Question about regular 3D converted photos on the new Vision OS

[dwhite601]

Has anyone had the chance to see how previously 3D converted photos work on the new Vision OS 26? I understand that there is the new spatial scene conversion that creates a holograph like display, but I'm interested in how previous 2D to 3D converted photos function on the new OS. Are they still available and can 2D photos still be converted to regular 3D without the full spatial scene conversion?

The reason I'm concerned about upgrading is I have converted thousands of my 2D photos to 3D and don't want to lose them. Also, the full spatial scene conversion uses a lot more AI impainting which may be less accurate for some photos than the simpler 2D to 3D conversion.

Once I upgrade, it's not easy to go back so I want to be sure my 3D converted photos are safe.

 

[fatTribble]

The photos you’ve already converted don’t change unless you change them.

You have options:

Leave your converted photos in 3D
Revert back to 2D
Convert either of those to spatial scene

The regular 3D is now in a drop down under the three dots.
Spatial Scene is on a new button much like the 3D button from VisionOS 2

What’s nice is that it’s easy to toggle between the 3D and Spatial to see which looks best.

Just my experience so far is the new Spatial Scenes are almost always better.

The 3D photos look like the 3D is coming out of the photo towards you.
The Spatial also look 3D but seem to have more depth effect. They also don’t crop as much of the image.

I think you’ll really like all the options.

 

[dwhite601]

Thank you for your detailed response. I've been very impressed with how well the 2D to 3D conversion has worked. In some cases, I don't understand how it could work, but it did anyway. It hasn't been consistently perfect, however. For example, it gets confused with volleyball courts. Is that player in front of the net, or behind? Perhaps both!

Based on your reply, I feel it's safe to upgrade. Thanks again.

David

 

[fatTribble]

Thank you for your detailed response. I've been very impressed with how well the 2D to 3D conversion has worked. In some cases, I don't understand how it could work, but it did anyway. It hasn't been consistently perfect, however. For example, it gets confused with volleyball courts. Is that player in front of the net, or behind? Perhaps both!

Based on your reply, I feel it's safe to upgrade. Thanks again.

David

I hope it all goes as well as you hope. Maybe share your own thoughts about spatial scenes when you are able to try them out.

 

[dwhite601]

I finally got some time to update my Vision Pro to 26. It is, indeed, very impressive and I'm glad I updated.

I've found that unlike the 2D to 3D conversions, the new spatial scenes can not be exported intact. Instead, spatial scene photos revert to their previous form.

To be more specific, a regular 2D .jpg file converted to 3D with both the older and new OS changes to a .heic file. This file, when exported to a 2D device like a Mac remains an .heic file and displays either the left or right view based on user choice. In the head set, these converted .heic 3D files can still be reverted back to their 2D versions (.jpg). The option to make new 2D to 3D conversions remains in the new OS.

The new spatial scene conversion with its holographic effect appears to be a permanent change only on the head set. When these files are exported to another Apple device, they revert to their pre-conversion form. For example, if a 2D photo was converted to a spatial scene, it's exported as the original 2D photo. If a 3D .heic photo either made directly with the headset or converted from a 2D photo is exported, it's exported as the .heic 3D photo without the extra spatial scene information.

To summarize, the original 2D to 3D options are still there, but with somewhat different menus. Either 2D or 3D photos can be converted to spatial scene photos and be reverted back to their original form. Only the original form is exported.

I also found, so far, that the spatial photos do look better. When the headset has to invent more of the background that was hidden in the original photo, it sometimes makes a somewhat blurry or faded area, but it's not objectionable.

The spatial scene conversions are available on the iPad, but, of course, only displayed in 2D. One can still peer around foreground objects in the iPad display, though.

 

[dwhite601]

As a followup, I've now converted several hundred 3D photos to spatial scenes and I can say Apple's 2nd generation conversion algorithm is even better. Closeups of people look more natural in 3D and the occasional rough edges between background and foreground objects are gone.

And, I can add: mirror reflections are now in 3D.

Now if Apple would just add a batch convert option!