Comparison

Shot Designer vs Cinescope

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

Cinescope

This app provides filmmakers with advanced controls for capturing high-resolution video and photos. It offers industry-standard and custom aspect ratios, manual adjustments for focus, exposure, and color, and various shooting modes including slow motion. Optimize your media for social platforms with built-in editing tools.

Highlights
  • Custom aspect ratios
  • Manual focus and exposure control
  • High-resolution video capture
  • Slow motion recording
  • Live filters
  • Instagram formatting
Read full description

Cinescope version 2.5 is a filmmaker's best friend. Capture your vision with industry-standard aspect ratios, or create and save your own. Swipe the screen using one or two fingers to quickly tweak focus, exposure, tint, and temperature to create the perfect atmospheric mood. Shoot high resolution video in various aspect ratios and at various frame rates. Crop your media or optimize for Instagram with mattes colors based on the color palette of your image. All the features available in Cinescope: Photos • Save in either compressed (JPEG) or uncompressed (TIFF*) format • Store RAW information (DNG*) Videos • Capture in resolutions supported by your device • Pause and resume while shooting • Take a photo while shooting • Capture at 60, 30, 24 fps (based on selected resolution) • Capture with video stabilization (for resolutions that support it) Slow Motion • Capture in various resolutions and frame rates, including 240fps • Pause and resume while shooting • Capture with video stabilization (for resolutions that support it) Aspect Ratios • Capture using industry-standard aspect ratios  • Create and save your own custom aspect ratios Live Filter • Capture in low, medium, and high-contrast black & white • Capture in various preset color levels Manual camera adjustment controls • Exposure: Single-finger vertical swipe • Focus: Single-finger horizontal swipe • Temperature: Two-finger vertical swipe • Tint: Two-finger horizontal swipe • Zoom: Pinch • Auto-adjust and fix to point of interest: Tap screen • Shake (or tap Lock Icon) to return to manual control Library • Format media for Instagram with additional color matte options • Crop your photos and videos Other • Swipe left or right on the Camera Function button to quickly move between photo, video, and slow-motion • Swipe left or right on the Aspect Ratio button to quickly change aspect ratios • Shoot in either landscape or portrait mode using any lens supported by your device • Four theme colors, manual control sensitivity adjustment, and alignment grid *Note: iOS does not natively handle TIFF or RAW files. Use an application like Image Capture to pull these formats directly from your device.

Screenshots

Shot Designer3 screens
Cinescope4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Shot Designer at Free against Cinescope's $4.99. Shot Designer also leads on review sentiment (68% vs 58%). Cinescope's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 3.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, 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

Shot Designer is free to download; Cinescope costs $4.99 up front. Shot Designer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Cinescope asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cinescope holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cinescope has 155 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of Shot Designer's written reviews are positive against 58% of Cinescope's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Shot Designer versus Cinescope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShot DesignerCinescope
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating3.8 (10 ratings)4.5 (155 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.0% of reviews — better58.0% of reviews
Number of ratings10155 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#189 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHollywood Camera Work SRLPoster Child Pictures Inc.

Customer experience

Shot Designer

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

Cinescope

All ratings155 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative10.3%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive58.0%
Neutral14.5%
Negative27.5%

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

Cinescope

From 155 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for aspect ratios
  • 💡 Manual focus control
  • ✨ Useful for storyboarding
  • 🚀 Simple and efficient UI
  • 🌟 High resolution photos

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashing
  • 🐛 App not working
  • 🐛 Video saving issues
  • 🐛 App closes on use
  • 🐛 Image saving issues

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

Cinescope

Reported bugs

30 issues
  • App keeps taking random shots when opened
  • App not working, shows error message
  • Unable to save video after 40 minutes
  • App defaults to losing the first image in an album
  • App keeps closing when trying to use it
Show 25 more
  • App crashes when trying to stop recording or save
  • App crashes after taking a picture
  • App saves picture vertically, only a sliver of the image captured
  • App crashes when trying to crop and save
  • Stabilization is trash
  • Formatting for Instagram causes jumbled lines or crashes Instagram app
  • No stability in camera
  • Weird bug with stretching of images when formatting
  • App crashes and shuts down in video mode
  • Sending feedback via app makes the app crash
  • App closes every time the button to take a picture is clicked
  • App crashing almost every time a shot is snapped
  • Cannot see photos within the app, have to look in photo album on phone
  • Cannot get any recordings to save
  • App closes instantly when trying to load photos or videos
  • Cannot import videos
  • Cannot access the gallery from the app
  • No sound records with videos
  • No audio for videos
  • Camera mode not working correctly
  • Cannot use existing videos from camera roll to crop
  • No sound issue
  • No AF/AE lock
  • No stabilization
  • No updates for years

Requested features

16 requests
  • Add selfie mode
  • Import videos for cropping
  • LED flash support
  • Slo-mo (60, 120 FPS) support
  • Front camera support
Show 11 more
  • Lock exposure and focus
  • Manual controls (exposure, focus)
  • Stabilization / shake reduction
  • Point app to store photos in specific albums
  • Ability to change ratio in built-in app
  • Add 3x3 guides
  • Add 4K 24p support
  • Add 1080p recording
  • Add regular camera mode
  • Upload existing video to be cropped
  • Selfie mode

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Shot Designer

One-time1
  • Pro Version Upgrade$19.99
None

Cinescope

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shot Designer free?
Shot Designer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cinescope free?
Cinescope costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shot Designer or Cinescope?
Cinescope is rated higher. Shot Designer averages 3.8 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Cinescope averages 4.5 from 155 ratings.
Do Shot Designer or Cinescope have ads?
Neither Shot Designer nor Cinescope shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shot Designer or Cinescope?
Shot Designer ships an update monthly, and Cinescope monthly. Most recently, Shot Designer was updated on October 29, 2026 and Cinescope on October 24, 2026.

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