As an educator and a VERY long-time user of iMovie, I have been eager to attempt to import Spatial Video from my iPhone 15 Pro into iMovie, edit a few clips together, export it from iMovie, and then watch the edited version on the Apple Vision Pro to see if it retains the 3D effects.
As an aside, I have been using iMovie since its original release in 1999 when it was bundled with the graphite-colored (CRT-based) iMac DV, and then available in all slot-loading iMac computers. The Application ran in Mac OS 8 and used the then-brand-new FireWire (400) connection to allow DV (digital video) cameras (where you needed to insert a DV cassette) to record video. You would then transfer digital video onto the hard drive of a Mac in real-time, edit the digital clips, and export them into tiny, Triscuit-sized movies that played in a resolution just slightly better than a VHS tape.
At the time, the iMovie workflow, experience, and output was revolutionary—and it opened the possibility of video editing to students and staff in schools. That being said, with a new, possible Spatial Video revolution upon us, using a brand new device from the same company that brought me iMovie 25 years ago, I fully expect iMovie to work. After all, Apple thinks of these details, right?
What is Spatial Video?
Spatial Video is Apple’s name for 3D video. According to Apple’s website description, “Spatial videos and photos have incredible depth that lets you see into a moment. Expand them to get even closer to your favorite memories." (Apple, 2024). Without getting too geeky about this topic, Spatial Video is an industry standard called MV-HEVC, or Multiview High Efficiency Video Coding (Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, 2021). I definitely prefer to call it Spatial Video. The format works by recording video from two cameras at the same time—one video for the left-eye and one video for the right-eye—and then playing them back at the same time and allowing your brain to put them back together and “see” depth. In the case of the iPhone 15 Pro, Spatial Video is recorded in landscape mode, HD quality (1080p), and at 30 fps (frames per second).
If you record video in the Spatial Video format and don’t have an Apple Vision Pro (or other device capable of displaying 3D video), you can still use and watch the video, you will just see it flat (the left video, to be specific).
iMovie Editing
This brings us back to iMovie. I used some footage that I recorded at my school district’s Fine Arts Showcase this week, imported it into iMovie, and made a simple video. I used no special iMovie features (zooms, transitions, titles, etc.), nor did I alter the clips by re-framing them, using the Ken Burns Effect, or other effects. However, I did cut the clips into segments of time (as opposed to using full clips strung together).
The Result
As of today, running macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, on iMovie 10.3.6, iMovie is UNABLE to output the 3D effect using Spatial Videos.
The edited video I made from several Spatial video source files looks perfectly fine as a 2D video, but alas, it is not 3D. I find this disappointing, and I hope the iMovie team at Apple is able to work their magic and made this a possibility. (I’m quite aware that this may work in Final Cut, but for an education and/or general audience, Spatial Video needs to work in iMovie.)
References
Apple. (2024). Apple Vision Pro: Your memories come alive. Retrieved from www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/
Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute. (2021). Multiview High Efficiency Video Coding (MV-HEVC). Retrieved from http://hevc.info/mvhevc
Wikipedia. (2024). iMovie: iMovie (1999). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMovie
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