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

How to Clean Mocap

Here are some easy steps to remember how to select a loop cycle, clean up mocap, and correct your speed.

• Nice tip when selecting your loop cycle from Raw Mocap data
• Separate the movement cycles.
• Make sure beginning and end frame pose are relatively the same.
• Create new layer and bracket the middle frame.
• Copy pose from the in-between beginning and end pose.
• Paste it on the beginning and end.
• Go through your selections and pick the best cycle

• Cleaning up Mocap for movement cycles
• Check fingers
• Check Spine, does it bounce to much?
• Delete the X-rot curve to reduce the noise on knees.
• Smooth out the trajectory on the knees.
• Add a little symmetry and balance to upper torso, on another layer.

• Correct your speed
• Calculate how far your character need to travel in a given time.
• Move your world bone, to correct location.
• On another layer, plant feet by eye balling the ball of the foot.
  

The History of the Uncanny Valley

http://gizmodo.com/5680409/the-history-of-the-uncanny-valley

This is an article talking about the evolution of realism in gaming.

Uncanny Valley - The boarder lines of a Realistic Human Figure 3d/robot, where they are missing elements to the human figure/movement/behavior. Which, throws the viewer off, and they do not believe in the realism.

• 10 years ago gaming companies discovered new ways to bring life into game. 3D low poly characters, with breaking through motion capture, with minimal human AI behaviors. The only problem was we did not have the technology back then to get the 3 pillars, up to a realistic human stand point.
• Now we do have the technology, and video game companies attempted to improve the realism in their characters, but they always seem to be missing something. For example Mass Effect 2, Bioware made improvements to their models and face animations, but there was something odd about the teeth that stood out, which took away the realism.
• He addressed the problem of the 3 pillars and talks about how Art Departments need to step it up. We have the technology and its proven to have the realistic quality, like movies such as Lord of the Rings and Benjamin Button. If movies can do it, games companies can do it too. But, which game company will attempt to cross that Uncanny Valley they speak of.
  

Toastmaster - Ways to Get Over Anxiety Before a Speech

We've all laughed about the old advice on how to relax before giving a speech: Imagine the audience in their underwear. However, one in four people suffer from speech anxiety, according to University Center Rochester, so it's a very real problem. Finding techniques to get over anxiety before a speech can help you feel confident and relaxed for your big moment.

Preparation
One of the best ways to get over your speech anxiety is to make sure your speech is fully prepared and researched. Nothing can throw you off like forgetting parts of your speech or realizing that some of your research isn't right. If you know that you have a speaking engagement coming up, do what you can to prepare to deliver your speech succinctly. Avoid flowery language that you wouldn't normally use. Instead of memorizing your speech word for word, jot down the key points, quotations and elements, and ad lib what you can. Trying to memorize a speech will give you extra anxiety, especially if you realize that you've forgotten something.

Practice
See if you have a family member or friend who can sit and listen to your speech as you run through it for practice. They can be helpful in pointing out places where you seemed less than confident, or times when you repeated yourself. Practice your speech so that when it's time to deliver it, it seems familiar and easy to go through. If you can, invite the family member or friend to sit in the audience, in the center near the back. You can maintain eye contact with that friend, and you just might forget about anyone else in the audience.

Stay Calm
If it helps, write notes right on the speech text, telling yourself to slow down and breathe. A person who gets nervous while talking tends to speed up, which can make you fumble over words and cause even more anxiety. Remember that the speech is not a race, and make a concerted effort to slow down. Before you even begin to speak, try taking a deep breath. Remember that just about everyone has some degree on anxiety when it comes to speaking in public. Rely on your preparation, research and credentials, and trust that they will speak for you.

How to Set the Style for a Speech: Teaching English | eHow.com
How to Prepare a Speech: Teaching English | eHow.com

Finally, relax. This is easier said than done, I know. But here are some ways to psyche yourself out to get rid of some of the anxiety.

• Take deep breaths. You'll be surprised at how well this works. If you know some special breathing techniques, use them, but all you really need to do is breathe deeply in and out for awhile.
• Do some simple stretching exercises before class.
• Avoid caffeine or any food or drink that makes you jittery. Drink something that relaxes you, like decaffeinated tea.
• The night before, close your eyes and visualize yourself giving the speech and everything going well.
• Make friends with your classmates, and you'll feel better about speaking in front of them. Make friends with your teacher too.
• Keep things in perspective. You do much more dangerous things every day, like driving a car or crossing the street. Chances are you've already gone through some stressful or dangerous experiences in your life, and you made it through, right?
• Keep in mind that everybody is nervous. You're not alone.
• Keep in mind that you rarely come across as nervous as you really feel. Unless you're shaking and stammering, the audience probably won't know how nervous you are.
• Just do it. Speak. Speak more. The more experience you have with public speaking, the less nervous you will feel.

Social anxiety disorder treatment #1: Reducing physical symptoms of anxiety
Many changes happen in your body when you become anxious. One of the first changes is that you begin to breathe quickly. Overbreathing throws off the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body — triggering additional physical anxiety symptoms such as dizziness, a feeling of suffocation, increased heart rate, and muscle tension. Learning to slow your breathing down can help you bring your physical symptoms of anxiety back under control.
Practicing the following breathing exercise will help you decrease the physical symptoms of anxiety and stay calm:

• Sit comfortably with your back straight and your shoulders relaxed. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
• Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for 4 seconds. The hand on your stomach should rise, while the hand on your chest should move very little.
• Hold the breath for 2 seconds.
• Exhale slowly through your mouth for 6 seconds, pushing out as much air as you can. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
• Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus on keeping a slow and steady breathing pattern of 4-in, 2-hold, and 6-out.