02

CAD to game-ready configurator at 1:1 precision

ATH Heinl — industrial machinery, rebuilt for the web

Year
2025
Type
Client Work · CAD Retopology · Configurator
Role
3D Artist

ATH Heinl manufactures heavy-duty automotive service equipment — tyre changers and vehicle lifts used by workshops across Europe. They needed high-fidelity 3D models for an interactive web configurator. The source files were CAD data — millions of polygons, no topology, no UVs. I rebuilt them from the ground up.

The Challenge

50 MB of CAD data, zero web-ready geometry

The source files came straight from engineering — precise to the micron, but completely unusable for real-time rendering. Millions of polygons, no edge flow, no UV coordinates, no materials. Every bolt, screw, panel, and mechanism existed as raw CAD nurbs or dense meshes.

The configurator needed models under 10 MB that loaded in under 3 seconds. And they had to look indistinguishable from the real machine — industrial buyers would not tolerate a "video game" appearance.

ATH Heinl machinery CAD reference
The Approach

Full retopology + PBR texturing at 1:1 scale

Two machines were built: the Comfort Lift 2.40 (a two-post vehicle lift) and the 7260 Truck Tyre Changer. Each followed the same pipeline.

Retopology — every surface was rebuilt by hand with clean quad flow. Mechanical edges got sharp bevels. Large flat panels got minimal geometry. The goal was game-ready topology that still looked machined, not melted.

UV mapping — careful layout to maximise texel density on visible surfaces while keeping the overall texture budget under control.

PBR texturing — Substance Painter for the materials. Each machine got custom smart materials for the different finishes: powder-coated steel, bare cast iron, rubber grips, hydraulic hoses, control panels with printed labels.

Optimization — texture baking and channel packing compressed everything down from the 50 MB+ source files to lightweight WebGL-ready assets.

The Result

Deployed in a live configurator, indistinguishable from photos

Both models shipped in a production web configurator. The 7260 Tyre Changer took two weeks from start to finish — the most complex single model I'd built up to that point.

The Comfort Lift was faster — the pipeline from the first machine meant the second moved at nearly double the speed.

Clients couldn't tell the difference between the configurator render and photographs of the physical equipment. That was the entire point.

Key Takeaways

01
CAD retopology is a different skill from creative modelling
Creative modelling lets you invent. CAD retopology forces you to preserve every dimension exactly. A bolt hole that's 0.1 mm off is wrong. This project sharpened my precision more than any creative brief ever could.
02
The second model is always faster
The Comfort Lift took less than half the time of the Tyre Changer because the pipeline, shaders, and export settings were already dialled. Building a repeatable process was as valuable as building the models themselves.
03
Industrial buyers judge on detail
A missing grease fitting or a simplified control panel ruins credibility with someone who works on these machines every day. Every bolt, hose, and decal had to be there. Fidelity isn't optional in B2B configurators.
By the numbers
2 weeks
7260 Tyre Changer — CAD to deployment
2 machines
Comfort Lift 2.40 + 7260 Tyre Changer
1:1
Dimensional accuracy from source CAD

Final Render

Final photorealistic render of ATH Heinl machinery

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Razershake — Technical 3D Artist