The Urban Automotive Realtime Configurator
Urban Automotive doesn't just tune cars; they sculpt four-wheeled statements. To match the engineering magic happening under the hood, they needed a digital experience that felt just as exclusive.
Commissioned by Yondr, I worked as a freelance Technical Artist to deliver this project utilizing Unreal Engine and Pixel Streaming. Creating a photorealistic 3D car configurator accessible from any web browser.
The Challenge: Translating "Premium" to Pixels
When you are customizing high-end luxury SUVs down to the carbon details and stitching, static images simply don't cut it. Urban needed more than a digital showroom, they needed an immersive tool that sparked desire.
The requirements were clear:
- Create an experience that focuses on realism.
- Allow for granular customization (from body kits to limited-edition wraps).
- Remove hardware barriers by ensuring it runs on any device without a high-end GPU.
- Maintain visual fidelity that matches the physical quality of the vehicles.
My Role: Technical Artist & Unreal Engine Lead
As a freelance Technical Artist working closely with Yondr, I served as the primary Unreal Engine lead. I was responsible for the entire pipeline within the engine, bridging the gap between raw data and the final interactive experience.
Key Responsibilities
- CAD to Real-Time Pipeline: Converted high-fidelity engineering CAD files into optimized, game-ready meshes.
- Granular Customization: Deconstructed geometry and objects to allow for individual customization of specific parts.
- Variant Management: Utilized the Unreal Variant Manager to organize and control over 60 different car component styling options.
- Advanced Material System: Developed a complex customization system with 50+ colors and a dynamic layering system, allowing users to toggle "PPF" (Paint Protection Film) or Matte finishes in real-time.
- Photorealism: Authored bespoke digital materials designed to perfectly match real-world physical samples.
- Dynamic Camera System: Built a Blueprint-driven camera that intelligently frames the vehicle based on user interaction to highlight specific details.
- Performance Optimization: Managed extensive geometry cleanup and retopology to ensure fast load times and a stable 60fps frame rate.
The Tech Stack: Connecting Web to Engine
The project relies on Pixel Streaming to deliver the experience to any device. A part of my work involved creating the communication logic between the frontend and the engine.
I developed the Blueprint logic that interprets commands from the web interface (e.g., "Change carpaint to British Racing Green") and triggers the corresponding changes in the 3D scene instantly. This seamless handshake between the web developers' front-end and my Unreal back-end is what makes the experience feel responsive and native.
All of this was achieved while maintaining strict performance budgets to ensure the cloud instances run efficiently without lag.
Scalability & Impact
This configurator raises the bar for automotive visualization, allowing Urban to generate higher engagement and smarter sales conversations.
- Integrated Workflow: Configurations can be saved, exported to PDF, and data is fed directly into the CRM.
- Built for Scale: The architecture serves as a foundation to rapidly onboard new models—with Range Rover, G-Class, and Rolls-Royce already on the roadmap.
Working closely with the developers at Yondr to create this seamless experience was a highlight. It demonstrated the power of Unreal Engine not just as a game engine, but as a high-fidelity industrial tool.
Interested in the technical implementation? If you have questions about this project or want to discuss Pixel Streaming workflows, feel free to reach out at nils@nilsbakker.nl.