Apple shows immersive videos at professional training event at AFTRS

Main Course Films presented two Apple immersive video projects to Escola Australiana masters students from Cinema, Televisão and Rádio (AFTRS) at an event that distributed 20 Vision Pro headsets among participants. Monday’s session marked one of the greatest uses of technology in an educational environment, with filmmakers Ben Allan and Clara Chong taking students through the journey of immersive audiovisual production before hands-on screening of the films.

The event brought together producers, directors and post-producers to explore the creative possibilities of Apple Immersive Video (AIV), a format that puts the viewer at the center of the narrative. The works presented reflect the technical and artistic evolution of this new cinematic language, which combines specialized cameras, spatial sound design and cutting-edge editing tools.

The films presented and their technical characteristics

“Thé Fine Dining Bakery” follows pastry chef Christopher Thé as he runs his café-bakery in Stanmore, documenting his creation processes using native Australian ingredients. The short documentary was filmed entirely with Blackmagic Design’s URSA Cine Immersive camera and edited with Apple Immersive resources in DaVinci Resolve Studio software, taking advantage of spatial sound technologies through Apple Spatial Audio Format (ASAF).

“The Dobos Connection” serves as an independent immersive drama, produced in collaboration with Motus Lab of Universidade of Sydney. The film centers on two characters who share an unexpected encounter while tasting a traditional Hungarian cake. Segundo Clara Chong, director of both projects, the production was built around the emotional presence of the actors and shot sequences that maximize the authenticity of the performances in a format that eliminates conventional selective focus.

Desafios creative and technical people in immersive production

The questions asked by students during the session reflected the two pillars of immersive audiovisual production: approximately 70% covered narrative elements such as script, art direction and format-specific editing pace, while 30% covered technical questions about ambisonics, color correction and differences between audio systems such as Dolby Atmos and ASAF. Ben Allan highlighted that the difficulties faced in the production of immersive video are not fundamentally different from the historical challenges experienced by IMAX technology, which had to overcome cost and sound quality barriers before consolidating itself as a premium format.

Chong emphasized that the hurdles of immersive video are associated with the need to maintain professional quality while experimenting with a nascent format. The comparison with the evolution of IMAX served as a parameter: IMAX cameras were historically expensive and noisy for capturing dialogue on set, difficulties that eventually added prestige to the format. Similarly, the complexity of AIV production represents not only technical challenges, but an opportunity to consolidate this new medium as a tool for high-quality cinematographic expression.

The commercial and market perspective

Allan argued that AIV for streaming is equivalent to what IMAX is for traditional cinema: the extreme, immersive version of a medium. Recent Projeções over IMAX reinforces the commercial viability of this logic: the technology grossed US$1.28 billion in global box office in 2025 and is predicted to generate US$1.4 billion in 2026, driven by titles such as Christopher Nolan’s “The Odisseia”, “Dune: Parte Três”, “The Mandalorian” and “Grogu”. Esse’s sustained growth suggests audiences are willing to pay significantly for large-scale immersive cinematic experiences.

Recepção academic and practical experience

Mark Ward, professor of the Som master’s degree and coordinator of the Pesquisa and Desenvolvimento discipline at AFTRS, described the session as an exceptional opportunity for experiential learning. Segundo Ward, Apple Immersive Video is a format that requires direct experience: reading or textual description are insufficient to understand the narrative and technical impact of the medium. The structure of the event allowed first-year master’s students to transition in an assisted manner from the theoretical understanding of traditional cinematography to immersive practice, with support from the Apple team of facilitators throughout the question and answer session that followed the screenings.

Desenvolvimento project history

The reach of this demonstration in an educational context represents a significant increase in Apple Immersive Video’s history of public exhibitions. A year earlier, the same studio Immersive Flashback produced a documentary about Dia by Bastilha that followed president Emmanuel Macron in an immersive way, using 15 Vision Pro headsets at an event held at França. Monday’s session at AFTRS expanded that number to 20 devices, reaffirming the growth trajectory in technology adoption in professional and educational contexts.

The two productions presented were written, directed and edited by Clara Chong, with Ben Allan serving as producer, director of photography and colorist. The post-production infrastructure mobilized top-of-the-line tools, including the Fairlight digital audio workstation for fully immersive sound design, consolidating the demonstration as a complete example of the contemporary immersive video production chain.