A San Francisco highway near Apple Park wasn't pretty enough, so it got deleted
Apple's "Let Loose" event showed commuters looking at their iPads instead of the scenery -- but what they missed was a view of San Francisco's Bay Area that doesn't exist.
John Ternus was on a new BART railcar, but not everything Apple showed outside was real
It sounds like something Apple Maps would have done when it launched, but this time it was deliberate. Apple quite painstakingly altered its footage of San Francisco used in its "Let Loose" event in order to create a prettier shot.
Viewers may have suspected that the Apple's John Ternus was enthusing about the iPad from within a set instead of a real train. But the panning shot across the country from Apple Park to that commuter train was definitely fake -- or at least one key part of it was.
Left: Apple's version of the Bay Area. Right: how it really looks, complete with non-photogenic highway (Source: SFGate)
As ever, Apple's video production is exquisitely well produced, and a real demonstration of how other technology companies fall flat in their presentations. In this case, one part of that was in showing what appeared to be a perfectly-timed drone shot of a train making its way both through San Francisco and through the middle of the frame.
But local publication SFGate wasn't fooled and said there was an "instant tell" that Bay Area had been doctored. As seen in the event, the train gently cuts through a beautiful tree-lined route -- but in reality, Apple had to erase the I-280 to make it look like that.
Reportedly, several blocks of Oceanview homes were also digitally removed. Others homes were replaced by mansions.
On the other hand, Apple was praised for its realism as the scene was shot using one of the Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) new railcars. And John Ternus had to grip a pole for balance, like a real commuter.
To give Apple credit, they did this CGI work extremely well. Apple is now always doing CG well -- if not always to everyone's taste, as the recent "Crush" ad has shown.
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Comments
No-one has identified where the "mansions" are located?
If you examine the side-by-side shot in the article, you see the highway takes your focus away from the train tracks. It would take longer for you to notice the train is there. The doctored photo helps you see the white-topped train on the tracks more clearly and quickly.
So who cares if the "SF Gate wasn't fooled"! It wasn't about fooling you as much as it was making your eyes see the MAIN POINT of that scene, which was the train.
"What about homes changed to mansions?" you ask? ANSWER: scene beautification. And who does that better than Apple? My goodness! Where does the clip say "this scene is 100% accurate?" Our cities do need some beautification. Obviously, you can't replace old homes with new ones instantly. But 100 years from now, things will probably look different. The old will be destroyed and make way for the new. But the biggest change that would make a huge improvement would be the complete elimination of power and photo lines. Ever watch Star Trek earth scenes of the future? No power lines. Funny how eliminating the world's BIGGEST eyesore makes things look more "futuristic."
The things people talk about and complain about these days is getting pretty crazy. Let well enough alone and enjoy life. Don't worry. Be happy.
Every reality began with an imagination. We are doomed to continue living in an environment we do not like if we could not or would not imagine what we could do to bring a better future closer to reality.