Rendering a car wrap preview in the browser: notes from a side project

I built a small web tool that previews custom wraps on Tesla models in 3D. A few things I learned along the way:

UV maps decide everything. The wrap image is projected onto the model through its UV layout. If the UV islands do not match the real panel templates, a design that lines up on paper drifts on the 3D car.

Keep textures power-of-two and cap the size. Phones choke on huge textures. 2048 px is enough for a convincing preview.

Finish is a material problem, not a color problem. Gloss, satin and matte are mostly roughness and clearcoat settings on a physical material. Color shift needs a view-dependent tint.

Let people export. Owners want to send a screenshot or the flat file to their installer.

The result is here if you want to poke at it: https://teslawrapdesigner.com/