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Apple Shares New 'Dark Universe' Experimental Video Shot on iPhone 12 Pro

TheDailyApple said:
Any good footage one could capture there would have beat this abstract studio stuff.
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Yeah, but you won’t find very much in nature that’s as colorful and have such stark contrasts between light and dark. And, if the point is showing how well the phone handles the dynamic range, this does it. Nature footage wouldn’t.
noraa said:
According to the specs page, the 12 can record HDR at up to 60fps - which is sorta slo-mo if you play it back at 30fps. But it looks like regular slo-mo (120fps and 240fps) doesn't support HDR.
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Yup, found it. My expectations are preserved :D
 
Unregistered 4U said:
Yeah, but you won’t find very much in nature that’s as colorful and have such stark contrasts between light and dark. And, if the point is showing how well the phone handles the dynamic range, this does it. Nature footage wouldn’t.
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I was thinking things like auroras in Denali National Park, being able to contrast campfires, car headlights, and lit up tents against the dark surrounding area, etc. would be effective at showing off dynamic range and color just as the studio stuff. Or maybe lava in Hawaii.

I suppose I’m just partial to nature. I didn’t even watch the behind the scenes and all I can see in the video is plasma lamps and glitter glue.
 
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dave_guitar_thompson said:
These kinds of posts are a joke. Until apple‘s camera’s can record in set frame rates and not variable ones then their cameras are not going to be usable for video editing.

I’ve had absolute nightmares trying to compensate for videos using multiple apple cameras where the timecodes don’t sync up with audio recorded with competent clocking. Apple‘s camera’s will never be ‘pro’ until they can use pro standards.
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Filmic Pro app seems to do the job but not all frame rates work at all resolutions or settings.
Handbrake is also used to convert to a fixed framerate version after it is filmed, Mac pro recommended. :)
 
GeoffAlex said:
Why do they market this as being shot on the iPhone Pro 12 explicitly when (parts of) it is clearly shot on the Pro Max. The shots of the phone showing the 2.5 zoom option and the guy also mentions the longer focal length on the tele.

Seems the same kind of misdirection as the '4x zoom' line. (Yes yes total zoom range but honestly most people would think 4x tele instead of 2x out 2x in).

Amazingly well shot though!
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They do it because that’s how the camera industry markets fixed lens “super zoom” cameras. My 12X Lumix is from zoomed all the way out to zoomed all the way in. Wide to telephoto.
 
grahamwright1 said:
Stopped watching after 5 seconds when I realized it's portrait mode, not landscape. As an old guy, I can't understand the appeal of vertical recordings over a nice widescreen you can show on a larger screen.......
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I was once like you. Do yourself a favour and get over it. Content shot on a phone is typically also viewed on a phone. Shoot how you hold, view how you hold.
 
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TheDailyApple said:
I suppose I’m just partial to nature. I didn’t even watch the behind the scenes and all I can see in the video is plasma lamps and glitter glue.
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I’d imagine that, even with the improved sensors and software there may have been difficulty capturing video of Auroras. Car headlights, tents, campfires would all get you the same range of “earthy” tones and nothing quite as contrasty as the video these guys ended up with. Lava in Hawai’i would also be smooth gradients of reddish orange.

It might have even just come down to “what can other phone cameras and screens NOT capture” and, understanding any conventional photography would come really close anyway, went for something that has all the colors and vibrancy of “computer generated” but, is just good ol‘ photos bouncing off and through really cool surfaces. :) It’s amazing that mobile phone photography has gotten to the point where edge cases are required to truly show off differences.
 
Unregistered 4U said:
Speaking for even OLDER folks, I just can’t understand all the hubbub about color, it distracts WAY too much.

Speaking for even older OLDER folks, when there’s audio in the moving pictures, you can’t hear the piano man.
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Well, I suppose vertical video makes sense to you modern folks that have their eyes arranged vertically. Us folks with the old fashioned side-by-side thing... not so much.
 
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is this an ad to tell people that iPhone cameras are as good as cinema ones, or is Apple is actually trying to tell Tarantino to film his next picture using iPhone 12?

The way I see it is its either a convenient camera for the average joe or buy a dedicated pro camera for your works/needs. Otherwise this is like trying to convince someone that an compact SUV can be doubled as a trailer truck.
 
quatermass said:
Well, I suppose vertical video makes sense to you modern folks that have their eyes arranged vertically. Us folks with the old fashioned side-by-side thing... not so much.
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I look at it as just another option for aspect ratio. Just like you might choose 1:1, 4:3, 16:9, 2:1, 2.35:1 or 2.39:1, you can choose to shoot 9:16 if it best fits the goals of your project. There is nothing intrinsically better or worse about any ratio as long as it is shot well and doesn’t take away from the storytelling.

If you’re producing short form material that will primarily be viewed on mobile devices, that means 90% of people will view it with their phones vertical, so 9:16 is going to be the best way to shoot it.


MacBH928 said:
is this an ad to tell people that iPhone cameras are as good as cinema ones, or is Apple is actually trying to tell Tarantino to film his next picture using iPhone 12?

The way I see it is its either a convenient camera for the average joe or buy a dedicated pro camera for your works/needs. Otherwise this is like trying to convince someone that an compact SUV can be doubled as a trailer truck.
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It’s designed to appeal to content creators (YouTubers, social media influencers, vloggers, etc.). It has become clear this is is a group Apple is heavily targeting with their Pro brand. Just look at the group of YouTubers Apple gave new MacPros and XDR displays right before launch.

It’s a growing lifestyle segment made up of a few highly visible people, a few mildly successful creators, and a lot of wannabes creating a lust for high-end/luxury priced gear mostly for bragging rights. It’s like when one middle class suburbanite in the neighborhood buys a boat or RV, suddenly half the neighborhood is also getting an RV.
 
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darcyf said:
I was once like you. Do yourself a favour and get over it. Content shot on a phone is typically also viewed on a phone. Shoot how you hold, view how you hold.
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But why? It's just a poorer experience - assuming you've got two working eyes, one on either side of your face, your field of vision is predominantly horizontal and the brain is programmed so your eyes naturally scan side-to-side, not up and down. Likewise, if you've got two ears in default position, for stereo sound to work from the phone's speakers it needs to be held landscape.

I get lots of people 'do' vertical video, but a lot of people also think low bitrate music ripped from YouTube playing through a phone's speakers is the ultimate audiophile experience, a lot of people think the optimal way to make phone calls is in speaker phone mode with the phone held horizontally in right in front of your mouth like a tray (I've never understood that). Considering Apple is obsessed with controlling the end-user experience, I'm mortified to see them actually succumbing to vertical video. This really is the time when Apple should be saying "you're holding it wrong"! Apple are doomed. ;)
 
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Pretty cool. Video works well for unusual abstract stuff. Music sounds like Jon Hopkins, too.
 
TheDailyApple said:
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like abstract videos like this are sort of meh. Why not go out in the middle of nowhere like Denali National Park or Death Valley? Any good footage one could capture there would have beat this abstract studio stuff.
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Yeah I was expecting that. This is useless studio drivel...
 
grahamwright1 said:
Stopped watching after 5 seconds when I realized it's portrait mode, not landscape. As an old guy, I can't understand the appeal of vertical recordings over a nice widescreen you can show on a larger screen.......
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Yep me too, I gave it about 20 seconds and stopped watching. I said to myself WTF you are trying to show off a new iPhone video and you use portrait mode!
 
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QuarterSwede said:
When 90% of video is watched on phones in portrait you start to see why they made that decision. I don't agree with it myself but it at least makes sense in that context.

As to the video, it was wild. Very creative. Can't wait to see it on the iPhone 12 Pro Max screen.
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Since the video is designed for the 90% as you say, how come the splash/promo screen is in landscape? Shouldn't it be in portrait layout too so people know up front what the video will be before they start watching it?
 
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How does one actually watch this on a Dolby Vision supported device, like ATV4? I don’t believe YouTube app supports DV yet
 
themuseboy said:
Yep me too, I gave it about 20 seconds and stopped watching. I said to myself WTF you are trying to show off a new iPhone video and you use portrait mode!
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Ghastly isn't it? Of course, there's the VertVid apologists who'll try to have us believe it's actually a Good Thing and everyone's doing it (well, vloggers, social influences etc.), as if that makes any difference.
Worse thing I saw was a TV programme in the UK asking viewers to send in video, but in portrait (vertical) mode... you what? How... why... er... what? Perhaps Samsung are now selling vertical TVs as the Next Big Thing. Vertical and foldable probably.
I seem to recall there's a feature in phones, where if you turn the phone so the screen is horizontal, the image on said screen rotates to fill the now horizontal screen. Why they do that?
 
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