So, you want to submit to this year's AMV contest? Sure you do! All the cool kids are doing it! However, before you do, please read and adhere to the following rules and regulations.
- General Rules
++ Each entrant is allowed to submit up to TWO AMVs.
++ We accept submissions through the mail, or through our FTP. We will not download videos from your website/rapidshare/yousendit/etc.
++ Submissions must ARRIVE by midnight on December 24th, 2007.
++ Late submissions will be disqualified. We'll be compiling the contest the next day (Merry Christmas to me
) and won't be able to accommodate late entries, so please plan accordingly. It doesn't hurt to mail out your entry EARLY...++ Convention attendance is not mandatory, though it is recommended. This way, you get first dibs on prize choices if you win something
++ The Ohayocon AMV contest screening is open to the public, and because of that, we must be wary of the content we show. Explicit lyrics, violence, or sexual content may be grounds for disqualification. If you would feel uncomfortable watching your video with your mother and your six-year-old sister, chances are we might have a problem showing it.
++ This is an AMV contest, and therefore your submission must have both anime and music (or movie trailer audio). If your video consists mainly of non-anime footage then your video will be disqualified. Video game footage, however, is perfectly fine.
++ Your video can not include subtitles from fansubs or from an official release. Subtitles that you add yourself are acceptable.
++ Your video should not include audio from a commercial dub. Any sound effects or dubbing that you do yourself however, is fine by us. Original Japanese audio is fine too. We have our reasons, and it has nothing to do with our personal language preference.
++ The length of each of your submissions may not be shorter than 30 seconds, or longer than 6 minutes.
++ Do NOT include studio bumpers, credits or title cards with your video. Ohayocon will be creating custom, uniform title cards based on the information that you give us. Including a bumper, credits, or title card of your own design may result in disqualification if we can't easily remove it.
++ Ohayocon does NOT have an"anti-trolling policy". That is to say, we will not reject videos from the contest if they have won awards at other conventions. HOWEVER! If your video took first place in its category, or first place as determined by audience voting at AnimeUSA 2007, then your AMV will be automatically disqualified from Ohayocon. This is to keep the two contests different, and give other people a shot at winning.
++ Ohayocon reserves the right to reject any video that does not adhere to the rules.
- Submitting through the mail
++ Submissions that are to be mailed, must be mailed to:
- + Ohayocon AMV Contest
- + PO Box 336<BR>Edison, NJ 08818-0636
++ Ohayocon is not responsible for lost or damaged media. We will email you when we receive your videos, but keep in mind that we only check our PO boxes on weekends, so it may take up to two weeks before you are notified by us.
++ Submitting on Tape
++ Ohayocon will accept analog submissions on Standard Play (SP) VHS or S-VHS tape. We will accept S-VHS-ET tapes. However, those tapes can be very unreliable even on professional equipment.
++ Please have nothing else on the tape besides your competing entries. Do not send us your "reel" because we will simply use the first two videos on the tape (regardless of whether or not they match up with the info on your submission form!)
++ Please label your tape's spine with the following information:
--o Your real name or your studio name (if applicable)
--o Title of your video(s)
--o Tape format (VHS, SVHS, or SVHS-ET)
++ Each submission MUST be accompanied by a printed, filled out, and signed submission form
--o Download the submission form in Adobe PDF format
++ Submitted tapes cannot be returned, so please do not send us the only copy of your video.
++ Submissions recorded in modes other than Standard Play (SP) will be disqualified. EP looks horrible, and we can't even play LP.
++ When putting your videos on tape, include one minute of black, silent leader before your first video, and 10-15 seconds of silent black leader before your second video. This is to give our VCR time to adjust the tracking, and ensures that there are no "rainbow bars" during your video.
++ Submitting on disc
++ Ohayocon will be screening the contest digitally; so submitting digitally is the best way to ensure your video will be presented at its best quality. However, explicit care must be taken when submitting to ensure that your video will be presented properly.
++ You may submit up to two (2) videos to the contest. Please, only send us the two videos you intend on submitting.
++ We will only accept digital submissions on the following mediums:
--o DVD-R, DVD+R, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-DL, DVD+DL
++ We can accept mpeg1, mpeg2, QuickTime, WMV, ASF, H.264, FLV and most AVI files.
++ There are a bazillion codecs out there (we counted!) to compress video and audio. So many that we're not even sure what we can read any more. Send us your video in whatever format you think is best, and if we can't read it, we'll contact you.
++ If your footage is widescreen, do try to letterbox is ahead of time so that it displays properly. We'll make the necessary changes if we catch them, but we don't know every anime that's ever been encoded on 16:9, so it's best not to rely on us.
++ Mpeg1 submissions will not be recompressed for the screening, but be advised: at the same bitrate, mpeg2 will produce much better results than mpeg1.
++ Mpeg2 is the preferred method of submitting as that's the format the contest will be screened in.
++ To ensure that Ohayocon will not recompress your video, please follow these guidelines when submitting your video in mpeg2 format:
--o Make sure your video size is 720x480 and encoded with a 4:3 playback flag. Anything else will be scaled to this size. Our hardware does not currently understand how to properly playback 16:9 files on a 4:3 display so videos encoded with a 16:9 flag will look horizontally squished during the contest screening.
--o Make sure the framerate is either 29.97, 24 or 23.976 (Flag your video for 3:2 pulldown on playback if using 23.976).
--o Interlaced or progressive scan videos are fine. If submitting interlaced, please check your video on a television first to ensure the field order is correct and there are no bizarre artifacts. We recommend purchasing a Hollywood+ card by Sigma Designs to do so as it is very similar to the hardware we are using. Your PC's desktop-video-output is NOT a real TV output and thus is NOT a good way to check your video.
--o Please use mpeg1 layer 2 audio using the "stereo" setting and whatever bitrate you feel necessary (the higher the better). 2 channel AC3 audio is also perfectly acceptable.
++ If submitting on DVD, do not author your disc. Simply burn the file to the disc as a data file.
++ If a video is too large to fit on one disc, we recommend splitting the file using <A HREF="http://www.rarsoft.com/" TARGET="_blank">WinRAR</A>
++ When submitting on disc, please label the disc surface using a Sharpie with the following information. Do NOT affix a label to your disc (They tend to peel due to heat, and then they derail the disc while it's spinning in our drive. We've seen it happen.)
--o Your real name or studio name (if applicable)
--o The title of the video(s) on the disc
--o If your video spans more than one disc, please label each disc numerically (IE: "Real Cool Video Disc 2 of 4")
++ Each submission must be accompanied by a printed, filled out, and signed copy of the Submission Form
--o Download the submission form in Adobe PDF format
++ Submitted discs can not be returned, so please do not send us the only copy of your video(s)
- Submitting through FTP
++ Ohayocon will also accept submissions through FTP instead of snail-mail. This can buy you a little extra time to finish your video. However, we can't be responsible for fixing last minute connection problems, so please, request a login early so that you can confirm that you can connect to our server without issue.
++ Submissions sent through FTP adhere to the same rules as submitting digitally on disc. Obviously, there is no disc surface on which you can write down your information when submitting through FTP. Instead, files must be named using the following naming convention:
--o Studio Name - Video Name.xxx
--o For Studio Name, if the AMV was produced by more than one studio, pick the studio that is associated with the "primary contact information" as indicated on the submission form. For Anime Used, if your video features more than one anime, just list the dominant title. If your video uses multiple animes and there is no real dominant title, then put "Various". Use spaces, not underscores or %20's.
--o - Example: VicBond007 - Die Another Day.mpg
++ FTP accounts are set up automatically. If you wish to create an ftp account, please go to http://ohayocon.homeip.net:21001/ and follow the signup procedure. Once complete, you will be emailed your account password, along with all of the other necessary connection information.
++ Each entry submitted through FTP MUST be accompanied by a signed submission form. You may print the form, fill it out, scan it, and upload the scans; or mail us the submission form(s) using the "snail mail" procedure. We need your WRITTEN permission to show your video(s) at the con and at the pre-screening.
--o Download the submission form in Adobe PDF format
- Technical Difficulties
++ Bad stuff happens, especially today in the digital age. Ohayocon recognizes that a technical problem with a video's encoding could mar an otherwise excellent video in the public eye. We recognize that the submitters deserve to have their video screened in the best possible light (figuratively of course. Screening rooms tend to be quite dark...) and the audience deserves the best show that we can give them.
++ If Ohayocon notices a technical problem that can be corrected, we will email you with a description of the problem, and how we intend to fix it, given your permission. This includes but is not limited to PAL-to-NTSC conversion, aspect ratio problems, and field order issues. We'd rather not have to correct your entry, but if we see a correction is possible, we won't hesitate to make it so that your submission is displayed properly on our hardware.
++ We will not re-edit your video for you, and we're not magicians. We can't make videos with poor quality, good again. The better quality video you send us, the better it will look. Remember, the contest is screened on large projection screens, not a small TV. Visual anomalies from poor compression will be enlarged.
- The Contest
++ The contest will likely be screened more than once at Ohayocon 2008. The contest will not exceed the length of 2 hours. Should we receive more than 2 hours worth of submissions (and BOY DO WE!), all entries will be evaluated by a panel of pre-screening judges and 2 hours of finalists will be chosen to enter the contest. Videos that adhere to the rules but do not make the final cut will be shown during an overflow period.
++ The contest will be divided into 5 categories: Drama/Serious, Romance/Sentimental, Action, Upbeat, Comedy. Categories may be removed at the director's discretion.
++ The audience will be given ballots on which they will choose their favorite video from each category. The video with the highest number of votes in its category will be declared the winner.
++ Ohayocon staff will pick one video to award a "staff pick" prize to.
++ "Best in Show" will be chosen by the Ohayocon AMV staff using the audience's votes as a guide. The winner of "Best in Show" will not be able to win 1st place in its category as well.
++ Additional awards may be issued at the discretion of the Ohayocon staff.
- Eligibility
++ The contest is open to any AMV, regardless of age, that adheres to the content/time limit guidelines.
++ The contest is open to any individual with means of getting their video to us, with the exception of the Ohayocon AMV judging staff.
For more information regarding the Ohayocon 2008 AMV Contest, Contact amv.ohayocon (at) gmail.com
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY SUBMITTING! AND REMEMBER, HAVE FUN!!!
