KeyShot Director

A KeyShot companion that helps you light and stage your own product. It assists the work. It doesn’t make it for you.

View on GitHub ↗Download v3.0.0
Year2026
TypeOpen-source software
Works withKeyShot Studio 2026
StatusEarly access · v3.0.0
LicenseMIT
Role
Creator: concept, interface and release.
Problem
Lighting a product in KeyShot is slow setup, and AI image tools make the art for you.
Result
v3.0.0 in early access: MIT licensed, open on GitHub, verified on Windows 11.
KeyShot Director Studio screen

Overview

Early access / v3.0.0

KeyShot Director is a photo-first companion for KeyShot Studio. Choose a reference photograph and it borrows that photo’s light direction, softness, reflections and background tone, then builds custom lights around your own product.

Everything it adds is a real, editable KeyShot object. You compare before and after in actual KeyShot previews, undo the look, and keep working in KeyShot.

At a glance
ReadsA reference photo: light direction, softness, reflections and background tone.
BuildsCustom lights scaled to your product, as real KeyShot objects you can edit.
ChecksReal KeyShot preview renders, with before and after, and undo.
Leaves to youYour product, materials, camera, scene file and final render.
My position

Don’t have AI make the art for you. Have it build the tools you need to create it.

Lighting a product in KeyShot is slow, and the slow part isn’t the creative part. Deciding how a product should look is the art. Placing, aiming and balancing a handful of lights to get there is setup.

So Director takes the setup and leaves the decisions with you. It doesn’t generate a picture of your product. Every image you see is a real KeyShot render, and every light it adds is a real KeyShot light you can move, change or delete.

Real KeyShot rendersEditable lightsNever auto-savesUndo
Key lightRim lightFill
What it does

Four ways to direct a scene

Read the docs
01

Match a reference

Add a reference photo and Director builds an editable lighting setup around your product, checks it in real KeyShot previews, and lets you compare and undo.

Reference photoNative lightsUndo
02

Build a studio

Start from five preset rigs scaled to your product, then tune exposure and each light’s brightness, color temperature, angle and size.

Hero softDark & moodyGlass edge-light
03

Material Lab

Browse KeyShot’s library, copy a material onto one part, and edit supported texture maps on the copy. The original library entry stays untouched.

Library browserTexture mapsKMP export
04

Frame and stage

Fit the whole product or a detail, choose landscape, square or portrait, and stage it with a pedestal, floor or backdrop. Camera moves render frame by frame.

FramingStagingCamera moves
Inside the app

Studio and Materials

Screens show the interface with sample values. Connect KeyShot and the dark panel becomes your live viewport.

Ask Director

Describe a change or drop in a reference photo. Before and after sit right under the conversation.

The Ask Director panel and lights inspector in the Studio screen

Material Lab

Pick a library entry and one part, then edit supported maps on an independent copy.

The Materials screen with the material inspector
How it works

From a connected scene to a finished look

  1. 01

    Connect

    Save your scene, run KeyShot Director from the Scripting window, and it links up for up to four hours.

    Window → ScriptingUp to 4 hours
  2. 02

    Direct

    Add a reference photo or describe a change in plain language. Director builds native lights, frames the product, or prepares a material.

    Reference photoPlain languagePresets
  3. 03

    Review

    Check the result in real KeyShot previews. Compare before and after, refine within the limits, or undo.

    Before / afterUndoRecipe JSON
  4. 04

    Keep

    Director never saves for you. Review in KeyShot, save your scene, and render final output there.

    Your sceneYour renderer
12Preview renders per lighting match, at most
8 minTime limit for one lighting match
4 hHow long one KeyShot connection lasts
0Scenes saved automatically. You save in KeyShot.
Limits

What to know before you run it

EARLY ACCESS

Verified on Windows 11

Tested with KeyShot Studio 2026.2 on Windows 11. The macOS setup is included but hasn’t been tried on a Mac yet.

INFERENCE

Matching is an estimate

It reads light from a photograph. It can’t rebuild the original set, and materials or physical backdrops that lights alone can’t recreate are reported as limits.

YOUR NETWORK

Trusted networks only

The companion server listens on your local network so a phone can connect. Don’t expose it to the internet.

Open source

The code is public.

KeyShot Director is MIT licensed and lives on GitHub, with release notes, setup guides for Windows and macOS, and deep dives on lighting and materials.

KeyShot Studio 2026 with scriptingNode.js 20+Claude / Codex CLI (optional)API key (optional)
View on GitHub ↗Download v3.0.0
Run it yourself
  1. 01Download the release ZIP and extract it somewhere permanent.
  2. 02Double-click Install KeyShot Director.bat, then open the desktop shortcut.
  3. 03In KeyShot, open Window → Scripting and run KeyShot Director.
Next project

Furniture Design Florence

View project
Get in touch

Let’s make something worth using.

benjamintrost22@gmail.com
Résumé (PDF)LinkedIn