disguise acquires Mapping Matter and Previz

Driven by the accelerated demand for remote collaboration and cloud-based solutions for creatives and technical teams to share their vision and progress with project owners, disguise’s latest acquisition solidifies their position as the globally recognised, standard solution for end-to-end production.

These latest acquisitions mark the next step in the company’s growth, after investments from the Carlyle Group and a minority stake from Epic Games, which were announced earlier this year.

Both Mapping Matter and Previz share an established reputation for delivering engaging, visually-rich, interactive cloud-based solutions for designers anywhere in the world. By integrating both platforms into its award-winning solution, disguise will enable users across all three platforms to come together, develop and manage their projects in one unified and comprehensive workflow. Users will be able to collaborate: importing, previewing and making creative decisions on the final output together, while easily sharing their work with clients and peers around the world.

In the following months, disguise, Mapping Matter and Previz are bound by their joint vision to empower cloud-based, remote collaboration amongst creative and technical teams. They will be working closely together to develop a joint user journey that gives value to their respective customers. Ongoing development will provide access to comprehensive workflows with content engines such as Unreal Engine, which will collectively enable design, sequencing, calibrations and validation, with a pipeline of new functionalities set to be released.

A web-based tool for technical design, Mapping Matter plays an important part in the simulation and photometric analysis of AV installation projects. Released in 2016 to make the process of creating video projection technical designs more fluid, the platform has since been trusted by live design teams working for the likes of Cirque du Soleil, Moment Factory and Creative Technology. 

Mapping Matter founder, Francois David says: “Over the years, I’ve come to know the team at disguise not only as great innovators and leaders in the industry but as a group of great humans. I’m thrilled that they are excited to take the lead and expand upon the Mapping Matter workflow.”

Built for ambitious, future-forward teams, Previz was launched in 2016 by creative studio and long-term disguise workflow practitioners dandelion + burdock who envisioned a seamless workflow to design assets creatively, plan projects effectively and communicate ideas confidently, all from one browser. The platform has since been used across both live and virtual events for global brands such as the BBC, Fitbit and Land Rover.

Previz founder Niall Thompson says: “We set out in 2016 to be the industry-leading platform for content review and approval for live visual experiences. Joining forces with such a forward-thinking, ambitious company is what takes us into this next chapter.”

Trusted for over 20 years on some of the world’s biggest, most complex live shows and broadcasts, the disguise software is a powerful toolkit for winning pitches, developing storyboards, creating camera fly-throughs, validating content, testing technical setups, and designing entire projects. Its timeline-based interface allows users to build a 3D model of their mapping interface – be it an LED volume, live stage or building facade – and map pixel-perfect real-time content onto the simulated environment. disguise welcomes the acquisition of Mapping Matter and Previz to mark a new period in their platform’s growth:

“We are incredibly excited for this new chapter in our mission to democratize production workflows with the addition of Cloud-based collaboration to the disguise platform,” says disguise CEO, Fernando Kufer. “We have been working closely with the teams at Mapping Matter and Previz over the years and our shared vision for remote collaboration has enabled us to join forces to deliver a more comprehensive and streamlined solution for all our users to create their best story. We are thrilled to welcome customers of both Mapping Matter and Previz to disguise and look forward to a bright future together.”