7 Common Spanish Pronunciation Mistakes

7 Common Spanish Pronunciation Mistakes Few things are more frustrating for someone learning a foreign language than to not be understood by a native speaker. If you want to make a good impression when speaking Spanish, here are seven common pronunciation mistakes English speakers make that you can avoid. You can learn to avoid these common errors, and your Spanish-speaking friends  will know that at least youre making an effort. Turning the R Into Mush Lets get the most difficult letter for English speakers out of the way first! Heres the basic rule: Never pronounce the Spanish r as if it were English. Think of it as a different letter of the alphabet that just happens to be written the same as the English one. Spanish has two r sounds. The simple r sound, which youll hear more often, is close to the dd sound in paddle or the tt in little. So the common word mero (mere) sounds much like meadow, not marrow. That wasnt hard, was it? The other r sound, often called the rr sound because rr was once considered a separate letter of the alphabet, is used for rr and when r appears at the beginning of a sentence or a word by itself. The rr sound is a brief trill and does take some effort to master. You might think of it as the front of your tongue flapping against the roof of the mouth in a strong breeze, or perhaps the sounds of a cat purring or a motorboat revving. Once you figure it out, it can be a fun sound to make. Turning the U Into a Different Vowel The u sound is never like the u in fuse, but, or push. When it doesnt come in combination with another vowel, its like the oo sound in moo, which appropriately is spelled mu in Spanish. So uno (one) sounds something like OO-noh and uniforme (uniform) sounds something like oo-nee-FOR-meh. Like the other Spanish vowels, u has a pure and distinct sound. When the u comes before another vowel, the u glides into the following vowel and ends up sounding something like the English w. Thus cuenta (account) sounds something like KWEN-tah, and cuota sounds fairly close to the cognate quota. And that brings up another point: After the q, the u is silent unless a dieresis is added to make it à ¼. Thus quince (the number 15) sounds like KEEN-seh. But with the dieresis, the u carries the w sound. Thus pingà ¼ino (penguin) is pronounced something like peeng-GWEEN-oh. Giving the G and J Their Sound in ‘Judge’ In English, the g generally has the j sound when g is followed by e or i. The same pattern is true in Spanish, but the j sound also used in the ge and gi combinations is much different. English speakers usually approximate it with the English h sound, although native Spanish speakers in most regions often give it a harsher, more guttural sound. Youll be perfectly understandable if you pronounce gente as HEN-teh and jugo (juice) as HOO-goh. Buzzing the Z The z of Spanish isnt pronounced with the z sound of words such as buzz and zoo. In Latin America, it generally sounds like the English s, while in most of Spain its like the th in thin. So if youre headed to the zoo, think soh in Latin America and thoh in Spain. Pronouncing the B and V as Different Letters Once upon a time, Spanish had distinct sounds for the B and V. But no more - they sound exactly the same and thus often pose a spelling challenge for native speakers. The sound is something like a buzzing sound with the two lips when b or v comes between two vowels and something like a soft English b at other times. You may look at words such as tubo (tube) and tuvo (a form of tener) and think of them as sounding different, but in fact they sound alike. Sounding Out the H How do you pronounce the h? In a word, dont. Except in a very few words of foreign origin such as hmster and hockey, the h is silent. Failing To Keep the L Distinct Listen carefully, and you may notice that the first l of little has a different sound than the second l. The first is formed with the tongue against the roof of the palate, while the second one isnt. The key rule in pronouncing the Spanish l is that it has sound of the first l in little. Thus the l has the same sound in mal as it does in malo and mala (all of them meaning bad). In other words, mal does not sound like mall. The doubled l or ll used to be considered a separate letter of the alphabet. Although its pronunciation varies with region, you wont go wrong to give it the sound of the y in yet. Thus calle (street) sounds similar to KAH-yeh. Key Takeaways When pronouncing Spanish words, remember that the pronunciation rules of English dont always apply.Among the letters that Spanish pronounces much differently than English does are g (sometimes), h, l (sometimes), r, u (usually), v, and z.The repeated letter pairs ll and rr have pronunciations that are distinct from the same letter appearing individually.

Causes of the Russian Revolution

Causes of the Russian Revolution Russia in the late 19th and early 20th century was a massive empire, stretching from Poland to the Pacific. In 1914, the country was home to approximately 165 million people representing a diverse range of languages, religions, and cultures. Ruling such a massive state was no easy task, especially as the long-term problems within Russia eroded the Romanov monarchy. In 1917, this decay finally produced a revolution, sweeping the old system away. While the turning point for the revolution is widely accepted as World War I, but the revolution was not an inevitable byproduct of war and there are long-term causes that are equally important to recognize. Peasant Poverty In 1916, a full three-quarters of the Russian population was comprised of peasants who lived and farmed in small villages. In theory, their life had improved in 1861, before which they were serfs who were owned and could be traded by their landowners. 1861 saw the serfs freed and issued with small amounts of land, but in return, they had to pay back a sum to the government, and the result was a mass of small farms deeply in debt. The state of agriculture in central Russia was poor. Standard farming techniques were deeply out of date and there was little hope for real progress thanks to widespread illiteracy and lack of capital.  Families lived just above the subsistence level, and around 50 percent had a member who had left the village to find other work, often in the towns. As the central Russian population boomed, land became scarce. This way of life contrasted sharply with those of rich landowners, who held 20 percent  of the land in large estates and were often members of the Russian upper class. The western and southern reaches of the massive Russian Empire were slightly different, with a larger number of reasonably well-off peasants and large commercial farms. The result was, by 1917, a mass of disaffected peasants, angry at increased attempts to control them by the people who profited from the land without directly working it. The vast majority of peasants were firmly against developments outside the village and desired autonomy.Although the vast majority of the Russia population was made up of rural peasants and urban ex-peasants, the upper and middle classes knew little of real peasant life. But they were familiar with the myths: of down to earth, angelic, pure communal life. Legally, culturally, socially, the peasants in over half a million settlements were organized by centuries of community rule. The mirs, self-governing communities of peasants, were separate from elites and the middle class. But this was not a joyous, lawful commune; it was a desperate struggling sy stem fuelled by the human weaknesses of rivalry, violence, and theft, and everywhere was run by elder patriarchs. Within the peasantry, a break was emerging between the elders and the growing population of young, literate peasants in a deeply-ingrained culture of violence.  Prime Minister Pyor Stolypin’s land reforms of the years before 1917 attacked the peasant concept of family ownership, a highly-respected custom reinforced by centuries of folk tradition.  In central Russia, the peasant population was rising and the land was running out, so all eyes were on the elites who were forcing the debt-ridden peasants to sell land for commercial use. Ever more peasants traveled to the cities in search of work. There, they urbanized and adopted a new, more cosmopolitan worldview- one that often looked down on the peasant lifestyle they left behind. Cities were highly overcrowded, unplanned, poorly paid, dangerous and unregulated. Upset with class, at odds with their bosses and elites, a new urban culture was forming.   When the free labor of the serfs disappeared, the old elites were forced to adapt to a capitalist, industrialized farming landscape. As a result, the panicked elite class was forced to sell off their land and, in turn, declined. Some, like Prince G. Lvov (the first democratic Prime Minister of Russia) found ways to continue their farm businesses. Lvov became a zemstvo  (local community) leader, building roads, hospitals, schools and other community resources. Alexander III feared the zemstvos, calling them overly-liberal. The government agreed and created new laws that attempted to reel them in. Land captains would be sent out to enforce Tsarist rule and counter the liberals. This and other counter-reforms ran right into the reformers and set the tone for a struggle that the Tsar would not necessarily win. A Growing and Politicized Urban Workforce The industrial revolution came to Russia largely in the 1890s, with ironworks, factories and the associated elements of industrial society. While the development was neither as advanced nor as swift as in a country like Britain, Russia’s cities began to expand and large numbers of peasants moved to the cities to take up new jobs. By the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth centuries, these tightly packed and expanding urban areas were experiencing problems like poor and cramped housing, unfair wages, and dwindling rights for workers. The government was afraid of the developing urban class but more afraid of driving foreign investment away by supporting better wages, and there was a consequent lack of legislation on behalf of the workers.  These workers swiftly began to grow more politically-engaged and chaffed against government restrictions on their protests. This created a fertile ground for the socialist revolutionaries who moved between cities and exile in Siberia. In ord er to try and counter the spread of anti-Tsarist ideology, the government formed legal but neutered trade unions to take the place of the banned but powerful equivalents. In 1905, and 1917, heavily politicized socialist workers played a major role, although there were many different factions and beliefs under the umbrella of ‘socialism’. Tsarist Autocracy, A Lack of Representation and a Bad Tsar Russia was ruled by an emperor called the Tsar, and for three centuries this position had been held by the Romanov family. 1913 saw the 300-year celebrations in a vast festival of pomp, pageantry, social class and expense. Few people had an idea the end of Romanov rule was so close, but the festival was designed to enforce a view of the Romanovs as personal rulers. All it fooled were the Romanovs themselves. They ruled alone, with no true representative bodies: even the Duma, an elected body created in 1905, could be completely ignored by the Tsar when he wished to, and he did. Freedom of expression was limited, with censorship of books and newspapers, while a secret police operated to crush dissent, frequently either executing people or sending them to exile in Siberia.The result was an autocratic regime under which republicans, democrats, revolutionaries, socialists and others were all increasingly desperate for reform, yet impossibly fragmented. Some wanted violent change, others peaceful, but as opposition to the Tsar was banned, opponents were increasingly driven to more radical measures. There was a strong reforming – essentially westernizing – movement in Russia during the mid-nineteenth century under Alexander II, with elites split between reform and entrenchment. A constitution was being written when Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. His son, and his son in turn (Nicholas II), reacted against the reform, not only halting it but starting a counter-reform of centralized, autocratic government.The Tsar in 1917 - Nicholas II - has sometimes been accused of lacking the will to govern. Some historians have concluded that this wasn’t the case; the problem was that Nicholas was determined to govern while lacking any idea or ability to run an autocracy properly. That Nicholas’ answer to the crises facing the Russian regime – and the answer of his father - was to look back to the seventeenth century and try to resurrect an almost late-medieval system, instead of reforming and modernizing Russia, was a major problem and source of disc ontent which directly led to the revolution. Tsar Nicholas II held to three tenants drawn on earlier Tsars: The tsar was the owner of all of Russia, a fiefdom with him as lord, and all trickled down from him.The Tsar ruled what God had given, unrestrained, checked by no earthly power.The people of Russia loved their Tsar as a tough father. If this was out of step with the west and emerging democracy, it was out of step with Russia itself. Many Russians objected to these tenets, embracing western ideals as an alternative to the tradition of tsarism. Meanwhile, the tsars ignored this growing sea change, reacting  Alexander II’s assassination not by reforming but by retreating to medieval foundations. But this was Russia, and there wasn’t even one kind of autocracy. ‘Petrine’ autocracy derived from Peter the Great’s western vision, organized royal power through laws, bureaucracy, and systems of government. Alexander III, heir of the murdered reformer Alexander II, tried to react, and sent it all back to Tsar centric, personalized ‘Muscovite’ autocracy. Petrine bureaucracy in the nineteenth century had become interested in reforming, connected to the people, and the people wanted a constitution. Alexander IIIs son Nicholas II was also Muscovite and tried to turn things back to the seventeenth century to a greater extent. Even dress code was considered. Added to this was the idea of the good tsar: it was the boyars, the aristocrats, the other landowners who were bad, and it was the tsar who protected you, rather than being an evil dictator. Russia was running out of people who believed it.Nicholas was not interested in politics, was poorly edu cated in the nature of Russia, and not trusted by his father. He was not a natural ruler of an autocracy. When Alexander III died in 1894, the disinterested and somewhat clueless Nicholas took over. Shortly after, when the stampede of a huge crowd, lured by free food and rumors of low stocks, resulted in mass death, the new Tsar kept partying. This did not win him any support from the citizenry. On top of this, Nicholas was selfish and unwilling to share his political power. Even able men who wished to change the future of Russian, like Stolypin, faced in the Tsar a man who resented them. Nicholas wouldn’t disagree to people’s faces, would take decisions based weakly, and would only see ministers singly so as not to be overwhelmed. Russian government lacked the ability and effectiveness it needed because the tsar wouldn’t delegate, or supportable officials. Russia had a vacuum that would not react to a changing, revolutionary world.The Tsarina, bought up in Britain, disliked by elites and felt to be a stronger person than Nicholas also came to believe in the medieval way to rule: Russia was not like the UK, and she and her husband did not need to be liked. She had a strength to push Nicholas around, but when she gave birth to a hemophiliac son and heir she drifted harder into church and mysticism looking for a cure that she thought she found in the con man mystic, Rasputin. Relationships between the Tsarina and Rasputin eroded the support of the army and aristocracy.

Lowe's vs. home depot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lowe's vs. home depot - Essay Example That is one of reasons that statistics show more sale revenue for Home Depot which is more accessible due to more branches! Lowe’s and Home Depot, being in the same business, have distinctly differentiated market strategy. Lowe’s is more focused to the needs and requirements of women and housewives who are more incline to buy dà ©cor accessories and unique products that can make a fashion statement for them. Home Depot, on the other hand, caters to the bulk buyers like contractors and retail customers, men especially, who are seriously into DIY (do it yourself) products. Home Depot has a better competitive image because they not only have more stores but they have also realized the need to improve on their quality and customer service. They are also thinking of expanding their product line to cater to wider customer base. Lowe’s, on the other hand, is just intending to improve on its customer service which is inadequate in the current scenario of recessive trend and highly competitive business

Comparative Post Disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparative Post Disaster - Essay Example As the paper stresses disasters although are not the norm and the usual occurrence but they are very much part of our lives. The degree and types of disasters vary. Some are natural disasters which cannot be avoided but some only occur due to our mistakes and can be avoided. Disaster is a phenomenon that can be natural or man-made and can be disastrous especially if no preventive measures are taken. As the report highlights disaster management is the strategy and methodology employed when any catastrophe or disaster takes place. This disaster recovery process can be initiated when anything threatens to disrupt the normal course of events and the human life is at stake. Governments at different levels and even some businesses develop their disaster management plan to overcome any disastrous event and resume routine work. On 11th Dec 2005 there were explosions measuring 2.4 on Richter scale, in the oil storage depot of Buncefield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. The first explosion was massive accompanied by a large fire that engulfed a high proportion of the site. Although there were no fatalities but 40 people got injured. Damage was not only restricted to the oil depot but many neighboring residential and commercial buildings were damaged. The fire and the emitting black clouds could be seen for several days. It was Britain’s most costly industrial disaster. St. Albanâ⠂¬â„¢s Crown Court gave its verdict in July 2010 and five companies after being found guilty were fined  £ 9.5 million.

Role Of 3d Animators In Motion Capture Film Studies Essay

Role Of 3d Animators In Motion Capture Film Studies Essay In the world of upcoming technologies and innovations it has become hard for traditional techniques to withstand. Same is the case here in terms of 3d animation which is become an integral part of the film industry here for a long time and the motion capture which is upcoming and is here to stay. Motion capture being the favourite of every live action movie director is gaining attention in the film industry. In producing entire feature films with Computer animation, the industry is currently split between studios that use Motion Capture, and studios that do not. Out of the three nominees for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, two of the nominees (Monster House and the winner Happy Feet) used Motion Capture, and only Pixars Cars was animated without Motion Capture. In the ending credits of Pixars latest film Ratatouille, a stamp appears labelling the film as 100% Pure Animation No Motion Capture! For 3D animations, objects are built on the computer monitor and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton. Then the limbs, eyes, mouth, clothes, etc.of the figure are moved by the animator on key frames. The differences in appearance between key frames are automatically calculated by the computer. To gain more control of the interpolation, a parameter curve editor is available in the majority of the 3D animation packages. The parameter curve editor shows a graphical representation of the variation of a parameters value over time (the animation curve). Altering the shape of the curve results into a change in interpolation and therefore into a change in the speed of motion. By changing the interpolation it is possible to avoid surface interpenetration (such as fingers intersecting each other) when transitioning from one hand shape to the next. The realism of keyframe animations depends largely on the animators ability to set believe keyframe (realistic hand shapes) and on his abil ity to control the interpolation between the keyframe i.e., the speed and fluidity of motion. Rendering takes place in the animation finally. History of 3D animation In the year 1824 Peter Roget presented his paper The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects to the British Society. In 1831 Dr.Joseph Antoine Plateau (a Belgian scientist) and Dr.Simon Rittrer constructed a machine called a phenakistoscope. This machine produced an illusion of the movement by allowing a viewer to gaze at a rotating disk containing small windows; behind the windows was another disk containing a sequence of images. When the disks were rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows with the images created an animated effect. Eadweard Muybridge started his photographic gathering of animals in motion. Zoetrope (series of sequential images in a revolving drum) when the drum is revolved the slits in the drum creates the illusion of motion and becomes first movie- similarly film creates this illusion by having one image then black then image then black again. Thaumatrope twirl it and the two images superimpose on each other. Two frame animation . In 1887 Thomas Edison started his research work into motion pictures. He announced his creation of the kinetoscope which projected a 50ft length of film in approximately 13 seconds. Emile Renynaud in 1892 combining his earlier inventions of the praxinoscope with a projector opens the Theatre Optique in the Musee Grevin. It displays an animation of images painted on long strips of celluloid. Louis and Augustine Lumiere issued a patent for a device called cinematography capable of projecting moving pictures. Thomas Armat designed the vitascope which projected the films of Thomas Edison. This machine had a major influence on all sub-sequent projectors. J.Stuart Blackton made the first animated film which he called Humorous phases of Funny faces in 1906. His method was to draw comical faces on a blackboard and film them. He would stop the film, erase one face to draw another, and then film the newly drawn face. The stopmotion provided a starting effect as the facial expressions changed b efore the viewers eyes. Emile Cohl makes En Route the first cut-out animation. This technique saves time by not having to redraw each new cell, only reposition the paper. Winsor McCay produced an animation sequence using his comic strip character Little Nemo. John R Bray applies for a patent on numerous techniques for animation. One of the most revolutionary is the process of printing the backgrounds of the animation. In 1914 Winsor McCay produced a cartoon called Gertie. The trained Dinosaur which amazingly consisted of 10,000 drawings. In 1914 Earl Hurd applies for a patent for the technique of drawing the animated portion of an animation on a clear celluloid sheet and later photographing it with its matching background (Cell animation). Cell and Paper Animation Technique: By the mid-1910s animation production in US already dominated by the techniques of cell and paper. Cell animation was more popularized in America than in Europe because of Assembly line Taylorism that had taken America by storm. Cell Animation was most appropriate to the assembly-line style of manufacturing because it took a whole line of persons working on very specific and simple repetitive duties. On the other hand, in Europe where the assembly-line style of work was not encouraged, clay animation and other forms of animation that required only a few individuals working on the set at a time was more popularized. Because the actual set could only afford a limited amount of individuals working at one time together and no more this style and other alternative forms of animation became more widely accepted. Disney-cell animation draw each image one at a time using onion-skinning technique. Traditional cell animation drawings created one by one animators create the keyframe and assistances create in-betweens; onion skinning process used to make easier the reference drawing of each additional image. The international feature Syndicate realised many titles including Silk Hat Harry, Bringing up Father and Krazy Kat. In 1923 the first feature-length animated film called El Apostol is created in Argentina. 1923 saw the discovery of Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio by Walt and Roy Disney. Walt Disney extended Max Fleischers technique of combining live action with cartoon characters in the film Alices Wonderland. Warner Brothers released The Jazz Singer which introduced combined sound and images. Ken Knowlton working at Bell Laboratories started developing computer techniques for producing animated movies. University of Utah, Ed Catmull develops an animation scripting language and creates an animation of a smooth shaded hand. Ref: E.Catmull,A system for computer generated movies, Proceedings of the ACM National Conference, 1972. Beier and Neely, at SGI and PDI respectively publish an algorithm where line correspondences guide morphing between 2d images.Demo is Michael Jacksons video Bla ck and White.Ref: T.Beier and S.Neely,Feature-Based image metamorphosis. Computer Graphics July 1992. Chen and Williams at the apple publish a paper on view interpolation for 3d walkthoughs.Ref: S.E.Chen and L.Williams,View Interpolation for image Systhensis. Computer Graphics Proceeding, Annual Conference Series1993. Jurassic Park uses CG for realistic living creatures. The stars of this movie directed by Steven Spielberg were the realistic looking and moving 3d-dinosaurs, created by Industrial Light and Magic. With each new step into the next generation of computer graphics comes new and more believable CGI characters such as those found in Dinosaur. In Dinosaur the creation and implementation of realistic digital hair on the lemurs is included. After seeing it, George Lucas, director of the Star War series, concluded the time was there to start working on his new Star Wars movies. In his opinion 3d-animation was now advanced enough to believably create the alien worlds and characters he already wanted to make since the early late seventies. In the year 1995 Toy Story the first full length 3D CG feature film. The first CGI feature-length animation and Pixars first feature film. The primary characters are toys in the room of this six-year-old boy Andy, and is mostly told from their point of view. On entrance of computers and 3d driven software feature length films of high polish can be created virtually in 3d. Toy Story is considered to be a first animated feature ever generated completely on computers. Disney and Pixar partnered up to create this film. Star Wars, almost every shot of this movie is enhancing with 3d-animation. It features very realistic 3d-aliens and environment. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers was the first Photorealistic motion captured character for a film; Gollum was also the first digital actor to win an award (BFCA), category created for Best Digital Acting Performance. MOTION CAPTURE Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement onto a digital model. For medical applications and for validation of computer vision and robotics, and it is used in military, entertainment, sports too. To recording actions of human actors, and using that information to animate digital character models in 2d and 3d computer animation is how it is termed in film making. Performance capture is referred when it includes face, fingers and captures subtle expressions. Movements of one or more actors are sampled many times per second, although with most techniques motion capture records only the movements of the actor, not his/her visual appearance, in motion capture sessions. This animation data is mapped to a 3d model so that the model performs the same actions as the actor. Although there are many different systems for capturing motion capture data, they tend to fall broadly into two different categories: One contains optical systems, which employ photogrammetry to establish the position of an object on 3D space based on its observed location within the 2d fields of a number of cameras. Data is produced by these systems within 3 degrees freedom from each marker, and rotational information must be inferred from the relative orientation of the sensors with respect to a transmitter. Collecting of motion data from an image without using photogrammetry or magnetic equipment is referred to as motion tracking. In The Lord of the Rings in 1978, animated film where the visual appearance of the motion of an actor was filmed, then the film used a guide for the frame by frame motion of a hand-drawn animated character; the technique is comparable to the older technique of rotoscope. The camera movements can also be motion captured so that a virtual camera in the scene will pan, tilt, or dolly around the stage driven by a camera operator, while the actor is performing and the motion capture the camera and props as well as the actors performance. By doing this, it allows the computer generated characters, images and sets, to have the same perspective as the video images and sets, to have the same perspective as the video images from the camera. The actors movements are displayed through the computer process, providing the desired camera positions terms of the objects in the set. Match moving or camera tracking is referred to retroactively obtaining camera movement data from the captured footage. History of Mocap: The mocap technology of the modern day has been developed by the led in the medical science, army, and computer generated imagery (CGI) where it is used for a wide variety of purposes. Mocap had successful attempts long before the computer technology had become available. Early attempts: The invention of zoopraxiscope was because a of a bet of $25,000 on whether all four feet of a horse leave the ground simultaneously or not. Endeared Muybridge (1830-1904) who invented the zoopraxiscope was born in England and became a popular landscape photographer in San Francisco. Muybridge proved the fact that all four feet of a trotting horse simultaneously get off the ground. He did so by capturing a horses movement in a sequence of photographs taken with a set of one dozen cameras trigged by the horses feet. The earlier motion capture devices are considered to be zoopraxiscope. This technology was perfected by Muybridge himself. His books, Animals in motion (1899) and The Human Figures in Motion (1901) are still used by many artists, such as animators, cartoonists, illustrators, painters as valuable references. Muybridge is a pioneer of a mocap and motion pictures. In the same year a physiologist and the inventor of a portable sphygmograph was born in France and his name is Etienne Jules Marey. Sphygmograph is an instrument that records the pulse and blood pressure graphically. Modified versions of his instruments are still used today. Marey met Muybridge in Paris in the year 1882 and is the following year he invented the chronophotographic gun to record animal locomotion but quickly abandoned it, this invention was inspired by Muybridges work. He invented a chronophotographic fixed-plate camera with a timed shutter that allowed him to expose multiple images on a plate in the same year. The camera initially captured images on a glass plate but later he replaced glass plates with film paper, by this way film strips where introduced to the motion picture. Mareys subject wearing his mocap suit shows striking resemblances to skeletal mocap data in the photographs. Research subjects of Marey included cardiology, experimental physiology, instruments in physiology, and locomotion of humans, animals, birds, and insects. Marey used one camera in motion capture comparing to Muybridge who used multiple cameras. After the year in which Muybridge and Marey passed away Harold Edgerton was born in Nebraska. In the early 1920s Edgreton developed his photographic skills as a student while he studied at the University of Nebraska. While working on his masters degree electrical engineering at the Massachusetts in 1926 at the Institute of Technology(MIT), he realized that he couldnt observe the a part of his motor which is rotating as if the motor were turned off by matching the frequency of the strobes flashes to the speed of the motors rotation. Stroboscope was developed to freeze fast moving objects and capture them on film by Edgerton in 1913. Edgreton became a pioneer in high-speed photography. The first successful underwater camera in 1937 was designed by Edgreton and made many trips abroad the research vessel Calypso with French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. The design and building of deep sea flash electronic equipment in 1954 was done by him. Edgreton passes away in 1990 where his long career as an educator and researcher at MIT. Rotoscoping: Max Fleisher and art editor for Popular Science Montly who was born in Vienna in 1883 who moved to the U.S with his family, he came up with an idea of producing animation by tracing live action film frame by frame. Fleisher filmed David his brother, in the year 1915 in a clown costume and they spent almost a year making their first animation using rotoscope. He obtained a patent for rotoscope in 1917.In the year 1918 when World War I ended he produced the first animation in the Out of the Inkwell series and he also established Out of the Inkwell,Inc.,which was later renamed as Fleischer Studio. In this series the animation and the live action was mixed and Fleischer himself interacted with animation characters, Koko the clown and Fitz the dog. Before Disneys Steamboat Willie, in the year 1924 thats 4 years before he had a synchronised soundtrack. Characters such as Popeye and Superman were all animated characters from Fleischers studio. Betty Boop first appeared in Fleischers animati on and later became a comic strip character. In 30s early animations were filled with sexual humour, ethnic jokes, and gags. When the Hays Production Code (censorship) laws became effective in 1934 it affected Fleischer studio more than other studios. Betty Boop lost her garters and sex appeal as a result. After almost after 4 years of production Walt Disney presented the first feature length animation, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs. Snow White was a huge success. The distributer of Fleischers animation Paramount pressured Max and David Fleischer to produce feature length animations. The two feature films Gullivers Travel (1939) and Mr. Bugs Goes to Town (1941) were produced by the money borrowed from Paramount. Both of the films were a disaster in the box office. The failure of Mr. Bug made Paramount fire the Fleischer brothers and changed the studios name from Famous Studios. Max Fleischer sued Paramount over the distribution of his animations. He signed a Betty Boop merchandising deal for King Features, a unit of the Hearst Corporation before he died in the year 1972. The use of Rotoscoping can be seen in the Disney animations, starting with Snow White. Later Disney animations characters were highly stylized and Rotoscoping became a method for studying human and animal motions. Comparison between film footages and the corresponding scenes in the animations reveals skilful and selective use of Rotoscoping by Disney animators. They went above and beyond Rotoscoping. Snow Whites can be attributed to Walt Disneys detailed attention to the plot, character development and artistry. Both Max Fleischer and Walt Disney were highly innovative individuals; however, it is said true that Disneys memory belongs to the public; Maxs to those who remember him by choice (Herald son, 1975). Beginning of Digital Mocap: In the 1970s the research and development of digital mocap technology started in pursuit of medical and military applications. In 1980s CGI industry discovered the technologys potentials. In the 1980s there were floppy disks that were actually floppy and most computers were equipped with monochrome monitors; some with calligraphic displays. To view color images, for example rendered animation frames, images had to be sent to a frame buffer, which was often shared by multiple users due to its cost. Large computers were housed in ice cold server rooms. Offices were files with the noise of dot matrix printers. In the 1980s ray tracing and radiocity algorithms were published. Based on these algorithms renderers required a supercomputer or workstations to render animations frames in a reasonable amount of time. Personnel computers werent powerful enough. CPUs, memories, storage devices, and applications were more expensive than today. Wavefront technologies developed and marketed the firs t commercial of the shelf 3D computer animation software in 1985. At that time only a handful of animation production companies existed. Most of the animations that they produced were flying logos for TV commercials or TV programmes opening sequences. The pieces were 15 to 30 seconds long. In the 1980s the readers who saw Brilliance probably still remember the astonishment of seeing a computer generated character, a shiny female robot, moving like a real human being. Brilliance being the first successful application of mocap technology in CGI,Total Recall was the first failed attempt to use mocap in a feature film. The post production companies contracted to produce effects for the 1990 science fiction film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, Metrolight Studio being one of them. Metrolight decided to use mocap to create an animation sequence of moving skeletons for the scene in which Schwarzeneggers character goes through a large airport security X-ray machine, along with other people and a dog. Operator from an optical mocap equipment company was sent out to a location with mocap system. A team from metrolight followed the operators instruction while capturing performances by Schwarzenegger and other performers. They went home believing that the capture session had gone well and the mocap company would deliver the mocap data after cleaning and processing. What so ever metrolight never received usable data and had to give up using mo cap for the scene. Metrolights unfortunate experience teaches us one lesson that we should hire only a service provider with a good track record and references. In 1995 FX Fighters released its first real-time fighting with 3D characters in 3D environments. Its also one of the first video games that used mocap technology to give realism to 3D characters movements. By the user input using a set of motion captured actions, game characters are animated in real time. The pieces of actions are played in such a way that the player does not notice the transition from one action to another giving an impression that the player is fully in control of a game characters movement. Seeing the success of the game, other game companies were encouraged to use mocap in their games. In the 1980s and 1990s these pioneering efforts have shown remarkable development and achievement in digital mocap. In the recent years, in addition to medicine, and entertainment, mocap applications have been found in many other fields. Mocap is used by various sports to analyze and enhance the athletes performances and prevent injuries. Designers use mocap to understand users movements, constrains, and interactions with environments and to design better products. Mocap is used by engineers to analyze human movements and design robots that walk like us. Mocap is also used by art historians and educators to archive and study performances by dancers and actors. For instance, in 1991 an intricate performance by legendary French mime Marcel Marceau (1923-2007) was captured at the Ohio State University to preserve his arts for future generations. 3D ANIMATION PRODUCTION PIPELINE Sales pitch Convincing the big jobs to work on the story. Story plot solid summary What the films about, what happens in it and extra variations that may or may not appear in the final product. Storyboards Basic sketches of the scenes. (Time usually taken = 6 months) Voice recording At first the artists themselves do the voice acting to put a connection from the story board to the script to give an idea of the film, later on celebrities are paid to be the character voices. Storyboard reel Pictures in a timescale with voice recordings playing in conjunction, basically a really basic film. Concept art Artists try to create the look and feel of the scenery and the characters from the scripts, voice talent and the basic drawings, the artists get first crack at how lighting sets the mood too Modelling The characters, props and landscape have started to be created in 3d; hinges have been added to them to give them movement. Everything is still in frame form, no textures have been added yet (think skeletons). Dressing The models and props are skinned according to the mood and feel the team wants for the film to portray. Shot layout The Basically skinned objects and characters are set into positions to work out camera angles and movement, nothing is truly animated or skinned yet, the recordings of these final cuts are passed onto the animation team. (Time Usually taken = 4 weeks) Animation The models are animated, everything such as the skeleton is already there so they are basically choreographers (think puppeteers). They move the mouth and ligaments according to the sounds and the scripts. (Time usually taken 4 weeks) Shading shading changes surfaces according to the lighting on it, it affects the models colour depending on the lighting situation e.g. light bouncing off a shiny metal surface is successfully done thanks to a shader. Shaders are added to the landscapes, models and props. Lighting Lighting is added to the scenes, Lighting is what actually makes everything look great. Lighting is based on the mood scripts. (Time usually taken = 8 weeks) Rendering The final product is rendered; this can take a hell of a lot of time to render one frame depending on the quality of the graphics put into. Touch-ups Things such as music scores, special effects and sound effects are added, the film is also recorded to an appropriate format. MOTION CAPTURE PRODUCTION PIPELINE Pre-Production Storyboard development Shot analysis It is important to work out exactly what action is needed at this stage, plus any restrictions which may impede the actor. There are several factors which need to be addressed: Does the actors size correspond to that of the character. Should the actor have any props, or costume (for example having the actor where horns for your demon character in your mocap session, will prevent the arms going through the horns at the implementing stage) The spatial surrounding should be a factor. Will the motion need to be blended (e.g. A running motion, as the motion capture studio will only capture a fragment of the run). Character Rigging Develop a character rig, which involves the following: Matching the actors size as much as possible. Constraining the joints. Problems may include exporting out of your animation package into the correct format (e.g. .xsi into fbx) Several different export formats should be tested to realize which suites best with the character rig (e.g. .bvh, .fbx, etc). Actual Motion Captured This can be viewed on a rig in real time. There are several different forms of Motion Capture devices. The most commonly used are: Mechanical, Optical, and Electromagnetic (magnetic) Cleaning Data This involves several data manipulators being applied to the motion capture data. In optical motion capture systems, for example, after you capture the movements of your actors, the data is stored as raw 2D data. Reconstruction process will convert it into continuous 3D trajectories. Label process will label all the trajectories and so on. Additional processing may be needed when there are data gaps, jitters and other data-noises. Implementing data This is simply the process of applying your data to your skeleton rig provided at the initial stages. There can be several problems at this stage depending on the formats and animation package chosen. For example there is an issue with UVs, materials, scaling etc. It is suggested you follow each package pipeline to minimize these issues. APPLICATIONS OF MOTION CAPTURE The process of recording movement and translating that movement onto a digital model is called as motion capture, motion tracking or mocap. Its applications are used in the military, entertainment, sports, medical applications and for validation of computer vision and robotics etc. Games The largest market for motion capture is game development. Games are drawing as much revenue as movies; it is easy to see why game development often calls for enormous quantities of motion capture. There are basically two types of 3d character animation used in games: real time playback vs. Cinmeatics. Real-time allows the game player to choose from pre-created moves, by controlling the characters moves in real-time. Cinmeatics are the fully rendered movies used for the intros and cut-scenes. Often the last part of game production, or a process that is sub-contracted to a separate studio,cinematics are generally not essential to game-play, but do add a lot of appeal to the game, and help immensely with story development and mood generation. Video and TV Performance animation In live television broadcasts real-time motion is becoming popular. Using motion capture we can place a virtual character within a real scene, or to place live actors within a virtual scene with virtual actors, or virtual characters with a virtual scene. For real time broadcasting mocap requires mocap-up of any non-standard physiology to keep the performers motion from causing the characters limbs to interpenetrate its body. Joints limits on the shoulders and knees also help maintain believability of the character. A real-time adaptation feature such as motion builders real-time motion mapping is essential when the character body is very different from the actors body. While combining live elements with virtual elements the real and virtual cameras must share the same properties otherwise the illusion looks strange. Daily features Producing daily 3d animated features becomes easy with use of the phasespace optical motion capture system combined with motionbuilder.,allowing TV stations to keep their content fresh and exiciting,and giving viewers yet another reason not to touch that dial. Post-Production for ongoing series using motion capture for ongoing series is gaining popularity. The result of creating a weekly show without motion capture invariably causes shows to be late or production studios to go bankrupt. Having an efficient motion capture pipeline is essential to the success of an ongoing character animation based series. Film The use of motion capture in the films is increasing day by day. For creating character based animation motion capture is essential that move realistically, in situations that would be impractical or too dangerous for real actors.eg. Titanic were characters falling down off the ship. Motion capture was used extensively in Titanic for filler characters. Many of these shots would have been difficult or impossible to do with real cameras and a real ship, or real models, so virtual models, actors, and cameras were used. Some film characters require the use of motion capture, otherwise their animation seems fake. More and more independent companies are starting to put together desktop studios-the idea of two or three people creating an entire movie are not far off, if motion capture is used correctly. Motion capture animation can be done very quickly and inexpensively, without scheduling expensive motion capture sessions in a studio. Web Motion capture is ideal for the web, whether used to create virtual hosts or greeting cards. Motion capture brings a human element to the web as the web becomes more sophisticated and bandwidth increases, in the form of characters that viewers can relate to interact with. Live events Motion capture generated performance animation can be thought of as Improvisation meets Computer Graphics (CG). A good improviser acting through a CG character in real-time can create a very intriguing lass sting experience for the viewer at trade shows, meetings or press conferences. Integrating with live actors father helps create a fascinating experience. Scientific research While doing perceptual research motion capture is useful. By presenting test subjects with abstract movements, distilled from motion capture data, repeatable experiments can be developed that provide insights into human perception. Biomechanical analysis Motion capture is relied by biomechanical analysis for rehabilitation purposes. Motion capture can be used to measure the extent of a clients disability as well as a clients progress with rehabilitation. Motion capture can also help in effective design of prosthetic devices. Engineering For producing ergonomically practical product designs motion capture is essential, as well as designs for physical products that are comfortable and appealing. When it comes to working in an enclosed space, the gypsy has tremendous advantages over optical or magnetic systems, such as a car inter

Family Essay

The Conservative party wishes to try and tackle Homophobia, especially inside sport. The Conservatives also want to make businesses and work places much more LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) friendly. The Conservatives are currently debating to try and make same sex marriages legal. Businesses: The Conservatives are trying to help out smaller businesses, and have already doubled small business rates. Which means 330,000 small businesses will not have to pay any business rates until April 2013. The Conservatives have introduced a National Insurance holidays to businesses outside the South East and London. Big Society: Conservatives are currently trying to encourage volunteering, which is a scheme to bring together young people from different back grounds. The Conservatives have started training Community Organisers to identify local leaders and bring people ogether so that these people can act on what is most important to their community. A nuclear family is a universal term to describe a two generation combination/ grouping usually consisting of a father, mother and one or more children (usually two children). They would live in the same household all together to make up the ‘nuclear family. A nuclear family is a universal term to describe a two generation combination/grouping usually consisting of a father, mother and one or more children (usually two children). They would live in the same household all together to ake up the ‘nuclear family. A nuclear family is a universal term to describe a two generation combination/grouping usually consisting of a father, mother and one or more children (usually two children). They would live in the same household all together to make up the ‘nuclear family. A nuclear family is a universal term to describe a two generation combination/grouping usually consisting of a father, mother and one or more children (usually two children). They would live in the same household all together to make up the ‘nuclear family. A nuclear family is a universal term to describe a two generation combination/grouping usually consisting of a father, mother and one or more children (usually two children). They would live in the same household all together to make up the ‘nuclear family. A nuclear family is a universal term to describe a two generation combination/grouping usually consisting of a father, mother and one or more children (usually two children). They would live in the same household all together to make up the ‘nuclear family. v v A

Definition and Examples of Diglossia (Sociolinguistics)

In sociolinguistics, diglossia is  a situation in which two distinct varieties of a language are spoken within the same speech community. Bilingual diglossia is a type of diglossia in which one language variety  is used for writing and another for speech. When people are bidialectal, they can use two dialects of the same language, based on their surroundings or different contexts where they use one or the other language variety.  The term  diglossia  (from the Greek for  speaking two languages) was first used in English by linguist Charles Ferguson in 1959. Diction Versus Diglossia Diglossia is more involved than just switching between levels of diction in the same language, such as going from slang or texting shortcuts to writing up a formal paper for a class or report for a business. Its more than being able to use a languages  vernacular. Diglossia, in a strict definition, is distinct in that the high version of a language isnt used for ordinary conversation and has no native speakers. Examples include the differences between standard and Egyptian Arabic; Greek; and Haitian Creole.   In the classic diglossic situation, two varieties of a language, such as standard French and Haitian  creole  French, exist alongside each other in a single society, explains author Robert Lane Greene. Each variety has its own fixed functions—one a high, prestigious variety, and one a low, or  colloquial, one. Using the wrong variety in the wrong situation would be socially inappropriate, almost on the level of delivering the BBCs nightly news in broad  Scots. He continues the explanation: Children learn the low variety as a native language; in diglossic cultures, it is the language of home, the family, the streets and marketplaces, friendship, and solidarity. By contrast, the high variety is spoken by few or none as a first language. It must be taught in school. The high variety is used for public speaking, formal lectures  and  higher education, television broadcasts, sermons, liturgies, and writing. (Often the low variety has no written form.) (You Are What You Speak. Delacorte, 2011) Author Ralph W. Fasold takes this last aspect a bit further, explaining that people are taught the high (H) level in school, studying its grammar and rules of usage, which they then apply to the low (L) level as well when speaking. However, he notes, In many diglossic communities, if speakers are asked, they will tell you L has no grammar, and that L speech is the result of the failure to follow the rules of H grammar (Introduction to Sociolinguistics: The Sociolinguistics of Society, Basil Blackwell, 1984). The high language also has more intense grammar—more inflections, tenses, and/or forms than the low version.   Neither is diglossia always as benign as a community that just  happens  to have two languages, one for law and one for chatting personally. Autor Ronald Wardhaugh, in An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, notes, It is used to assert  social  position and to keep people in their place, particularly those at the lower end of the social hierarchy (2006). Different Definition of Diglossia   Other definitions of diglossia dont require the social aspect to be present and just concentrate on the plurality, the different languages for different contexts. For example, Catalan (Barcelona) and Castillian (Spain as a whole) Spanish, dont have a social hierarchy to their usage but are regional. The versions of Spanish have enough overlap that they can be understood by speakers of each but are different languages. The same applies to  Swiss German and standard German; they are regional. In a bit wider definition of diglossia, it can also include  social dialects, even if the languages are not  completely separate, distinct languages. In the United States,  speakers of dialects such as Ebonics (African American Vernacular English, AAVE),  Chicano English  (ChE), and Vietnamese English (VE) also function in a diglossic environment. Some people argue that Ebonics has its own grammar and appears related in lineage to Creole languages spoken by enslaved people of the Deep South (African languages melding with English), but others disagree, saying that its not a separate language but just a dialect.   In this wider definition of diglossia,  the two languages can also borrow words from each other.