(This is mostly copied from my post over on the actual AnimeNext forums, so if you've read it there, you've read this before)
AnimeNext 2005; June 17-19th; The Meadowlands Expo Center, Secaucus, NJ
Hey folks:
The full, finalized rules and submission form are coming soon... But with the convention a little more than four months away, many will probably going to be getting ready to finish your videos in the coming weeks and months, and will want to make sure you're all set and in compliance with submission guidelines.
Let's go over a few basic guidelines, shall we? :D
INTRODUCTION:
First off, my name is Michael LaBrie (I go by "VegettoEX" online), and I'm the main coordinator for AnimeNext's AMV contest. I have been running the contest since 2003 with Meredith Cantoni ("Meri"), and the two of us have been AMV editors, ourselves, for years before even that! We take pride in the organization and presentation of the AMV contest, and believe that it's certainly one of the best-run contests, especially for this size convention.
The AMV contest is generally shown three times in its entirety at the convention, with the final contest winners shown during the awards ceremony / cosplay. In addition to this, we also run a general AMV theory panel, and will (hopefully!) this year also be running a technical workshop.
CATEGORIES:
As for the contest itself, we are expanding into four full categories, this year. Previously myself, friends, and comrades have created intro "trailers" to the contest, which really do a great job of setting up the audience for a good time. However, as the number of submissions is dangerously close to exceeding the maximum time of two hours, it would be unfair to have personal material (unjudged, even) preceeding contest videos. So what do we do?
For the first year, the general public will be able to enter videos into the new "Trailer/Parody" category! This will be in addition to the general "Drama," "Action," and "Comedy" categories from the past.
(For the purposes of this contest, "Trailers" will be defined as theatrical or commercial trailers using pre-existing actual trailer/commercial audio. A trailer "you make" using, say, some song, just to promote a series isn't the same "Trailer" we're looking for... that should pretty much make sense, but feel free to ask if you're curious)
NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS / RUNNING TIME:
Submitees are allowed a single video submission to the contest. You may submit, specifically, into any of the four categories (your video may cross over into other categories, but it should primarily fit into and be categorized with a single category; if there's more action than drama, it's an action video). The contest will run no longer than two hours, the length of a standard T-120 SVHS tape. In the event that the number of videos received to the contest exceeds this two hour limit (and it's PROBABLY going to happen, this year), a panel of AMV fans and experts (including the coordinators, excluding any submitees) will judge the submissions and determine which videos will make the final contest compilation. This reviewing process will be private and blindly-judged (that is, the panel will see nothing more than the video, itself, and will judge nothing more than the video, itself, on its artistic integrity).
You're not required to attend the convention in order to submit, but it's highly suggested. Three of our four winners were on hand, last year, to come up in front of a giant audience during the awards ceremony, which was absolutely amazing.
FORMAT / PLAYBACK:
Videos are preferred in the MPEG-2 format. Videos will be played back on either a RealMagic Hollywood + card and/or Netstream 2000 card. These are DEDICATED VIDEO HARDWARE cards that playback the video in REAL TIME. They are capable of progressive playback, variable bitrate, etc.
All videos should be encoded in the MPEG-2 format with MPEG-1 Layer-2 audio (no MP3 audio). If we receive anything other than this, we will TRY to convert it over... be aware, however, that this will be a LOSSY PROCESS, and your video will degrade in the conversion.
(Essentially, what you send us is what we're going to try and play back, if it's an MPEG-1 or MPEG-2)
For an MPEG encoder with free 30-day MPEG-2 encoding, look no further than the amazing Tsunami MPEG Encoder.
The compilation will be exported to SVHS (that's Super-VHS; much higher quality than regular VHS; DVDs won't provide a high enough bitrate) for playback at the convention, if not played directly off of the computer.
YOUR VIDEO:
... should contain...
* No Titles / Credits / Bumpers
* No logos
* No subtitles (unless specifically added by you for some artistic purpose)
* No dubbed audio
* Two second of blackspace before and after (no more, no less)
Don't make your own title card with video information; we create standardized title cards for the compilation so every video receives the exact same treatment. Videos with logos (Cartoon Network, G4/TechTV, Anime Network, etc.) will be disqualified. Videos with excessively poor video/audio quality will be disqualified.
Basically, this is the fourth year of the contest. The quality of videos gets higher every year. Do your best!
SUBMITTING:
There will be no FTP; make sure you mail your videos in time! We must receive the video BY/ON the due-date... it is NOT a postmark date! Your video must be burned to either CD-R or DVD-R as data. No VCDs, no SVCDs, no Video-DVDs... we want the actual MPEG-2 file.
That said, the due-date is *** May 20th ***. That's almost exactly one month before the convention. If your video is not IN OUR HANDS by that date, your video will not be considered for the contest.
WITH THAT SAID...
The "full official" rules and actual submission form will be posted soon, but this should hold you over until then. If you have ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL, do not hesitate to ask. I'd prefer if you actually posted on the forum (this thread!) rather than e-mailing or PMing me; chances are, if you have that question, so does someone else.
Have fun! Looking foward to another great contest~

