List of the Top 8 Lighting Design Software for Mac in 2025

Founded in 2018 and based in New York, Coohom is a prominent global platform for cloud-based 3D design, offering a comprehensive suite of software and services that enable designers and businesses to create professional projects rapidly and generate stunningly realistic 3D visualizations within moments. With operations across the United States, China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, Coohom has earned the confidence of over 10 million users in 200 countries thanks to its innovative solutions. Focused on enhancing the digital transformation for clients in the interior design, furniture and home décor, and kitchen and bath sectors, Coohom delivers a full range of tools that include design, rendering, marketing, production, and construction, streamlining workflows for greater success. Coohom's offerings have received recognition in prestigious publications such as Forbes and TechNode, along with specialized industry magazines like Panels & Furniture Asia, FurnitureToday, HomeAccents, and Kitchen & Bath Business. Moreover, as a dedicated partner of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Coohom reinforces its commitment to supporting the design community and fostering innovation in the industry. This collaboration reflects Coohom's ongoing mission to lead in the development of cutting-edge design solutions.

GreenScapes is a user-friendly application tailored for landscape, hardscape, and lighting design, featuring an extensive array of functionalities. Within minutes, you can create breathtaking landscape designs that include photo-realistic images showcasing all aspects of your project. The program provides useful instructional videos specific to each command and offers a step-by-step tutorial that leads users through the design process, making manuals unnecessary. For those eager to enhance their expertise, advanced techniques are also included. GreenScapes allows you to captivate potential clients by providing them with a vivid visualization of their home as if the project were already finished, greatly improving your chances of securing contracts. We encourage you to try it out for yourself. While primarily built for Windows, it also works on Mac through virtual environments like Parallels/Windows, allowing seamless switching between macOS and Windows for a flexible user experience. With GreenScapes, you can create stunning, photo-realistic designs that feature a wide range of landscape elements, ensuring your projects stand out. Embrace the combination of ease and innovation that this powerful design tool provides, and let your creativity flourish.

The SweetLight DMX controller system features powerful lighting control software and a range of DMX interfaces designed to cater to your specific requirements. Elevate your lighting configuration with this intuitive DMX control system, which enables the software to seamlessly produce a variety of shows over prolonged periods. You can effortlessly select various par cans and adjust channel levels, fade modes, and durations for each segment in the sequence. For dynamic lighting, just choose the necessary channels, either load or sketch a curve, and establish timing delays among all fixtures. A wide array of effects, including rainbow patterns, scrolling text, and animated images, can be applied to your selected fixtures for added flair. Furthermore, customize your interface by tailoring pages, buttons, and sliders according to your preferences. By integrating a MIDI control surface, you can manage everything, including color control, through MIDI buttons. To design your show, simply drag and drop light, audio, and video files at exactly the right moments for maximum impact. Enhance your stage design using our library of 3D objects, arrange your fixtures creatively, and take advantage of our 3D rendering feature to preview your light show, which enriches the overall production experience. This all-encompassing system simplifies the process of crafting mesmerizing performances that captivate and impress audiences, ensuring they remember the experience long after it's over. The possibilities for creativity and customization are virtually limitless, allowing you to truly express your artistic vision.

The Remote Player is especially attractive for professionals engaged in extensive productions, permanent installations, and various fixed environment applications, as it functions as a network-based player enabling centralized management of numerous servers from a single network location. Its integrated encoder allows users to assign Cue Lists to various applications, thereby increasing flexibility and productivity. Furthermore, the addition of an Elgato Stream Deck can enhance workflows by allowing instant access to necessary sources and outputs. MediaMaster Pro has introduced the groundbreaking Video Mapper Extension, which makes it easier to project video onto surfaces with unconventional shapes and across several outputs. ArKaos’ control solutions are crafted with a foundational philosophy that aligns video surfaces and screens to operate like moving lights, thereby empowering lighting designers, programmers, and operators. This strategy encourages the seamless integration of video and pixel light sources into lighting designs via DMX control, eliminating the need for a separate video controller, which ultimately streamlines the creative process. By combining these advanced technologies, users can create a more vibrant and captivating visual experience, elevating the overall impact of their productions. Ultimately, this integrated approach facilitates a deeper connection between the visual and lighting elements, allowing for innovative storytelling through multimedia presentations.

Radiance is specifically crafted to aid lighting designers and architects in predicting the light levels and visual attributes of a space prior to its construction. This comprehensive software suite includes tools for the modeling and conversion of scene geometry, luminaire details, and material characteristics, which are all critical to the simulation process. By employing advanced ray tracing methods, the lighting simulation computes radiance values that illustrate the amount of light traveling through a particular point in a specific direction, usually displaying these results in a high-quality photographic image format. Users have the ability to review, manipulate, and analyze the generated images directly within the software, in addition to exporting them into various popular image file formats for printed outputs. A key feature of the Radiance package is its lighting simulation engine, which plays a crucial role in not only measuring light levels but also creating intricate images, thereby improving visualization and evaluation of lighting designs. This functionality is especially beneficial as it provides valuable insights that can guide design modifications prior to the commencement of construction, ultimately enhancing the overall design process. Such foresight enables designers to make informed decisions, ensuring that the final outcome aligns with their creative vision.

Set a Light 3D revolutionizes the workflow for modern photographers and filmmakers, facilitating a more efficient and creative expression while removing doubts from the process. Be it a simple portrait session or a complex photo shoot, this innovative tool unveils a vast array of possibilities, empowering users to effortlessly enhance their projects. The ease of achieving breathtaking results is a game-changer, making it an essential asset for both photography and cinematography aficionados. Additionally, this platform cultivates a dynamic community that brings together users, enriching their artistic journeys and amplifying their creative potential. A major aspect of its design focused on producing highly realistic models that integrate flawlessly with advanced lighting calculations, which elevates the overall experience for users. This collaborative setting not only tackles frequent challenges but also motivates individuals to explore and stretch the limits of their creative pursuits. Ultimately, Set a Light 3D stands as a testament to the power of technology in the art of visual storytelling.

Integrate vibrant lighting, multimedia elements, and dynamic movements into your visual showcases for an engaging experience. You'll be thoroughly impressed by the remarkable accuracy of colors and the outstanding capabilities of our rendering engine! With a vast selection of lighting gear, trusses, LED screens, and projectors at your fingertips, you can easily bring your ideas to life. Once your design is complete, you can render it into high-resolution images and videos for polished presentations. Furthermore, Capture allows you to craft distinctive, interactive presentations that fully engage with your design elements. Our rendering engine is powered by DirectX and Metalnative technologies and includes a robust ACEScg color pipeline, ensuring that the rendering process delivers the highest possible color accuracy. Elevate your experience with your lighting console, featuring functionalities like DMX talkback for fixture focusing, fixture selection for programming, and patch exchanges for streamlined setups. This all-encompassing strategy guarantees that your visualizations are not only visually striking but also integrate smoothly into practical applications, enhancing both aesthetics and functionality. Ultimately, this blend of technology and artistry sets the stage for exceptional visual storytelling.

This application is tailored for planning street lighting and illumination in public areas, providing a mobile solution for designers and lighting experts alike. It supports lighting equipment buyers in choosing suitable fixtures by enabling users to enter the specifications for the areas or roadways they wish to illuminate. Users can select various fixtures and installation techniques that meet their specific requirements. Once the calculations are finalized, the application generates a detailed 3D visualization of the area, illustrating the light distribution clearly. Moreover, users can save the results of their lighting calculations and scene settings in a detailed report for future reference. The inclusion of example projects developed by skilled lighting professionals allows users to not only examine the software's features but also to craft their unique lighting designs inspired by these models. This combination of practical functionality and creative inspiration significantly enhances the value of the tool for both beginners and experienced lighting designers, making it an essential resource in the field. Ultimately, the application not only simplifies the design process but also fosters creativity in lighting design.