What does the cost of a 3D yacht configurator depend on?

It is the first question in almost every meeting: how much does a 3D yacht configurator cost? The short answer is that it depends, and we know that answer is not much use. So here is what it depends on, exactly. There are five things, and all of them can be known before asking for a quote.

What does the price depend on?

1. The 3D models you already have

The first thing we ask is whether CAD models of the hulls and the equipment exist. If they do, we convert and optimize them so they work well in a browser. How much work that is depends on the state of the files, but it is always less than modeling from scratch. If they do not exist, they have to be modeled from drawings, and that is what adds most to the cost. A configurator built on the shipyard's models and one built on new models are two very different quotes.

2. How many options there are and how they combine

This is what surprises people most. A configurator is not just a gallery of variants. The work is not in showing the hulls and the finishes, it is in the software knowing which combinations exist: this finish is not available for that hull, this piece of equipment requires that other one. In the Kumbra Yachts Studio those rules are applied automatically, so any boat you see on screen can be built. Defining them means sitting down with your sales and production teams. The more options and the more exceptions, the more hours it takes, on both sides.

3. Whether you want it on the web, in virtual reality or both

The web configurator is the base. It opens in the browser with nothing to install and can be linked or embedded in your website. The virtual reality version uses the same models, the same options and the same rules. What it adds is walking through the boat at real scale, plus the logistics of bringing a headset to the stand. That is why we usually quote it as a second phase, not as a separate project.

4. Which other systems it has to connect to

A configurator can end with a summary of the configuration that the customer downloads, or it can send that configuration to your CRM, your ERP or the program you use for quotes. Each integration is quoted separately, because each system has its own way of receiving data and it has to be studied.

5. When you need it

Often the date is set by a boat show. If the scope is fixed and so is the date, it can be planned without problems. If the scope is open and the date is fixed, it cannot. In that case we say so at the start and cut together whatever there is no time for.

What makes it cheaper?

Three things that work:

• Start with a single boat model and its options, and add the others later. The second model costs less than the first, because the interface and the rules system are already built.
• Give us the CAD you have, even if the files are heavy or messy. Converting them is always cheaper than modeling.
• Work in phases. A small first delivery that can already be used, and decide the rest by seeing it work. It is easier to decide on something you can try than on a document.

What a configurator is not

We clarify this because sometimes one thing is asked for while another is meant. It is not a render: a render is a still image of one specific configuration, while the configurator generates every possible configuration, although a catalog still needs a good render. It is not a 3D viewer: a viewer shows a model, while a configurator lets you choose options on it. And it is not naval CAD: we work from the models that come out of CAD, we do not replace it.

How do we work?

First we understand the boat and how you sell it: which models exist, which options, which rules and which systems it has to connect to. Then we build a prototype with your real models, because it is much easier to make decisions looking at something on screen. From there, short deliveries you can review, up to the date you need.

If you want a figure, tell us those five things and we will prepare a phased proposal. What we do, and for whom, is on the 3D yacht configurators page.