Announcing Anime Matsuri 2008's AMV Contest

[Drakanwolf]

Hello, all!

My name is Josh, and I am coordinating the first ever Anime Matsuri AMV contest. The event will be held at Anime Matsuri 2008 (www.animematsuri.com).

I am seeking entries from all who are interested in submitting videos, and I would be remiss if I didn't announce this event to the good folks here at animemusicvideos.org!!!

If you should have any questions regarding the AMV contest (or the convention itself) please do not hesitate to contact me at josh@emotiongear.com!

The Contest Guidelines (also available on the website) are as follows:
[Please note that the rules below list the deadline as March 7th, while the website lists February 21st. The deadline had been extended, and a website update is pending.]

Anime Music Video Contest

What’s even better than the best scenes from the hottest anime? It’s got to be pairing those scenes with some awesome music!

Anime Matsuri knows that anime fans are some of the most creative people out there, and we’re giving you the chance to show everyone just how good you are. Just follow the link below to submit your very own Anime Music Video creations to our contest. Who knows, your video may even make it to the finals, where it will be broadcast on the big screen at out AMV Contest Event. You may even take home the grand prize, in addition to all the bragging rights you can handle. Submit your video now!

Download the AMV Contest Registration Form here: http://animematsuri.com/files/AM2008AMV.pdf

Anime Matsuri AMV Contest Rules:

General:
1. Keep it decent! Anime Matsuri strives to keep a fun, “Family Friendly” atmosphere, and entries will be disqualified if they do not maintain a certain level of decency (Easy Translation: No Hentai AMVs or songs with a lot of profanity).

2. We reserve the right to disqualify any entry if we feel it is deemed inappropriate. If this happens to you and you feel it was unjust, you may appeal the AMV Director after the event.

Entry Submission:
1. Registration for the contest will be handled via the Anime Matsuri website. Entrants will submit their videos via a web space TBD along with a form containing the entrant’s name and e-mail, running time, the artist/name of the song used, and the name of the anime used.

2. All entries must be received by March 7th, 2008 to allow time for the pre-judging and compilation of the finalists.

3. Entrants can submit multiple videos, but no more than one video per entrant will be eligible for the finals.

4. Research will be conducted on each video selected as a finalist in order to help maintain the integrity of the contest.

Competition:
1. The finalists chosen during the pre-judging will be shown in a random order & judged based on pre-selected criteria by a panel during the Anime Matsuri AMV contest.

2. All winners are determined by the AMV Judges. If a winner cannot be decided upon unanimously by the AMV Judges, then we go with a majority rule.

3. The AMV Contest will have 3 winners: Best Performer, 1st Runner Up, and 2nd Runner Up.

Prizes:
1. Unlike that Karaoke Contest, you are not required to be present to register for the AMV contest. As such, you are not required to be present to win. Any winners who are not present will be contacted after the convention via the e-mail address given when they submitted their video. Arrangements will then be made for the winner to receive the associated prize

2. All prizes are donated, and the Anime Masturi staff accepts no responsibility for any problems with the prizes. If there is a problem with a prize, however, we will assist you in contacting the vendor who donated it.

That's all there is to it!!!

-Josh

[prYzm]

might as well ask b4 anyone else does

are you accepting international entrants?

[Autraya]

to second the WAlien, what about online entries? also unless i'm going blind I see absolutely no technical specs... so does a 60fps .wmv at 64X48 get thru actually i'm really bad at thinking up shitty submission formats so I'll leave that one.

[Infinity Squared]

Entrants will submit their videos via a web space TBD...

Seems an online submission, however, what's TBD?

[Drakanwolf]

Great questions, everyone!


1.) First off, we are accepting International entrants. The current plan is to integrate them with the bulk of the entries, but (should we receive enough international entries) we might make a special International category.

2.) As for the Technical Specs question, let me first define some of the judging categories that have been agreed upon for the contest:
-Professionalism: The overall production quality of the video - i.e. clarity, source video quality, seamlessness of cuts, etc.
-Theme/Composition: How well do the scenes from the series/games used fit the music? Is there is structure to the video? We will of course take artistic vision into consideration.
-Originality: This one is simple - as popular as a series/game/song may be, people aren't going to want to sit through 10 different interpretations of it in the same viewing session.
-Audiance Reaction (Finals only): How much did the audience enjoy the video?

The technical issue pretty much falls under the "Professionalism" category. A 320x240 FLV file could easily be played on our system, but it's certainly not going to be as impressive as the 1024x768 H264 encoded MOV file that comes right after it. It's also not going to have as good a chance at getting to the finals. The other side of that coin, though, is that a video of lower technical quality could advanve based on the other judging categories (theme, originality, etc.).

3.) And now we move onto online submissions. I have been told that we do have available web space to allow online submissions. The ultimate web location and method of uploading, however, are still TBD (To Be Detrmined). As soon as I am given this information, I will post it both to this thread and to the official website. As for now, though, I would suggest entering via snail-mail if you are interested in patricipating.


I hope this information helps, and definietly keep those questions/vids coming!!!

-Josh

[prYzm]

so from your post am i to assume any size/format is acceptable?

also online registrations, would they be ftp, or via free upload sites such as mediafire or megaupload, or could we just link org posted vidoes O_o (noone ever lets us do that). i think thats the kinda info evil woma... er autraya was after. and are these being judged via categories or just in general, a first 2nd third

editz: zomg the burlys are taking over the competition?

[Drakanwolf]

I'm eventually planning on an ftp upload, but I'm looking into free upload sites as we speak. Ideally, I'd like to have everything centralized.

As far as format, we can take just about any format (if you submit a video in a format we find out that we can't work with, then we'll contact you about re-submitting it). The folowing formats are preferred, though: AVI (any codec), MOV, MPEG, MP4, MKV, OGG, WMV.

And I'm pretty leniant on size, but I wouldn't reccomend anything smaller than 320x240. Anything lower wouldn't scale well when shown on a large screen.

I hope this helps, and please feel free to suggest some free upload sites.

-Josh

[Autraya]

mmm mp4 goodness *drools*

As far as format, we can take just about any format (if you submit a video in a format we find out that we can't work with, then we'll contact you about re-submitting it). The folowing formats are preferred, though: AVI (any codec), MOV, MPEG, MP4, MKV, OGG, WMV.

And I'm pretty leniant on size, but I wouldn't reccomend anything smaller than 320x240. Anything lower wouldn't scale well when shown on a large screen.

that's the answer I was looking for to my 'technical question' with the exceptions of audio encodes and FPS I notice you quoted PAL 16:9 previously does that mean you are accepting PAL formats 25fps?
The reason I ask is I have videos in 24, 25 and 29.970 fps so looking at my options if you will.

I also hope this isn't one of those "can't win unless you are present" conventions, personally i think that's a sucky rule
Also can we send the information on the registration form electronically, I have no scanner or printer (well I have a non working printer)

oh and before I forget *spanks PrYzm for good measure* get back in yer jail cell walien, sheesh I need to talk to those amvience yobo's about feeding you after midnight

[prYzm]

mmm mp4 goodness *drools*
oh and before I forget *spanks PrYzm for good measure* get back in yer jail cell walien, sheesh I need to talk to those amvience yobo's about feeding you after midnight

nooooooooo dont cut mah rations, i only get a 1 hour exercise period a day and mah gruel is gettin thin lately.

hmm, is fps an issue? i know some prefer it all to be the same (usually NTSC) but if its not an issue i might work hard to finish my chrono crusade vid for this -_- we'll see.

[Drakanwolf]

Well... as far as FPS goes, I prefer NTSC 29.97, but we will have the ability to properly display PAL 25.

In regards to being present to win, the following is taken from the rules I originally posted:
you are not required to be present to register for the AMV contest. As such, you are not required to be present to win. Any winners who are not present will be contacted after the convention via the e-mail address given when they submitted their video. Arrangements will then be made for the winner to receive the associated prize

I'd also like to apologize to anyone who might have sent an e-mail to the address I originally listed. There was a slight glitch in the account. This glitch did not prevent any mail from reaching the account, though. It merely prevented me from accessing it. This matter should be resolved by tonight, and I will begin answering the e-mails immediately.

Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing those videos!!!

-Josh