QUESTION · SATURDAY Q&A

Starting with Mac OS 27, the preview app allows viewing, editing, and rendering of .usdz files. What are some use cases for this feature that might justify an early upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS?

ASKED BY · Brody Hefner · NEW YORK CITY · 17 OCT 2026 · ▶ 00:35:14

THE PANEL'S ANSWER
Guy

Use USDZ files in Keynote with magic move animations for lightweight 3D presentations that previously would have required expensive software like Lightwave; the new Preview app lets you inspect layers and properties, useful for designers working with 3D objects and LiDAR scans.

Summarised by AI from what the panel said. Watch the moment for the full answer.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

From the transcript.

Machine-transcribed, so it may contain errors. Every timestamp opens the episode at that second.

35:13Our next question is from Brody Hefner in New York City. Starting with Mac OS 27, the preview app allows viewing, editing, and rendering of .usd files. What are some use cases for this feature that might justify an early upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS? OS? For me, there's absolutely zero that I'll justify upgrading to a new OS because things are too fragile in the audio and video world sometimes with stuff like that. However,

35:44if you are in that world where you were working with USD stuff and you're using LiDAR and you're scanning stuff and working with, you know, with 3D modeling, you know, a dedicated computer, there'd be nothing wrong with that. So I think for those that are in that world, I think it would would make sense to have a separate computer to do stuff. For me, it doesn't make sense just

36:03because like all my stuff is locked down on Sequoia. I'm not moving from that operating system. I know Dante virtual sound card is stable on it right now. Like they haven't even, they haven't certified Mac OS 27. So for me, for my workflow, it doesn't make sense, but for others in me, go ahead, Guy, what do you think of this? Yeah. Alex had showed us some cool stuff

36:25Stuff that you could do with Keynote where he had scanned some of these things like a black magic camera. And he had these different layers where he would do the magic move stuff where you would say, here's one frame and then make it go to this page two slide where it would be a different view. And then it would interpolate or tween all the in-between frames, but it did it very lightweight.

36:44And that's one of the new things in Mac OS 27 is you can do exactly what Brody's saying is you can open up the preview app and you can not only see the USDZ, you could actually see the layers. So you could see how it was built. And I don't know, I'm not that sophisticated in the other Blender apps and things like that.

37:01But if you just want something quick, you can see what those layers are. And then you would use another app to go in there and change the metallic sheen look. And it actually tells you that. With Mac OS 27, if you go in there and you look, you could see the different layers and click on them and see the free resources, Apple's website.

37:18So if you go look at the MacBook Neo and you download that file, you could see the metallic layer. You could see the lighting on that layer. And it's interesting to just look at and see how these things were built and know that you could animate those things in Keynote. And so it makes for some powerful presentations because you can make it look like

37:36you have like some crazy 3D rendering. In the olden days, we used to have, you know, like $2,000 Lightwave Studio software that was super sophisticated. Now you could just go Keynote, insert object, USDC, duplicate to the next page, rotate it, and then say magic move. and you've made a brilliant presentation that would have taken, and it renders in real time on Mac Silicon.

37:59It's like nothing. It's just like, it just, it's super fluid. So that's one thing to keep an eye on is just building brilliant presentations and animations inside a keynote. Yeah, a keynote's amazing. All right, let's move on to the next question. Our next question is from Paul Valhus in Austin, Texas. PIXIS Blackmagic cut the PIXIS 6K to $1,995. Then two weeks later, it listed at $2,245, citing duties and taxes.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT →
MENTIONED IN THE ANSWER
Mac OS 27→Keynote→USDZ→LiDAR→Blender→
ASKED BEFORE

Similar questions
from other episodes.

About the same products and topics, most related first.

28 OCT 2026Do you have 1st and 10 and yards to gain lines overlaid in the wide camera? I feel this feature was a way out of reach for small productions, but AI is changing everything.Days to Kickoff: Building a Live Football Broadcast · 58:2613 OCT 2026Has anyone looked into reverse engineering anything? What software would you like to be able to create your own API for?Extra Hours | Episode 112 | October 12, 2026 · 8:3525 SEP 2026Thomas Johnson asks: CJ had a program that he described for sorting and editing photo folders. What was it?NDI on a Budget - Apple TVs as Networked Multi-Screen Displays · 51:3518 SEP 2026Are there any of the AIs where you can say, 'I want a lower third, here's my brand color, here's my font, can you make me an After Effects project where it slides in?' Do any of the things have the ability to do that?NDI Mixing (HX-HX2-HX3) and SDI Reliability · 57:0915 SEP 2026Are you getting an iPhone Duo?MXL - Media Exchange Layer Explained · 51:29
ALSO IN THIS EPISODE

13 more questions
from Office Hours | Saturday | October 17, 2026.

The whole episode →
▶ 00:00:21Has anyone seen an ATEM on boot up successfully acquire an IP via DHCP, but Mix Effect Pro can't find it? Rebooting it again solves it. I noticed this morning in ATEM setup when this happens, the NTP time clock from time.cloudflare.com had a warning.▶ 00:05:15We produce a three-hour live show with remote guests on Zoom. The host and panelists need program return, clocks, audio meters, guest video, and producer info. We currently use multiple Zoom feeds. Is there another way to feed all of this into Zoom without having Zoom instance for each screen?▶ 00:14:50What does a Norwegian Mimo Live and a question management system have to do with each other?▶ 00:16:33Petapixel says the iPhone 18 Pro's new controls skip ISO, which hurts Apple log shooters. Do you shoot in Apple's app or only in Blackmagic camera app?▶ 00:19:26Do you have any opinions on how brick and mortar retail stores in 2026 must compete aggressively to try and keep up with online orders when Amazon sets the bar so high? How does one do that when you don't have Amazon's logistics and money?▶ 00:32:57Has anyone had a chance to look at Bitfocus training studio yet? How did you find it for companion training?▶ 00:38:21Blackmagic cut the PIXIS 6K to $1,995. Then two weeks later, it listed at $2,245, citing duties and taxes. Did anyone buy it for $1,995? And how do you budget when prices move that fast?▶ 00:39:57Is anyone interested that the new Apple TV has AV1 built in? And what would you want it for?▶ 00:43:24I have quite a bit of gear I haul around in my car for gigs, and it's pretty safe when transporting it, but I'd like to have better cases that protect and are easier to move. Is Pelican the way to go? Stuff like an ATEM, 27-inch screens, by 32-rack cables, all that stuff.▶ 00:49:04When buying gear online, new or used, are there simple checks to spot reproductions?▶ 00:53:43Sony Alpha 1 versus Nikon Z9, nearly the same price, but which flagship is right for you? The Sony Alpha 1 is listed at $5,698, while the Nikon Z9 will cost you $5,296.95.▶ 00:55:04With Zoom OSC Bitfocus Companion, if a user has punctuation in their name, Companion doesn't seem to like that. Can I use their Zoom participant number to send OSC commands for that participant rather than their Zoom name?▶ 00:56:42Does this accessory really turn your phone to a pro camera?