Hi everyone and welcome to the fifth episode of INSIDE AMG. Now first I would like to thank
you all for your overwhelming feedback on our first four episodes. It really means the world
to us, we are trying to get better with each video. And that’s what we are going to try today.
Fifth letter of the alphabet means letter E. Today, things are going to be a little bit different.
As you can see, we are not in Affalterbach right now. We are right in Stuttgart at “Café-Bar Apotheke”
where today we’re going to be talking about exterior design. So we are going to meet Viti from
our design department at AMG. And I would say, without further ado, let’s go inside and meet him.
Hi! Great to see you outside work! How are you?
Pretty good. How about you?
I’m not too bad.
I’m actually happy to see you outside work because we have a brainstorming with the boys here today.
So you have your design team right here in Café Apotheke?
Yes, our design team is here and we are brainstorming for the projects which
are coming in three or four years. – So you do this more often that you go to different places?
It’s not always this place, today we are at Apotheke in Stuttgart. We try to find different
spots because you always need to get inspired. We want different influences. And that’s why
we are here today. – Sounds pretty interesting. – Yes. – Wanna grab a cup of coffee? – Yes.
Pete, right? Csaba? And Felix. That’s pretty easy.
Oh, that’s going to be a difficult one.
So, wow. Okay, I can see you’re already hard at work right here, right?
Yes, we are brainstorming a little bit.
Okay. I have always been a car nerd. I always wanted
to work with cars. And of course when I was younger I drew cars on whichever piece of paper
I could find. But actually coming up with shapes of my own that haven’t been there before.
This could be pretty embarrassing. It never really got more interesting than something
like this. That’s why I didn’t pursue a career in exterior design.
When did you know this was the right path for you?
Approximately in tenth grade. Because this is when everyone is trying to
find a direction in life. So you need to do something after Abitur and
I had this one friend who did car design. And for me it was, “wow, you can do something in
this direction”. You can study this actually in Pforzheim. I didn’t know that, I had no idea.
Most people don’t know that you can actually study car design.
That’s a good point, because for me it was also so far, something you don’t think you can reach.
You have an idea, you make a sketch and then you transform it into a 3D model.
And the person that had the original idea – do you go along with the process and see if
the model represents the model you have in your head?
First of all we build every sketch
in CAD to see the volumes and stuff. But of course it is not like a real model.
A real model is a totally different story. All the surfaces and stuff... But you can see if the
proportions are right and all the angles and stuff. From there you build the model.
It is also very interesting that all processes are having more and more digitalization but you
still need a full-size clay model to make decisions. – That’s a must. And that full-size clay model gets milled.
How long does that take? – All together it probably takes about three days. – Wow!
So it is a competition but at the same time it is what I like about these guys here.
They have this mind to work as a team. This is something really strong these days.
You pitch against each other but you also work together on projects.
In the end we want to have the best product.
It is that simple. We do everything for the product, not, like, for one person.
It is a really positive thing. – It is a positive competition. It is just to actually to push each other to the limits.
And then to choose the best one again and again. Because we are all proud to work for this company.
It doesn’t matter if he won this time or Pete or Csaba.
I think that’s fantastic, when your mindset is cool with these boys here.
You get feedback and you give feedback. That’s how it works in a creative atmosphere or creative field.
So that’s pretty interesting about that working environment.
That’s for sure not a standard office. And I’m actually going to invite you now to come around.
So, I’d say we head over the right now. How about that?
We see you later. I’m going to go with Felix. We go together?
We’ve got to pay first. – You or me? See you later boys.
Alright, look. – Seriously, a Mercedes-AMG GT R PRO?
Do you want to drive? Today, we have a day for inspiration.
Because as we work on a new programme, we said: “Grab it.” You’re welcome to drive it.
I've never driven that car before. – By the way, there is actually Pete’s car, I love it as well.
Pretty cool as well but I think I prefer this one right now.
It is faster for sure but it is a good design.
This day keeps getting better.
This is really a piece of art on wheels and it doesn’t just
look like one, it sounds like one, it feels like one. That is really impressive, I have to say.
You are an executive at Mercedes-AMG for exterior design. Would you say there are
any particular challenges to being head of such a diverse and such a creative team with
such strong characters?
Yes, strong characters – you lead them differently because these guys
want to be motivated but don’t want to be told what not to do and how to draw and how a car
should look. I’m very happy we have this strong team here. We’re just a perfect fit for each other.
We are a team even if we are competing,
we go out together, we push ideas together, we brainstorm together
and we have the same target for the future.
So you see each other outside work and hang out together from time to time?
We do! Actually, some of us knew each other before Mercedes-AMG.
Tell us a little bit about what we are going to see now at the Design Studio? What can you show us?
You are going to see a lot of car covers, that’s for sure.
But you are going to see our Mercedes-AMG GT3. – The GT3 is there? – Yeah, the GT3!
We are doing minor tweaks to it, so Pete is still working on it. You are probably going to see the guys
working on their projects, which will be very much covered and we are working on the back
of it, so you don’t see it. – Ok, so we try to give a glimpse behind the scenes, but be
very secret about it. – You will see at the studio how the people work and I’ve prepared a challenge for you.
A challenge, ok. I already figured that the drawing wasn’t gonna be my challenge for today.
So today I’m going to try to build a model?
A little one. It is obviously not in a big size.
But as we only have a short amount of time in our studio, you will do a little quick model,
just to have a feeling how quickly things can change, the material which is very flexible.
I’ve always been a big fan of arts and crafts back in school, let’s see if I can put it to use today.
Felix, welcome to our world. – Elegant as ever...
So this is your empire? – This is the empire! This is the most famous gate you can get in.
And I see, things keep getting better and better. We started of with the Mercedes-AMG GT R PRO.
Look, there is something orange.
It is getting sharper and sharper. What is happening in here?
Well, you see Pete working here, we talked to before.
Pete is finishing off the last bits on the graphics now. The car is done and dusted.
So he is finishing the graphics, so it is perfect for the final one.
Look, it’s just tiny little details he is doing on it. Little changes. As you see, he is working with tape.
So he is finishing it off. So here everything happens which is real. From the sketch, it can be in a café,
it can be at the office. It doesn’t matter. But here it comes alive. You actually do all
the models here. Here are the clay models and here it comes alive. I know, I know,
I know. Felix, no! That's not going to happen. – Just a little sneak peek?
That is as much as you are going to see. Peter and Csaba are working on it but you
are only going to see the cover.
So, they are sketching over there? They are sketching.
Because some details need to be resolved. We do the taping, we later do some tapes for the modeler
and they sculpt it actually. We have Kai here, doing his internship. He is finishing
his sketches, because he wants to do a big model of it. He has a tiny little one to proof his concept.
So, that’s how you start off? Sketching, then clay modeling ... – We sketch
it, we scale it in a bigger scale. The scale we usually do is 1:4. Then we do a full scale, 1:1.
Then you do it all in CAD. Actually, I just heard we are changing some little details
on the GT3. And we do it all in CAD right now. I’m going to take you to our CAD department.
And we are going to have a look there. – Nice! Awesome!
Hi Dave! I’m having Felix with me, he’s having an insight in our Mercedes-AMG exterior design.
Hi Dave, how is it going? – Quite good!
So, what exactly is your job in the design department?
I’m responsible for the digital side of the design. I am delivering surfaces based on Viti’s design.
Making sure that everything is mathematically correct and has symmetry and correct caps and so on.
So this is the transition from design... – A kind of bridge between design and engineering.
We deliver scan surfaces and deliver to them and they fix all the bugs.
So they take the models and correct your mistakes.
It’s always like we give it to them and they give it back to us. So that’s always the feedback,
we need to deliver the final fantastic result which is done by these guys. – Pretty awesome!
Actually Dave, I heard we are here because we have a little problem with the GT3?
Yes, I was asked to make some more room for air on the front. That means for us we need to
increase the front grille a little bit. – Ok. – So, this is what the digital result looks like?
That’s the digital result. So the model we saw before, it’s actually a real car
but now unfortunately we need some little tweaks here and there.
Dave, you are talking about this area here? – Yeah, it actually makes
no difference which side we make bigger. So we can do this higher or wider.
So how much are we talking about? – A couple of centimetres.
Yeah, that’s going to ruin our design. No! We are going to make it beautiful. And he’s going to make it even
more beautiful while finishing the data. So, I think that’s ok. Actually we have a
very strong design, where we have a very big grille and big mouth. And it could look even stronger if
we really execute it to the limits. So, I don’t mind. So, I’ll do something, Dave.
We’ll have a look and then we feedback and talk about it later.
But that’s the conflict you talked about.
If somebody changes your “baby” and changes the shape. – Yeah, but at the same time, it
is the end result which is important. It is not just one person working on it. It is really
the whole company. And it just comes together in this product here. And we talked as well about
you trying stuff, how it actually becomes this product. – Yep, there was a challenge.
Well, Neli prepared something for you. And I’d say, let’s go and see how you get on with it.
Alright! You are up for it? Fantastic.
All right, folks. So now it’s challenge time. You already teasered a little bit that Neli prepared something for me?
Yes, in fact she did! Well, it’s not a real clay model –
it is a clay model but it is a tiny little one as we just want to do a five-minute challenge.
So just to understand what this material is all about and you are
going to see how she is actually working but we prepared these tiny little models where in five minutes
you might understand how quick you get some results and shape in this little model.
So, five minutes, clay model against a pro – that sounds interesting! – Yes, well. It is up to you!
Are you going to win? – Yes, of course I can. Let's go for it!
Hi Neli! Hi Viti! That’s Felix! – Hi, nice to meet you!
This is Neli! Well, Neli is the clay modeler we spoke earlier in the car about
and we already prepared something. Actually Neli prepared something for you.
We prepared for you a little drawing.
Prepared something... This looks like to my untrained eye this looks like already pretty finished.
Well, we have a base shape, you have five minutes, you have a sketch. Neli does it every day.
This is the end result we are trying to achieve in five minutes?
That’s the end result we are going to see. To go from this block of clay here to that.
Ok. Five minutes – and off you go! I’ll see you in five minutes.
Alright guys, five minutes are gone. – Already? I’m not even close to done. Oh it looks like a soap.
It still looks like a soap. But I can see a little shape in it. I can see the sensuality of it.
Let’s turn it for the camera and see what five minutes can do in clay modeling. Unfortunately we never do
it like this small, but I think for the challenge it was fantastic to experience what people
put in here. Absolutely! And I like to make my handy dirty. – Look, I can see you have been working.
And basically people put their soul into it and the car comes alive here. The product comes alive.
Did you enjoy it? – I definitely did!
It was great to have you here. – Thanks for having us!
But I’ll kick you out in a bit. – Thank you very much!
So, there you have it, folks! We learned a lot about exterior design today. A little
bit different video today but that’s what we wanted to do. We got diverse characters here
putting, as Viti said, their soul into the cars and that really shows. So if you liked
what you have seen today, leave us a thumbs up, comment down below with suggestions if
you like us to do something differently. Also suggest what you want us to film next.
As you have seen today, five minutes is definitely not enough to really get the best out of a block
of clay like that. I’m going back to the board and try to finish this.
Until then you can wait until the next video. Bye bye!