Free Tutorial Series
Build a 3D Product Configurator
A free, code-along series where we build a real furniture configurator from scratch — React Three Fiber, material swapping, camera presets, and deploy to production.
Ep 1: Project Setup & Model Loading
Set up a Next.js project with React Three Fiber, load your first GLTF 3D model, and get it rendering on screen.
Ep 2: Lighting That Doesn't Suck
Move past a flat default scene — set up HDRI environment maps, three-point lighting, and tone mapping so your configurator actually looks good.
Ep 3: Material Swapping
Wire a color picker up to real PBR materials — color, roughness, and metalness — plus texture maps, so option changes update the model live.
Ep 4: Part Toggling
Give buyers control over which components show — wire a checkbox UI to show/hide individual mesh parts inside a GLTF model.
Ep 5: Camera Presets
Add orbit controls and buttons that snap the camera to predefined views — front, side, detail — with a smooth transition between them.
Ep 6: Building the UI
Build the options panel — color pickers, dropdowns, checkboxes — and wire it to a Zustand store so the whole configurator shares one source of truth.
Ep 7: Screenshot Export
Let users capture their configuration — render the current 3D view to an image and give them a download button.
Ep 8: Polish & Deploy
Tie it all together — loading states, smooth transitions, and a production deploy to Vercel.
Want a configurator built for you?
This is what I do day to day. Send over your product and I'll map out what a configurator could look like — zero obligation.
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