Overview

Designer supports pitch creation, experience design, content validation and technical setup testing, with camera fly-throughs and a real-time 3D representation of the production environment. That makes it useful for evaluating a show before it reaches the venue, especially when content must be planned around complex surfaces and external control cues. Its broad workflow is a strength for production teams, but a less compelling fit for a narrow, standalone task.

Founded in 2010, Disguise is headquartered in London. Designer uses a hybrid workflow: Starter instances can work together, while Pro connects to Disguise servers and other Pro instances.

Key features

Visualisation and mapping

The 3D visualiser shows the production environment in real time and supports different codecs, resolutions and colour spaces. Mapping covers shaped LED screens, projectors, UV mapping, dynamic blends and large projection canvases. This range suits productions with varied display surfaces and projection layouts; it is more capability than a simple screen-and-playback setup needs.

Playback and rendering

The playback engine supports NotchLC, ProRes, HAP and uncompressed codecs, as well as 2D plates, image sequences and local or remote HTML5 content. RenderStream integrates with Unreal Engine, Notch, Unity, TouchDesigner and Volinga NeRFs. Together, these options give teams room to combine conventional media playback with real-time rendered content, rather than relying on a single content format or render tool.

Collaboration and control

Multi-Edit allows several users to edit a project at once, while Multi-Transport runs multiple timelines in response to external cues. Control support includes DMX lighting protocols, SMPTE timecode, MIDI, OSC, FreeD and tracking systems such as Blacktrax, Ncam, Mo-Sys and Stype. These integrations suit cue-driven shows with coordinated lighting, timelines and tracking; teams that do not need those connections are unlikely to benefit from this breadth.

The plugin framework, available in both Starter and Pro, supports web-powered widgets, Python scripts and connections to third-party systems. That makes it possible to extend the workflow, though projects using custom scripts or integrations will need to account for that development work.

Pricing

Designer Starter: Free. It includes full core functionality for learning, training and testing, and supports pre-visualising and developing projects without connecting to Disguise servers. Starter instances can work together. This is a substantial development option, but it does not provide the server-connected production workflow reserved for Pro.

Designer Pro: $159/month. It is the production-ready version, with live show programming, real-time editing, multi-user collaboration and connections to Disguise servers and other Pro instances. Pro is the choice for production teams that need those capabilities; its recurring price is a significant step up from free development use.

A 14-day trial is offered. The pricing note also gives a starting price of $99/user/mo, while the Pro plan is priced at $159/month; buyers should distinguish the stated plan price from the per-user starting figure when evaluating their team’s cost.

Platforms

Designer is listed for macOS, web and Windows. The user guide specifies Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, and requires a 64-bit operating system and DirectX 11. Windows users should check those requirements against their systems before planning a deployment.

Who it's for

Designer is best suited to production teams coordinating projection mapping, live visuals or virtual production, particularly where pre-visualisation, playback, rendering and show control belong in one workflow. Starter makes sense for learning, training and development; Pro is aimed at live programming and server-connected production. It is less suitable for users seeking only a basic playback or mapping utility.

Pros and cons

Pros

Broad production workflow: Real-time visualisation, mapping, playback and control can be coordinated within one environment.
Useful development tier: Starter includes core functionality and supports project development without a server connection.
Extensive integration options: RenderStream, control protocols and tracking support cover a wide range of production connections.
Concurrent work: Multi-Edit and multiple timelines help teams working collaboratively and responding to cues.

Cons

Production requires Pro: Starter is for development and does not connect to Disguise servers or Pro instances.
Pro carries a recurring cost: $159/month may be difficult to justify for smaller projects or workflows that use only a subset of Designer’s capabilities.
Windows requirements are specific: Windows deployments require a 64-bit system and DirectX 11.

Alternatives

Virtual Production Software and Projection Mapping Software are category lists for comparing tools by workflow.

Zero Density Reality is worth considering if its free Open Studio License Program fits: it requires eligibility and approval for SOHO businesses under $1,000,000 annual gross revenue, academic use or self-learning.

Shroozy Stage is a free, open-source alternative under the MIT licence. Grid Studio has a free plan for Android and iOS, though its data connections are watermarked.

Notch is an alternative with a $279.00 USD per year Indie plan for non-commercial use with 1080p export, and a $117.00 USD per month VFX plan with 16K x 16K export. Meta.Lux offers Ultimate and Professional editions with 4K and 300 scene sets; SDI is supported in Ultimate but not Professional.

Pixotope has a free, feature-limited Discovery plan with HD configuration and no licensing step. Assimilate Live Looks costs $89.00 USD per month on an automatically recurring monthly subscription, with support and updates during the subscription.

Aximmetry may suit buyers preferring a lifetime license: its Broadcast & Film license is $5990.00 USD per once and can be used without a time limit.

Verdict

Choose Disguise Designer if your production needs a shared environment for 3D pre-visualisation, mapping, playback and cue-driven control, and the team can make use of Pro’s collaboration and server connections. Starter is a capable route for development; look elsewhere if you need only basic playback or mapping, or if the Pro subscription is hard to justify.

	Disguise Designer	WATCHOUT
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$125/mo	Free
Platforms	macOS, Web, Windows	Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	159 /mo
Workflow	hybrid	hybrid
Edge blending	Yes	Yes
Live video input	Yes	Yes
3D mapping	Yes	Yes
Control protocols	advanced	advanced

Disguise Designer vs WATCHOUT

Disguise Designer

WATCHOUT