Speaker Preparation Room

Location at HKCEC: Room S228

All presenters are required to check in at the Speaker Preparation Room soon after they pick up their credentials at SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 Contributor Registration. This is the time for you to confirm your AV and computer equipment requests, rehearse your presentation, and inquire about any additional presentation needs you may have while at the conference. We will also have your speaker ribbon there.

In the Speaker Preparation Room, you can test your presentation and make sure that your software versions are compatible with the versions in the session rooms, and find out if you have all the necessary fonts, CODECS, or linked images to make your presentation work the way you expect it to.

A speaker practice room (Room S230) will be available as a service. Presenters can book a rehearsal time prior to their presentation when they check in at the Speaker Preparation Room. Click here to download the Rehearsal Booking Form.

Speaker Room Equipment

SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 provides a generous array of presentation technology in the technical session rooms. The standard setup includes a screen, a standard-resolution video/data projector, a standing lectern, lectern microphone, a Windows PC, and a Macintosh.

All the computers are connected to a switcher that feeds the standard-resolution video/data projector. We will also provide you with the equipment to connect your own laptop. If you prefer to use your own equipment, we strongly recommend testing the setup in the Speaker Preparation Room as early as possible.

We recommend that you use our session-room computers in order to maintain the integrity of the equipment setup. Connecting other computers tends to disrupt the presentation flow. If you have special software or hardware requirements, please inform us in advance, so we can provide a connection to get you up and running.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 provides a 4:3 aspect ratio for all session rooms.* All screens and projectors are 4:3, so you will need to create your slides in 4:3. Please note that it is not mandatory to use the 4:3 format, but if you do not, your slides will not appear as prepared.

Here's the presentation equipment you will find in each technical session room:

Projection

One projection screen, sized appropriately for the room layout.
One very bright, standard-resolution video/data projector.

Computers

One PC with CD-R/DVD drive, wireless internet connectivity up to 2mbps, Windows 7, and Microsoft Office 2010.

One Apple MacBook with CD/DVD drive, wireless internet connectivity up to 2mbps, OS X Snow Leopard, and Microsoft Office 2010.

Audio

All rooms are equipped with mono sound system.

*Except for Keynote Speakers, Featured Sessions, and Computer Animation Festival Talks, where sessions are presented in 16:9 aspect ratio.

Slide Preparation

A key element of your SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 presentation is your electronic slide preparation. The audience will base its evaluation of you and your subject matter partly on the appearance of your images. An attractive, legible, and organized presentation will reflect positively on the content, and therefore on you. Please review these basic guidelines to ensure that your SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 presentation is the best it can possibly be.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 PowerPoint Slide Template

Timing

Find out how much time is allowed for your presentation. Plan your talk and the number of slides to allow for a relaxed pace. Think of what you would change if the presentation had to be shortened or lengthened. Practice your talk before the conference. Time yourself. Force yourself to slow down a little. A rushed presentation will create more stress for you and will not be compelling. Come to the Speaker Preparation Room to upload your presentation and practice your timing.

Legibility
The technical session rooms at SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 are large, and your presentation must be legible from the back row. If you can stand two meters away from your computer's monitor and easily read your slides, your text is large enough. To achieve this, limit each slide to eight lines of text or less and limit each line of text to 30 characters or less. Use a bold typeface, no smaller than 28 points, with generous line spacing.

Use key words, so that your slides will be quick and easy to read. You want the audience to hear your presentation, while the slides accentuate the points to remember. Use standard fonts. That way your presentation will be truly portable. Incorporate only the essential parts of a diagram and simplify whenever possible. While it is tempting to include detail for the sake of accuracy, too much will make the slide difficult to read and become a distraction. Break up complex diagrams into sections if you can, so that each section can be made larger and therefore more legible.

Capitalization

Avoid using ALL CAPITAL letters. Words written in ALL CAPS are harder to read and take up more space on the screen. Use bold face and italics for emphasis, or use a bright color such as yellow text when normal body text is white. Underlined text is not recommended.

Color and Contrast
Make good use of color and contrast. Dark backgrounds tend to be easier to view, especially with light text and graphics. Good background color choices are black, blue, maroon, or gradient dark colors. Good text colors are white or yellow. If you use a light background, use black or very dark text and graphics.

Maintain consistency throughout your slides. Using the same background color, text size, text color, and uniform fonts throughout all the slides makes it easier for the audience to follow the flow of your ideas.

Movies in Presentations

Please review this information to be certain that your movies will play on the SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 computers. These tips were written for PowerPoint users, but the issues (files, folders, and CODECS) are common to most presentation software.

Files and Folders
Be sure to bring all the files associated with your presentation. (If you have movies that play in your presentation, you must copy each individual movie file onto your presentation disk.)

Make sure your PowerPoint presentation and your movies are in the SAME folder. If you put videos in sub-folders, they will likely not play. (If you have already done this, we can fix it in the Speaker Preparation Room.)

CODECs
If you used a special CODEC to create video compression, you must bring this CODEC program with you so we can install it on our presentation computer. If you are unsure about your CODEC, try your presentation on a computer other than the one you use everyday. Try one in another office or at a friend's house. If you know the person who created the video, please contact that person and ask if the video includes any CODEC issues.

We can Help
If you are unsure about which CODEC your movie requires, you can email a sample of one of your movies to the SIGGRAPH Asia 2012 Speaker Prep Staff. We will test it and let you know if there are any issues. Send your questions or concerns to the Speaker Preparation staff.

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