Comparison

Shot Designer vs Light 3D

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

Light 3D

Create 3D images using geometric shapes, cameras, and lights. Design scenes by adding, removing, and adjusting elements, then render and save your creations. Customize materials for unique visual effects.

Highlights
  • Create images from 3D geometric primitives
  • Scene editor for adding and adjusting elements
  • Customize material properties for visual effects
  • Render scenes in full screen
  • Save rendered images to Camera Roll
Features
Read full description

Light 3D is an application that let you create images from 3D geometric primitives. Light 3D computes images from a scene. A scene is composed of several geometric primitives (spheres or planes), one camera and some lights. The scene editor let you create, remove and adjust any item of a scene. For each geometric primitive you can setup the material for different visual effects. Then you can render the scene in full screen and save the image in the Camera Roll album.

Screenshots

Shot Designer3 screens
Light 3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Light 3D at none against Shot Designer's 1. Light 3D also leads on rating (4.2 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (80% vs 68%). Shot Designer's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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. Light 3D asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Light 3D holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Shot Designer's written reviews are positive against 80% of Light 3D's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shot Designer ships an update monthly, Light 3D every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Shot Designer versus Light 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShot DesignerLight 3D
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (10 ratings)4.2 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.0% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10 — better6
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHollywood Camera Work SRLChristophe Cael

Customer experience

Shot Designer

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

Light 3D

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative10.0%

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

Light 3D

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Shot Designer

One-time1
  • Pro Version Upgrade$19.99
None

Light 3D

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shot Designer free?
Shot Designer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Light 3D free?
Light 3D is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shot Designer or Light 3D?
Light 3D is rated higher. Shot Designer averages 3.8 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Light 3D averages 4.2 from 6 ratings.
Do Shot Designer or Light 3D have ads?
Neither Shot Designer nor Light 3D shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shot Designer or Light 3D?
Shot Designer ships an update monthly, and Light 3D every 5 months. Most recently, Shot Designer was updated on October 14, 2026 and Light 3D on October 13, 2026.

Other comparisons