Apple Vision Pro release might see movie libraries updated with 3D options

Apple Vision Pro at WWDC 2023

An Apple Vision Pro code dive has revealed a 'Play 3D' option in the new TV app, which may presage Apple upgrading users' libraries to 3D where and when available.

Apple showed off 3D movies during its launch of the Apple Vision Pro headset at WWDC 2023, but didn't detail how they would be available. Subsequently, further reports have revealed that "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" has been made in 3D for Apple TV+.

There have also been less likely claims that all Apple TV+ shows have xhref in 180 degree VR. But now tester and previous leaker Steve Moser has discovered a reference to "Play 3D" in the code for the Apple Vision Pro's TV app.

In visionOS 1.0 Beta 2 the TV app contains: "Play 3D". I wonder if Apple will upgrade user's libraries to 3D like when they upgraded iTunes libraries to 4K. (image is a render) pic.twitter.com/R9O53qrbRr
— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) July 31, 2023

On all of its platforms, Apple's TV app will prominently display a "Play" button but what it does depends on different factors. For instance, using Moser's example of "Avatar: The Way With Water," there are different results on the iPhone and Mac TV apps.

There is just a simple "Play" button on the iPhone TV app, but then it only plays if — in this case — the user has a subscription to Disney+ where the film is streaming. If the user does not have Disney+, the same "Play" button takes them to a subscription sign-up page.

That's even though it is possible to buy "Avatar" directly from Apple, rather than streaming it. The Mac version of the TV app effectively has two "Play" buttons, but it labels one with the price of buying the film, one with the price of renting it.

Moser's speculation that Apple will automatically upgrade everyone's TV app library to 3D versions of titles is based, as he says, on how the company has previously done something similar. Following rumors in 2017, Apple updated users' libraries to have 4K versions of purchased movies.

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5 Comments

mayfly

said about 8 months ago

Reminds me of when Turner Classic Movies decided it would be a good idea to colorize older black and white classics. The results were awful at best, and disastrous at worst.

Taking something that is perfect in its current state and trying to "improve" it is not a good strategy. Don't "fix" "Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness." Make a great movie from the ground up, and leverage the VisionPro advantages. Make the third season of "Foundation" using immersive tech of VP. That would be something only Apple could accomplish at this time, and might be enough to drive sales of not only the VisionPro, but Apple TV+ as well. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe were to embrace VP tech, that would turn the tide, and with their unlimited budgets, pretty much leave DC in the dust.

cmarriotti

said about 8 months ago

mayfly said:

Reminds me of when Turner Classic Movies decided it would be a good idea to colorize older black and white classics. The results were awful at best, and disastrous at worst.

Taking something that is perfect in its current state and trying to "improve" it is not a good strategy. Don't "fix" "Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness." Make a great movie from the ground up, and leverage the VisionPro advantages. Make the third season of "Foundation" using immersive tech of VP. That would be something only Apple could accomplish at this time, and might be enough to drive sales of not only the VisionPro, but Apple TV+ as well. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe were to embrace VP tech, that would turn the tide, and with their unlimited budgets, pretty much leave DC in the dust.

I don't think anyone is talking about taking existing 2D movies and converting them to 3D just for Vision Pro. If there is a 3D version of it, the rumor is Apple will provide this version to you via iTunes. Which makes complete sense and would surprise me if they didn't do this.

Marvin

said about 8 months ago

mayfly said:

Reminds me of when Turner Classic Movies decided it would be a good idea to colorize older black and white classics. The results were awful at best, and disastrous at worst.

Taking something that is perfect in its current state and trying to "improve" it is not a good strategy. Don't "fix" "Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness." Make a great movie from the ground up, and leverage the VisionPro advantages. Make the third season of "Foundation" using immersive tech of VP. That would be something only Apple could accomplish at this time, and might be enough to drive sales of not only the VisionPro, but Apple TV+ as well. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe were to embrace VP tech, that would turn the tide, and with their unlimited budgets, pretty much leave DC in the dust.

It's often subjective whether retrofitted changes are an improvement or not. Remasters and different edits are always met with some pushback. For colorization, hardly anyone wants to watch black and white movies and the following says that sales of the colored versions were much higher:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/ted-turner-tbs-classic-movies-colorized

It's better watching the following in color than black and white:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4nJ8AUR-U8

Where this process failed for old movies is that the process was expensive and demand for watching old movies didn't justify the expense. There were cases where the original creator didn't want their work changed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI5qy9Zoh_0

The same may be true of 3D. There are a lot of 3D versions made:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3D_films_(2005%E2%80%93present)

but the process can be expensive. For Titanic, the director essentially has to go back and redirect the movie to make sure every 3D view looks as it should before release (1:23):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4hqx1Ui19A

This had 300 artists working for a year to mask out the objects and put them into the correct depth position. The reviews said retrofitted 3D didn't add anything to the original 2D presentation.

It's definitely easier, better quality and more cost-effective to do the 3D filming when the film is being made but some technology advances will change this to a degree. AI and other advanced image processing can automatically produce depth maps and potentially fill in parts of the layers. Then it's a case of the director watching the result and leaving notes on what to cleanup.

Completely digital movies like Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks animated movies can be fully in 3D.

These past examples of 3D movies have also been for the stereo glasses not for fully 3D headsets, which will offer more of a 3D effect.

mayfly

said about 8 months ago

Marvin said:

mayfly said:

Reminds me of when Turner Classic Movies decided it would be a good idea to colorize older black and white classics. The results were awful at best, and disastrous at worst.

Taking something that is perfect in its current state and trying to "improve" it is not a good strategy. Don't "fix" "Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness." Make a great movie from the ground up, and leverage the VisionPro advantages. Make the third season of "Foundation" using immersive tech of VP. That would be something only Apple could accomplish at this time, and might be enough to drive sales of not only the VisionPro, but Apple TV+ as well. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe were to embrace VP tech, that would turn the tide, and with their unlimited budgets, pretty much leave DC in the dust.

It's often subjective whether retrofitted changes are an improvement or not. Remasters and different edits are always met with some pushback. For colorization, hardly anyone wants to watch black and white movies and the following says that sales of the colored versions were much higher:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/ted-turner-tbs-classic-movies-colorized

It's better watching the following in color than black and white:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4nJ8AUR-U8

Where this process failed for old movies is that the process was expensive and demand for watching old movies didn't justify the expense. There were cases where the original creator didn't want their work changed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI5qy9Zoh_0

The same may be true of 3D. There are a lot of 3D versions made:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3D_films_(2005%E2%80%93present)

but the process can be expensive. For Titanic, the director essentially has to go back and redirect the movie to make sure every 3D view looks as it should before release (1:23):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4hqx1Ui19A

This had 300 artists working for a year to mask out the objects and put them into the correct depth position. The reviews said retrofitted 3D didn't add anything to the original 2D presentation.

It's definitely easier, better quality and more cost-effective to do the 3D filming when the film is being made but some technology advances will change this to a degree. AI and other advanced image processing can automatically produce depth maps and potentially fill in parts of the layers. Then it's a case of the director watching the result and leaving notes on what to cleanup.

Completely digital movies like Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks animated movies can be fully in 3D.

These past examples of 3D movies have also been for the stereo glasses not for fully 3D headsets, which will offer more of a 3D effect.

You know who's going to be the first out the gate with VP 3D movies, right? (Hint: Think money shots right in your face!)