Toastmaster - Had a really bad performance.

Today I attended toastmasters after taking a 5 week break. And coming back to class has put me back to square one. I gave a bad performance when giving instructions on what my role was on and the theme of today "don't become a statistic"

I stumbled all over my words when talking about vote counter. I was "uming" everywhere and had trouble connecting with the audience. I felt I had way to much coffee before class which increased my anxiety, that is what made my heart beat like crazy, and made me even more nervous then before.

I also did not practice before I came to class, I should of used the drawing method. Which would help my visual memory, which I am really good at. Also my wife attended the class, which threw me way off. But that is not an excuse.

What I take out of my failure experience is the opportunity to grow and bee aware of my weaknesses.

• Get a good nights rest.
• Make sure not to drink coffee before, try calm tea.
• Practice speaking with visual memory.
• Start creating note cards that are written well, where you can just take them on the go

Toastmaster - 3rd Speech

Getting to the Point

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-health-benefits-of-having-pets.html?page=2
http://pets.webmd.com/ss/slideshow-pets-improve-your-health
I want to inform pet owners that some of the life benefits you get from owning pets.
And I want to encourage my audience to own a pet, for life beneficial reasons.

• Dogs and Cats make great pets.
• These cute furry animals provide you with unconditional love and great companionship.
• They can go as far as becoming your best friend.
• But, did you know there are many unseen health benefits you can get from owning a pet.
• Pets can help us to heal emotionally, physically, and mentally, but scientists are also discovering that cats and dogs can help fight disease and assist us in dealing with chronic conditions.
• For my speech I am going to provide you a few examples and facts how pets can provide you with better health.

• Pets can Reduce Stress, even specific problems such as fear of job security and finance. Or suffering from Depression
• A servery by Mindlab International found that 55% of people were more relaxed after spending time with their pets.
• By simply petting your cat or dog, will increase your feelings of contentment and relaxation.
• 1/4 of the respondents describe their pets as a best friend and a friend to even share their deepest thoughts.
• Looking at fish swimming can reduce anxiety and naturally enhance your mood.
• And with less stress, reduces anxiety and protects you agents cardiovascular diseases that can lead into Fatal Heart Attacks.

• Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
• Psychologist from Queen's University said that dog owners tend to have lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Going for walks with your dog increases your physical activities, which will lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, and even helps out with wight loss.
• According to stories published in New York Times, researchers from University of Missouri found that people who walk their dogs are more consistent with regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness then people walking with a companion.
• They found that if your dependent on another person to work out, chances are someone will have an excuse not to go for a walk, and that can decrease the motivation to work out, versus depending on a dog, they have no excuses to go for a walk.
• If the walking routine is developed between you and your dog, dogs will remind you its time to go for a walk, and you better not have an excuse because I will start barking at you.

• Researchers have found that when children grows up in the home with a cat or dog, they are less likely to develop allergies. The children develop a better immune system, which keeps them healthy when they get older.
• Pet allergies are one of the most common triggers to having asthma. But they found that children a less likely to have asthma as they get older.
• A friend of mine never owned a dog, but his kids really wanted one so I remember him coming to work with a rash on his neck and arms. This all happened when he got himself a dog. I remember he spent the whole year itching away. But after the first year, the rashes and itches dissipated. And he got himself another dog.

Alright now that you gotten your 3 facts, now its time to create an outline that you can properly follow. Here is an example of a outline that you can use to create your own.

http://www.highlands.edu/dpergrem/outlineexample.htm#Persuasive%20Outline

Big Words to fill.

Opportunity - a good chance for advancement or progress

• When the opportunity came for Kiko to prove that he could do the job, he was ready.
• I had the rare opportunity of speaking to the president.
• I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me with toastmaster.
• There is plenty of opportunity for advancement within the company.

Toastmaster - 2nd Speech

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, Finally - I am all done with this speech.
It was way to complicated, because I have to give an organized speech.
Have a good structure of Intro, letting audience know what I am about to talk about.
Then talk about my 3 main points.
And finally wrap up the speech reminding them what I was talking to them about.

It took me a long time to think about what to talk about.
But many helpful friends, told me to just go over what I know. And make it interesting.
Finally, after a long time of brainstorming, I decided to talk about "Internet Blog"

I spent a whole week writing my content.
Then writing a rough draft, and find areas where I can improve on.
I tried a few methods on how I can remember the things I need to talk about.
I tried bullet points, bubble words, or just wrote the whole speech over and over again.
None of these tricks worked, Komal said "kiko just keep it simple, you dont have to over do it"
Once she said that, it finally clicked.
Since I work well with visuals, I have a way of talking when looking at my source.
Example, I can give a comfortable feedback, when reviewing animations.
I am able to talk about my favorite movies.

I created my own visual note card, that i folded into 4.
I drew pictures and arrows on how my speech will flow.
I really invested alot of time, into drawing my speech.
By doing this, I was able to connect better.
And changed my thought process in organizing my speech.
I have fun drawing and it was enjoyable to draw my thought.

Now I am able to give a more improved speech by remembering the pictures I made.
When practicing, I was able to vision and anticipate whats going to happen next.
My gestures became more clear. I was able to feel comfortable to hear my voice.

I think I practiced way to much.
But from my experience. Its good to at least practice before you sleep. And that way you are able to integrate it into your mind.
And when you wake up in the morning, say something from your speech and it will flow out naturally as your getting out of bed.

Im really excited about, structuring my speeches. Make it clear what your speeches are going to be about.

So when ever I get more time, Ill talk about my experience delivering my speech.
Getting comfortable with my environment.
Giving the speech.
Got the feedback.
Things that I learned about myself that day.

I am not able to succeed without the help from my friend Mookie, and with Komal. Thank you so much guys for giving me encouragement and confidence. With your help, I was able to deliver and get a "Best Speaker" award out of it......

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Getting comfortable with my environment

• Make new friends
• Participated in Theme
• Ah Grammarian, which is pretty tough but a great way to listen and catch their AH/UM

Giving the speech.

• Nervous as hell

The Feedback

• It was a constructed speech, with intro, 3 points, and conclusion
• But, I didnt have good transitions into the 3 points. I need to make sure the audience knows, I'm getting into my next topic. And have a pause between the points.
• They loved my examples / visual aids.
• They enjoyed the touch of humor I added with the postit notes. Making that audience laugh, makes everyone even more interested in your topic, and it creates a friendly environment.
• Everyone can tell I was nervous, through my shaky hands. I need to try and master it.
• I made great use of the floor.

QUMA Motion Capture Puppet

Super cool Mocap Doll.

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2011/07/21/quma-motion-http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifcapture-puppet/

Prep to Show and Tell at Bioware

As an animator, its our job to make the characters move and come to life. Animating is kinda like playing with toys, you pick up a toy and give it personality.

Here at bioware we have several types of characters we animate humans/robots/creatures. Each one of them have their own types of actions and behaviors. Breathing / walk-run / attacks.

-open up human_with_saber.max-
Here we have a character holding a light saber. And with this light saber he can do different types of attacks, LIKE.
-show some animations-

We use 3d studio Max to animate our characters. Each character has its own set of animation controls, which controls the bones of the character. So I am able to move around the controllers to pose out my character. Move Arms,Root,Pelvis.

Real quick lets make an action pose, together.

Okay once we have the pose its time to animate. So here we have a time slider, moving the slider will tell you what frame your are on. In 1 second there is 30 frames. So in 3 seconds we have 90 frames. We can set an animation key on a frame to give that controller movement.

-animate a bone press play-
-what would you like to move?-

Once we are done animating, we will render out a video to show others.

-show videos-

Now we have to work with the programers, to get this animation working in game. They are the guys who works close to the game system and are able to connect the player's control to an animation.

-----Quick-----

What does an animator do?
What do I do here at bioware?
Show few examples of saber attacks.
Talk about how to animate.
Lets animate.
Show renders.
When animations done then how do you get it to game?

Andrew Gordon Returns - Animation Master Class

Pixar Animator is back, and give the same lecture he gave 2 years ago in Edmonton. This is awesome for the whole Bioware team to be present and learn the things I've learned about of Pixar Methods.

Andrew Gordon graduated from VanArts, and worked for Pixar over 12 years. He worked on my of the films I loved and share his knowledge on animation techniques, appeal, and process with back to back reviews.

Principles of Animation - The ingredients to make animation believable.

• Squash and Stretch - Gives a feeling that either the object is made out of rubber or stone. You want to be able to hide the squash and stretch when playing your animation, but when you slow it down you will be able to tell where the areas of squash and stretch is being added t give a sense of weight.
• Anticipation - It's the preparation before an action. Typically its the opposite direction before the action. Anticipating before a jump is where the character is squatting and preparing to build power then jump.
• Staging - Setting up the stage so the idea is clear, making sure that your animation is a fit for your camera. And make sure the animation is clear when you review it in silhouette.
• Drag and Follow Thru - Follow thru means the attachments of a body continue to move after the body stops, and the attachments ill follow through and subtle over time. Overlap means the attachments movements will be offset from the main body, not everything has to move all at once. Drag is when the body moves, then the attachments will react to keep up.
• Arcs - Very Important Principle, its natural to move in arcs in space. When you throw a baseball and pay attention to all the joints, you will see that hands, feet, knees, core, nose all moves with arcs.
• Ease in and Ease out - Important for natural movement. Every object needs time to accelerate and slow down. Ease in and out between Extreme poses. Heavy objects take longer to accelerate, Lighter is faster to accelerate to the next pose.
• Exaggeration - Normal ideas / poses are commonly boring. But by pushing the idea / pose, you will be taking a much more interesting approach, for your audience.
• Timing and Spacing - Timing is everything, it's used to help develop the mood of a character, happy, sad, excited, etc. Also, an object's weight determines how a character will interact with it. Like pushing a heavy vs light Box.
• Secondary actions - Secondary idea or gesture the helps support the primary action for the scene. Arms, Hands, Legs, Feet can have a mind of its own to support the main idea.
• Appeal - Its all about making shapes work together, by understanding what makes a good pose. Design and Movement should be appealing to the audience.
• Strait ahead and Pose to Pose - 2 different styles of animating out your scene. Strait ahead means animating frame after frame. Pose to Pose works best for planning out your scene and determine where to address the character's mood. Layering is another style 3d animators use to block out their animation, typically they will animate Bone layers. Root, Core, Arms/Legs, Head, Hands/Feet, Face.

Staging and Pose Design - The art of directing the audience's eyes and feelings.

• Staging is all about the presentation for your scene. You want to be able to control the audience eyes, by using colors, shapes, contrast, and correct camera angles.
• Color gives a visual element to your stage. It can help direct the mood of the scene, red means trouble, yellow means aware, saturated colors represents depression, bright warm colors give a sense of happy.
• Angle shapes can build intensity to your scene. Using a triangle staging, will direct the eye to look at 3 points. For example, having 3 characters talk about an important issue, the talker is the primary point, the reacting character is 2nd point, and the listener is 3rd point.
• When introducing our character, you want to give an awesome first impression. Signify the certain elements that portrays to your character, this will give the audience a taste of your character's design.
• Contrast plays a big role in your scene.. By using (dark vs white), (active vs calm), (big vs small), etc. You can direct the audience's eyes n 1 shot of several shots.
• Staging all your shots correctly and putting it all together, will make your scene Awesome.

Pose Design

Hand Poses

Locomotion

Acting for Animation

Gesture in Animation

Planning

Blocking

Facial Animation

Polish

Demo Reels

Thank you Bioware for giving me the opportunity to attend this class once more.

Awesome Animator - Carlos Baena

Carlos Baena is a professional animator and now a cofounder of the online school Animation Mentor, which was started in March, 2005. It was the first post-secondary school that helped students to pursue a career in animation. At the school, students work with mentors from major studios in a production-style environment, and graduate with a professional demo reel.

http://www.carlosbaena.com/

Animatin Mentor's Character Animation Program

http://www.animationmentor.com/masterclass/animalscreatures/overview.html

Toastmaster - 2nd Speech

Toastmasters Speech 2: Organize Your Speech

When you speak, does your audience get it?
If your audience doesn’t grasp your message (even though your topic is one you know they are interested in), you need to rethink the way you present it. You need to organize your ideas to promote understanding.The second Toastmasters speech project addresses organizing your speech. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

Topic Ideas
My own Garden - Eating Fresh Foods/What you need/Plant/Nurture
Benefits of Youtube - Funny/Music Videos/Educational
YouTube has taught me many things -
Planning a Vacation - Find Great Deals/Search for Activities/Look for Restaurants
Internet Television - Hulu/Playon/Future of TV
Things Happen for a Reason - Story of where Life can take you

Outline Speech / Style
Chronological - flows with sequence..such as PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE or STEP 1-2-3
Spatial - A method of speech organization in which the main points follow a directional pattern.
Casual - shows cause/effect relationship, Hurricane forms then what.
Comparative - Persuasive speech, to convince one way or the other.
Topical - is when your speech is 'of the moment, relating to a current topic.
Problem Solution - begin with a problem and follow up with a solution.


Video Examples

Mookie's Emprove Speech on animation

Just a regular work day. A few people came into our room wanting to see the life of an animator. How we work and what are some cool stuff we can show them.
At the time I was very tired, from staying up so late working on a Short Video for Nima, and I did not have any work on my computer at that time. It would tken me a while to dig up a random file to present to the folks.

Mookie volunteered to give a 10 min speech of animation.

• He already had a Animation up on his screen that he used to his advantage.
• He talked about the Simple basic of aniamtion.
• Create a pose - Place a key frame - and check out your animation by pressing play
• He showed the simple tools on what he is doing, then get them involved with animation.
• What would you like to do? I will place the Key.
• Once you have them feel like they animated.
• Talk about the process on what it takes to get it into game.
• Make animation -> work with programmer -> review it ingame
• Now for show and tell show a file that is nicely structured W/ a RENDER
• Get them involved
  
• Talk about character and some of its challenges
• Then show a rendered animation
• If you still have time, pick up a light saber and talk about reference and research

Mookie also gave recognition to alot of people who worked on the project, and just let the guest know what they do.

Thanks Mookie for giving me some guidance on how to "Talk about animation at my desk"

• Talk about what you know
• Get them involved, by having them ask questions
  
• Make them laugh -> This comes natural when you are comfortable
  

Toastmaster - Table Topic Tips