Youmacon 2014 Video/Audio Track Competition
Please read through all the rules before entering!
Entry Requirements:
• All videos must be in the hands of the Contest Coordinator by September 19th, 2014. You have until MIDNIGHT on that Friday night to get your video in. (all times Eastern)
• There is no set limit to the number of entries per creator that can be submitted to the contest.
o Total Length for all videos submitted per creator must not exceed 25 mins.
This means we will accept 50 30 sec videos, 1 25 min video, or any mixture in-between.
• Videos that have been submitted to a previous Youmacon Contest will not be eligible to compete.
• Multi-editor videos are also accepted. When filling out the entry form please supply information for the other members in the comments field.
• Entries may not contain bumpers, title screens, MTV style credits, or any other form of identification. We will be creating our own uniform bumpers and to ensure the quality of all entries are maintained we will not remove them for you.
o This rule may be overlooked if such identification is done creatively in a way that can not be easily removed. However this, like all other rules, is left to the coordinator’s discretion.
• All videos must be a minimum of 30 seconds long.
• The maximum length for videos submitted must not go over the allotted 25 mins available per creator.
• By submitting your video(s) to this contest you authorize us to screen and distribute it under the Youmacon Video/Audio Track Competition Title. All physical media (CD-R, DVD-R, Thumb drive, ect) submitted becomes the property of Youmacon Enterprises/Defying Convetions and will not be returned.
• There are no content requirements for this contest. Your videos may contain any type of footage you see fit to use, provided it doesn’t fall into one of the categories for disqualification.
o The allowable footage types include but is not limited to the following:
Anime
Manga
Live Action
My Little Pony
Non-Japanese Cartoons
Video Games
• Entries may be disqualified for the following reasons:
o Objectionable content in the song or video
o Bad audio or video quality
o Subtitled footage
o Failure to adhere to submission rules
o Lack of entry form
o Any reason Youmacon VAT Staff deems necessary.
If you are unsure if your video would be disqualified due to the above rule e-mail the contest coordinator and we can view the content of your video and make a decision.
A special stipulation is in place for entries DQ’ed due to content of their video being too much for a general audience. Such entries will automatically be submitted to the Adult Competition and shown during our late night blocks.
• Exceptions to the rules will be made on a video-by-video basis.
Entry Format:
• Entries will ONLY be accepted in the following formats:
o AVI
HUFFYUV
LAGARITH
UTVIDEO
o MPEG-2
o H.264 / x.264 (preferred)
.mp4 files ONLY
• The following containers, formats and codecs will NOT be accepted:
o Videotape (VHS or Betamax)
o Authored DVD (If it plays like a DVD in a DVD Player)
o WMV
o RM
o MOV
o MKV
o OGG
o Xvid
o Divx
o DV
o Any other item not listed in the accepted list above
• For optimum viewing at con, all videos should include at least 1 second of black space before and after the video.
• Digital Video File format specifications:
o Videos will be played on a large projection screen. As such, high quality will be expected. For the best results submitting a video that has at least a 640x480 resolution is required (or 640x352 if you are working with widescreen footage.) Submitting videos smaller then this (including using source smaller then this) will degrade the visual quality of the video, which may lead to disqualification.
o We will no longer accept videos submitted interlaced. All videos MUST be progressive.
o As letterboxing and pillarboxing will degrade the final viewing size at the convention, we no longer will allow for videos to be submitted with letterboxing or pillar boxing. All videos MUST be submitted in their native aspect ratio.
If your video contains black bars at the top/bottom or sides, this means you have letterboxing/pillarboxing in your video.
• We gladly accept HD videos. Our setup at the convention will be able to display videos at least at 720p quality with the possibility to display higher resolutions.
o If you plan to submit an HD video please keep in mind that the better the codec you use the better the final quality will be. HD videos should not be sent in using mpeg2, we recommend h.264/x.264 for this.
Contest Information:
• The contest will be shown either via a computer directly to the projector or via an authored DVD if such a need arises. Those of you submitting via MPEG2 will benefit from following the DVD specifications outlined:
http://contests.ngsilver.com/youmacon/s ... ations.htm
• All videos not disqualified will compete.
• Information on showings in rooms other then the VAT will be announced when they are figured out.
• Due to the amount of entries submitted and time permitted for showing entries we may not be able to show every video submitted during the course of the convention. We will allow for creators to request specific videos of their own during showing blocks in order to see their entries up on the big screen, but cannot guarantee that any of a creator’s videos submitted to us will be shown during the convention.
• Judging and Awards will be handled drastically different this year due to the above change in viewing at the convention. Please see the full explanation, ala the xDieguitoAMV Rule, here:
Youmacon_2014_How_Awards_and_Judging_is_Handled
• You do not need to be present to win. However the fastest means of receiving your award will be to either be present or have a proxy at the con to pick your award(s) up for you.
o If you will have a proxy at the con to accept your award(s) send an email to the contest coordinator with the name of your proxy.
o The convention will mail out awards after the con to those who did not pick them up at con. The timeframe these will be sent is entirely based on availability of funds for shipping by the convention and may take up to a few months.
The convention regrets to inform you that this courtesy can only be extended to entrants in the United States. All international entrants will need to make arrangements with the coordinator in order to receive their award(s).
• Due to the nature of the competition and the sheer breadth of video types able to be submitted we are no longer following a category submission system. That is to say there are no longer categories, but instead all videos submitted to the competition will compete against each other in order to obtain awards decided upon via our judges/attendees in accordance with the xDieguitoAMV Rule.
• You may submit entries to the following competitions/categories:
o Adult:
Videos in this competition are too adult in nature to be shown to the general con audience. Extreme violence, language, and sexual scenes are the general content of these videos.
o Other
This category is strictly for use by panelists who need to submit their videos to the con for viewing. Only to be used if asked by the coordinator.
o Staff
If you are Youmacon staff this is the only competition you are allowed to compete in. This is for pure bragging rights amongst staff, Adult competition excluded however.
o Exhibition
All videos submitted to the contest that do not fall into the other competitions above will fall into this one. The mass majority of entries will fall into this category.
Entry Submissions:
• We will be employing a Contest Database system for keeping track of entries. The system will be used to fill out entry forms, request priority seating at the contest, request ftp information, view status of entries, and much more.
• All entries must contain an entry form. Those submitting multiple entries will need to submit a form for each video.
o The Database can be found here:
http://contests.ngsilver.com/login.htm
If you already have an account you do not need to make a new one, even if you have never submitted to Youmacon before. Simply log in and make sure your creator information is up to date.
• An FTP account will automatically be created for each entry form you submit (1 account per entry.) This can take aprox. 3 days to be created. After the account is created you will need to visit the entry status page in order to find the FTP account information.
• After you have finished uploading your video(s), you need to return to the entry status page and close each account in order to complete your submission(s). Your video(s) will NOT be viewed and worked with until this has happened.
o Each FTP account will be limited to only 1GB of space. If your video file is larger than 1GB please compress the video further or submit your entry via snail-mail. No exceptions will be granted to this rule.
o FTP accounts are granted for 1 video and any accompanying files for that video. You must request a new account for each entry you submit. Any entries submitted using the wrong FTP account, as well as files not pertaining to the specific entry will be discarded.
• Entries may also be mailed. Send your video(s) and printed entry form(s) to:
o ATTN: Youmacon 2014
o Nathan Silverthorn
o 28675 Franklin Rd. APT 201
o Southfield, Mi, 48034
• Please make sure to include a printed copy of your entry form with your snail-mailed entry. You can print the form off from the Entry Status Section.
• The following media types will be accepted: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-DL, DVD+DL, Thumbdrives, Blu-Ray Disk.
o Remember that all media submitted will not be returned. Do not send us your only copy.
• Label the disk with your name and the video title(s) on the disk
• You may put multiple videos on a single disk.
o If your file is larger then the space available on a disk you may split the file using a program like WinRAR. Simply label the disks as 1,2,3,ect
Any and all questions regarding the contest may be directed to the contest coordinator at vat [AT] youmacon [DOT] com
