Matsuricon 10 AMV contest thread-rules, announcements, etc

[ahinton]

Hello again org. I am proud to announce that one of the Midwest USA's fastest growing anime cons, Matsuricon, is holding its own AMV contest. This forums thread will be used for any AMV related announcements for the con and contest. For right now here are the rules for the contest. Matsuricon will be held on August 14th - 16th in Columbus, OH. I am now accepting all registrations up till the end of day June 30th.

Your registration form can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ry_aXT ... sp=sharing
If you would like to view the entire rules from Google docs, please go here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1emW ... authuser=0

Any questions, issues, etc. please do not hesitate to ask. But otherwise, I hope to hear from as many of you as possible.

Matsuricon 10 AMV Contest Rules and Info

Official Contest Information:

There will be two different showings: the official contest and an overflow showing. The contest presentation is scheduled to run approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes long and will be burned on a DVD/Blu-Ray disc. The run time for the overflow showing will depend on the amount of videos that do not make the contest. However, the goal is to display every video that is received for the contest provided it meets the rules requirements.

The official contest set list and overflow list will be posted tentatively on August 7th (a week before Matsuricon) through the official Matsuricon Twitter feed, Matsuricon Facebook page, and finally the AnimeMusicVideos.org forums. The approximate times of the contest and overflow will also be posted as well. Keep in mind these dates and times are subject to change. Please see video submission info in this section for further information on how to submit the video as well as what to expect from the submission and contest process.
For editors submitting to the contest, there will be 5 categories to choose from. If there is a shortage of entries for one or more of the categories after the submission deadline, the AMV liaison will announce on the forums the category(s) that have been dropped and the editors will be informed if their video will be assigned to another category. The categories are as follows:

• Serious
• Dance
• Sentimental
• Fun
• Action

To decide on the official contest set list, the services of a selection committee will be commissioned. During Matsuricon where the contest itself will be shown, a panel of judges will commissioned to decide the best videos of the contest. There will even be some audience participation as they will get a chance to vote for their favorite videos. An awards ceremony will be held, in which awards and prizes will be given out for the following:

• Best of each category as picked by the judges
• Matsuricon 10 Audience Choice (as picked by the audience)
• Matsuricon 10 Judges Choice (Judges’ overall favorite video)

The winner of the best overall video will not qualify for the best in its category. That will go the video with the next best score in that category. Awards and prizes will be given out at the awards ceremony for editors who attend. A proxy will be allowed to pick up the awards and prizes, but the name of the proxy must be either mentioned in the registration or e-mailed to the AMV liaison. There will be more information on the prizes and awards posted on the appropriate sites once that information becomes available.

Contest Submission Information:

Before an editor can submit a video, it must first be registered. This can be done through the registration page that will be provided through a forums post separate from the contest rules.

When registering online, editors will be asked to fill in the following information:
• Full Legal Name (including everyone who worked on the video)
• Nickname or name that you would like to use in the credits.
• Studio (if applicable)
• E-mail address where the editor(s) can be reached
• The name of the proxy if one will be present
• AMV Title
• File name of the AMV
• Category of the AMV
• Alternate category of the AMV
• Video source
• Audio source
• Submission type

For the submission type, there will be two choices: either through physical media which will be mailed in or through a Google Drive upload. If a video is to be submitted through a Google Drive upload, the editor will be e-mailed a link where he/she/they can upload the video. If submission is through physical media, it must be put on a DVD-RW or BD-RW and burned as a DATA disk, not authored. All physical media submitted will become property of Matsuricon and thus will not be returned.

The file name of the AMV must be formatted using the following: “<name that the editor would like to appear on the credits> – <video title>.mp4” (or any other file extension). All submitted AMVs must have the file name match what was submitted in registration. This is how the videos will be sorted out properly. If there is confusion in this regard, it may cause a delay in the video screening.

Although not required, it is highly recommended the editor include an additional, separate audio file with the submission. If not provided and there are issues with the audio, the editor will have to provide the audio file. If the audio is not able to be supplied at that point, the video will be rejected outright.

All videos submitted will undergo a thorough screening process by the AMV head to ensure they comply with the rules. All entries will receive a notification e-mail that states that their contest submission was received. In the event the video doesn’t meet the expectations, the notification e-mail will also include instructions on changes that need to be made or state if the AMV is rejected outright depending on the severity of the violation. Once a contest submitted video has been cleared, it will then be put in a queue of accepted videos to be screened by the contest selection committee. To clarify, just because the video passed the initial screening, does not mean that the video is automatically entered into the contest.

Editors can register online starting on April 1st, 2015. Online registration closes at 11:59PM June 30th, 2015. Every registered video must be received 11:59PM July 7th, 2015. Any issues in this regard must be addressed with the AMV department head. Please see the Clean-Up section for any such issues, questions, and also where to submit physical media.

Overflow Information:

The overflow showing is for any video submission that does not voted into the contest, yet passes the first screening test. This is so that all registered/submitted videos get played at Matsuricon. However, please keep in mind that it is not a guarantee. Any issues that come across will be posted by the AMV department head on the appropriate sites. The overflow videos will not be assigned the category that it was registered for.

Contest Rules:

Collaborations or multi-editor projects (MEPs) will be accepted. No more than 3 people are allowed to participate in the collaboration. All names of the collaborators are to be included when filling out the registration (even if a studio name is applicable). Please see the contest registration info for more details.

Editor(s) are allowed to submit up to two videos to the contest. Multiple contest submissions must be in different categories. For those who are submitting a collaboration/MEP video, all names used in the submission will count as submitting one AMV. Any solo submissions afterwards will count as a second entry and would have to be in a separate category from the collaboration.

All submitted videos must be registered in full using the online registration form. Please see the appropriate forums for the link to the registration form.

Only videos created after January 1st, 2015 (first time Matsuricon entry) will be allowed. This will be enforced to the best of the AMV department head’s ability. However, he does request all editors to use the honor system for this.

There will be no restrictions placed on the amount of times the video has entered/won awards at different cons.

The video length must be more than 1 min (60 seconds) long and less than 5 min (300 seconds) long.

The video must contain at least 80% of Japanese Animation, Manga, or Japanese-produced Video Game footage.

No “copied” videos are allowed. The definition of copied is any or all use of material from AMVs edited by someone other than the submitter. If a submitted AMV is found to contain copied material, that video will be disqualified and the editor(s) will be banned from entering future Matsuricon AMV contests. No exceptions.

The video’s content must be PG-13. For audio content, no songs or other audio with racial content (deliberately expressing the superiority of one race over another), sexually explicit content, or the “7 words you can never say on television” (you can submit “language” as long as you edit/bleep words sufficiently). For video content, no gore (a little blood is acceptable but not much beyond that), and any and all bodies need to be covered with at least 45% of clothing (no private parts shown). Innuendo is acceptable as long as images and words are not explicit.

All major video formats will be accepted as long as the video is of clear, viewable quality and the audio is clear and concise. However, please keep in mind that the presentation will be created using Sony Vegas software. If for whatever reason, the AMV isn’t recognizable by this software, the editor will be given a chance to re-render their AMV to a different format so that the video can open in the Vegas. This will be a part of the screening process by the AMV department head. Otherwise, it will be disqualified.

All submissions, with the exceptions of videos submitted to the Fun category, must be set, primarily, to a musical song. Videos in the Fun category can be set to any other sound track of the editor’s choosing, so as long as it meets all of the other rules.

Each video will be allowed to have no more than two audio source types (musical, spoken word, trailer, or otherwise).

There are no banned songs or audio clips for the Matsuricon AMV contest (provided that they meet the PG-13 rule).

Both the contest and exhibition will be shown via DVD. In other words, all videos will be burned on a DVD for both presentations. It is not required but it is recommended the video resolution is 720 x 480, the aspect ratio is 4:3 (letterbox is allowed), and the frame rate is 29.97 fps. All videos submitted that are not of this scale, will be scaled down to this format, doing so without stretching or reducing the video quality, as best as possible. Please make sure the audio is 2-Channel or 48000hz.

The following will not be allowed in the video:
• Audio sound (not video footage) from any anime or video game that is not licensed for commercial distribution in North America, Europe, or anywhere outside of Japan/Pacific Rim area. Audio sound from an anime or video game that is licensed for commercial distribution in North America, Europe, or anywhere outside of Japan/Pacific Rim area will be allowed.
• Bumpers or Credits (Uniform bumpers will be provided in the contest presentation for all submitted and qualified AMVs)
• All logos
• All watermarks
• Screen Names
• Fan or commercially produced subtitles (This only pertains to the video source of the AMV or GMV. Editors are allowed to create their own subtitles or any other text for any reason of their choosing (ex: for translation purposes) as long as it relates to the AMV. Please keep in mind that this will be shown on a DVD format, which may stretch the video out, resulting in the subtitles getting cut off)

The AMV department head reserves the right to reject any video for any other reason not mentioned in the rules.

Clean-Up:

As of April 1st, 2015, all rules shown above will be deemed final and non-negotiable. Before that date, these rules may be subject to change. All questions on rules, registration, etc, must be submitted to the following e-mail address: matsuriconamv@gmail.com . All physical submissions must be mailed to the following address:

Matsuricon AMV Contest
6499 Nottinghill Trail Drive
Canal Winchester, OH 43110

[knage]

How does this form work? I click on the link but I can't fill in the boxes it only lets me edit them.

[ahinton]

How does this form work? I click on the link but I can't fill in the boxes it only lets me edit them.

Thanks for letting me know. The setting on that form was off. But I did adjust it and you should be able to register now.

[knage]

How does this form work? I click on the link but I can't fill in the boxes it only lets me edit them.

Thanks for letting me know. The setting on that form was off. But I did adjust it and you should be able to register now.

Okay I got the e-mail with my folder to upload the AMV, but I don't know how to do it. Can you explain how?

[ahinton]

How does this form work? I click on the link but I can't fill in the boxes it only lets me edit them.

Thanks for letting me know. The setting on that form was off. But I did adjust it and you should be able to register now.

Okay I got the e-mail with my folder to upload the AMV, but I don't know how to do it. Can you explain how?

Sure. You will need a gmail account to access it. If the link to the folder to a non-gmail account, just click on the folder and either set up an account up or use one that is already in use. Afterwards, please send a request to access the folder. Once the request is granted you should be able to upload the video from there.

For others who are looking to register their videos, I am looking for ways to streamline the video transfer process much better. But until then, please use a gmail address in your registration as I will be using Google Drive for video uploads.

Thanks in advance for everyone's patience and understanding.

[ahinton]

Bumping up the thread. Registration is still open for one more month. I may announce later if there will be an extension but that will depend on a need basis. In regards to submissions, I haven't been able to find a suitable FTP site to use instead of Google Drive. Therefore if you do not have a gmail account, please either request a dropbox link (from which it is still tied to the Ohayocon AMV contest) or if you have a way of uploading it to a cloud site of your own, that will also be acceptable. All I ask is to make sure your video has been registered and please wait for the confirmation e-mail.

Otherwise, I can still use videos from all categories. And as usual, please let me know if you have any questions.

[ahinton]

Bumping the thread to announce that the contest registration period has been extended to the end of day July 5th, 2015. AMVs from all categories are still being accepted.

[Dragonrider1227]

Hi. I won't be able to attend the convention, nor do I have a proxy to go in my place. Can I still enter? Or would you prefer someone be there?

[ahinton]

Hi. I won't be able to attend the convention, nor do I have a proxy to go in my place. Can I still enter? Or would you prefer someone be there?

Absolutely you can still enter.

[Dragonrider1227]

Hi. I won't be able to attend the convention, nor do I have a proxy to go in my place. Can I still enter? Or would you prefer someone be there?

Absolutely you can still enter.

Okay, thanks. I was just reading your rules and it didn't sound like it.
And thank you for repsonding so quickly