GIGABYTE Meets Masato Ohata: Appeal of the AERO, From the Perspective of a Professional Creator

Mr. Ohata: Hello everyone. I make a living as a commercial prototype sculptor. Prototype sculptors make prototypes for the figures that you see in places like toy stores and arcades. Until recently, these figures were usually made using clay and putty. However, over the past few years, using 3D computer graphics to make a prototype through 3D printing has become the standard. I also use 3D technology to make models, so having a personal computer is vital in my line of work. The diagram below is a visualization of my normal work flow.

This is just a general overview of my work flow, but almost 80-90% of my work depends on a computer.

Mr. Ohata: The desktop computer that I use is one that my friend built for me about 2 years ago. Its specs are as follows:

Even though my work heavily relies on computer processing, I don’t actually know much about it. For me, if it fulfills my work needs, it’s good enough. The recommended operating environment for the software programs that I use (mainly ZBrush) is as follows, so I used a SSD drive as the storage device in order to meet such requirements. In my case, I am also using a software program called Geomagic Sculpt, and it has certain graphics card requirements, which is why I’ve installed a pretty high-end graphics card.

I don’t know a lot about the difference between my desktop PC and AERO laptop. Plus, to be frank, I don’t think I am the right candidate for this trial and refused it, but in the end I am glad that I decided to go with it. There are 2 main reasons: the first reason is because the laptop screen is so beautiful, and the second is that I can comfortably work wherever I like!
I know that these impressions sound like something silly that an elementary school kid would say, but I discovered in 3D prototyping, something that many people are unaware of is that sculptors aren’t particular about the quality of their screens. I’m sure many of you would be thinking, “No way, that’s just you.” I know a lot of 3D prototype sculptors. We talked about screen size, but nobody talked about the resolution or color display of the screen. That’s because when it comes to 3D modeling, the final output is everything. Therefore, evaluating the final output is more important than how beautiful it looks on the screen. Similar to how graphic designers are particular about using Mac products and are picky about how the colors expressed on the screen, we place more emphasis on 3D printers’ performance and the materials we used. AERO’s screen is big and bright. It extends all the way to edges of the computer screen. It also has a broad work space and refined design, which I find appealing.
I definitely recommend other 3D prototype sculptors to give 4K UHD display a chance. The difference is so great, that it’s as if someone who has worked with fogged-up glasses for years, suddenly acquired clear, crisp 20/10 vision. The screen is so beautiful that I am shocked. Without actually experiencing it, one would never be able to know that 3D clay models can be presented so beautifully on a refined display. It’s like the quality of my work rose to another level. I immediately replaced my desktop monitor with a 31.5-inch 4K HDR monitor. My work went more smoothly and I am really grateful for this opportunity.
AERO’s monitor fully supports Adobe RGB 100% wide color gamut, and the 3D rendering work that I started doing recently looks ridiculously beautiful. Work has since then become much more exciting. Moreover, using the AERO laptop means that I can comfortably work wherever I like. I am now a freelancer. Sometimes it’s less efficient to work alone in my studio, and that’s when I stop to go out and grab a coffee. Now, with AERO, I can go wherever I like and continue my work.

Mr. Ohata: It is common to use a laptop to work on-the-go; after all, that’s what laptops are for. However, AERO is more than that. It’s not only portable but powerful; there were no performance issues when I work outside the studio. After conducting intensive 3D work and rendering for 2 hours, I still had over 20% battery left. I thought that was enough time for working outside even if there is no power source. If I go into more detail about the ZBrush work, it felt like there was a little bit of lag when the total points (total number of polygon points) was about 10 billion, but the processing was smooth and quick at half that amount, around 5 billion.
One thing to note is that when I used Decimation Master to run calculations, 10 billion points was too much of a load and it froze up. So, I thought that the work would go smoothly if I used ZRemesher to remesh it and divide it and made use of the project history. In recent times, the line between prototype sculptors and 3D game designers has begun to wear thin, but I think that I would recommend going from light modeling to color simulation for both of these professions because the screen is just too beautiful to resist.

Mr. Ohata: I have been using this computer to run ZBrush for 4 years, but I felt that it works significantly better on AERO: there was less lag when there were a lot of polygons. Another thing I realized is that my laptop displays fewer colors than AERO and things look less refined and less exciting on it, which in my opinion can make me less motivated at work.
When I got my laptop, I thought I would be able to work outside with it, but it turned out that the screen was too small and I experienced a lot of lag when dealing with a large number of polygons. That’s why I thought it cannot be efficient working with a laptop outside the studio. However, the AERO’s higher specification results in less lag while processing lots of polygons.
Zbrush supports autosave function, which the software program would stop every 5 minutes to save currently status, and then the system would keep the latest 20 files, deleting older ones sequentially. Personally, I prefer keep this setting yet a lot of people rather do without it because this autosave can take a while; you’d experience a series of pause and constantly wait if your PC doesn’t have enough computing power. AERO is also extremely fast at saving and downloading files and this increase my work efficiency tremendously.
The AERO actually has the same screen size as my laptop (15.6”), but I discovered that working 3D models with higher resolution of 4K UHD can imitate the sense of touching real clay. Therefore, I didn’t really realize the screen was too small. I also found that there’s nothing better than AERO having a variety ports, and I’m grateful for that.

Mr. Ohata: I think overall the design is simple and well thought out. I think some people may have different opinions about a keyboard that glows in 7 colors, but I like it. When I plug it in, I enjoy the wave-like color glow. The key strokes on the keyboard feel high quality and typing has never been easier! I thought it was easy to use, even for typing-intensive work. If I were to venture an opinion, I wouldn’t mind it having a heavier typing feel. It is thin and has a seamless design when it is closed, and the option of covering up the camera is really smart. It weighed a little bit heavier than I expected, but carrying it around in a bag posed no problem whatsoever.

Mr. Ohata: There are no problems! 

Even among top prototype sculptors, Mr. Ohata is particularly brilliant and lively. He pays incredible attention detail in his work and expresses an unmatched and unique worldview. When people look at his work, they are drawn by the overwhelming sense of identity and style, which sparks the imagination and enthralls everyone who sees them. His art work is so thrilling that people lose track of time. Captivated by the beauty of his sculptures, is like being under a magic spell, a very comfortable, pleasant feeling.

Born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan in 1985, Masato Ohata graduated from Musashino Art University in 2009, with a major in oil painting and printmaking. From 2009 to 2012 he performed on stage as an actor. In 2013, he acquired a position at the Model Innovative Creation (MIC) Corporation. He became part of the digital prototype team and worked on many commercial prototypes. He presented his first sculpture work, “Contagion Girl”, at the Wonder Festival in winter of 2015. At the Wonder Festival of the following year, he presented his second sculpture work, Survival: 01 Killer, which was selected to be in Vol. 7 of Mamegyorai’s Amazing Artist Collection (AAC). He is currently working as a freelance prototype sculptor.