Comparison

Shot Designer vs Sun Tracker AR

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

Head to head
About

Shot Designer

Create detailed camera diagrams and shot lists quickly. Animate characters and cameras in real-time to visualize scene rhythm. Import storyboards and sync projects with your team.

Highlights
  • Real-time camera and character animation
  • Integrated shot list generation
  • Director's viewfinder and storyboard import
  • Set and lighting design tools
  • Team sharing and syncing
  • Template creation and library
Features
Read full description

WHAT IS SHOT DESIGNER? • CAMERA DIAGRAM - Shot Designer dramatically speeds up the Director's process of making camera diagrams. Create full-blown diagrams in seconds. The software does most of the work. • ANIMATION - Animate your characters and cameras to move around your diagram in real-time. Previsualize the rhythm of a scene by seeing it play out. • SHOT LIST - The integrated Shot List is tied into the diagram and writes itself while you work. Edit shots intuitively in the diagram, not in a confusing spreadsheet. • DIRECTOR'S VIEWFINDER / STORYBOARDS - Bring in lens-accurate camera angles via the integrated Director's Viewfinder or Storyboard Import. • MAC/PC DESKTOP VERSION - An identical Mac/PC Desktop Version is included with the Pro Version (in-app upgrade). • SYNC & TEAM SHARING - Sync your scenes across all your devices. Share scene folders with teams. Control who owns which scene. (Pro Feature) Watch the feature-demo at https://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/shot-designer-videos.html CAMERA-BLOCKING ON STEROIDS Shot Designer was developed by Per Holmes, the creator of the renowned Hollywood Camera Work training, and has been developed in conjunction with major TV and Film productions. Shot Designer is based on the realization that neither Camera Diagrams, Shot Lists, or Storyboards by themselves give you a satisfying understanding of camera-blocking -- you have to use them *together*. Shot Designer is FAST. The app knows how Directing works and automatically does most of the work for you. Cameras rearrange themselves when you move characters. Animate characters and cameras with simple Walk To and Track To commands. Create sophisticated tracking shots with multiple marks. Shot Designer is fast enough that you can rearrange the diagram with actors waiting. OTHER FEATURES • Integrated Set Designer for building floor plans. • Integrated Lighting Designer for DPs, with lighting symbols provided by Ari Golan of Atomic Imaging Studios Chicago. • Import production drawings as backgrounds and block on top of them. • Factory Templates of pre-made camera setups for any situation. • Make your own templates as starting points for new scenes. • Large and growing prop/furniture library. Email us requests, we'll build them. • Scene Freeze: Experiment easily by taking snapshots you can return to (Pro). • PDF/JPG/Excel export and emailing of Camera Diagrams and Shot Lists (Pro). • Unlimited Folder Structure for organizing scenes (Pro). The Free Version of Shot Designer is full-featured except for Save, Export and Sync/Team. Your current scene is always saved, and you can be fully productive working on one scene at a time. The Pro Version (in-app upgrade) adds File Management, identical Mac/PC Desktop Version, Sync and Team Sharing, PDF/JPG/Excel Export and more.

About

Sun Tracker AR

Visualize the sun's path and shadow effects in augmented reality. Get detailed solar data, including sunrise/sunset times and day/night lengths. Plan for optimal lighting conditions for photography, construction, and gardening.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality solar path projection
  • 2D/3D solar path and shadow simulation
  • Detailed sun position data tables
  • Interactive 3D shadow simulator
  • Day & night map visualization
  • Calendar notifications for solar events
  • Widget for sunrise/sunset alerts
Features
Read full description

Know exactly where the sun will be — at any place, on any date. Sun Tracker AR projects the sun's path into the real world through your camera, maps it in 2D and 3D, and simulates the shadows it casts. Built for photographers, architects, house hunters, gardeners, surveyors and solar panel installers — and for anyone who wants to know when the light hits. SOLAR PATH IN AR
 Augmented reality projection of the sun's position and full daily arc at your location. Point your phone and see where the sun will rise, peak and set. SOLAR ECLIPSE
 Sun Tracker AR gets you ready:
 • Interactive eclipse map with the path of totality and obscuration bands
 • Exact contact times for your location — first contact, totality, maximum, last contact — in your local time zone
 • Duration of totality and maximum obscuration wherever you stand
 • Plus every solar eclipse through 2030, so you can plan the next trip MULTIFUNCTIONAL MAP
Detailed 2D and 3D visualisation of the solar path, compass mode and shadow simulator. See at a glance which side of a building gets the most sunlight hours per day. INTERACTIVE 3D SHADOW SIMULATOR
Place a customisable 3D object — a box or a tree — anywhere on the map and watch its shadow move through any day of the year. Add a target spot nearby and the app calculates exactly how long that spot stays in shade and how long it sits in direct sunlight. DATA TABLES
Complete overview of sun positions, day and night lengths, sunrise and sunset times, golden hour, and astronomical, nautical and civil twilight. Plus solstices, equinoxes and eclipses. DAY & NIGHT MAP
Live world map showing the terminator — the moving line between daylight and darkness. CALENDAR NOTIFICATIONS
Get notified for the solar events you care about: sunrise, sunset, eclipses. One-time or daily. WIDGET
Keep the next sunrise and sunset on your home screen. NO ADS. EVER. The free version covers your current location and time. Premium unlocks any location, any date, any year — the full planning toolkit.

Screenshots

Shot Designer3 screens
Sun Tracker AR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sun Tracker AR at 4.8 against Shot Designer's 3.8. Sun Tracker AR also leads on ratings volume (1.1K vs 10) and update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly). Shot Designer's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Shot Designer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sun Tracker AR sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sun Tracker AR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sun Tracker AR has 1.1K ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Shot Designer's written reviews are positive against 77% of Sun Tracker AR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shot Designer ships an update monthly, Sun Tracker AR every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Shot Designer versus Sun Tracker AR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShot DesignerSun Tracker AR
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (10 ratings)4.8 (1.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.0% of reviews77.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings101.1K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHollywood Camera Work SRLZuzana Eskinasi

Customer experience

Shot Designer

All ratings10 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews175 reviews
Positive68.0%
Neutral9.1%
Negative22.9%

Sun Tracker AR

All ratings1,065 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews191 reviews
Positive77.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative16.8%

User reviews

Shot Designer

From 10 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
  • 🎬 Excellent tool for shot planning and blocking
  • 📱 Seamless cross-device sync (iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC)
  • 🎨 Useful for visualizing camera movements and lighting setups
  • 📊 Ability to export to PDF and share with crew

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and white screen issues
  • 😞 App feels outdated and abandoned
  • 🔐 Login and account synchronization problems
  • 📱 Poor optimization for modern devices and screen sizes
  • ⚠️ Limited props and lighting equipment library

Sun Tracker AR

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Tracking the sun's position
  • 🌞 Helpful for solar power and gardening
  • 👍 Useful for photographers and filmmakers
  • 🗺️ Detailed sun path information

Room to improve

  • 🐛 AR mode issues and inaccuracies
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with camera access
  • 💰 Paid features required for some functionality

Bugs and requests

Shot Designer

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • White screen of death on app launch
  • App crashes when adding image props
  • Login not working on iPhone devices
  • Cannot register due to UI form scrolling errors
  • Keyboard overlay blocking sign-in form
Show 12 more
  • Sync deletes user work unexpectedly
  • Pro version purchase not recognized after updates
  • Cannot save designs to phone
  • App doesn't fill entire screen on modern devices
  • Lag when renaming scenes
  • Keyboard doesn't appear when naming files
  • Difficulty selecting objects when grouped closely together
  • App crashes on iPhone 6s and newer devices
  • Incompatibility with iOS 10.2 and later
  • Director's viewfinder doesn't save metadata to photo gallery
  • Cross-device sync losing work
  • Account login issues between iOS and desktop versions

Requested features

25 requests
  • Apple Pencil integration for iPad
  • Import custom designs and elements
  • Drag-and-drop file import from Files app
  • More lighting instruments and props
  • PDF export functionality
Show 20 more
  • Ability to import background images from Files app (not just Photos)
  • Copy and paste functionality
  • Assignable character names for multiple scenes
  • Moveable background images
  • Scene metadata for automatic camera labeling
  • Ability to reorder shots in Mac version
  • Undo functionality
  • iCloud sync support
  • Google Drive integration
  • Full-screen mode for modern iPhones
  • French language support
  • Spanish language support
  • Scene duplication feature
  • More than 5 pages available
  • Storyboard animation export
  • Audio/soundtrack integration
  • Script import capability
  • Hide individual objects instead of entire categories
  • Retina Display support for Mac
  • Real-time sync between devices

Sun Tracker AR

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App freezing and crashing
  • Outdated imagery not matching reality
  • Inconsistent performance across devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • More intuitive UI and onboarding
  • Offline mode support
  • Ability to manually adjust location

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Shot Designer

One-time1
  • Pro Version Upgrade$19.99
1 purchases

Sun Tracker AR

One-time1
  • Premium$11.99

Questions

Is Shot Designer free?
Shot Designer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sun Tracker AR free?
Sun Tracker AR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shot Designer or Sun Tracker AR?
Sun Tracker AR is rated higher. Shot Designer averages 3.8 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Sun Tracker AR averages 4.8 from 1.1K ratings.
Do Shot Designer or Sun Tracker AR have ads?
Neither Shot Designer nor Sun Tracker AR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shot Designer or Sun Tracker AR?
Shot Designer ships an update monthly, and Sun Tracker AR every 10 days. Most recently, Shot Designer was updated on October 23, 2026 and Sun Tracker AR on October 24, 2026.

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