sevoneone]

This is hands down the most impressive thing I’ve seen to date on Vision Pro by a LOOONG shot. They really went into uncharted territory - there’s really no convention on framing 180 degrees for narrative-driven content, but they knocked this one out of the park.

I am really curious to see this because of the new rigging an equipment they came up with, wish I could afford a Vison Pro. I know it's hard to use traditional gear with VR 180 because something like a dolly/track is impossible to hide, and using a steady-cam/gimbal tends to give viewers vertigo/motion-sickness. That horizontal jib looking thing looks very rigid to keep the shot very stable.

Maybe they can use the vision pro recording technology to create content for Vegas Dome and a new type of communal experience of this sort may be the future of cinema, but people don't want to wear VR headsets.

I think it will be a while before anything like this can be communal. The Vegas Sphere is really hard to create content for. Very few productions have the budget in money or time to master content for a proprietary 16k spherical format only on exposition at one venue.

 

[oneteam]

WOW this short is INCREDIBLE. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I was part of the movie.

This is exactly the kind of content that apple needs to bring to Vision Pro.

I cannot wait for more

 

[Merlin65]

I fail to understand why so many people criticise the Vision Pro who sound like they have never even seen one. I don't own a Ferrari so perhaps I should go to a Ferrari forum and post that they are rubbish, expensive flops?

As for this Submerged film on my VP, I was surprised to find it last night and it was really good. I wish films such as Harry Potter were like this!

I don't think the VP is perfect and, like Ferrari's, they are expensive but the concept is sound and I look forward to a 3rd or 4th generation - I just hope that isn't many years into the future.

I do own a VP (actually we own two as my wife has one) and we like them despite the bulk and weight etc. As for Ferrari's, expensive Italian rubbish, driven by idiots - that is until I get enough money to buy one! Then they will be brilliant! Until then - they are rubbish and a PR stunt blah blah blah.

Sorry everyone!

 

[bLackjackj]

Okay, my 17 minutes is done & dusted. Nothing to see here, move on.

Whats next Apple,..you acquired NextVR 4 years ago, where are they??? I want to see live and recorded VR Sports events.

 

[Think|Different]

I fail to understand why so many people criticise the Vision Pro who sound like they have never even seen one. I don't own a Ferrari so perhaps I should go to a Ferrari forum and post that they are rubbish, expensive flops?

As for this Submerged film on my VP, I was surprised to find it last night and it was really good. I wish films such as Harry Potter were like this!

I don't think the VP is perfect and, like Ferrari's, they are expensive but the concept is sound and I look forward to a 3rd or 4th generation - I just hope that isn't many years into the future.

I do own a VP (actually we own two as my wife has one) and we like them despite the bulk and weight etc. As for Ferrari's, expensive Italian rubbish, driven by idiots - that is until I get enough money to buy one! Then they will be brilliant! Until then - they are rubbish and a PR stunt blah blah blah.

Sorry everyone!

It's simple, like anything else: it's their insecurities projected, maybe financially, maybe otherwise but that's always what it is.

 

[East India Company]

I think all the most memorable movies I have seen did not have any special effects. This will certainly please the superficial crowds.

 

[JohnC1959]

I think all the most memorable movies I have seen did not have any special effects. This will certainly please the superficial crowds.

True though different genres have different purposes. I love mysteries and historical dramas that stimulate my mind. Then I watch a good action movie with edge of your seat chases and such to get the adrenaline running.

 

[menithings]

This is definitely a groundbreaking form of storytelling. Visually astounding, and more immersive than anything before it. Fascinating to see how camera motion is limited in specific ways (shaking, rolling) to mitigate dizziness. The intentional beat when the actor liked directly at camera was just as unsettling as when Alicia Keys did it in her immersive video. Acting/dialogue was stilted, but that’s not the fault of the technology or medium. Overall an impressive creative/technical achievement cut down by substandard acting/script. But more importantly, a glimpse into the future of filmmaking.

 

[citysnaps]

Amazing the number of ‘newbie’ members who pile here to gush about Vision Pro.

Reveal yourselves, disciples of Tim Cook!

I guess we'll never have a day of people not slamming Apple or TC.

 

[citysnaps]

It's simple, like anything else: it's their insecurities projected, maybe financially, maybe otherwise but that's always what it is.

Spot on assessment. I'd also add that for many it just feels good and empowering slamming "The Man" (Apple).

 

[PowerButton]

The thing I don’t like is [being a developer myself] Apple makes it hard to produce content for their devices. Like their stereo 180 camera rig, which is proprietary. I have clients who would love to make content for it, but the only solution now is 2 RED Komodo’s which isn’t ideal because the IOD is to wide, the resolution is low at only 6K, and the FPS isn’t optimal. Come to think of it, I don’t even think the Komodo will shoot open gate.

 

[citysnaps]

The thing I don’t like is [being a developer myself] Apple makes it hard to produce content for their devices. Like their stereo 180 camera rig, which is proprietary. I have clients who would love to make content for it, but the only solution now is 2 RED Komodo’s which isn’t ideal because the IOD is to wide, the resolution is low at only 6K, and the FPS isn’t optimal. Come to think of it, I don’t even think the Komodo will shoot open gate.

If you have both the experience and clients, why not write a proposal outlining your ideas/projects and how it would benefit Apple getting more content for AVP. And send it to Craig F or Tim C. Who knows... they might engage you under an NDA if they're jazzed after reading it

 

[Roadcrew]

This is incredibly well done. I was skeptical if longer-format content could make the transition to Apple Immersive, but this proves it can be done. The time flew by, and I wanted it to keep going when the credits rolled.

I'll second that. There are definitely some critiques of the set and plot (huge ceilings, weird ending), but it was a slam dunk when it comes to proving that it's possible to make a VR180 film that functions as an actual film and that does things with the medium that would be lost with a flat screen. I suspect that a lot of what they did here in terms of shot framing, focus, transitions, etc will be looked at as a how-to guide for further efforts by various filmmakers.

This video was a completely different experience altogether, and if this is where entertainment media is headed, count me in! You could almost smell the saltwater, and the sense of claustrophobia was unnerving; however, in the quieter moments, like when they were at the table eating, it honestly felt like you were sitting with both actors. AirPods Pro or Max make it even more impressive.

With how well that scene worked, I'm surprised in retrospect that Apple hasn't done anything simple with two-people-at-a-table interviews in VR180.

 

[jo-1]

The thing I don’t like is [being a developer myself] Apple makes it hard to produce content for their devices. Like their stereo 180 camera rig, which is proprietary. I have clients who would love to make content for it, but the only solution now is 2 RED Komodo’s which isn’t ideal because the IOD is to wide, the resolution is low at only 6K, and the FPS isn’t optimal. Come to think of it, I don’t even think the Komodo will shoot open gate.

There are several cameras upcoming - more affordable and better workflow integrated like the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive or the Canon EOS R7 wit stereoscopic lens attached.

Simply put two 10 k Ursa Cine combined in one casing - should be less than double the price, which is still money but not out of reach for a film crew that costs a multitude every day.

Will take some day before it’ll be at rental services though.

Canon is available now for beginners. Even the workflow has been defined.

Story telling needs to find a good balance between immersion and story. Like with good graphical design. Nothing new here.

 

[Rychiar]

This was incredible. Probably the most impressive thing I’ve seen since I got this device. doing more content like this would be awesome. Would definitely love some horror movies. The close space is in the way it was shot even helped with the limitations of the format and made it look more realistic and incredible