Designers can create realistic mock-ups in many ways, but these methods are not always simple or fast. What if you could just drop your artwork files into a scene or onto an object and quickly change colors, lighting, materials, and more – all in real time? That’s exactly what LiveSurface sets out to do.
LiveSurface is an app built to create photorealistic mock-ups quickly and easily. Users can choose from a wide selection of scenes and objects (what LiveSurface refers to as “Surfaces”) and customize them with their own designs. Surfaces range from indoor and outdoor signage to packaging, stationery, phones and computers, and more.
Want to see what a book might look like with a cork texture? How about that same book but in metallic foil? LiveSurface has got you covered (pun intended).
Today, LiveSurface has launched its next-generation visualization app with a slew of new features:
Built from the ground up by a team with deep roots in design, photography, engineering and rendering, the new app propels design visualization and presentation to new heights, offering an innovative, real-time design experience that is unparalleled within the industry.
- Expanded Surface collaborations:
Next-level Surfaces, created in collaboration with some of our favorite photographers, designers, and studios. - Drag and drop workflow:
Drag and drop vector image and video assets directly onto the LiveSurface artboard/preview for real-time application. Or use the LiveSurface Illustrator Plugin to see preview renders while working in Illustrator. - Editable materials:
Create completely original physically-based materials, or customize existing ones, to convey subtle printing effects such as embossing, engraving, fluorescents, metallics, plastics and more. - Moving artwork:
Build animated renders by using snapshots to animate artwork elements. Drag and drop videos for instant animated renders on any surface. Mix video artwork with materials for dramatic effect. - Next-generation Plus Surfaces:
Detailed 3D surfaces now with dramatically higher fidelity, customizability and more photorealistic materials. Plus Surfaces are resizable to precisely fit an exact format and rotatable to capture any angle. - Camera effects:
Refined renders with physically-based camera effects such as depth of field, vignette, focus point and zoom. - Snapshots:
Iterate with confidence. Edit with context. Document the creative journey. Snapshots offer a way to capture, present, and revisit specific concepts within a single surface. Animate artwork, lighting, materials and camera by simply playing a sequence of snapshots. - Customizable scenes:
Make the scene mirror the brand. Change lighting and background color. Import bespoke background images. Change camera lens specs. Edit surface element colors. - Next-level render engine:
Custom-built to render photorealistic scenes in real time.
In addition to a large selection of 2D Surfaces, LiveSurface also offers “Plus Surfaces”: 3D objects that can be modified, rotated, and animated. I dropped in a video file and, with just a few clicks, created a spinning iPhone 14 Pro while the video played throughout the scene.
Need to really fine-tune a mock-up? LiveSurface offers a plugin that adds a panel to Adobe Illustrator and shows the selected Surface mocked up with your artwork for a quick glance at how it appears. Simply make edits to your Illustrator file and click the “Apply Artwork” button to update the preview panel, or jump back to see your changes in LiveSurface directly. The process is straightforward and instantaneous.
LiveSurface was founded by Joshua Distler, an Apple design team alum, so it should be no surprise the app is easy to use and runs well on Mac. Pricing starts at $18/month or $172/year and offers a free one-month trial. The new LiveSurface app is available starting today.
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