Comparison

ShadowMagic vs SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ShadowMagic

A virtual lighting simulator for theatrical and stage design. Visualize lighting, color, shadows, and scenery with realistic fixtures and over 1600 gel colors. Save and share your designs.

Highlights
  • Virtual light lab and Black Box theatre
  • Realistic Source Four® Spotlight and Fresnel fixtures
  • Zoom and dimming capabilities with photometric accuracy
  • Over 1600 gel colors from major manufacturers
  • Precise fixture positioning and auto-focus
  • Save, organize, and share designs as PDF reports
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A virtual light lab, or Black Box theatre for visualizing lighting, color, shadows, and scenery. The lab has a 40’ x 30’ stage and a 40' x 20' cyclorama. The theatre space is 80’ wide, 40’ high, and 80’ deep. Designers can choose up to eight fixtures to light a very basic scene. Two types of lights are available. The Source Four® Spotlight is available with 14°, 26°, 19°, 36°, 50° lens barrels. The The Source Four® 7” Fresnel may also be selected and zooms from full flood at 65° to spot focus with a beam angle of 20°. All of the beam spreads are photometrically correct. The lamp for both fixtures is a 750 W HPL, and when it is dimmed the color temperature decreases from 3200° K at full down to 2300° when the light is at 4%. Each light can be dimmed individually or the entire scene lowered using a grand master. Intensity has a resolution of 1%. A theatre lighting simulator would not be complete without gels and we have over 1600 colors to choose from the 4 major manufacturers. The gels can be assembled into a collection called a gel string and any color from the string can be applied to each light. Each of the lights may be positioned anywhere around the theatre to simulate booms, shinbusters, or the balcony rail. Resolution of the position is 0.1 feet. When focused on the actor, the lights are auto-focused so you can move the light’s position and see the resulting angle. Lights focused on the backdrop are focused manually by touching the cyc. When you move or rotate the actor, the lights will follow and stay focused right in the center of the body. Scenes may be saved and organized into projects. Both can be shared as a .pdf report with colleagues and friends to show off your ideas. While simple in concept and operation, ShadowMagic has subtleties such as reflections from a matte gray stage covering and the coloring of shadows from other light fixtures. From beginners to seasoned professionals, ShadowMagic makes visualizing and lighting a scene much quicker and easier and more fun.

About

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

This app transforms your iOS device into a professional luminance camera, enabling quick assessments of surface brightness. It uses a calibrated false-color filter to visualize light variations, aiding lighting designers, architects, and engineers. The tool also allows for saving and sharing images for reports and collaboration.

Highlights
  • Surface and point luminance measurement
  • Live false color display
  • Luminance selfie mode
  • Multiple luminance scales (Cd/m2, cd/ft2, fl)
  • Auto and manual exposure control
  • Image sharing and saving
Features
Read full description

The SmartBeam® Luminance Camera app solves the problem of how to make quick and meaningful assessments of surface light levels. The app turns your iOS device into a professional luminance camera wherever you are. Luminance is a fundamental measure of the brightness of a given surface or the amount of light emitted or reflected off that surface. It also indicates how much luminous power can be perceived by the human eye. The SmartBeam® Luminance Camera app augments the human visual system and increases the dynamic range and ability of the eye to perceive variations in luminance by representing images from the smartphone camera through a calibrated false color filter in real-time. This accentuates the differences in luminance​ in an easy to read manner. The app is intended as a useful, quick and easy to use tool for lighting designers, architects and lighting engineers who are specifying, using, or planning to use, LED lighting fixtures. It is also designed to help the lighting product development process. For instance, the app can be used to quickly measure beam distributions produced by LED lighting products offering considerable time and cost savings over other techniques. A key feature of the app is the ability to share images directly from your smartphone to help collaboration on lighting installations or new lighting product development. Images can also be posted directly to social media. The app also includes the ability to save images for inclusion in reports. For fun, the app can be used to produced luminance photographic maps of your favorite places or people and even fun selfies! Features · Surface and point measurement of luminance · Live false color display of luminance variations · Luminance point measurement · Luminance selfie mode · Choice of Cd/m2, cd/ft2, and fl scales · Auto and manual exposure · Calibration options · Share of false color and normal images · Save of false color and normal images By using this app, you agree to Apple's Standard End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ShadowMagic4 screens
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ShadowMagic at 100% against SmartBeam® Luminance Camera's 0%. ShadowMagic also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). SmartBeam® Luminance Camera's advantage is price (Free vs $14.99) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera is free to download; ShadowMagic costs $14.99 up front. SmartBeam® Luminance Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. ShadowMagic asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ShadowMagic holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of ShadowMagic's written reviews are positive against 0% of SmartBeam® Luminance Camera's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShadowMagic ships an update every 3 months, SmartBeam® Luminance Camera every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
ShadowMagic versus SmartBeam® Luminance Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadowMagicSmartBeam® Luminance Camera
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better3.7 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings26 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#187 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size114 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCrossroads Motorsport, LLCTEYEO LLC

Customer experience

ShadowMagic

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

ShadowMagic

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Version$14.99

Questions

Is ShadowMagic free?
ShadowMagic costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SmartBeam® Luminance Camera free?
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ShadowMagic or SmartBeam® Luminance Camera?
ShadowMagic is rated higher. ShadowMagic averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while SmartBeam® Luminance Camera averages 3.7 from 6 ratings.
Do ShadowMagic or SmartBeam® Luminance Camera have ads?
Neither ShadowMagic nor SmartBeam® Luminance Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShadowMagic or SmartBeam® Luminance Camera?
ShadowMagic ships an update every 3 months, and SmartBeam® Luminance Camera every 3 weeks. Most recently, ShadowMagic was updated on September 18, 2026 and SmartBeam® Luminance Camera on September 13, 2026.

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