Escape and Confinement in Flaubert’s Madame Bovary

A theme throughout Flaubert's Madame Bovary is escape versus confinement. In the novel Emma Bovary attempts again and again to escape the ordinariness of her life by reading novels, having affairs, day dreaming, moving from town to town, and buying luxuries items. It is Emma's early education described for an entire chapter by Flaubert that awakens in Emma a struggle against what she perceives as confinement. Emma's education at the convent is perhaps the most significant development of the dichotomy in the novel between confinement and escape. The convent is Emma's earliest confinement, and it is the few solicitations from the outside world that intrigue Emma, the books smuggled in to the convent or the sound of a far The chapter mirrors the structure of the book it starts as we see a satisfied women content with her confinement and conformity at At first far from being boredom the convent, she enjoyed the company of the nuns, who, to amuse her, would take her into the chapel by way of a long corridor leading from the dining hall. She played very little during the recreation period and knew her catechism well. The chapter is also filled with images of girls living with in the protective walls of the convent, the girls sing happily together, assemble to study, and pray. But as the chapter progresses images of escape start to dominate. But these are merely visual images and even these images are either religious in nature or of similarly She wished she could have lived in some old manor house, like those chatelaines in low wasted gowns who spent their days with their elbows on the stone sill of a gothic window surmounted by trefoil, chin in hand watching a white plumed rider on a black horse galloping hem from far across the country. (Flaubert 32. ) As the chapter progresses and Emma continues dreaming while in the convent the images she conjures up are of exotic and foreign lands. No longer are the images of precise people or event but instead they become more fuzzy and chaotic. The escape technique that she used to conjure up images of heroines in castles seems to lead inevitably And there were sultans with long pipes swooning on the arbors on the arms of dancing girls; there were Giaours, Turkish sabers and fezzes; and above all there were wan landscapes of fantastic ountries: palm trees and pines were often combined in one picture with tigers on the right a lion on the left. (Flaubert 33. ) Emma's dreams by this point are chaotic with both palms and pines mixed together with lions and tigers. These dreams continue and change themselves into a death wish as swans transform themselves into dying swans, and singing into funeral music. But Emma although bored with her fantasy refuses to admit it and she starts to revolt against the confines of the convent until the Mother Superior was glad to see The chapter about Emma Bovary's education at the convent is ignificant not only because it provides the basis for Emma's character, but also because the progression of images in this chapter is indicative of the entirety of the novel. The images progress from confinement to escape to chaos and disintegration. In Madame Bovary Emma changes from a women content with her marriage, to a women who escapes from the ordinariness of her everyday life through affairs and novels, to a women whose life is so chaotic that she disintegrates and kills herself. Indeed, Madame Bovary is like a poem comprised of a Emma Bovary found interest in the things around her which revent her boredom in her early education it was the novels she read, â€Å"They were filled with love affairs, lovers, mistresses, persecuted ladies fainting in lonely country houses. She also found interest in the sea but only because it was stormy. But all the things that Emma found interest in she soon became board of from Charles to Leon. This cycle of boredom and the progression of images of confinement, escape, and chaos, parallel both in the Chapter on Emma's education and the novel as a whole the entire mural of the novel as Emma's journey from boredom in reality to self-destruction in fantasy.

Ethics in International Environments Essay

The different changes that are happening in the society greatly affect the norms and practices of people, especially those that are involved in the business sector. The existence of globalization has paved the way for business organization to expand their marketing operations outside their local countries and try targeting new consumers that are situated in foreign nations. However, in doing so, business organizations have to take into consideration the differences among nations, especially when it comes to values, beliefs, culture, legal system, and many others. In line with this, respecting and properly addressing the differences among countries also entails properly applying the decisions and business strategy of the company in such a way that it upholds business ethics. Business ethics refers to the applied or professional ethics that is used in order to identify the morality or rightness of a decision or action in ethical issues that arise in business organizations (Crane & Matten, 2007). In line with this, the case study of the British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) in marketing their Winfield brand in Asia should carefully consider the ethical implications of their market expansion to the welfare of the consumers in that part of the world and also the overall effects of it in the robustness of the company. Brief Summary of the Case Study The British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) is maker of Winfield, an Australian brand of cigarette. Winfield is available in countries such as: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, UK, and Europe. The main competitive advantage of Winfield as compared with other brands is the reputation that it has wherein it boost quality along with the concept of ‘more for less’, without being regarded as a ‘cheap’ brand. The brand has showed strong financial growth starting from its launch in Australia and other international market place. However, the stricter tobacco advertising restrictions has made it difficult for the organization to market and communicate to the consumers in order to sell Winfield. Due to this, the organization decided to enter the Asian market because their tobacco laws are not as strict as compared with the United States and Australia. BATA wants to maximize the potential of the Asian market before it begins banning cigarette advertising and tobacco smoking. In order to expand in the Asian market, BATA has to practice the multi-domestic marketing strategy. The multi-domestic marketing strategy entails that business organizations have to tailor made a marketing standard that adheres to the culture and personal preference of the target foreign market of the company (Kurtz, 2008). In relation to this, business organizations also have the ability to maintain the standard quality of the product by making sure that despite the differences in the marketing strategy, it still adheres to the core value and objective of the brand (Kitchen & Schultz, 2001). Ethical Issues BATA has to address different issues when it comes to entering the Asian market. First, the organization has to identify as to what degree standardize policy on cigarette advertising and promotion has to be applied across borders. Second, BATA needs to find ways in order to establish a balance between ensuring ethical marketing activities and still gaining from the freedom of communication in some international market places. BATA has to reconcile whether a global marketing strategy or multi-domestic marketing strategy is the most effective marketing model that will benefit the organization (Kurtz, 2008). The organization has to face the ethical issue that comes with marketing and selling their cigarettes in the Asian market. BATA has to deal with the ethical dilemma that marketing Winfield in Asia might place the lives of people in danger because of ill effects of tobacco smoking. In addition, the organization also has to take into consideration the exposure of the marketing of Winfield to minors. Moreover, the reputation of the company should also be given utmost consideration because their image of giving quality products with a desire to give satisfaction to customers might be threatened by a wrong marketing move. Formulation of Alternative or Possible Solution In order to properly address the ethical issues that exist and others more that might arise, BATA has to analyze their decisions and actions through the Social Contract Theory (SCT). The Social Contract Theory pertains to a wide range of theories that try to explain the idea of how people willingly give a part of their right in order to form the state with the main purpose of ensuring social order. Every individual has their own respective rights, which they freely surrender a portion of to a higher authority usually the government, in order to prevent chaos and preserve order in the society (Crane & Matten, 2007). In the context of international business ethics, the Social Contract Theory allows the establishment of a framework that will help address the ethical issues in relation with Winfield. The Social Contract Theory solves ethical issue by means of the following: (1) establish core principles that are related to the organization; (2) provides recommendations for various communities; (3) examine the appropriateness of marketing practices; (4) enables the theoretical foundation of norms and values (Crane & Matten, 2007). Based on the Social Contract Theory, the possible solution entails BATA should identify specific and effective core value system for the organization. In order to properly identify the decisions and actions that the organization recognizes as ethical or unethical an outline of the core value system of the organization is necessary. Another important step is for the organization to implement the multi-domestic marketing strategy that will give importance to the specific preferences of different foreign markets. The organization has to tailor-made their marketing strategy to the needs of respective foreign countries. The appropriateness of the marketing practices of the organization should also be assured by means of establishing a separate department in the organization that will oversee that the marketing of Winfield adheres to the culture, preferences, and law of the foreign market it is being catered. Moreover, the norms and values of the company should be uphold by means of making marketing ads and other promotional materials that targets adults rather than minors. In addition, BATA should place warnings about the ill effects of smoking to the health of people in the very packaging of Winfield and also, in their marketing campaigns even if the law of the foreign country does not require such. BATA has to protect the reputation of the organization and one effective way of doing so is by effectively practicing corporate responsibility (Blownfield & Murray, 2008). The organization has to be mindful of their duties and responsibilities to their consumers and the society as a whole. Recommendation The Utilitarian approach to ethics is a kind of normative ethics that assesses the morality or rightness of action based on its outcome. In utilitarianism, a decision or action is ethical when it yields the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people (Crane & Matten, 2007). Based on utilitarianism, BATA has to give importance to the welfare of their consumers and not only the organization’s profit in order to make their business processes ethical. By means of establishing the core value system of the organization and also by making sure that the promotion of Winfield is focus on adults together with the corresponding health warning, BATA can be able to give the greatest benefit or happiness to almost all stakeholders that are involve. The organization will gain more profit and further develop their company by means of entering the Asian market. In addition, BATA’s greater corporate responsibility will further boost the reputation of the company. In the side of the consumers, they will have more variation when it comes to cigarette choices. The consumers are also properly informed by the company of the health risks of smoking, which will give them informed-consent on deciding whether they will smoke or not. References Blowfield, M. , & Murray A. (2008). Corporate Responsibility: A Critical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. Crane, A. & Matten, D. (2007). Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. New York: Oxford University Press. Kitchen, P. J. , & Schultz, D. E. (2001). Raising the Corporate Umbrella: Corporate Communication in the 21st Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kurtz, D. L. (2008). Contemporary Marketing. New York: Cengage Learning.

12 Angry Men sociological analysis

12 Angry Men focuses on a Jurys deliberations in a capital murder case. A 12- man Jury is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year- old Latino accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the Jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis bases his vote more so for the sake of discussion after all, the Jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. As the deliberations unfold, the story quickly becomes a study of the Jurors complex personalities (ranging from wise, bright and empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and merciless), preconceptions, backgrounds and interactions. That provides the backdrop to Mr. Davis attempts in convincing the other Jurors that a not guilty verdict might be appropriate. A huge feel of the film is gotten through the time period it took place in. Peoples views on race were made very publicly within the Jury. Many of them seemed to have personal vendettas against different races. They deemed the boys Hispanic race to be slum and nothing more than that. A universal problem that is shown in several ways throughout the film is personal prejudice getting in the way of Judgment. Juror number tens reason for saying the accused boy was guilty was because he felt people from slums should not be trusted and that they kill one and another for fun. His prejudice lead him to discriminate against the boy initially by voting guilty earlier in the film, before being convinced in voting not guilty. This was during the civil rights era and all of that. We all know blacks werent treated equally and this makes it apparent that it wasnt easy for any minority within the US. Theyd rather lock them up and throw away the key than give them a fair trial. Tensions run high the second the Jury went into the private room to deliberate. It was a very hot day outside and the fan wasnt working nor would the windows open. No man wanted to spend more time than what they thought would be efficient to determine the verdict. Some even spoke about their plans for right after, thinking it would be a sure bet theyd be out of there soon with the whole night ahead of them. They were wrong. From then on the film turned into an example straight out of a sociology textbook. Everyone didnt deviate from the norm of the group All except one, Juror #8. The rest of the Jury was outraged and deemed him a radical. They could not believe two things. One, that he voted not guilty, and second, hat he went against the group norm. He tried not one bit to conform. Rather, he stood up in grand fashion and presented his doubts to his fellow Jurors. Slowly but surely his grand scheme was working. He did not know for sure whether he was guilty or not guilty, but he had a reasonable doubt and thats all about what the justice system stands tor. Its so interesting when you bring a group o t 12 random people into a setting like a Jury and see what you come up with. All of these men, from different walks of life , they all brought something special to the table that was ital to their key decision. The sociological theory that tone of this film could easily fall under is the conflict perspective. At the very beginning, viewers can clearly see the tension is between the Jurors whom most have a personal prejudice against the boy for certain reason. Some Jurors simply expected that a boy from the slums would commit an act like that they were stereotyping that all people who come from slums are criminals. Even if a person is not personally prejudiced against and individual or group, stereotypes can have them make discriminatory actions such as vote guilty. The reason most of the Jurors stereotyped the actions of the accused boys is because of socialization. The way of transmission was most likely through media; crimes shown by television new or new papers are frequently from neighborhood of low economics standing. Deviance a topic I touched on earlier, is another sociological aspect that can be examined in this film. Deviance is a very relative term where depending on the group and situation, it varies. Juror 8 was the only that felt from the beginning the boy was not guilty. When the first vote most of the other Jurors by he fact he could think the boy was innocent and even were upset at him for thinking that. As the film progressed the Jurors began changing their votes, eventually the roles were reversed; Juror number 3 appear to be the one committing the deviant act since it is revealed his own reason for voting guilty is because of issues with his own son. One of the most important things I learned in observing the sociological aspects of this film is how easy norms can change. The norms of eleven out of the twelve men voted guilty, changed entirely to guilty as the film came to a chose.

Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand Essay

Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand - Essay Example The last component is the model of marketing which refers to the model that is followed by an organization and its marketing team in developing and implementing marketing plan in order to increase the sales and awareness of an organizations goods and services. One of the most important part of the marketing intelligence system is internal records of the system and these records are essential as they help in identifying and differentiating between those marketing process that are operating in an effective and efficient manner and those systems that are ineffective and inefficiently operating. Example of one such record are the sales invoices of an organization and these sales invoices help in depicting the sales level of different products and services of a company (Kotler, 2012). If the sales invoices depict that the sales of a particular good and service has declined, the information can be useful in identifying the reasons that led to the decline and can even help in identifying so lutions to increase

Definition of the Educational Technology Field Essay

Definition of the Educational Technology Field - Essay Example The education and instructional technology is a link between available technologies and the educational/instructional needs by means of looking for ways to make the technology useful to both the student and the teacher. Usually, there is a need to have a clear definition of the field of instructional technology. First, a clear definition offers the people involved, especially the professionals in the field, a better understanding of what their roles are (Hall, Meyer & Rose 2012). Unless there is a clear definition of the field and what it entails, there is a very high chance that the productivity of such professionals, in terms of what they learn, research and implement will be an issue. At the same time, as more and more technologies come out, there are issues of technology hype. Technology hype is the promises that most technologies offer to do, but that do not add any value. In instructional and educational technology, the best thing to know is that not all technologies will offer any quality to the education and instructional process. Taking these technologies on their face value would lead to expensive investments in educational technology, but with little or no return. In this regard, having a good definition of the instructional technology is also a good way to create a better understanding of what this field is about. It also creates the awareness that in involving technology in education and especially in instruction design, the needs of the teacher/students drive the use of technology and not the other way round. Technology should not be the one driving the needs of the teacher/student in class, but technology should only be applied where and when necessary. This can only be best understood by having a clear understanding of instructional what technology is and how it relates to instructional design (Spector et al, 2013). Professionals who understand this principle are

Contracts and Employment Agreements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contracts and Employment Agreements - Essay Example There are exceptions that have become a trend and offer a lot of fortification to at will discharge. These trends comprise public policy, implied contracts and implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. I understand that, in public policy, employees need a â€Å"just cause† for discharge. They need the same to guarantee managerial processes that define whether there is an unbiased cause for discharge. Implied contract entails all that an employee has done in a company, those that show good reputation. It is more significant in employees that have served for a long time without facing lots of critics. On the other hand, implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing comprehensively entails insincerity in a contract. This is vivid when an individual employee does what is in contrary to the laws stipulated in the signed agreement.There is a group of people that are basically not subjects to the earlier stated rule, â€Å"at-will†. This includes contractors and union ized workers, of which Barnes is one. In trying to argue cases that find them, there are certain exceptions that come in an implied contract. As it is indicated in the study, in chapter seven, there is a mode of acceptance that should be followed to the latter in a contract (Gibson & Lindley, 2010). These require adequacy in consideration, in order to explicate the mode of contracts. Arguments arise when Barnes and Pentrix go to court. To justify himself, one of the parties, Barnes says what he was told during an interview.

The Road to Hell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Road to Hell - Essay Example They credited his actions for dynamic liberal regionalization program that led to success of the timely regionalization policy due to the good relation with the government (Gareth 817). The government had close relationship with Barracannia that later made it to be independent that contributed to critical and challenging attitude towards the role of foreign interest. The story of Road to Hell tries to evaluate peoples views towards issues related to racism in modern days. Issues related to racism is not easy to be solved using legalistic approaches, therefore, it requires deeper research and understanding to give pure proves that the human discrimination in relation to sex, skin color, origin has brought some major issues within a community, organization and even the societies. The story tries to explain how people from different cultures and backgrounds do not always take issues of diversity into consideration. Majority estimates each other by their own scales and perceptions that always lead to conflicts due to misunderstanding. According to the story, Baker appears to be a racist. However, people need to be educated on human right to be sensitive enough to have the feeling and immediate support should be provided to the victims by listening their views carefully and respect them.The main cause of racial discrimination has led to cross cultural misinterpretation that occurs when a person gives meaning to observation and their relationship (Adler 8). Some group see themselves superior than others which makes them have power to carry out racist. According to Pierce on Critical Race Theory, he came up with â€Å"one must not look for the gross and obvious† say that tried to explain the accumulation of today’s racism (Web). With reference to this theory, Baker has been viewed as a racist because Rennalls was correct in his evaluation between them and the acceptance of Rennalls

Assess the relationship between American security policy and American Essay

Assess the relationship between American security policy and American international economic policy during the Cold War - Essay Example The nuclear arms race was primarily focused on the two world superpowers at the time: the United States and the Soviet Union. Both countries, being at odds in terms of political and economic structures, were trying to prove the worth of democracy (in the US) and of communism (in the USSR) and this was the central point in the Cold War. Given the international power of both countries in terms of military might and global alliances, both the Soviet Union and the United States lived in constant fear of the other and subsequently both nations became involved in the so-called arms race to obtain as many nuclear bombs as possible. This was a deterrent tactic on the part of both countries whereby it became clear that if either were to strike in an act of war, the other would retaliate to the fullest extent and cause maximum damage. Ironically it was the huge stores of nuclear bombs that were meant to keep the United States and the Soviet Union from attacking one another and turning the Cold War into a real war. Ano Another security policy employed in the United States during the Cold War was networking (Sumi and Salla 103). The main objective of the American government at this time was the containment of communism around the world, and to stop the spread of an ideology it viewed as fundamentally flawed and dangerous, the US did its best to form alliances or simply maintain friendly relationships with those countries that were in close proximity to the Soviet Union. For the most part, this meant the close observation of western European nations and in particular a high interest in the economic status of both West and East Germany. Since World War II Germany was a divided nation, with the West side adopting capitalism and democracy while the East remained communist. Like the Korean and Vietnam wars, the struggles of West and East Germany became a physical battlefield for the ideals of a Cold War between two nations that would never formally take action (Ball and Arnold 132). The goal of the United States being to remain a safe country while simultaneously oppressing communism meant that international networking was key, and this is why security policies and international economic policies were connected so closely during the Cold War. The major influence of the United States over key western European nations came because of the War; in the aftermath of World War II a great deal of infrastructure and structural damage had been done to countries like the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Norway and Sweden, and with the conception of the Marshall Plan the US had figured out how to use international foreign economic policy to its direct advantage over the Soviets (Bonds 180). The Marshall Plan, otherwise known as the European Recovery Plan, channeled funds to ailing economies who promised to support capitalism and democracy in return. For the most part these countries were already pro-democracy and had no interest in

Operations and Quality Improvement Strategies Coursework

Operations and Quality Improvement Strategies - Coursework Example Organizations can apply a set of skills and tools to reduce operational cost, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve the quality of their processes, products and services. 1. Lean Manufacturing. Critically discuss the differences, using examples, between the Lean and Mass (Traditional) Production strategies. A. Rationale: Lean Manufacturing, a Japanese philosophy, gained attention at the beginning of the 1980’s when the western leaders could not stop wondering the inimitable industrial advances and permanent employment of the Japanese businesses (A to Z Management Concepts and Models 2007). It has been described as â€Å"the most fundamental change to occur since mass production was brought to full development by Henry Ford early in the 20th century† (Hindle 2008). Lean manufacturing has been established as one of the crucial factors for Japanese success. There are two basic concepts that are involved here: making the management work to give lower cost per un it produced which directly enhances productivity, secondly, striving for continuous improvement (kaizen). Workers are expected and encouraged to adopt a new approach to their work and reap the benefit of it (A to Z Management Concepts and Models 2007). Generally, in lean production systems employees are organized in teams and each worker must be able to do all the tasks required of the team. â€Å"These tasks are less narrowly specialised than those demanded of the worker in a mass-production system, and this variety enables the worker to escape from the soul-destroying repetition of the pure assembly line† (Hindle 2008) B. Evolution: In 1776, Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations described that mass production is based on the principles of specialization and division of labour. To design products and to set up production systems highly skilled labours are used whereas to produce standardized components and assemble them the labours used are highly unskilled. The latter are dis posable and can be laid off depending on the situation. In mass production, parts used are often manufactured elsewhere and then put together on a moving production facility called assembly line. â€Å"The result is a standardized product made in a fairly small number of varieties, produced at low cost and of mediocre quality.† If a problem needs to be corrected at any point in an assembly line the entire process stops (Hindle 2008). Lean production system requires the components to be delivered just-in-time and each worker is allowed to stop production when a fault is discovered. This is the basic difference from classic assembly line process where stoppages are expensive and should be avoided at all costs. With a mass production system the worker learn nothing because all the faulty products are put aside to be dealt with later. They are replaced immediately, from the large stock of spares, without causing any hold-ups. In case of lean production, problems are immediately r esolved when a stoppage occurs and gradually this diminishes the number of stoppages. Eventually, a mature lean-production line stops a much lesser number of times than a mature mass-production assembly line (A to Z Management Concepts and Models 2007). Yet another advantage of lean production is that designers, workers and suppliers work hand-in-hand with production which never happens in a mass-production system. A separate team of insiders or specialists participate in designing which

ITES industry of India Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ITES industry of India - Research Proposal Example In fact, the year 2002 witnessed a total leasing volume of 1.5 million square feet4 of office space in the NCR. The bulk of the fresh demand was from the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) companies (approximately 75 percent) and followed by banking, insurance and financial services." The factors which favored the growth of the Noida, Gurgaon as for locating ITES industry were proximity to the airport, cheap rental rates, and also good infrastructure, business friendly government policies, like a tax free holiday. Since real estate is all about location, the location of Gurgaon and Noida seems most appropriate in every way. There is a good supply of manpower too from all parts of North India, which makes it most suitable to locate this industry in the NCR region. One more reason for the spurt of the ITES industry in this area is the mobility of the people of Delhi and North India. The trend over the past seven to eight years has been positive. A call center typically needs about 100,000 Sq.ft or more space, which is quite a substantial amount. The amount of space that such companies require is much more than what any other company would need. The infrastructure that the new areas offer is topnotch and much better than that available in the Delhi region. The fact that many employees of the Call / BPO companies prefer to stay close to their place of work is also one more reason why the residential properties have grown in the region. This might not be a substantial proportion of the residential properties in the region nevertheless it has contributed its part to the whole. The employees in the ITES industry in Gurgaon and Noida are from different parts of North India, including Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur etc. Most of the paying guest accomodations and rental properties are given to the thousands of employees who come from outside to work. "Infact, abou t 90 percent of the people in Sector 3 of Noida are South Indians", says Alok of India property research. The ITES is a manpower intensive industry and it is based on either language skills or Data processing abilities. Call s need to train their employees to speak in a neutral accent and also to handle specific processes in a defined way (process training). "The training business is a commodity business, and with the growth of the call centre / BPO industry the demand for training has only gone up" says Rohit Agarwal of The Learning Curve. Most of the training institutes provide training in soft skills and hence help aspirants land jobs in the call. "The ITES industry being a manpower intensive industry and this is an immense opportunity for training to come in and fill this demand," he adds. "There are two varieties of training offered- one is voice and accent and the other being soft skills training. Since most of the clients of call centers are American, an emphasis on the American accent becomes paramount. Understanding their culture, their way of speaking helps the call centre executives sell in a better way," says Akshay Datt of The Learning Curve. The team leads in a call center may undergo programmes like leadership development. The agents take programmes in stress management programmes, customer service and similar programmes to help them do well professionally. Many companies outsource their training work (which in itself is a huge industry). The number of people employed in the training industry has gone up, so have the

Health Care Communication Methods Essay Example for Free

Health Care Communication Methods Essay Customer Service also known as communication, now days almost always involves several people, especially when it involves an elderly loved one. Having an elderly family member is a very sensitive topic believe it or not and although very common is still something that most still do not know how to deal with and do not quite understand. It is hard to have to face that fact that your Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and sometimes siblings are faced with life threatening illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia and have forgotten who you are along with a host of other things. As an administrator of a Nursing Home you could be faced with many different situations and because patients in a nursing home are sometimes unable to understand or communicate on their own, it is important to have ways to get in contact with several different family members in the event of an emergency. Family members of these elderly patients still have lives of their own and may live in different states or countries even and then in the worst case, you have some patients in Nursing Homes who do not have family members at all. Most of the time there will be a social worker who is responsible for the wellbeing of these patients in this type of situation. There is an enormous misunderstanding of the role of communication services in healthcare. Nursing home administrators act as the patients liaison between staff and doctors, in the event that a Nursing Home receives notification that the organization is being purchased by a national group, and because of new policies to be implemented, many of the patients will be displaced, it is important to know the way to communicate with each individuals family members. Residents have rights and these rights being violated can cause serious issues with the law. Below is a short list of patients’ rights when concerning unfair transfer or discharge. Protection against Unfair Transfer or Discharge: You cant be sent to another nursing home, or made to leave the nursing home, unless any of the  following are true: It is necessary for the welfare, health, or safety of you or others. Your health has declined to the point that the nursing home cant meet your care needs. Your health has improved to the point that nursing home care is no longer necessary. The nursing home hasnt been paid for services you received. The nursing home closes In this scenario it is important that you inform the residents that they are being displaced and that they need to approve the release of their medical information. The best way to do this, since it is concerning medical records, would be privately. HIPAA protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information and if violated you could face jail time and hefty fines so you should use the best communication method that fits the scenario. The best method of communication I thought would be best for this scenario was traditional and electronic communication because they both have some convenience to the residents. The right amount of information and the right information is needed to explain to family members and patients what is happening to this facility. Finding the right laws and rights is what needs to happen to make sure the company is not in violation of that patient. Finding the best way to communicate with each patient and their family is most important when it com es to getting the message across professionally without seeming to disregard their personal concerns. There are advantages and disadvantages of using social media, traditional, and electronic communication .Traditional, the oldest of the three some of the many advantages that tradition communication has is that you are person with the person you are communicating with, which is better because you are getting an immediate reply to whatever it is that you are trying to get. There’s a feeling of community because you’re better able to socialize and interact with one another. We quickly build a bond that sets the foundation for trust and ultimately, lasting business relationships. There are so many different issues that have to be considered when communicating with patients and their family members, in this scenario most likely there will need to be some convincing that this is best for the patient/ their loved ones. Displacing them does not have to be a â€Å"bad thing† it all depends on how it is presented to them and their reaction to the initial breaking of the news. It is important that the administrator has found a new facility that offers everything that the patients(s) will need to accommodate them completely. Communication is a part of the process to better the patient’s life and once the patient and/or their family is on board then you pretty much have â€Å"tackled the mountain†. â€Å"Forcing information on people when they are too distraught to understand it or accept it (over informing) may only heighten their stress. Philip Muskin(1998) calls this â€Å"truth dumping† and warns people against it. Health-related Information can be confusing and frightening.† It is best to not provide unnecessary information to the patients and family members, just enough for them to understand completely. (Communication About Health Pg. 196) Being and Administrator means being able to communicate effectively with your patients no matter their mental and health condition and being able to communicate with their family members too. It is important to not â€Å"over-do† anything when communicating because it could cause a reaction you don’t want to deal with. There are different ways of communicating messages and different tones and as an Administrator in this particular scenario it is important to know what tone of communication to use when letting the patients and their family members know what is going on. It is a good idea to know where the patient will be transferred to and to have a brochure and good information on where the patient is going so that maybe the family member and the patients will be comfortable about the big news. References: 1. Journal Article . (2014, Fall). People living with dementia: components of communication, (Pg.1). 2. . (2005). Communicating About Health Current Issues And Perspectives. Retrieved from, HCS/320 Health Care Communication Strategies website.

Yeats Analysis Essay, the Influential Nature of His Writing Essay Example for Free

Yeats Analysis Essay, the Influential Nature of His Writing Essay Love, desire, loneliness, aging, timelessness, beauty, the turmoil of modern civilization, romanticism and modernism are all characteristics under which Yeats have shaped his text about which expresses the reality of his time, genuinely showcasing the legitimacy and influence in his poetry. Seen as obsessive and an elitist, his themes, images, symbols, metaphors, and poetic sensibilities encompass his own notion of experience as well as the troubled times experienced by his nation, all coupling with Irish and Greek mythology and the 19th Century occultism all wounding together and informed by his knowledge of his interpretative understanding. A particular influential element of Yeats poetry is the substantial reference to history. Yeats believed that politics and art were intrinsically linked which had influenced his writing and attitude towards Irish politics also educating the audience on Irish history, believing that his poems could both critique and comment on political events, as well as educate and inform a population. Yeats as well explores relationship between arts and politics, heavily influenced by his deep connection to Ireland. In one of his poems, Easter 1916, talks the Easter 1916 rebellion. The poem begins with personal observations and the presentation of the poet of which influences the rest of the poem with the repetition â€Å"I†, initially this indicates his distance – his disconnection with the cause, however as these events unfold his empathy is induced, his superior attitude towards the masses show aristocratic unfamiliarity with the nation, the expression of ‘motley’ and ‘stone’ creates subtleness through the multiple meanings of the words, this allows the poem to have many interpretations. The poem is divided into 4 stanzas and like most of his poetry, transitions from general to specific. At first the people in the poem are unknown, they are described as â€Å"motley† and is later identified as wearing â€Å"green†. ‘Motley’ in the context of the poem can be perceived as non-conformists which is in stark contrast to the ‘green’ which he later describes as wearing could potentially be a reference to the color of Ireland. As Yeats was initially critical, he credits the sacrifices of the supreme leaders for a noble cause towards the end which could allude to his regret of his lack of conviction and participation, his admiration potentially indicating absolving submission. In relation to the history element in Yeat’s writing, Yeats expresses the popular theme of how fate and divinity could affect history. His devotion to mysticism led to the symbolic word ‘gyre’, to which in the second coming, is derived from. The second coming, one of Yeats poems, deals with apocalypse, the aftermath of uprisings, deterioration, decline and dissolution, as ‘the second coming’ is a biblical reference of the end of the world. The poem opens with tone of chaos, loss of control and a destroyed chain of order but all is detached in the eventuality through optimism and authority. In the first stanza, Yeats uses the symbolic Ireland as a microcosm to illustrate the view of historical cycles, of which has reached the pinnacle of expansion. â€Å"blood-dimmed time† which refers to slaughter during WWI relates to the warning that the world is in a pit of anarchy and rage. â€Å"Surely some revelation is at hand; surely the second coming is at hand†; Yeats hopes with his mysticism that with the explosion of the ‘gyre’ of history will cause a new antithetical age. The technique of the repetition of particular words â€Å"turning and turning†, â€Å"falcon.. falconer† adds weight to Yeats assertion of meaning and to emphasize the element of time and control. Initially Yeats was a romantic poet then became a modernist poet which is a theme of which plays in his poems; the transition from romanticism to modernism. Yeats personal experiences voice through his work such as Maud Gonne which had caused the cynical romantic idealism of his work. The reflection of years passing by in his poem â€Å"The Wild Swans at Coole†, reflect the change of one’s physicality such as with age comes deterioration of beauty, Yeats suggests attitudes about death and eternity, the poem revolves around a romantic theme with a modern obliqueness. The recounting of the Yeats trips to count the swans on the water is given its serenity by the beautiful nature imagery with the line â€Å"Their hearts have not grown old † Yeats, who is in gentle pain of personal memory, juxtaposes evidently with the swans, which are treated as symbols as their hearts have not grown ‘old’. Conclusively, Yeats, who was seen as an elitist and obsessed, had written with great influence of his identity, personal experience and beliefs, incorporated with his knowledge of history, the exploration of mysticism, his interpretative understanding of his time, and his constructive views towards arts and politics, has been undermined in the eyes of critics, his ingenuity in his writing proves that his work is ultimat ely legitimate and influential in his time, or maybe of all time.

Analysing Reviews and Development of SMEs in Ghana

Analysing Reviews and Development of SMEs in Ghana The dynamic role of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries towards employment generation and income creation has OVER TIME been highly emphasised by several authors (Kayanula and Quartey 2000, OECD 2004). While it is generally accepted that SMEs are important contributors to the domestic economy, not many governments have framed policies to enhance their contribution or increase their competitiveness (UNCTAD 2005). Previously insulated from international competition, many SMEs are now faced with greater external competition and the need to expand market share. As indicated by OECD 2002, SMEs fast-changing technologies and globalising economies are putting increased pressures on firms to reorganise their structures to enhance adaptability and flexibility. Upgrading the skills of all types of employees is hence central to firm performance in SMEs which must be able to adapt quickly to evolving markets and changing circumstances, but which often have limited resources. Indeed there is preliminary evidence that competence development activities can reduce the failure rates of small firms, which are far more likely to fail than larger firms, particularly in the early years (OECD 2002). 1.2 SMEs in Ghana: Definition and Role towards Economic Development As per statistics from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 2010, Ghana ¿Ã‚ ½s GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.4 per cent between 2001 and 2007. Such impressive performance was partly contributed to the robust growth of the SME sector in Ghana. Available data from the Registrar General in Ghana indicates that 90% of companies registered are micro, small and medium enterprises (Mensah 2004). This target group has been identified as the catalyst for the economic growth of the country as they are a major source of income and employment. Analogous to the situation in other countries though, Kayanula and Quartey 2000 state that there is no single, uniformly acceptable, definition of a small firm in Ghana as these firms differ in their levels of capitalisation, sales and employment. Hence, definitions which employ measures of size (number of employees, turnover, profitability, net worth, etc.) when applied to one sector could lead to all firms being classified as small, while the same size definition when applied to a different sector could lead to a different result. Kayanula and Quartey in their research however identified a number of common definitions used when referring to SMEs in Ghana that could be used for purposes of this essay. These definitions are summarised below: The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) considers firms with less than 10 employees as Small Scale Enterprises and their counterparts with more than 10 employees as Medium and Large-Sized Enterprises. An alternative criteria used in defining small and medium enterprises is the value of fixed assets in the organisation. However, the National Board of Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Ghana applies both the fixed asset and number of employees ¿Ã‚ ½ criteria. It defines a Small Scale Enterprise as one with not more than 9 workers, has plant and machinery (excluding land, buildings and vehicles) not exceeding 10 million Cedis. From these definitions however, it would be prudent for purposes of this essay to note that the process of valuing fixed assets in itself poses a problem as continuous depreciation in the exchange rate often makes such definitions out-dated. It is further noted that SMEs in Ghana can be categorised into urban and rural enterprises. The former can be sub-divided into `organised ¿Ã‚ ½ and `unorganised ¿Ã‚ ½ enterprises. The organised ones tend to have paid employees with a registered office whereas the unorganised category is mainly made up of artisans who work in open spaces, temporary wooden structures, or at home and employ little or in some cases no salaried workers. They rely mostly on family members or apprentices. Rural enterprises are largely made up of family groups, individual artisans, women engaged in food production from local crops. The major activities within this sector include:- soap and detergents, fabrics, clothing and tailoring, textile and leather, village blacksmiths, tin-smithing, ceramics, timber and mining, bricks and cement, beverages, food processing, bakeries, wood furniture, electronic assembly, agro processing, chemical based products and mechanics (UNECA 2010, Kayanula and Quartey 2000). Among their many roles, SMEs in Ghana have been crucial in mobilising funds which otherwise would have been idle (Kayanula and Quartey 2000). The authors further point out that SMEs have been recognised as a seed-bed for indigenous entrepreneurship, are labour intensive, employing more labour per unit of capital than large enterprises and promote indigenous technological know-how. Furthermore, due to their regional dispersion and their labour intensity, argument goes that small scale production units can promote a more equitable distribution of income than large firms in Ghana. They also improve the efficiency of domestic markets and make productive use of scarce resources and thus facilitating long term economic growth. 1.3 Challenges facing SME Growth and Competitiveness in Ghana Despite the wide-ranging economic reforms instituted in the country to promote SME development, SMEs in Ghana still face a variety of constraints (UNECA 2010, Kayanula and Quartey 2000). Mensah 2004 drew up a basic profile on such SME challenges: SMEs are dominated by the owner/manager who takes all major company decisions. The entrepreneur possesses limited formal education, access to and use of new technologies, market information, and access to credit from the banking sector is severely limited. Furthermore, management skills are weak, thus inhibiting the development of a strategic plan for sustainable growth. Kayanula and Quartey in addition note that SME competitiveness in Ghana is mainly constrained by the following factors: 1. Limited access to finance remains a dominant constraint to small scale enterprises in Ghana. Credit constraints pertaining to working capital and raw materials are often cited by small firm and these partly stem from the fact that SMEs have limited access to capital markets, both locally and internationally. 2. SMEs have difficulties in gaining access to appropriate technologies and information on available techniques. This limits innovation and SME competitiveness. This fact is ascertained by UNCTAD 2005 which notes that most SMEs also lack the technical know-how and financial resources needed to acquire state of the art technologies and equipment required to improve productivity and to become internationally competitive. 3. Regulatory Constraints: Although wide ranging structural reforms have improved, prospects for enterprise development remain to be addressed at the firm-level. High start-up costs for firms, including licensing and registration requirements, can impose excessive and unnecessary burdens on SMEs. The high cost of settling legal claims and excessive delays in court proceedings adversely affect SME operations. In the case of Ghana, the cumbersome procedure for registering and commencing business were key issues often cited. 4. Of actual importance to this essay however, is the insufficient supply of skilled workers among SMEs in Ghana that limits specialisation opportunities, raises costs, and reduce flexibility in managing company operations. This is coupled with the lack of entrepreneurial and business management Skills: Lack of managerial know-how places significant constraints on SME development. Mensah 2004 in conclusion notes that SMEs in Ghana have not been able to take full advantage of Government-sponsored business support services. This paper therefore seeks to identify the possible implications for strengthening SME competitiveness through competence development that could be attained through the acquisition of knowledge, skills and new abilities. Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Competence: Definition of the Concept Studying a concept such as competence is very complex as the concept is used differently by many people (Awuah 2007). According to the author, the term competence can be defined as the ability of a firm to develop and manage relations with key suppliers, customers and other organizations. The term is further defined by the UN as the possession of a set of skills, related knowledge and attributes that allow an individual to perform a task or an activity within a specific function or job (UN 2007, UNIDO 2002). A graphical display of how the UN explains competence is displayed in figure 1 that follows: A more practical definition for the term competence is provided by the European Commission which defines competence as the combination of human knowledge, skills and aptitudes serving productive purposes in firms and contributing to their competitiveness (EC 2003). From the EC definition, we notice that the possession of necessary skills and abilities should be able to provide a firm with a certain competitive advantage over its competitors. In this paper therefore, the term competence will be used to mean the ability to demonstrate knowledge, skills, experience, and attributes necessary for a firm to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. In general, competence in a job means being competent at all aspects of each function or competency required to be performed within the role. The term competency is graphically explained in figure 1. Several authors such as EC 2003 and Moe 1995 distinguish between competencies at individual and organisational level. Individual competencies imply a person ¿Ã‚ ½s internal cognitive abilities and skills. Such competencies may be gained through education and experience in the work place (Nordhaug 1992). On the other hand institutional competence is more than the sum of competences of the individuals. It consists of institutional qualities such as the ability to mobilize teamwork and synergistic effects of interactions between individuals (Moe 1995). EC 2003 however cautions that a high level of individual competence does not automatically result in a high level of organisational competence and therefore an optimal degree of organisational competence requires a transfer mechanism that facilitates interplay between an individual and the organisations frameworks and routines. Figure 1: Definition of Competency Source: UNIDO 2002, Page 9 In this regard, Nordhaug 1992 adds that much expertise based on practical experience is accumulated by individuals working within any company. To transform the experiences of the individuals into institutional knowledge is a great challenge to which there hardly exists any universal solution. The goal therefore must be to embed this experience in the organization in such a way that it is at any time available to those who need it, even after the individual who made it has left the company. In contrast to many contemporary authors, UNIDO 2002 distinguishes competencies as being managerial, generic and technical. Managerial competencies are considered for staff with managerial or supervisory responsibility in any firm, including directors and senior posts. It is further noted that some managerial competencies could be more relevant for specific occupations however they are applied horizontally across a firm for example analysis and decision making and team leadership. Generic competencies are considered essential for all staff regardless of their function or level for example communication, programme execution and linguistics. Technical or functional competencies on the other hand are specific competencies that are considered essential to perform a job within a defined area of work for example environmental management, finance management and human resource management among others. In conclusion, UNIDO 2002 notes that any function within a firm requires a set of essential managerial/generic and technical/functional competencies to be performed effectively. 2.1 Competence Development in SMEs 2.2.1 Definition of Competence Development Competence development is defined by Koch, Gill and Ellstr ¿Ã‚ ½m 2006 as an overall designation for the various activities that can be used to affect the supply of employee competence and skills on the internal labour market. In this definition, it should be pointed out that the term competence development is sometimes also used to denote the individual learning processes through which competence is developed. A simpler definition is provided by the EC, which defines competence development as the measures taken by any enterprise to develop its competence base Competence development in this case refers to activities that are planned and organized in order to foster learning as a primary aim, but also to activities that have learning as a secondary and perhaps unintended outcome. According to the EC, any enterprise can develop its competence base by a number of different possible measures, that is to say, by recruiting the right competence from outside or by developing the human resources the organisation already possesses. This goal can be obtained from a double perspective: first of all, through the development of the competence base of its human resources, basically through different forms of formal and non-formal learning such as training courses, internal seminars, work groups, assistance to expos. This kind of perspective was termed by Nordhaug 1992 as the Development of in-house competence, which represents the measure a firm takes to develop their competence status available within their in-house human resources. Further more competence development activities may be formal through internal or external courses that are deliberately planned and organized as means for work place learning. These activities may or may not result in a certificate, a diploma or a mark that is recognized by the educational system or on the external labour market. In many cases, courses are carried out to meet more specific needs at the workplace, and do not result in some kind of formally recognized certificate or mark. Workplace learning through formal activities are usually financed by the employer and carried out during working hours. In contrast, informal competence development may occur through the participation of the individual in development projects at the workplace, staff-meetings, job rotation and team-based work among others. Such activities are generally characterized by a low degree of planning and organization from the perspective of learning. The second approach is through obtaining the desired competence externally. Examples include the recruitment of new employees, the purchase of consultant services or co-operation with other external stakeholders. Nordhaug 1992 complements this approach by noting that external competence acquisition, where firms acquire (buy or by other means get access to) different external competencies that are outside the enterprises boundaries that they internally lack but may be regarded as essential for the optimal performance of the firm. Relating to the work of Griffiths et al 2007, the definition of competence development in this paper will emphasize the focus on the continuous updating and building of both individual and organisational knowledge, skills and abilities. 2.2.2 A Four Stage Model of Competence Development To simplify analysis, a model of competence development which consists of four stages is presented in this section: Figure 2: Competence Development Model Adapted from Griffiths et al 2007: Page 134 According to the figure above, the cycle of competence development starts with a process of orientation, in which the learner determines which competences that need to be developed. Once this decision has been made, the learner has a choice. One very quick route, typical for informal learning and competencies related to leisure activities, is to go directly to the competence development activities, based on the learner ¿Ã‚ ½s interests and only very little knowledge of their current proficiency level. The other route, more related to formal learning and to professional development is to proceed by collecting evidence, which shows the learner ¿Ã‚ ½s current proficiency level. After the learner has collected this evidence, they can again choose: either they can have their proficiency level officially recognized by others, or they can go directly to the competence development activities. Again, the latter route is the more informal learning route. Griffiths et al 2007 emphasizes assessment by others is the point where the formal learning route starts, where previous learning, which might have been either informal or formal, is turned into a formal recognition. When the cycle is passed through for the first time, the moment of assessment carried out by others is often referred to as intake assessment. The model is supplemented by Ogrean 2009 who notes that through orientation and assessment, the model serves as the basis for ensuring that the organisation is well positioned to achieve its vision and strategic goals. 2.3 Challenges towards SME Competence Development An introductory picture into the challenges facing SME competence development is provided by EC 2003 that notes that specific SME research and studies taking a more holistic view of competence development in SMEs are very difficult to find. As a result, the share of SMEs participating in competence development is lower than the respective one for larger enterprises (Mandl and Dorr 2004). SMEs are however not only constrained by limited information on competence development. According to Mandl and Dorr 2004 and EC 2003, smaller companies are indeed confronted with a wider range of barriers hindering the engagement in competence development than larger ones. The most important one they note constitutes the lack of time to both, strategically plan and participate in respective measures due to the dominance of the daily business. Mandl and Dorr 2004 specifically note that limited financial and human resources constitute the main barriers for SMEs to engage in competence development activities. Generally, employees are too much involved in the daily business life to have time to engage in qualification measures and due to the restricted number of employees no proxy is available in many cases. It is further noted that SMEs are often sceptical towards external advice and training as they are not informed about what is offered and/or are unsure about the quality or the price-performance ratio. Furthermore, the programmes offered do in most of the cases not correspond exactly to their needs. Stone 2010 observes that small firms often report difficulty accessing training tailored to their needs in terms of type and quality, scheduling and location. Additionally, SMEs fear that higher qualified employees will leave the company because of a lack of incentives such as higher salaries and career chances in larger enterprises. Larger firms often pay higher wage rates, so formal qualifications are perceived by many small employers as more valuable to employees than the business itself (Stone 2010). This is worsened by the fact that these firms lack competence development specialists in the company: very few SMEs indeed dispose of experts in the field of competence development leading to a lack of a systematic competence development scheme in these firms. This barrier is also mentioned in terms of lacking plans and personnel for conducting the training or identifying the company competence needs Another obstacle identified from empirical research (Stone 2010) is that that small employers commonly lack information on what training is available to them, as well as evidence of the benefits of training to set against perceived and real barriers to training activity. Even where they perceive training to be of value, releasing employees for especially formal training is more difficult for smaller employers. Lost working time is an especially important constraint with respect to owner-manager training. According to OECD 2002, for a variety of reasons, smaller firms are less likely than larger enterprises to provide external training to all grades of workers, including managers. In addition to financial constraints, information gaps make smaller firms less aware of the benefits they would obtain from management training and few see training as a strategic tool. Due to higher turnover in managerial staff, small firms may not realise the same benefits from training investments as larger firms. Chapter Three: Competence Development for SME Growth and Competiveness in Ghana 3.1 Competitiveness: Definition and Concept Competitiveness can be assessed at either the national or the enterprise level (UNCTAD 2005). At the national level, competitiveness has been defined as a nation ¿Ã‚ ½s ability to produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while simultaneously maintaining and expanding real incomes of its people over the long term. The ability to compete in international markets is usually thought to be dependent on macroeconomic policies and conditions (trade policies and exchange rates among others) as well as on a nation ¿Ã‚ ½s comparative advantage that is its factor endowment (land, labour and capital). At the enterprise level, competitiveness is the ability to sustain a market position by, supplying quality products on time and at competitive prices through acquiring the flexibility to respond quickly to changes in demand and through successfully managing product differentiation by building up innovative capacity and an effective marketing system (UNCTAD 2005). The difference between the competitiveness of an enterprise and that of a nation is that the enterprise will cease to exist if it remains uncompetitive for long whereas a nation never goes out of business no matter how badly it is managed or how uncompetitive it is. When a nation loses its competitiveness, this is reflected in its deteriorating welfare conditions rather than elimination from the market. To achieve continuous competitiveness, enterprises must transform their ways of competing: they must shift from comparative advantages such as low-cost and labour, to competitive advantages, namely the ability to compete on cost and quality, delivery and flexibility. Such competitiveness may depend on the business environment, sophistication of company operations and inter-firm cooperation. According to UNCTAD 2005 however, since an enterprise does not produce in a vacuum, its competitiveness can only be measured within various types of market territories at the sub national, national and supra-national levels. The optimization of its capital resources (finance, technology, labour) commands its ability to penetrate each of these three market territories. In general, OECD 2004 identifies that it is up to the SMEs to implement competitive business operating practices and business strategies. However, the options available to SMEs are also closely related to the quality of institutions, markets and organizations that constitute the business environment. These will however depend on the efficiency and effectiveness of institutions, markets and organizations that encourage or discourage SMEs to take their cues for learning new ways of doing business, compare their own competitive characteristics with those of their rivals, and makes their decisions to invest, including the i ntroduction of innovations into their business strategies. In conclusion, UNCTAD 2005 notes that competitiveness is embodied in the characteristics of the firm, namely through: the current efficiency and effectiveness of the use of resources; the willingness and the ability to relate profitability to growth of capacity through continued investment. Although the authors concur with the view that competitiveness is created at the firm level, it is also emphasized that this is partly derived from a systemic context, emerging from complex patterns of interactions between government, enterprises and other actors, and will therefore exhibit different forms in each society. In addition, external competitiveness can be achieved by firms through exports, sustaining diversification and/or better quality of production, upgrading technology and skills, and expanding the base of domestic firms to compete regionally and globally. A firm is competitive in external markets depending on its ability to supply quality products on time and at competitive prices and to respond quickly to changes in demand by building up innovative capacities and market strategies. 3.2 Linking Competence Development Activities to SME Growth and Competiveness In the current competitive and complex economic environment, human capital is increasingly recognised by both countries and by business organisations as a key engine for growth and competitiveness (L ¿Ã‚ ½fstedt 2001, EC 2003, Moe 1995). Moe further identifies that companies will rarely be allowed to benefit significantly from competitive advantages in terms of monopolies or privileged access to certain raw materials, special means of production or protected markets. The success of any company will depend on its ability to compete in the management of resources and in exploiting markets which are in principle available to all. Competitiveness in the market-place, as well as for the best people, will also increasingly depend on the environmental qualities of the company. Thus, the key to success is in a superior ability to recruit, develop and mobilize human resources. The best way to adapt to the changing environment and new requirements is to increase the organizations competence and to use it in the best possible way (L ¿Ã‚ ½fstedt 2001). Against such a background of globalisation and competition, the availability of up to- date knowledge, also within the smallest enterprises, is of increased significance not only for the individual company but also for the economy as such (Mandl and Dorr 2004). The authors further note that the current economic environment is characterised by global competition, fast technology developments, shorter product life cycles, more demanding consumers and changing enterprise structures through merges, alliances and take-overs. Thus, the new growth theories make economic growth dependent on the rate of accumulation of both physical and human capital, defined by the levels of knowledge, skills and competencies of the workforce (EC 2003) Another important concept of how SME competitiveness could be advanced through competence development is provided by Koch, Gill and Ellstr ¿Ã‚ ½m 2006, who argue that competence development can result into increased individual and organizational performance. This view is supported by Stone 2010; in his famous quotation that  ¿Ã‚ ½Firms that train their workers are significantly less likely to close than those that do not ¿Ã‚ ½ (Kock, Gill and Ellstr ¿Ã‚ ½m 2006). In addition to this, Fretwell 2002 notes that employee morale is created by and directly proportional to the degree of employee competence supported by leaders throughout the organization. Employee morale within an organization in turn has a direct impact on the satisfaction level of its customers and the companys ultimate success. When relationship-based leaders promote core competency development of its workforce throughout the organization, an opportunity exists for ensuring high employee morale and customer satis faction, an increase in employee and customer retention rates, and a positive long-term outlook for the companys successful performance. Common knowledge suggests that employee morale has a direct impact on the satisfaction level of an organizations primary external customers. In general, firms that are able to invest in the development of their human capital and the improvement of organisational capabilities will be able to gain a competitive advantage need to survive in today ¿Ã‚ ½s competitive world. 3.3 Implications for SMEs in Ghana A clear analysis of the prevailing environment for SMEs in Ghana indicates that the combined forces of globalisation, technological progress and growing market demand pose a challenge to SME competitiveness. However, there are a number of ways in which small firms can get around this situation. To support analysis, several implications for SMEs in Ghana have been identified through the framework for SME competitiveness as displayed in the figure that follows: According to ECA 2001, the framework distinguishes between factors that are internal and external to the enterprises. The large circle in the centre of the diagram captures the key internal requisites and processes that might lead to increased competitiveness in enterprises. These inputs are often called technological capabilities and they are defined as the knowledge, skills and efforts required for firms to bring about an indigenous process of technological development. ECA further emphasizes that such capability acquisition cannot be taken for granted and often requires purposeful and cumulative efforts aimed at assimilating and modifying existing technologies, adapting them to local conditions. This is especially the case in Ghana since major innovations are still concentrated in technologically advanced countries. Figure 3: Framework to support SME Competitiveness Source: ECA 2001 Page 12 On the other hand, marketing capabilities are required to make the product available and attractive to the buyer. They include activities concerned with establishing a marketing channel from the factory to the buyer (direct sales or intermediaries), organising the logistics (related to mode and speed of transport), promotion (advertising, branding) and after sales service. Further more, research has shown that capability building and competitiveness also depend on factors external to the firm. As shown in Figure above, this external context is given first by the type of network or cluster to which the firms belong. It is now well recognised that the lonely enterprise is doomed and the quality of relationships with other producers, suppliers and customers is critical for learning and competing (ECA 2001). The framework further identifies clustering to facilitate the mobilisation of financial and human resources. In summary, clusters and networks constitute the immediate external context in which SMEs operate. The benefits of clustering are widely acknowledged: the spatial and sectoral concentration of firms generates externalities, favours inter-firm cooperation and constitutes a niche for effective policy support. This fact is reaffirmed by UNCTAD 2005, that observes that the competitive pressure of globalization brings about the need for SMEs to come together in order to survive and grow. The formation of trade associations and industrial groups/clusters are accordingly being promoted. A commendable example of such clustering for competitiveness is observed in the Ghana metalwork cluster in Suame that has generated positive externalities for SMEs, namely access to markets, labour market pooling and significant technological spill-overs. OECD 2010 for example further suggests that SMEs acquire new knowledge and skills that will enable them to obtain the ideas they require for innovation and the markets to exploit them. A major message is that small firms do not innovate by themselves but in collaboration with suppliers, customers, competitors, universities, research organisations and others. These networks will then help them overcome some of the obstacles to innovation linked to their small size. Needless to say however, the quality of their local entrepreneurship environments, strength of local technology partners, and the quality of local science-industry linkages is critical to SME com

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 1 Essay example -- English Literature

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 1 Read the beginning of the novel chapter 1 up to page 12 â€Å"Tom Buchanan in his riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.† How effective do you find this as an introduction to Great Gatsby. In your response you should pay close attention to voice, language and style. The Great Gatsby was written by F Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and is set during 1922, a period tinged with moral failure of a society obsessed with class and privilege. Fitzgerald presents us with the conflict between the illusion and the reality of the American dream. The novel begins in the present tense, and is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator and moral centre of the novel. His tale is told in retrospect. Nick Carraway is a young man from the Mid West, introducing himself as a graduate of Yale and a veteran of World War One. He begins the first chapter by relaying his father’s advice: â€Å"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the same advantages as you’ve had.† He states that he is also â€Å"inclined to reserve all judgement† about people and be a tolerant listener; who is entrusted with people’s secrets. This encourages him to withhold formulating opinions about people until he gets to know them, demonstrating his caution. Nick puts himself forward explicitly, as someone with an above average â€Å"sense of fundamental decencies† which now manifests itself as a wish for â€Å"the world to be in uniform and at a moral attention forever†. This military perspective clearly shows Nick has something of an authoritarian character with a developed instinct for discipline and order. These first pages of Chapter one... ...ds the end of page 9 the reader is given a sense of time and a positive idea of how the modern world is progressing, through the metaphor of â€Å"growing trees† and the â€Å"burst of leaves† creating new life that has potential just like the American Dream. â€Å"Fast movies† (p.9) and the â€Å"telephone† (p.12) symbolise the Twentieth –century technological environment. The growth of cinemas, cars, boats is recognised by the twenties as a decade of mass media and mass production in America. The novel raises the issue of individual worth in such a context. In contrast to this materialistic world, Daisy’s name evokes a delicate flower. The irony here is that her life is conducted in an entirely manufactured environment, distant from the natural world. The key structure of the chapter is the combination of first person narrative and the gradual revelation of the past.

a 1000 mile drive in the wrong direction :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As of late I have been feeling an immense hole in my life. My life journey feels as if it is nothing than a jumbled-up mess of confusion, heartbreak, betrayal, and lies. So with a life full of loss, like any normal college student would do, I joined the pity-party bandwagon and felt sorry for myself. In my â€Å"destined to roam the earth alone and useless† state I was positive there was nothing that would ever change my dreary outlook on life. I read a few books, prayed like crazy, talked to my parents, and even broke-down and sought advice from my crazy teenage sisters, but nothing changed. Alas a light glimmered though the dark mood I was in, and there was a sliver lining of hope on the distant horizon. That light was Waldorf’s very own Pastor Char.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’m not going to lie to you (and I don’t think pastor Char will be opposed to me telling the truth) -I went to her in desperation. I don’t know what it is about the â€Å"pastor† title, but I guess you just assume that they will instantly make everything better. Alas my assumptions failed me, Pastor Char did not have an answer to all the problems consuming my life or magic prayer that cured everything ailing me, but she did have a good dose of something that I think a lot of people need-honesty. I know it sounds crazy, but Pastor Char does not know everything. Fortunately she does have great insight, and I as I have found that I am not the only one in a bit of a faith struggle I have decided to share what I found with you. Bad advice is still advice, so take it for what it is and enjoy my pearls of knowledge (with a little help form Pastor Char). There are several times when the Bible talks about God sending people into the wilderness for some sort of faith journey. As I understand it, some poor lost soul wanders into the woods to find a new relationship with God, and wham bam thank you Ma'am, they’re healed. I read a bunch of these â€Å"wilderness journey† stories and, well to be honest I thought they were crap- I know I am in dangerous territory at a Christian college, but no worries my skeptic friends†¦I will vindicate my harsh accusations. My problem lies in the journey, or lack there of.

History of R. Buckminister Fuller Essay -- Geodesic Domes R. Buckminis

History of R. Buckminister Fuller Fuller was most famous for his geodesic domes, which can be seen as part of military radar stations, civic buildings, and exhibition attractions. Their construction is based on extending some basic principles to build simple tensegrity structures (tetrahedron, octahedron, and the closest packing of spheres). Built in this way they are extremely lightweight and stable. The patent for geodesic domes was awarded in 1954, part of Fuller's decades-long efforts to explore nature's constructing principles to find design solutions. Previously, Fuller had designed and built prototypes of what he hoped would be a safer, aerodynamic Dymaxion Car ("Dymaxion" is contracted from DYnamic MAXimum tensION). To this end he experimented with a radical new approach. He worked with professional colleagues over a period of three years, beginning in 1932. Based on a design idea Fuller had derived from that of aircraft, the three prototype cars were all quite different from anything on the market. For one thing, each of these vehicles had three, not four, wheels - with two (the drive wheels) in front, and the third, rear wheel being the one that was steered. The engine was located in the rear. Both the chassis and the body were original designs. The aerodynamic, somewhat tear-shaped body (which in one of the prototypes was about 18 feet long), was large enough to seat 11 people. It somehow resembled a melding of a light aircraft (albeit without wings) and a Volkswagen van of 1950s vintage. The car was essentially a mini-bus in each of its three trial incarnations, and its concept long predated the Volkswagen Transporter mini-bus that was conceived by Ben Pon in 1947 and first built in 1950. Despite its length, and due to its three-wheel design, the Dymaxion Car turned on a small radius and parked in a tight space quite easily. The prototypes were efficient in fuel consumption for their day. Fuller poured a great deal of his own money (inherited from his mother) into the project, in addition to the funds put in by one of his professional collaborators. An industrial investor was also keenly interested in the unprecedented concept. Fuller anticipated the car could travel on an open highway safely at up to about 100 miles per hour (160 km/h); however, due to some concept oversights, the prototypes proved to be unruly over the speed of 50 mph... ...s friends with Boston artist Pietro Pezzati. He experimented with polyphasic sleep. A new allotrope of carbon (fullerene) and a particular molecule of that allotrope (buckminsterfullerene or buckyballs) have been named after him. On July 12, 2004 the United States Post Office released a new commemorative stamp honoring Buckminster Fuller on the 50th anniversary of his patent for the geodesic dome and on the occasion of his 109th birthday. [edit] Neologisms World-around is a term coined by Fuller to replace worldwide. The general belief in a flat Earth died out in the Middle Ages, so using wide is an anachronism when referring to the surface of the Earth — a spheroidal surface has area and encloses a volume, but has no width. Fuller held that unthinking use of obsolete scientific ideas detracts from and misleads intuition. The terms sunsight and sunclipse are other neologisms, according to Allegra Fuller Snyder collectively coined by the Fuller family, replacing sunrise and sunset in order to overturn the geocentric bias of most pre-Copernican celestial mechanics. Fuller also coined the phrase Spaceship Earth, and coined the term (but did not invent) tensegrity. History of R. Buckminister Fuller Essay -- Geodesic Domes R. Buckminis History of R. Buckminister Fuller Fuller was most famous for his geodesic domes, which can be seen as part of military radar stations, civic buildings, and exhibition attractions. Their construction is based on extending some basic principles to build simple tensegrity structures (tetrahedron, octahedron, and the closest packing of spheres). Built in this way they are extremely lightweight and stable. The patent for geodesic domes was awarded in 1954, part of Fuller's decades-long efforts to explore nature's constructing principles to find design solutions. Previously, Fuller had designed and built prototypes of what he hoped would be a safer, aerodynamic Dymaxion Car ("Dymaxion" is contracted from DYnamic MAXimum tensION). To this end he experimented with a radical new approach. He worked with professional colleagues over a period of three years, beginning in 1932. Based on a design idea Fuller had derived from that of aircraft, the three prototype cars were all quite different from anything on the market. For one thing, each of these vehicles had three, not four, wheels - with two (the drive wheels) in front, and the third, rear wheel being the one that was steered. The engine was located in the rear. Both the chassis and the body were original designs. The aerodynamic, somewhat tear-shaped body (which in one of the prototypes was about 18 feet long), was large enough to seat 11 people. It somehow resembled a melding of a light aircraft (albeit without wings) and a Volkswagen van of 1950s vintage. The car was essentially a mini-bus in each of its three trial incarnations, and its concept long predated the Volkswagen Transporter mini-bus that was conceived by Ben Pon in 1947 and first built in 1950. Despite its length, and due to its three-wheel design, the Dymaxion Car turned on a small radius and parked in a tight space quite easily. The prototypes were efficient in fuel consumption for their day. Fuller poured a great deal of his own money (inherited from his mother) into the project, in addition to the funds put in by one of his professional collaborators. An industrial investor was also keenly interested in the unprecedented concept. Fuller anticipated the car could travel on an open highway safely at up to about 100 miles per hour (160 km/h); however, due to some concept oversights, the prototypes proved to be unruly over the speed of 50 mph... ...s friends with Boston artist Pietro Pezzati. He experimented with polyphasic sleep. A new allotrope of carbon (fullerene) and a particular molecule of that allotrope (buckminsterfullerene or buckyballs) have been named after him. On July 12, 2004 the United States Post Office released a new commemorative stamp honoring Buckminster Fuller on the 50th anniversary of his patent for the geodesic dome and on the occasion of his 109th birthday. [edit] Neologisms World-around is a term coined by Fuller to replace worldwide. The general belief in a flat Earth died out in the Middle Ages, so using wide is an anachronism when referring to the surface of the Earth — a spheroidal surface has area and encloses a volume, but has no width. Fuller held that unthinking use of obsolete scientific ideas detracts from and misleads intuition. The terms sunsight and sunclipse are other neologisms, according to Allegra Fuller Snyder collectively coined by the Fuller family, replacing sunrise and sunset in order to overturn the geocentric bias of most pre-Copernican celestial mechanics. Fuller also coined the phrase Spaceship Earth, and coined the term (but did not invent) tensegrity.

Alias Tutorial

Learning Autodesk AliasStudio 2008 Level 1 A hands-on introduction to the key tools & techniques of Autodesk AliasStudio 73415-050000-5001A Copyright and trademarks AliasStudio 2008 documentation by: Pat Anderson, Marie-France Roy, Kerry Kingston and Damien Fleury  © Copyright 2002-2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. AUTODESK, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS, AND MAKES SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN â€Å"AS-IS† BASIS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC. , BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF ACQUISITION OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS. THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC. REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE, IF ANY, OF THE MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN. Autodesk, Inc. , reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state of this product at the time of its publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future. Autodesk Trademarks The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. , in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/ logo), 3December, 3December. om, 3ds Max, ActiveShapes, Actrix, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civi l 3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Create>what's;Next; (design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio, Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Your World, Design Your World (design/logo), DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, EditDV, Education by Design, Extending the Design Team, FBX, Filmbox, FMDesktop, GDX Driver, Gmax, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HOOPS, HumanIK, idrop, iMOUT, Incinerator, IntroDV, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), LocationLogic, Lustre, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, MotionBuilder, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, Reactor, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, Render Queue, Revit, Showcase, SketchBook, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, Visual, Visual Bridge, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Hydro, Visual Landscape, Visual Roads, Visual Survey, Visual Syllabus, Visual Toolbox, Visual Tugboat, Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, and Wiretap. The following a re registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. n the USA and/or Canada and other countries: Backburner, Discreet, Fire, Flame, Flint, Frost, Inferno, Multi-Master Editing, River, Smoke, Sparks, Stone, Wire. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Third-Party Copyright Notices This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation. Macromedia Shockwaveâ„ ¢ Player and Macromedia Flashâ„ ¢ Player software by Macromedia, Inc. , Copyright  © 1995-2000 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Portions relating to JPEG Copyright  © 1991-1998 Thomas G. Lane. All rights reserved. This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. Portions relating to TIFF Copyright  © 1997-1998 Sam Leffler. Copyright  © 1991-1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. GOVERNMENT USE Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U. S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12. 212 (Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights) and DFAR 227. 7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as applicable. Published By: Autodesk, Inc. 111 Mclnnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903, USA Documentation build date: April 3, 2007 iii GETTING HELP ON ALIASSTUDIO Welcome Autodesk provides you with a number of resources to aid you in becoming a proficient AliasStudio user. Finding help on AliasStudio features If: Try this You want information about installing AliasStudio Follow the on-screen instructions on the installation CD. For more detailed instructions, see the install. pdf file on the top level of the CD. You are new to AliasStudio ? Read Getting Started, the booklet included in the kit. ? Browse through the information on the main documentation page (index. html) ? Read the About†¦ section of the online documentation. If you prefer, you can print off the book full of this information, which is called AliasStudio Fundamentals. ? Work through these tutorials in Learning AliasStudio. These are basic lessons that will teach you about working in 3D in AliasStudio. They are also the prerequisite for more advanced AliasStudio courses. Use the How To†¦ section of the online documentation to learn how to perform specific operations within AliasStudio, like drawing curves, making four-sided surfaces, and using masks while painting. ? Visit www. autodesk. com/estore to find out about learning tools such as Learning Alias AliasStudio | Beginner’s Guide aimed at the novice user. You are upgrading from a previous version of StudioTools ? See the What’s New in AliasStudio document, available by selecting Help > What’s New in AliasStudio, or on the documentation CD as a PDF file. ? Look at the What’s New tab in the default sh elf provided with the application. iv You are looking for detailed nformation about a tool or feature ? Look in the â€Å"Tools and Menus† section of the online help ? Choose Help > What’s this and then click on the tool or menu item ? Use the right mouse button on the background of any option window to see help for that tool or operation. You want to learn new techniques for using AliasStudio ? See Learning AliasStudio 2008 ? See Technical Surfacing ? Visit www. autodesk. com/estore to find learning tools aimed at intermediate and advanced users. You want a PDF version of one of the manuals ? All of the manuals are provided in PDF format in the PDF directory on the documentation CD. You want to know what the eyboard shortcuts are in AliasStudio ? Choose Help > Keyboard shortcuts from within AliasStudio, or click Keyboard Shortcuts on the main online help page. You want a Quick Reference card ? Print the Quick Reference card file provided in the PDF directory on the do cumentation CD. v Finding AliasStudio training resources If†¦ Try this†¦ You want to obtain in-depth training ? See the learning materials and training courses available from www. autodesk. com/training You want to get tips and techniques from the experts at AliasStudio MasterClasses ? For events near you, see www. autodesk. com/training You want to create plug-ins for AliasStudio Use the AliasStudio Application Programmers’ Interface Manual to learn the object-oriented programming required to build plug-ins. You want information about becoming an Alias-certified instructor ? See the information at www. autodesk. com/training or contact us at [email  protected] com. vi Finding support for AliasStudio If†¦ Try this You are a Platinum member and want to access the Knowledgebase or Ask Autodesk ? Go to the AliasStudio support site at www. autodesk. com/ support You want to interat with other AliasStudio users ? Go to the online User-to-User Discussion forum on t he AliasStudio support site at www. autodesk. com/support You want answers to common roubleshooting questions ? See the FAQs (frequently asked questions) in the technical support section of the AliasStudio support website at www. autodesk. com/support. You want to license your software ? If you are a Platinum member and need a license, check the executable license file on the top of your installation CD. If your license isn’t there, go to www. autodesk. com/ spar and follow the instructions in the install. pdf file at the top of the AliasStudio CD. ? If you are a new customer, go to www. autodesk. com/opa to obtain a new license. You want customer or technical support ? Go to the webpage www. autodesk. com/support vii Working with AliasStudio If you create concept designs ? Read about our new concept design workflow ? Work through the modeling and rendering tutorials in Learning Studio If you build 3D models based on sketches ? Work through the modeling tutorials in Learning AliasStudio If you build 3D models for manufacture ? Read About Curves and About Modeling ? Work through the modeling tutorials in Learning Studio ? Check the community site for tips and tricks If you modify 3D models for manufacture ? Read AliasStudio Fundamentals ? Work through the Technical Surfacing tutorials. If you create rendered images ? Read About Rendering ? Work through the rendering tutorials in Learning Studio Check the community site for tips and tricks and downloadable shaders and backgrounds If you create animations ? Do the work in the â€Å"If you create rendered images† section ? Read About Animating ? Work through the animation tutorials in Learning Studio ? Check the community site for tips and tricks. viii ix CONTENTS Lear ning AliasStudio provides you with tutorials to learn the basics of modeling, rendering, and animating. All features are not available in all products or on all platforms; you may find your software does not support some of the capabilities described in this book to sketch, render, or animate. Getting help on AliasStudio iii Finding help on AliasStudio features iii Finding AliasStudio training resources v Finding support for AliasStudio vi Working with AliasStudio vii Contents ix Learning AliasStudio Tutorials 1 How to use this book 1 Interface Basics 5 Using Tools 11 Changing Your View of the Model 25 Understanding the object lister 33 Introduction to 3D 37 Part 1: Beginning a Model 38 Part 1: Creating 3D objects 41 Saving your work 45 Part 2: Building the lampstand 47 Part 3: Organizing the model 54 Part 4: Building the lampshade 58 Part 5: Assembling the desk lamp 65 Part 6: Posing the Lamp Model 68 Conclusion 70 Quiz 71 On your own 72 x Contents Quiz Answers 74 Modeling a Joystick 75 Introduction 75 Part 1: Creating the Joystick Handle 77 Part 2: Creating the Joystick Base 84 Part3: Creating the Flexible Sleeve 94 Part 4: Creating the connecting cable 99 Part 5: Assigning objects to layers 104 Part 6: Directly modifying surfaces 108 Part 7: Creating the button 120 Part 8: Visualizing the Model 123 Conclusion 126 Quiz 127 On Your Own 128 Quiz Answers 129 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner 131 Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces 133 Part 2: Intersecting and Trimming 139 Part 3: Surface Fillet 145 Part 4: Creating the Handle 152 Part 5: Air Vents 157 Part 6: Power Button 163 Part 7: Dust Bag and Cable Connector 171 Part 8: Completing the Model 180 Conclusion 183 Quiz 184 On Your Own 185 Quiz Answers 187 Modeling an MP3 Player 189 Introduction 191 Part 1: Creating the Casing Curves 192 Part 2: Creating the Side Surfaces 197 Part 3: Completing the Casing 202 Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess 209 Part 5: Centre Navigation Key 217 Part 6: Control Button 221 Part 7: Completing the Model 231 Quiz 236 On Your Own 237 Quiz Answers 239 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle 241 New Concepts 242 Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces 243 Part 2: Creating the Finger Grip Contents xi 251 Part 3: Label Surface 256 Part 4: Adding Blend Details 261 Part 5: Embossed Logo Details 267 Part 6: Completing the Model 275 Quiz 280 On Your Own 281 Quiz Answers 283 An introduction to Rendering 285 Visualizing a PDA 289 Conclusion 296 Quiz 297 On Your Own 298 Quiz Answers 299 Shaders and Lights 301 Part 1: Creating Shaders 302 Part 2: Adding a Label 309 Part 3: Lighting the Scene 313 Part 4: Creating an Image 319 Quiz 322 On Your Own 323 Quiz Answers 325 More rendering 327 Part 1: Editing the Render Globals parameters 329 Part 2: Creating a background environment 333 Part 3: Creating a 3D solid texture 338 Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture 341 Part 5: Raytracing 345 Conclusion 349 Quiz 350 On your own 351 Quiz Answers 352 Introduction to animating 353 Part 1: keyframing animation 355 Part 2: animating along a motion path 364 Part 3: editing a motion path 367 Part 4: animating the camera 369 Conclusion 372 Quiz 373 On Your Own 374 Quiz Answers 375 More animation techniques 377 Part 1: Creating an exploded view animation 379 Part 2: animating shaders 386 Conclusion 395 Quiz 396 On your own 397 Quiz Answers 398 xii Contents Index 399 1 LEARNING ALIASSTUDIO TUTORIALS Learning objectives This chapter shows how to use the tutorials, and presents the graphic and text conventions used in this manual. HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Introduction A general introduction and welcome to the AliasStudio tutorials. Welcome to AliasStudio and the world of three dimensional modeling, rendering, and animating. AliasStudio offers a complete solution for the creation of digital content in fields such as industrial design, automotive design, and consumer product design. About the Learning AliasStudio Tutorials A general overview of the tutorials. The tutorials in this book present examples of typical concept design workflows. The tutorials introduce the powerful tools and interactive features of AliasStudio, and demonstrate how to use them to accomplish your concept design tasks. The first six tutorials introduce modeling tools to build your experience level. We recommend that you start with the first tutorial and proceed sequentially through the modeling tutorials, because they build on each other. The next two tutorials introduce rendering tools and skills. The last tutorial introduces animation tools and skills. These tutorials are densely packed with information and techniques that may be new to you. You may want to re-read the lessons after completion, or even repeat the more difficult lessons. You can view movies (in Flash format) demonstrating each tutorial in the online documentation. In order to view these movies, you may need to install a Flash player. You can download Flash plug-ins for your browser for free from www. macromedia. com. Disclaimer: There may be slight discrepancies in procedures between the movies and the written documentation. If you 2 How to use this book encounter a discrepancy, use the written ocumentation version because it will be the most current. For More Information Information on learning more about AliasStudio and training. These tutorials are an introduction to AliasStudio. They are not intended as an exhaustive guide to the capabilities and options of AliasStudio, and will not teach you everything th ere is to learn about the products and workflows. For additional information and more comprehensive explanations of tools and options, refer to the online documentation included with the product, and read Getting help on AliasStudio (page iii). Graphic Conventions Explains graphic conventions used in the tutorials. To call attention to part of a screen shot, we ighlight the important area and darken the rest of the image. For example, in the picture shown, we have marked the location of the close box on the Action Window. To indicate a click, we use this symbol. For example, in the picture shown, we have indicated that the Open command should be clicked. In the text of the instruction, we will refer to this as File > Open. The first word or term is the name of the menu or palette; it is followed by an arrow and the name of the menu item or tool. In the case of a submenu, two arrows are used: Layouts > All Windows > All Studio refers to the All Studio menu item available from the All Windows submenu, which is found on the Layouts menu. To indicate that an option box for a tool or menu item should be opened, a box appears after the tool name, like Surfaces > Skin ?. When we ask you to choose a tool, we show the tool’s icon next to the instruction. Terms Explains terms used in the tutorials. Click: Move the mouse pointer over an object and press and release a mouse button once. Double-click: Move the mouse pointer over an object and press and release a mouse button twice fast. Drag: Move the mouse pointer over an object and hold down a mouse button, then move the mouse with the button held down. Then release the mouse button. Click-Drag: Move the mouse pointer over an object, ress the mouse button, and move the mouse pointer to a final position before releasing the mouse button. The Scene: The 3D â€Å"world† inside the view windows. 3 How to use this book The Model: The curves, surfaces, and points that make up the object you are creating. Note about Window Names AliasStudio 2008 brings a change in Stu dio and DesignStudio to the names of the Front and Side orthographic windows. Some of the tutorials in this book (Modeling a Shower Gel Bottle, Modeling an MP3 Player, and Rendering Basics) use the new naming convention; the rest of the tutorials still use the older DesignStudio window names. At the start of each tutorial, a section describes which window ames are used in that tutorial, and how to set the window names. 4 How to use this book 5 INTERFACE BASICS Learning objectives You will learn how to: ? Log into the system and start AliasStudio. ? Arrange windows. ? Use tools and tool options. ? Customize shelves and marking menus. ? Tumble, track, and dolly the view. ? Use the Object Lister window to understand the model Introduction Before you begin working in AliasStudio, you should spend some time learning how AliasStudio represents the scene and the model (both externally and internally), and how you use menus and tools to create and edit model data. Installing the tutorial co urseware files Each tutorial in this book is based on an Alias wire file which contains the material you need to learn the tools, skills and concepts in the tutorial. When you install AliasStudio, the courseware files are not automatically installed. These files are required to complete the Learning AliasStudio and Technical Surfacing tutorials. If you have installed the online documentation, your courseware may already be installed. If not, follow the following procedure to install the courseware. To install the courseware for use with AliasStudio: The courseware files (Alias wire files and other support files) are automatically installed when you install the documentation from the AliasStudio Documentation CD. If you have not yet installed the documentation, place the AliasStudio Documentation CD in your CD-ROM drive and proceed with the installation. You will require write permissions to the directory in which you plan to install the online help and courseware files. If you want to install only the courseware files, go directly to your disk drive and find the CourseWare folder on the disk. 2 Copy the CourseWare folder from its location on your hard drive or CD-ROM drive into your user_data folder. On Windows systems this is typically: C:Documents and Settings[userid]My DocumentsAliasStudiouser_dataCourseWare 6 Interface Basics To install the courseware for use with AliasStudio Personal Learning Edition 1 The AliasStudio documentation should have lready been installed on your system. The courseware files you’ll require to perform the tutorials can be found in the CourseWare directory, located under the Help directory. If you have installed the application in the default directory, you should find the CourseWare directory at C:Program FilesAutodeskAliasStudioPLE2008Help. 2 Copy the CourseWare directory from the Help directory to your account’s user data directory. On Windows systems this is typically: C:Documents and Settings[userid]My DocumentsAliasStudiouser_ dataCourseW are Starting AliasStudio Logging In If you have not logged in to your account on your workstation, do so now. To log in to your account ? Type your user name and password at the prompts. If you have an account on this workstation, the operating system user environment will appear. Depending on which product you are using, the AliasStudio icon may have a different name, such as DesignStudio or AutoStudio. To start AliasStudio on Windows 1 Double-click the Studio shortcut icon on the desktop, or choose Studio from the Start menu. When you start AliasStudio for the first time the Application Launcher appears on your desktop. 2 Choose a product to launch and options where applicable. If you want AliasStudio to launch the selected product and options automatically every ime you start AliasStudio, click Set Default. When you start AliasStudio again, the default product starts and the Application Launcher does not appear. You can change the default settings anytime by choosing Application Launcher from the Start menu. 3 Click Launch. The chosen product should start. 4 If the main AliasStudio window appears, AliasStudio is installed. The Start-up Process The first time you run AliasStudio, you may be presented with a choice of product to launch, if you work in an environment where there are several AliasStudio products installed. The product choice will depend on the licenses owned by your organization. 1 Choose the product you want to run, and click Go. Next, you’ll be presented with a workflow selection. 2 For the purpose of these tutorials, choose the Default workflow, which gives you access to all 3D curve and surface creation tools. The Paint workflow is for working solely within a 2D environment. You can click the Do not show again check box so this window won’t appear every time you launch AliasStudio. If you have chosen a workflow setting and checked Do not show again, you can change the default workflow by choosing the workflow you want from Preferences > Workflows. AliasStudio will launch the application in the same workflow that was active when you last exited the application. AliasStudio shows a splash window as it loads. During start-up, AliasStudio may warn you about unusual conditions on your system: ? If you are already running AliasStudio (or if AliasStudio exited abnormally the last time you ran it), the application will ask you if you really want to start another copy. 3 If you are sure AliasStudio is not running, click Yes to continue loading. After AliasStudio has finished loading its resources and plug-ins, the workspace window opens. 7 Interface Basics Overview of the AliasStudio Interface The main parts of the AliasStudio interface are: ? the Palette, located on the left ? the Menu Bar, located at the top the Window Area, taking up most of the interface and located in the middle (this area may or may not contain view windows when you first start AliasStudio). ? Shelves, located at the bottom (the Shelves may or may not be visible) ? the Control Panel, located on the right As you continue through this tutorial you will become more and more fami liar with the AliasStudio interface. Using Help One of the most important menus is the Help menu. The Help menu is organized so that you can get quick and specific information on just about any tool in AliasStudio. To get help on a tool or menu item It’s easy to get help on any tool or menu item in the interface. Just follow the steps below. 1 Click the Help menu, located at the right end of the menu bar. 2 In the Help menu, click What’s This? You are prompted to select the tool for which you want help. (This prompt appears in the prompt line, located just below the menu bar. ) 3 Click a menu item or a tool icon in the Palette. A browser window is launched and the on-line documentation about that tool icon or menu item is displayed. 4 When you are finished reading the information, minimize or close the browser window. Menu Bar Shelves Control Panel Window Area Palette 8 Interface Basics Arranging Windows Performing Menu Commands To use the menus to choose a window layout Click the title of the Layouts menu to open the menu. Notice the arrow next to the All windows item. This means there are more sub-options for this category: 2 Click the All windows item to open the submenu, then click the All windows item. The All windows command arranges view windows in the â€Å"Studio† layou t: Top, Front, Right, and Perspective. These tutorials will sometimes refer to menu items by the path through the menus to the item. So All windows will be: Layouts > All windows > All windows. As an alternative to the single-click method, you can use the pull-down menus by dragging the mouse down the menu and releasing on the item you want. Window Controls Use these controls on the borders of view windows to move, close, and resize the window: The view windows have more controls across the top, but for now you will concentrate on the close box, title bar, maximize, and resize corners. You will discover the functions of the other icons later in the tutorials. Close box Title bar Maximize box resize corners (4) 9 Interface Basics Closing Windows To close the Top view using the close box ? Find the close box in the upper left corner of the Top view window. ? Click the Top view window’s close box. The Top view window disappears. Resizing Windows You can change the size of windows using the resize arrows at each corner. To change the size of a view window using the resize arrows and maximize box 1 Find the resize arrows in the corners of a view window. 2 Drag a resize arrow to change the size of the window. An outline of the view window follows the mouse. 3 Release the mouse button. The corner of the window snaps to the new size. 4 Try dragging the resize corners in the other corners to see how they resize the window. ? Often you will want to work in one large window to see more detail. Use the maximize box to temporarily make the view window fill the entire screen. 5 Find the maximize box in the upper right corner of a view window. 6 Click the maximize box of the view window . The view expands to fill the entire screen. Notice that the maximize box changes to black to show the window is maximized. 7 Click the maximize box again to return the view window to normal size. Moving Windows To move and arrange the remaining windows 1 Find a view window’s title bar. The title bar is the area at the top of the window, between the close box and the other icons on the right. 10 Interface Basics 2 Drag the title bar. An outline of the view window follows the mouse. 3 Release the mouse button. The window snaps to the new location. ? By now you probably have some view windows overlapping other windows, similar to this: The windows are like a stack of papers on a desk. As you shuffle them, they can overlap. When windows overlap like this, you can click in a window to move that window to the front of the stack. 4 Click the title bar of the Perspective view window to move it in front of the other windows. The windows are probably a little disorganized at this point. You can quickly reset them to a default layout using the commands in the Layout menu again. 5 Choose Layouts > All windows > All windows. The Active Window Notice one of the view windows has a white border. This is how AliasStudio indicates the active view window (sometimes also called the current view window). The active view window is always the last view indow you clicked in. Some tools change behavior based on which view is active, but for now you can disregard which view window is active. Saving an arrangement of windows If you have a particular choice of windows that you plan to use repeatedly, you can save the set by choosing Layouts > User windows > Save Current Layout. Youâ€℠¢ll be prompted for a file name. To use this layout in the future, choose Layouts > User windows > Retrieve Layout. 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 11 Interface Basics Using Tools Using Tools Describes how to use the AliasStudio interface, such as selecting tools and creating shortcuts. Tool Basics To orient yourself in the Palette window Find the Palette window on the left side of the screen. If the palette is not visible, go to the Windows menu and choose Palette. The Palette window is divided into separate palettes of tools, each labeled with a tab at the top. For example, the Curves palette contains tools for creating new curves. The Curve Edit palette contains tools for editing and reshaping existing curves. 2 Find the Surfaces palette. It’s the seventh palette from the top of the window. If you can’t see the Surfaces palette, use the scroll bar on the left side of the palette window to scroll up or down until it’s visible in the window. 3 Hold the cursor over a tool. Th e name of the tool appears in a small box just elow the icon. This small text window is called a tooltip. This feature can help you to identify tools until you become familiar with the icons in the palette. Once you are familiar with the icons in the palette, you may want to disable tooltips. To do this, choose the ToolTips option in the Interface section of the General Preferences window (Preferences > General Preferences – ? ). Now you will use the geometric primitive tools to add some geometry to the scene. The primitive tools create simple 3D geometric shapes such as cubes, spheres, and cones. As a technical surfacer, you may not regularly need to add these simple shapes to a model. However, hey will allow us to practice several AliasStudio interface concepts, including choosing tools, using manipulators, sub-palettes, tool option windows, and snapping. 12 Interface Basics Using Tools To create a primitive sphere in the scene 1 Click the Surfaces > Primitives > Sphere too l. A red outline appears around the icon to show it is the current tool. 2 Click in the Top view window to place the new sphere. A new sphere, one grid unit wide, appears where you release the mouse button. Using a Snap Mode To use grid snapping to place a primitive cube You may have noticed that some tools have a small yellow arrow in the top right corner. These arrows indicate that more, similar tools re available in a hidden sub-palette. To access the extra tools, you must click and hold the mouse to open the sub-palette. 1 In the Surfaces palette, click and hold the Sphere tool icon. The Surfaces > Primitives sub-palette pops out. 2 Hold the middle mouse button on the different tools in the sub-palette to see their names. 3 Click the Cube tool. The sub-palette disappears. The Cube tool is selected and now occupies the space in the main palette where the Sphere tool was. This time you will place the new primitive using grid snapping. 4 Find the snap buttons, to the right of the p romptline. 5 Click the Grid button to turn on grid snapping. Click and drag in the Top view window. 13 Interface Basics Using Tools The cube snaps to the grid intersections as you drag. 7 Place the cube at a grid point by releasing the mouse button. 8 Click the Grid snap button again to turn grid snapping off. In addition to using the Grid button, you can grid snap by pressing and holding the Alt button while you place a primitive. To use the palette menu to choose the Cone tool This time we will show you an alternative method for choosing tools from palettes. 1 Click the tab at the top of the Surfaces palette. The palette collapses down to just the tab, and the other palettes move up to fill the space. This feature is very useful for saving space in the palette window and in shelves. You can still choose tools from the palette using the palette’s menu. 2 Click the right mouse button on the Surfaces palette’s title tab to open the palette’s menu. 3 Click the Primitives item to open the sub-menu. Just like the menus at the top of the screen, arrows indicate that an item in the palette menu has sub-items. 4 Click the Cone tool item. You have now seen two different ways to choose a tool from a palette. From now on, we will ask you to choose tools by name, such as: â€Å"In the Surfaces palette, choose Primitives > Cone. † Whenever you are asked to choose a tool, you an either click the tool icon, or choose the tool from the palette menu. 5 Click in the Top view to place a cone in the scene. 6 Click the Surfaces palette’s tab again to expand the Surfaces palette back to normal. To use tool options to add a half-cylinder 1 With the right mouse button, c lick the title tab of the Surfaces palette to open the palette menu, then open the Primitives sub-menu. Notice that some items have shadowed boxes next to the name of the item. 14 Interface Basics Using Tools 2 Click the shadowed box next to the Cylinder item. 3 The Cylinder options window appears. 4 Double click in the text box labeled Sweep, then type 180 and press Enter to set the sweep to 180 degrees. Use the slider next to the Sections text box to set the sections to 4. 6 Click the Go button at the bottom of the window. This button applies the settings in the window and activates the tool. 7 Click in the Top view window to place the new half-cylinder in the scene. As you specified in the option window, the cylinder has a 180-degree perimeter and is created from four sections (spans). 8 Look at the Cylinder tool icon. It has a small option box symbol in the top left corner. Like the symbol in the menu, this indicates the tool has options. 9 Double-click the Cylinder tool icon. T he Cylinder Options window appears. 10 Click Exit to close the options window. Picking and Unpicking Objects Picking refers to selecting objects in the scene for use with other tools. For example, to move a CV, you must pick the CV, then use the Move tool on the picked CV. Picking objects in the scene is a fundamental part of modeling with AliasStudio. Because it is so important, AliasStudio provides several different tools for picking. To pick all and pick nothing 1 In the Pick palette, choose Object Types > All obj/lights. All the objects in the scene highlight to show they are picked. 15 Interface Basics Using Tools Unlike most selection tools, Pick > Object Types > All obj/lights does not stay selected, since you never need to use it twice in a row. When these momentary types of tools finish, the current tool reverts to the last continuous tool you selected. 2 In the Pick palette, choose the Nothing tool. The Pick > Nothing tool unpicks every object, leaving nothing picked. Like the Pick > Object Types > All obj/lights tool, the Pick > Nothing tool does not stay selected. The current tool reverts to the last tool you used. To pick and unpick individual objects 1 Choose the Pick > Object tool. 2 Click the cone primitive in the view windows with the left mouse button. The cone highlights to show it is picked. 3 Click the other objects with the left mouse button. They also become picked. With all the objects picked, click one of the picked objects with the left mouse button. The object you clicked becomes unpicked. The left mouse button toggles objects between picked and unpicked. 5 Now click one of the primitives with the middle mouse button. The object you clicked is picked and the other objects are unpicked. 16 Interface Basics Using Tools The middle mouse button picks only the object you click. 6 Click the picked primitive with the right mouse button. The object is unpicked. The right mouse button unpicks objects. This is most useful with pick boxes, as you will see in the next procedure. To use pick boxes to pick and unpick several objects at once With the Pick > Object tool still selected, click one of the primitive objects with the left mouse button. 2 Press the left mouse button and drag a box around all the primitive objects. All the objects inside the pick box toggle between picked and unpicked. 3 Now drag a pick box with the middle mouse button around some objects. Now only the objects inside the box are picked. 4 Now drag a pick box with the right mouse button around some of the picked objects. 17 Interface Basics Using Tools Any objects inside the pick box are unpicked. To pick by name 1 Use the middle mouse button to pick only the sphere. 2 From the Windows menu, choose Information > Information window. The Information window appears. The information window allows you to adjust parameters for objects in the scene. 3 Find the Name field. The name of the object should be sphere or something similar. 4 Close the Information window. 5 Click in empty space with the middle mouse button. All objects in the scene are unpicked. ? Remember, the middle mouse button picks only what you click. If you pick â€Å"nothing† (empty space), then the tool acts just like if you had chosen Pick > Nothing. 6 Type sphere, then press Enter. The text appears as you type in the promptline at the top of the workspace window. When you press Enter, the sphere is picked. Shortcuts to Tools The variety of tools available is the source of AliasStudio’s power, but finding tools in the palette can potentially become time consuming. You can make commonly used tools available more quickly, and hide rarely used tools until you need them. AliasStudio provides three solutions: shelves, marking menus, and hot keys. Shelves are like the palettes, except you control the tools’ options and their position on the shelves. You will use shelves to organize all your commonly used tools. Marking menus pop-up at the current mouse location. They provide a very fast method to choose the tools you use most often (such as Pick > Object). Hot keys are special key combinations that perform ommon menu or tool commands. Creating Custom Shelves To show and hide the shelf window 1 In the Windows menu, choose Shelves. The Shelves window appears. ? The Shelves window provides a floating window in which to keep commonly used tools. 18 Interface Basics Using Tools AliasStudio, however, pr ovides another, even more convenient location for shelves. In these tutorials, you will use the shelf area in the control panel. ? Since you will not be using the Shelves window, you can close it. 2 Choose Windows > Shelves again to hide the Shelves window, or click the Shelves window’s close button. To help demonstrate how to make new shelves, you ill clear the default shelves and make new shelves specific to these tutorials. Before you clear the default shelves, you will save them so you can retrieve them later. To save the initial shelf set 1 Choose Windows > Control Panel. The control panel will appear. 2 Hold the left mouse button on the Shelf Options menu button at the top of the control panel’s shelf area to open the pop-up menu. 3 Drag down to the Save item and release the mouse button. A file requester appears. 4 Click in the File text field and type Default, then click Save. In the next procedure, you will start a new shelf of tools commonly used in curve fit ting in preparation or the lesson on fitting curves to scan data. To clear the existing shelf set and create a new one 1 Hold the left mouse button on the menu button at the top of the shelf area to open the pop-up menu. Notice how the menu button is now called Default, after the name of the current shelf. 2 Choose New from the pop-up menu. A requester appears asking for the name of the new shelf. 3 Click in the text box, hit the Esc key to clear the text, and type CurveFit. Click OK to name the new shelf. The old Shelf set is deleted and a new, empty shelf appears in the shelf area. Now you can begin adding tools to the new shelf. 4 In the Palette window, find the Curves palette. With the middle mouse button, drag the Fit Curve tool onto the Curves shelf in the control panel. 19 Interface Basics Using Tools The tool appears in the shelf. You could move the entire Curves palette onto the shelf by dragging its title tab, but you only want a selection of tools from the full palette. N ext, you will add curve drawing tools to the palette. Since you will often need to create curves of different degree in technical surfacing, it would be useful to have customized versions of tools with different settings. The shelf allows you to do this. When you drag a tool onto a shelf, the new copy of the tool keeps the settings it had when it was dropped on the shelf, ndependent of the original tool in the palette. Using this technique, you will create several versions of the two original curve creation tools, New curve (edit pts) and New curve (cvs). Each version will have different settings for the Degree option. To add versions of the New Curve tools to the shelf with different options 1 In the Curves palette, double-click New Curves > New Curve by Edit Points to open the tool’s option window. (Remember that you can also choose New Curve by Edit Points from the palette menu). The New Curve by Edit Points option window appears. The options let you set the knot spacing ( parameterization) and degree of the new curve. Make sure Knot Spacing is set to Uniform and Create Guidelines is off. 3 Set the Degree option to 2. 4 Find the tool icon at the top of the option window. This icon represents the tool as configured with these settings. 5 Press the middle mouse button on the tool icon at the top of the option box and drag it to the CurveFit shelf. Now when you choose this icon in the shelf, the New Curve (edit pts) tool will create degree 2 curves. 6 Back in the option window, set the Degree to 3. 20 Interface Basics Using Tools 7 Use the middle mouse button to drag the tool icon at the top of the option window to the shelf. Another copy of the tool is added to the shelf. When you choose this copy of the tool, the New Curve (edit pts) tool will create degree 3 curves. 8 Click Exit at the bottom of the option window to close the window. To rename the tools 1 Move the mouse over the CurveFit shelf’s title tab and press the right mouse button to show the shelf’s menu. Note that the two versions of the tool have the exact same name and icon. To be able to distinguish between the tools, you will rename them. 2 Find the first version of New Curve by Edit Points you dragged to the shelf. If you can’t remember which is which, doubleclick the two icons to see their option windows. You want the version with the Degree option set to 2. Hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the tool icon. A name requester appears. 4 Double-click in the text box and type Edit_pt_Deg_2, then click OK to rename the tool. 5 Hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the second copy of the New Curve by Edit Points tool. 6 Double-click in the text box and type Edit_ pt_Deg_3, then click OK to rename the tool. 7 Hold down the right mouse button on the title tab of the shelf to open the shelf menu. The two copies of the tool are now distinguishable in the menu, but still have identical icons. We recommend you keep the shelves collapsed and use the shelf menus to choose tools. This saves space in the shelf. To remove a tool from the shelf 1 Add another tool to the CurveFit shelf. Let’s now assume that this was a mistake and you wish to remove the tool. 2 Hold the middle mouse button over the tool’s icon in the shelf. The name of the tool appears. 3 With the middle mouse button held down, drag the label to the upper-right corner of the window and position the cursor over the trash can icon. 21 Interface Basics Using Tools 4 Release the mouse button. The tool disappears from the shelf. You can also delete groups of tools by dragging a tab with the middle mouse button to the trash can. You may have noticed that icons are a bit crowded on the shelf. The large icons are good when you are learning which icon is which, but now you will switch to the small icon size to save space in the shelf. To change to the small icon size 1 In the Preferences menu, choose General Preferences – ?. The Interface options appear. 2 Set the Icon Mode to Small. If you wish, you can also turn the icon labels option on to display name labels on all the icons. 3 Click the Go button at the bottom of the window to apply the changes. AliasStudio loads smaller versions of all the tool icons. You have seen how to create shelves with customized tools. In later lessons you will load premade shelves containing all the tools you need to omplete the tutorials. Using and Customizing Marking Menus An even faster method for selecting tools are the marking menus. Marking menus generally hold fewer tools than a shelf, but are much faster since you can use quick gestures to choose tools. With practice, selecting tools with marking menus becomes almost instantaneo us. To choose common tools with marking menus 1 Hold down the Shift and Ctrl keys. 2 With the keys held down, hold the left mouse button. 22 Interface Basics Using Tools The left mouse button marking menu appears at the location of the mouse pointer. 3 Keep the left mouse button held down and drag down until the Pick > Object box is ighlighted. A thick black line shows the direction of the mouse pointer. 4 Release the mouse button to choose the highlighted tool. The Pick > Object tool is now the current tool. 5 Hold Shift and Ctrl with the middle and then with the right mouse buttons to see the other marking menus. Each mouse button has a separate marking menu. Once you have learned which direction corresponds to which tool in a marking menu, you can use a quick gesture to choose the tool. 6 Hold the Shift and Ctrl keys, then drag up and release the mouse button quickly. The black line shows the direction but the menu is not drawn. When you release the mouse button, the arking menu flashes the name of the selected tool on the screen. You have just selected Pick > Nothing. Use this method to choose tools even faster once you have mastered the positions of the tools on the menu. Learn which tools are on the marking menus, and use the marking menus whenever you need to choose one of those tools. The more you use them, the faster you will become, until you can choose tools with quick gestures. To customize a marking menu with common tools 1 In the Preferences menu, open the Marking Menus sub-menu and choose Modeling Marking Menu – ?. The Modeling Marking Menu shelf window appears. This is a special shelf window. The tools and enu items on the different tabs appear in corresponding marking menus. The procedure to modify the content of marking menus is similar to the one for modifying shelves that we learned earlier. Here you will make a small modification to the Pick marking menu shelf. 2 Double click the Pick > Pick locator point tool in the Palette or Cont rol Panel to open the Pick Locator Options box. Right mouse button Middle mouse button Middle Right 23 Interface Basics Using Tools 3 Hold down the middle mouse button and drag the tool icon from the top of the option box and drop it between the third and fourth last icons on the shelf. You now have a tool on the marking menu to ick locators. 4 Hold down Shift and Alt keys and press the left mouse button to show the marking menu again. The tool you just added is called Pick > Pick_locator in the marking menu. You will change the name to something more concise. 5 In the MarkingMenu shelf window, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the Pick locator tool in the shelf (second from the right). A dialog box appears. 6 Type Pick_Locator in the text field and click OK to rename the tool in the marking menu. 7 Show the left mouse button marking menu again. You now know how to customize the marking menus. In later lessons, you will load pre-made marking menus with common urfacing tools. U sing hot keys Hot keys are special key combinations that choose tools or perform menu commands. You can get a complete listing of all the hot keys in the hot key editor. To use hot keys 1 In the Preferences menu, open the Interface sub-menu and choose Hot keys / Menus. The hot key editor appears. 24 Interface Basics Using Tools ? AliasStudio’s option windows use a hierarchy similar to that of the file lister: options are organized into hierarchical sections that can be collapsed and expanded. 2 In the menu section, click the Layouts subsection title to expand it. Click to open a Section Heading You can see the hot key for the User windows tem, as well as text fields for defining other hot keys. You can define your own hot keys if you wish. For the most part we will not use hot keys in these lessons. If you are new to Autodesk AliasStudio products, we recommend that you spend some time working with the product before you define hot keys, so you can learn which commands you use frequently enough to need a hot key. 3 Click the close box to close the hot key editor. 25 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model Changing Your View of the Model Learn how AliasStudio represents the 3D model on your 2D monitor, and how to use the view controls to get the best possible angle on the model for the ask at hand. Tracking, Dollying, and Tumbling the Camera’s View There are many different ways to change the camera’s view in AliasStudio. In general, you will only need to learn three camera moves to model effectively: tumble, dolly, and track. Because these camera movements are so common, AliasStudio uses special hot key/mouse combinations to let you access these movements quickly. To use the camera move mode to move the camera in a perspective window 1 Hold down the Shift and Alt keys. Keep the keys held down during the following steps. 2 Make sure the mouse pointer is over the perspective view window. 3 Drag the left mouse button to tumble the came ra: Drag left and right to rotate the camera. ? Drag up and down to tilt the camera. Tumbling the camera changes the azimuth and elevation angles of the camera. 4 Release the left mouse button, but keep the Shift and Alt keys held down. 5 Drag the right mouse button to dolly the camera in and out. Dolly in out Track Tumble rotate tilt up down left right 26 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model Dollying moves the camera forward and backward. 6 Again, release the right mouse button, but keep the Shift and Alt keys held down. 7 Drag the middle mouse button to track the camera. Tracking moves the camera, but does not change the direction in which the camera is pointing. When you are done moving the camera, release the mouse button and the Shift and Alt keys to exit camera move mode. Now, try moving the camera in the orthographic windows. To use the camera move keys to move the camera in an orthographic window 1 Hold Shift and Alt to enter camera move mode. 2 Make sure the poi nter is over an orthographic window such as Top, Side, or Back 3 Drag the right mouse button to dolly in and out. 4 Drag the middle mouse button to track up, down, left and right. 5 Now try dragging the left mouse button to tumble the orthographic view. Nothing happens. You cannot change the view direction of orthographic windows. They always ook in the same direction. Moving the camera is a very important skill in AliasStudio. Throughout this book you will need to move the camera to work with geometry. Using the camera move mode soon becomes second nature. With practice, you will be able to 27 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model move the camera where you need it without thinking about the keys or the mouse. Practice tumbling, tracking, and dollying the camera around the model some more before you move on. To use Look At to center on an object 1 Use the marking menus to choose the Pick > Nothing tool. Remember that the left mouse button marking menu has the pick tools. Now use the marking menus to choose the Pick > Object tool. 3 Pick one of the geometric objects you created earlier. 4 Find the View palette. It’s near the bottom of the Palette window. 5 Choose the Look at tool. The active view window (the window with the white outline) changes to center on the picked object. 6 Pick nothing. 7 Use the Look at tool again. The active view changes to center on all the existing geometry. When you use Look at with nothing or everything picked, the view will center on all the geometry in the scene. Look at is most useful to quickly find geometry that is outside the view of a window or too far to be seen clearly. AliasStudio provides two additional tools to make it easier to move the camera around a model quickly: the â€Å"point of interest†, and the viewing panel. Changing the Point of Interest Normally, camera move mode (Shift+Alt) is calibrated to best view objects at the origin (the center of world space, coordinate 0,0,0). This can become awkward when you want to move the camera around objects away from the origin. The point of interest manipulator lets you center the camera movements on a point on the model. To use the point of interest manipulator First, make sure the point of interest manipulator is turned on. 1 Choose Preferences > General Preferences ?. The General Preferences window appears. 28 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model T 2 Click Input on the left hand side to open the Input section. 3 Turn on the Use point of interest option. 4 Click Go to close the window and use the new settings. 5 Move the mouse pointer over the Perspective view and hold down the Shift and Alt keys to open the Viewing Panel. Keep the keys held down for the rest of this procedure. 6 In the Viewing Panel, open the Pnt of Interest section and turn on Visible. 7 Position the mouse pointer on the wireframe of one of the primitive objects and click with the left mouse button. When you release the mouse button, the point f interest manipulator appears on the model where you clicked. Drag with the left mouse button to tumble. The view tumbles around the point of interest. 8 Click and release on another point on one of the primitive objects. The point of interest manipulator jumps to the new point. 9 Drag the circle at the center of the point of i nterest manipulator. The manipulator moves across the surface of the object. 10 Notice the light blue or yellow arrow extending from the center of the manipulator. This arrow indicates the normal at this point on the surface. The arrow is light blue when it is pointing toward you and yellow when it is pointing away. 11 Click the light blue or yellow arrow. The view changes to look at the point down the normal. 12 Now look for the red and green arrows extending from the center of the manipulator (tumble the view to show the arrows more clearly if necessary). These arrows represent the tangents along the U and V directions for the object. 13 Click the red arrow. The view changes to look down the tangent in the U direction. 29 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model Use the following overview illustration as a reminder of the different controls on the point of interest manipulator. Using the Viewing Panel You have probably already seen the viewing panel appear when you enter camera move mode in the Perspective window. This window lets you quickly switch the Perspective window to a default or userdefined view of the model. As you work on the model, you will probably find yourself changing the camera view back and forth between two or more areas of interest. The viewing panel lets you â€Å"bookmark† views of the model and return to those views by clicking the name of the bookmark. To use the viewing panel to move between different views 1 Click the maximize box in the upper right corner of the Perspective view window. The Perspective view window enlarges to full screen. 2 Hold down the Shift and Alt keys to enter camera move mode. Keep the keys held down for the rest of this procedure. The viewing panel appears in the upper left corner of the Perspective window. The images at the center of the panel (small icons of the top and bottom of a car) represent the model. 3 Click an arrow to view the model from one of eight different directions. The horizontal and vertical arrows represent front, side, and back views. The diagonal arrows represent three-quarter views. Click the red or green arrow to look at the tangent along the U or V direction Click the light blue/yellow arrow to look down the norma Drag the circle to move at this point the point of interest along or across the object 30 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model Click the left car icon to see a top view, or the right car icon to see a bottom view. 5 Click the white arrow near the bottom of the viewing panel to return to the view previous to your last camera move. 6 Click the Viewing Panel section heading at the top of the panel to collapse the entire panel into a small heading. Use this technique to get the viewing panel out of the way when you want as much viewing area as possible. 7 Click the Viewing Panel heading again to expand the panel. 8 Click the Point of Interest section heading to open it. Options related to the point of interest manipulator appear. 9 Turn off the Visible check box to hide the point of interest manipulator. Turn the Visible check box on to show the manipulator again. 10 Turn on the Locked check box to keep the point of interest manipulator locked at its current position. The manipulator will not move when you click at another point or drag its center handle. Use this option if you find that you are moving the manipulator unintentionally. Turn the Locked check box off to free the manipulator. 11 Turn off the Perspective check box. The perspective view changes to an isographic projection. 31 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model Many people find an isographic view easier for technical modeling, since parallel lines in the model remain parallel in the view window. For the remainder of the tutorials, the screen shots will show isographic views. However, feel free to turn the Perspective checkbox back on if you prefer a perspective view. To set and show bookmarks 1 Move the mouse pointer over the Perspective view and hold down the Shift and Alt keys to enter camera move mode. Keep the Shift and Alt keys held down. 2 Find the Bookmarks section at the bottom of the Viewing Panel If it is not visible, click on the tag in the bottom right corner of the viewing panel. It will turn white and the bookmarks section will appear. 3 Click the new button in the bookmarks section. A new bookmark appears at the bottom of the section. Move the camera to a new view on the model. 5 Click the new button again. A second bookmark appears in the bookmark list. 6 Click the label for the first bookmark, then the second. The view switches back and forth between the two bookmarked views. To be able to distinguish between bookmarks later, you should rename them now. 7 Cl ick the edit button in the Bookmarks section. The Bookmark Lister window appears. 8 Release the Shift and Alt keys. 9 Hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the first bookmark icon in the Bookmark Lister. A dialog box appears. 10 Type a new name for the bookmark, then click OK. For production work you should use meaningful ames such as â€Å"back panel† or â€Å"door handle†. By default, bookmarks are named BM, BM#2, BM#3, etc. Move the cursor over a bookmark icon to see its current name. 11 Ctrl double-click and rename the other bookmark. 12 Note the buttons in the Bookmark Lister window: ? The Delete button removes the current bookmark (green outline) from the list. ? The New button adds a bookmark of the current view. This is the same as clicking new in the viewing panel. ? The Prev and Next buttons change the view to the bookmark that precedes or follows the highlighted bookmark (green outline). Delete New Prev Next Bookmark icons Cycle Publish 32 Interface Basics Changing Your View of the Model The Cycle button displays the bookmarked views in a slideshow fashion. ? The Publish button saves the current or all bookmark(s) as image files on your disk. ? Clicking on a bookmark icon changes the view to that bookmark. This is the same as clicking a bookmark in the viewing panel. 13 Close the Bookmark Lister. 14 Hold the Shift and Alt keys in the Perspective window to show the viewing panel. Notice your new names in the Bookmarks section. Use the following overview illustration as a reminder of the different controls on the viewing panel. The Twist and Azimuth/Elevation tools rotate the view around the point of interest. Open/Close Panel Open/Close