After my experience being rejected from the App Store, I was left with an unscratched itch to ship a native iPhone app. Staying well away from my day-job turf of tools for motion artists, I created an app to support a hobby I fell into. Prolost Watches is an iPhone app for managing your watch collection. It’s part database, part journal; designed for the detail-obsessed mind of the watch fanatic. As you log each day’s choice of watch, insights are revealed. Wear logs trace a path on the map. Events from the past are resurfaced at opportune times. Finances mange themselves as you buy and sell. Your entire collection lives in your pocket, and you get to enjoy all your watches, even the one’s you’re not wearing. Vibe-coding is starting to get a bit of a reputation as just more AI slop, and it’s not totally undeserved. You see daily breathless AI-bro posts declaring an entire industry “cooked” because of something built with “a single prompt.” This would be easy to dismiss as pure hype if it wasn’t so harmful to, well, everything. But I also see daily feed of people laboring with care and craft on apps designed to solve niche problems. My mission with Prolost Watches is to create one of these counter-examples: a luxurious, native iPhone experience. I’ve responded to user feedback from dozens of active beta testers, added creature comforts and Easter eggs, optimized performance and squashed bugs, and packed as much “it just works” in as I can. I’ve also said “no” a few times, just for good measure. Prolost Watches is my first app, and I’m proud to release it on the App Store. Prolost Watches is a one-time purchase. There’s no subscription, no ads, no account, and no server. Your data is secure and private, and never leaves your device. Pre-order now for US$14.99, with expected release on June 16 at US$19.99. Learn more Get Prolost Watches

Today Maxon announced the return of Autograph, a modern compositing and motion graphics tool. Autograph is incredibly powerful, and it’s been a thrill to work with the original creators to fold it into the Maxon and Red Giant ecosystem. Even more exciting: Autograph is completely free for individuals. You can download it today and start discovering how powerful and fast it is. If you have a Universe or Red Giant subscription, you’ll see some familiar tools in there as well. Learn More & Get Autograph

Still from Apple’s “Let Loose” video. Apple unveiled their new line of iPads yesterday in a pre-recorded video titled “Let Loose.” As with the previous “Scary Fast” MacBook Pro launch video, “Let Loose” ends with a tag proclaiming “Shot on iPhone” — this time adding “Edited on Mac and iPad,” and the fine print: “All presenters, locations, and aerial footage shot on iPhone.” During the live stream I actively wondered if the iPhone acquisition of “Scary Fast” had been a one-time thing. “Let Loose” looks great, as all Apple videos do, but some shots featured a shallower depth-of-field than is possible with an iPhone-sized lens and sensor combo. At the end of the event, I wondered publicly on Threads about this. Replies speculated about additional lens rigs, some improved version of Cinematic Mode, or maybe blurring the background in post. Panavision Lens Relay System After Apple released a behind-the-scenes video about the production of “Scary Fast,” the Internet did its internet thing and questioned the “Shot on iPhone” claim, as if “Shot on iPhone” inherently means “shot with zero other gear besides an iPhone.” These takes were dumb and bad and some even included assertions that Apple added additional lensing to the phones, which they did not. But for “Let Loose,” they did. “Let Loose” was shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max, and for several shots where a shallow depth-of-field was desired, Panavision lenses were attached to the iPhones using a Panavision-developed mount called the “Lens Relay System.” This rig is publicly available for rent from Panavision today, although not currently listed on their website. There’s just enough shallow focus in these shots to make me wonder how they could be shot on iPhone Cinematic Mode could never. What’s a “lens relay system?” Think of a telescope. Instead of focusing an image on a plane of film or a sensor, it creates what’s known as an “aerial image” that you capture with another lens system — your eye. If you’ve ever smashed your phone up to a pair of binoculars successfully, you’ve made a lens relay system. I used a Frasier lens relay system from Panavision to get small lenses into tight spaces for a Ruby Tuesday commercial I directed. The Frasier is a pericope lens, one physical unit that contains both the taking lens and the capture lens. With Panavision’s new system, the iPhone’s own lens captures the areal image created by any Panavision lens you like. The iPhone provides the image capture, in ProRes Apple Log, of course. There are, of course, many systems for mounting lenses to iPhone (Beastgrip is working on a new one), but it’s certainly notable that Panavision made one, as they exclusively serve a market of serious professional filmmakers. Why Lenses? If “Scary Fast” could be shot without add-on lenses, what does Panavision’s rig bring to the table? Apple Log allows the iPhone to capture highly-mailable, 10-bit ProRes footage that fits into a professional pipeline alongside footage from high-end cinema cameras, but the one thing it can’t do is capture the shallow depth-of-field that we associate with high-end productions. The look of “Let Loose” is a collaboration between the iPhone’s clean capture, the focus control of the Panavision lenses, and top-tier color grading. Don’t You Start Internet So is it fair to say “Let Loose” was “Shot on iPhone” if it was done with the help of gear the average iPhone owner could never afford? Of course it is. Feel free to re-read this: What Does and Doesn't Matter about Apple Shooting their October Event on iPhone 15 Pro Max — but in short, the fact that Apple can drop an iPhone into an otherwise-unaltered professional film production and match the look of their previous videos without anyone even noticing is meaningful. In fact, “Let Loose” is the first Apple Event finished and streamed in HDR, pushing the iPhone’s capture abilities even further than “Scary Fast.” You don’t need to add cinema lenses to the iPhone to make great-looking images, but the fact that you can is cool. You also don’t need to twist yourself into knots wondering why you might choose an iPhone over a professional cinema camera when you have a Panavision lens budget. Personally, I’m more excited about the run-and-gun possibilities — and a vote of confidence from the most elite cinema rental house only bolsters the story of iPhone as professional video camera. Or think of it this way: Apple confidently intercut footage shot with the most elite cinema lenses available with footage shot with unadorned iPhone lenses. Panavision for sure. But I;m betting no Panavision here. The Real Story Here is Apple Log None of this would be possible without Apple having adding Log ProRes recording to the iPhone 15 Pro. Log is to video what raw is to still photography, and the story of how Apple Log transforms the definition of “Shot on iPhone” from a dalliance to a responsible, even desirable strategy for filmmaking is still ongoing. Truly “pro” features like color-accurate OLED screens on iPads and ProRes Log on phones don’t just sell a few devices to a few filmmakers. They preserve and elevate Apple’s reputation as the choice of creative professionals in all fields. Apple hardware is vastly overpowered for most of its customer’s uses, so as Apple looks around for folks in need of their very best, they find the Zbrush artist, the Redshift renderer, and now, improbably-but-deservedly, the professional cinematographer.

Still frame from Hello! by Goro Fujita, created in VR using Quill Today’s the day to pre-order Apple Vision Pro, Apple’s first “spatial computing” device. It’s an expensive VR headset that either represents an opportunity to beta-test the future, or double down on past failings of VR promises. I’m a VR skeptic in many ways. I don’t want anything to do with “the metaverse,” and I’m beyond annoyed by fake demos of people pretending to do creative work by waving their hands around like a wannabe Tony Stark. But I’ve owned several Oculus/Meta headsets, and I’ve had some experiences in VR that keep me coming back. Will Apple Vision Pro become an indispensable productivity tool? I have no idea. But I do have a short list of experiences that I’d like to have with it. Tranquil Games that Reward Acrophilia My favorite game on Meta Quest is Daedalus from Vertical Robot. In it, you loft yourself through massive brutalist architectural spaces, with lightweight puzzles standing between you and the end of each level. There’s just enough problem-solving to keep you occupied, and a wonderful sense of flying through beautiful spaces. I’ve played through it twice and look forward to playing it again. Daedalus Land’s End was an early VR game from UsTwo Games, famously the creators of Monument Valley, maybe my all-time favorite iOS/iPadOS game. Land’s End was designed to require no controllers, offering a unique gaze-based interaction model that would be a good fit for the controller-free Vision Pro. These games are not photo-realistic, or action-packed. They don’t have any people in them, or any elaborate effects. In fact, both were designed for early VR systems with limited graphics, controllers, and range of motion. But they create a profound sense of place with their elegant graphics and sound. And they both play with the fun sensation of vertigo — maybe VR’s best party trick. I think of them as places I enjoyed visiting, and to which I’d like to return. Just Toot Around Blade Runner a Bit I’ve never “played” Aircar, but just look at it. There was a Blade Runner 2049 promotional app for the Oculus Go that was never ported to the Quest line, and I still miss it in all its clunky glory. Who doesn’t want to fly around aimlessly through a stormy cyberpunk cityscape? Aircar by Giant Form Entertainment Be In Star Wars Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic has done some great work in VR out of their ILM Immersive group (formerly ILMxLAB). Vader Immortal is a three-part series that promises a virtual lightsaber duel with the Sith himself, but delivers far more than that, especially in its quieter moments. VR is very good at imparting scale, and Star Wars is full of big, cool stuff. Seeing a full-sized Star Destroyer fly over your head brings the scope of the Star Wars universe to life in a simple but powerful way. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, of all the rides and experiences at Disneyland Park in California, my favorite thing to do is just be in “Galaxy's Edge” — the official name for what I always just call “Star Wars Land.” There’s a full-sized Millennium Falcon there, and just being near it is better than any ride. I’ll grab a snack and sit where I can see it, and just be in Star Wars for a bit. It’s lovely. In ILM Immersive’s follow-up Star Wars title Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, there’s a moment where you’re in that exact fictional spaceport, but seeing it from a vantage not afforded at Disneyland. It’s a neat bit of world-building, and also a nice semi-direct comparison of experiences. I can only go to Disneyland so often — but with a VR headset, I can just be in Star Wars, standing near the Millennium Falcon, any time I want. That’s me eating my Ronto Wrap in the background. But honestly, one of my favorite moments is a simple and stupid one that comes early in the game. You’re walking down a hallway of a rusty space freighter, looking out the window at the massive planet below. A sound brings your gaze down to see that a “Gonk Droid” has brushed past you. I went from marveling at the scope of the world to giggling with delight at seeing this dear old friend from my childhood, who has about 20 seconds of screen time in A New Hope, and probably an original series soon on Disney Plus. For all the effort ILM Immersive has put into Vader Immortal and Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, I would actually just love a “Star Wars Studio Tour” app. Let me walk through virtual editions of the sets from the original trilogy — and then wave my hand and have them seamlessly become the fully-fleshed-out fictional settings. Be Real (High) Places BRINK Traveler. It’s great. Save Money on Contractors with Sketchup I went too far. We recently remodeled a bathroom in my house, and of course I built the whole thing in Sketchup, then imported it into Cinema 4D and rendered it in Redshift. What I kept wanting to do, however was walk through the space in VR. Pretty much the day we finished construction, Sketchup released a VR viewer app. It’s not even that great, but it’s great. In fact, I used it to create an interactive maze “game” for my family. Nothing moves or happens in it, but it’s a cool little experience that was easy to create. Movies, Sure, But Not Many 3D Movies 3D movies will be amazing on Vision Pro, they say. Finally we can watch 3D movies without any of the technical limitations of uncomfortable glasses or dim projection. Except we have to watch them alone, with heavy goggles. 3D doesn’t make movies more immersive. It’s usually distracting and dumb, and most filmmakers do it wrong. Eliminating the technical presentation issues won’t change that. But I’ll definitely watch some regular old movies on this thing. $4,000 is cheap for a home theater — even one you have to use alone. Appreciate (and Maybe Make?) Immersive Art I’m not interested in VR as a filmmaker. I love movies the way they are, and every experience I’ve had with narrative VR video has reinforced that opinion. But when 360º storytelling is taken seriously as its own art form, more akin to interactive theater than to movies or games, it can be quite compelling. An artist I admire in this arena is Goro Fujita. He’s done some beautiful pieces using the Quill app, which is was briefly owned by Meta. In the early days of the Meta Quest, Quill Theater was a neat was to see fresh, fun creative expression in your headset on a regular basis. As with the games I mentioned above, many of the Quill pieces I’ve experienced stick with me to a surprising degree. My memory treats them like places I’ve visited, and occasionally calls me to return. Rusty Ships by Goro Fujita Now that Quill is once again in the hands of its original developer, I hope it, or something like it, can thrive on Apple Vision Pro. I’d like to create with it, but I’m also excited to see what others make. If there’s a fresh, compelling immersive experience created by an artist, not a mega-brand, awaiting me every time I put on the Vision Pro, I’ll reach for it every day. Curious to learn more? Fujita gave a long and excellent talkhttps://youtu.be/7YVUqcIJU6w (seemingly conducted in VR) on interactive storytelling. The Biggest Smallest Product Release in Apple History The Vision Pro is too expensive to be popular, and too important not to command our attention. Major companies are opting out — for now. Indie developers are jumping in. It could wind up feeling like the early days of the iPad, where we all figure out how we want to use this new thing together. I’m excited to have some memorable experiences in Apple Vision Pro. But the creative tools have to be there to make these experiences personal.