Apple highlights Portrait Lighting selfies in latest iPhone X ad

AppleInsider

Apple continued its promotional push for iPhone X on Sunday with a short video advertisement featuring Portrait Lighting selfies, a new front-facing camera mode made possible by the smartphone's TrueDepth camera system.

The company's latest 30-second spot, posted to YouTube, shows off iPhone X's advanced selfie option with a little help from "The Greatest," Muhammad Ali.

The ad moves through a number of Portrait Lighting images set to the beat of Ali reciting a poem, pronouncing his greatness to the world. Ali's cadence and speaking style are a perfect match for the fast-moving promo, which cycles selfies through selfies taken using iPhone X's stage light and stage light mono capture options.

Powered by the TrueDepth 3D camera system embedded in iPhone X, Portrait Lighting uses depth information and complex algorithms to calculate how a user's facial features interact with light. This data, computed by Apple's A11 Bionic chip and integrated image processor, results in realistic lighting effects without need for external lighting equipment.

Portrait Lighting effects can also be applied to photos captured with iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus rear-facing cameras, as the dual-lens setups are capable of pulling depth information from a given scene.

As for front-facing cameras, only the TrueDepth array on iPhone X is capable of Portrait Lighting. Unlike the rear-facing dual-camera systems, TrueDepth captures a subject's depth information using dot projection technology normally applied to the Face ID facial recognition process.

Today's video continues Apple's push for iPhone X, which launched to extremely limited supply in September. The company's most recent ads have focused on advanced camera-based technology including Portrait Lighting and Face ID.

trashman69

Why are Apple promoting something that’s still in beta?

bestkeptsecret

I find portrait mode very good. The additional options on the iPhone X are really nice too.

There are probably apps that emulate these as filters, but having this inbuilt in the Camera app is a bonus apps cannot match.

Soli

trashman69 said:

Why are Apple promoting something that’s still in beta?

I don't understand what you're trying to correlate here.

djsherly

I tried it in the store and I found the effect underwhelming. Perhaps the brightly lit, multi angled lighting isn’t the best place to test it out. 

SoundJudgment

djsherly said:

I tried it in the store and I found the effect underwhelming. Perhaps the brightly lit, multi angled lighting isn’t the best place to test it out. 

Absolutely correct.
All these pics are done in a properly lit studio-environment.

GeorgeBMac

At first it was a little bothersome that Apple would be feeding off of the unabashed bragging of Ali.

But then, I remembered the saying:  "It ain't bragging if you can do it".
And, like Ali, Apple is not only "The Greatest", they not only can do it, they have done it.  It ain't braggin'.

rogifan_new

What additional software was used?

rob53

SoundJudgment said:

djsherly said:

I tried it in the store and I found the effect underwhelming. Perhaps the brightly lit, multi angled lighting isn’t the best place to test it out. 

Absolutely correct.
All these pics are done in a properly lit studio-environment.

Have you even used Portrait mode, especially the stage light mode? I have and it works great in all kinds of environments. I have yet to use it in a studio with proper lighting. The only problem I had was with a back-lit (from the sun) subject and some of his hair disappeared but it actually made for a fun photo of him. Whenever I take a portrait photo of people and show them how it works, they are amazed at how fantastic it looks. Getting rid of the background focuses attention on the person's face, especially their expression. I took a portrait of my dad, showed it to his wife, who's a very good amateur photographer, and her jaw dropped. She exclaimed, "one less reason for a regular camera." Take away the stage light mode and it was still a nice photo but not a dramatic one.

Everyone can have their own opinion on things and this is mine.

DavidAlGregory

As someone who used to make my living as a photographer, I’ll call BS on Apple’s claims.
More hype from Phil. 
Let’s see some side by side from Apple’s cell phone camera and a real camera- same subject, same location, etc. You will see the limitations of a lens the size of a shirt button and a tiny image receptor.

I would love love to see Apple make a real camera- or parter with an existing maker. The margins in Prosumer are quite good and they could partner with a top line camera maker for lenses.

boltsfan17

DavidAlGregory said:

As someone who used to make my living as a photographer, I’ll call BS on Apple’s claims.
More hype from Phil. 
Let’s see some side by side from Apple’s cell phone camera and a real camera- same subject, same location, etc. You will see the limitations of a lens the size of a shirt button and a tiny image receptor.

I would love love to see Apple make a real camera- or parter with an existing maker. The margins in Prosumer are quite good and they could partner with a top line camera maker for lenses.

It's pretty obvious a DSLR will take better pictures than a phone camera. Having said that, I don't see why you are complaining about Portrait Lighting. It's a pretty cool effect that works well. I've taken some pretty good photos using it. Apple making a standalone camera makes zero sense. 

randominternetperson

DavidAlGregory said:

As someone who used to make my living as a photographer, I’ll call BS on Apple’s claims.
More hype from Phil. 
Let’s see some side by side from Apple’s cell phone camera and a real camera- same subject, same location, etc. You will see the limitations of a lens the size of a shirt button and a tiny image receptor.

I would love love to see Apple make a real camera- or parter with an existing maker. The margins in Prosumer are quite good and they could partner with a top line camera maker for lenses.

What "claims" are you calling BS on, specifically?  That it's a great device for taking selfies?  I expect that selfies with a high-end DSLR are more difficult to take and likely not any better.

randominternetperson

rogifan_new said:

What additional software was used?

Yeah, I noticed that small print at the end of the ad too.  In theory, it could mean that the entire concept of the ad is bogus (if the photos were manipulated in Photoshop for example).  I don't believe that to be the case, but the disclaimer spoils the ad IMO.

gatorguy

randominternetperson said:

rogifan_new said:

What additional software was used?

Yeah, I noticed that small print at the end of the ad too.  In theory, it could mean that the entire concept of the ad is bogus (if the photos were manipulated in Photoshop for example).  I don't believe that to be the case, but the disclaimer spoils the ad IMO.

"Commissioned by Apple. Additional software used".

I'm sure most viewers would miss that disclaimer altogether. I never noticed it until it was pointed out here and yes it would beg the question about what additional software was involved. 

rob53

gatorguy said:

randominternetperson said:

rogifan_new said:

What additional software was used?

Yeah, I noticed that small print at the end of the ad too.  In theory, it could mean that the entire concept of the ad is bogus (if the photos were manipulated in Photoshop for example).  I don't believe that to be the case, but the disclaimer spoils the ad IMO.

"Commissioned by Apple. Additional software used".

I'm sure most viewers would miss that disclaimer altogether. I never noticed it until it was pointed out here and yes it would beg the question about what additional software was involved. 

The winking eye is done by taking two photos and superimposing them. This isn't part of the Camera app or Portrait lighting. I see the additional software being compositing and layout type software along with the typical video editing software. There's nothing I see in the actual photos that necessarily would have required any additional software.