Deadline Midnight EST! Sugoi-con 2007 AMV Contest Rules

[ngsilver]

Here are the rules for this year's AMV contest. You can find a PDF version of the rules as well as the entry form here: http://www.ngsilver.com/contests/sugoicon/

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Sugoi-con 2k7 AMV Contest Rules

Please read through all the rules before entering!

Entry Requirements:

· Each individual may enter only 1 video.
· Multi-editor videos will be accepted on a video-by-video basis
· 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 we will not remove them for you.
· The running time for videos may not exceed 6 minutes or be shorter then 25 seconds.
· Videos must contain at least 50% anime or video game footage.
· All videos must be in the hands of the Contest Coordinator on or by October 28th.
· By submitting your video(s) to this contest you authorize us to screen and distribute it under the Sugoi-con AMV Contest Title. All physical media (CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, ect) submitted becomes the property of Sugoicon and will not be returned.
· Entries may be disqualified for the following reasons: Objectionable content in the song or video, bad audio or video quality, subtitled footage, failure to adhere to submission rules, lack of properly filled out entry form, or any reason Sugoicon AMV Staff deems necessary. If you are unsure if your video would be disqualified due to the above rule e-mail the contest coordinator and he can view the content of your video and make a decision.
· Exceptions to the rules will be made on a video-by-video basis.

Entry Format:

· Entries will be accepted in the following formats:
o AVI
§ HUFFYUV (preferred)
§ DIVX
§ XVID
§ DV
o MPEG
o MPEG-2 (preferred)
· Videotape and DVD formatted entries will NOT be accepted. WMV, RM, and MOV files will also NOT be accepted. (You can output into an AVI format from Windows Movie Maker. If you are unsure how, the animemusicvideos.org forums will be able to assist you in doing so)
· All videos should include at least 1 second of black space before and after the video.
· Digital Video File format specifications (This is how each video will be encoded for the contest showing):
o 720x480 frame size
o 23.97 or 24 fps (progressive)
o 29.97 fps (interlaced)
o 3:2 pulldown upon playback (for progressive footage)
o 2 pass VBR, avg 3000, max 5000, min 1800, max pass 2
o 44.1kHz or 48 kHz 16 bit stereo uncompressed PCM audio
· You may submit your video with compressed audio, however, you video may be disqualified if there is any problems converting the audio if you do not include an uncompressed wav along with your entry.

Contest Information:

· All videos screened at the contest will be converted to the specifications listed above. Submitting your video with these specifications will save AMV staff conversion time, and allow you to preview how your file will look.
· The contest will be played from via a Realmagic Hollywood+ card. You can still find these cheap on EBay if you wish to see how your video will appear on screen.
· The contest may also be played in the video rooms, in which case they will be playing using the equipment in the video rooms which will be determined at a later date.
· The normal contest’s running time will be 1 hour. If we receive more videos then we have time for we will have to cut videos from the contest pool. A listing of videos selected for the screening will be posted on the convention’s and a-m-v.org’s forums. We apologize if your video does not make it into the contest, but this step is necessary.
· Video selection will be broken down like this:
o Disqualified videos are removed first
o Remaining videos are ordered by category. The videos in each category are then counted and equalized until entries of one type are exhausted. If time is not met, category sizes are increased in increments until time is met.
· The following awards will be given:
o Fan Favorite
o Best Action
o Best Drama
o Best Comedy
o Best Upbeat
· In the case where a lack of entries are present in a category in order to compete, those videos will then be added to a similar category. Ex, Upbeat added to Action.
· The contest will be judged by the attendees during the screening(s).
· Judging Ballots will be handed out to the audience before the competition and will be deposited in drop boxes at the end of the screening. The scores will then be tabulated and winners announced at a time, which will be decided upon later. (we will inform attendees at the showing when this will be)
· You do not need to be present to win. However if you want your award and/or prizes you must either be present, have a proxy at the con to pick it up, or send SASE to the contest coordinator (you will be contacted in this case).
· You may submit entries to the following categories:
o Drama:
§ Videos in this category seek to evoke emotional responses from viewers by the successful combination of music, video, and editing which usually involves dramatic subject matter or dramatic elements from the anime.
o Upbeat
§ Music Videos in the upbeat category are uplifting and have a beat that one can groove to.
o Comedy
§ Whether parody or just wacky content, videos in this category can be pretty successful as long as someone thinks it’s funny.
§
o Action
§ Videos will focus on action whether that is fighting sequences, motions of characters, or fast paced colorful imagery. The key word here is adrenaline.

Entry Submissions:

· All entries must contain an entry form. The entry form may be found at http://www.ngsilver.com/contests/sugoicon/.
· Entry forms may be directly filled out from the website and submitted. The process to fill out the form will be like this:
o Fill out all required fields in the form
o Click submit button
o Verify all information is correct, if not hit back and fix. Do not worry, only the latest form received will be accepted.
o If you are submitting by Snail Mail print out the returned entry form and send that with your entry.
· Entries may be uploaded via FTP using the following information:
§ Host Name: ftp.ngsilver.com
§ Port: 21
§ Username: sugoiamv
§ Password: amV3Ug0i
Navigate to the proper folder for the category you will be entering. Upload your video. If you have problems contact the coordinator. The server only supports a few connections at a time, so be sure to upload your video early. You don't want to get stuck unable to upload on the last day with everyone else.
· Entries may also be mailed. Send your video and entry form to:
o ATTN: Sugoicon 2k7
o Nathan Silverthorn
o 15750 Gulley
o Taylor, Mi, 48180
· The following media types will be accepted: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-DL, DVD+DL
o Remember that all media submitted will not be returned. Do not send us your master copy.

Any and all questions regarding the contest may be directed to the contest coordinator at ngsilver@ngsilver.com

[ngsilver]

This is a friendly reminder that you have 1 month left before the deadline.

[ngsilver]

I humbly apologize for this. However, back before the beginning of October I had experienced an error while updating my .net framework on my PC and upon rebooting I found that my main hard drive's MBR had been lost. As such, I had to reinstall my OS and run a recovery of the drive to recover lost data.

The unfortunate problem with this is that in doing so I hadn't created a backup of my email, where the entry forms are kept stored as a backup to the database. The database was lost and so was the emails containing the entry forms from the months of August and September.

I have rebuilt the database from the emails I have, but those that have been submitted during August and September have been lost.

As such, please re-submit your entry forum if this is one of you. Anyone who submitted a form during those two months should re-submit to insure that I have your form. However, those who submitted their videos via Snail-mail should be fine, because you also sent a copy with your entry, and I have all of those.

I will be posting a list of videos that I have received but do not have entry forms for. If you are on this list please re-submit your form.

I will be notifying people of their video's arrival and testing results within the next few days as there have been a number of new entries recently.

Everyone's videos are fine, this is only an entry form problem.

Again, I apologize for the trouble and hope to rectify this problem so that no one's videos will be missed or overlooked.

There will be changes next year in the way entries are handled such that this kind of a problem will not happen again. Thank you for your patience as we implement these changes and fix the current error.

[ngsilver]

We have all videos and forms. Thank you.

[ngsilver]

Final reminder. You have until Midnight EST tonight to get your videos and forms in.