Ohayocon 2009 AMV Contest Rules - Deadline Jan 9th 2009

[ngsilver]

Alright everyone. Rules are ready and here they are! Thanks for your patience!

You may also visit: http://contests.ngsilver.com/ohayocon/ to view a PDF and a happy HTML formatted version of these rules. This page will also list major announcements and reminders and helpful tips for you in order to get your video in for the contest.

The contest entry form/database can be found here: http://contests.ngsilver.com/login.htm

As a note, anyone who has used this system before for a contest that I have run does not need to create a new account, your previous account will work just fine.

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Ohayocon 2009 AMV Contest Rules

Please read through all the rules before entering!

Entry Requirements:

· All videos must be in the hands of the Contest Coordinator by January 9th. You have until MIDNIGHT on that Friday night to get your video in. (all times Eastern)
· Only videos created after January 1st 2006 will be accepted as competing entries.
· Each editor may submit only 2 entries to the contest.
· Only 1 video per category, per creator, will be allowed to compete.
· Videos that have competed at a previous Ohayocon AMV Contest will not be eligible to compete.
· 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 30 seconds.
· Videos must contain at least 50% anime or video game footage.
· By submitting your video(s) to this contest you authorize us to screen and distribute it under the Ohayocon AMV Contest Title. All physical media (CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, ect) submitted becomes the property of Ohayocon and will not be returned.
· 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 Or any reason Ohayocon 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 we 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 ONLY be accepted in the following formats:
o AVI
§ HUFFYUV
§ LAGARITH
§ DIVX
§ XVID
§ DV
o MPEG
o MPEG-2 (preferred)
o H.264
o x.264
· Videotape and DVD formatted entries will NOT be accepted(This means you should not burn your video to a DVD so that it will play in a DVD player, instead burn as a data disk.) WMV, RM, and MOV files will also NOT be accepted.
· 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.
· You may submit your video with compressed audio, however, your video may be disqualified if there are any problems converting the audio if you do not include an uncompressed wav along with your entry.

Contest Information:

· The contest will be shown either via a computer directly to the projector or via an authored DVD. Those of you submitting via MPEG2 will benefit from following the DVD specifications outlined here.
· The contest will last 2 hours. In the event that we receive more videos then can fit in this time frame we will have to cut videos from the contest. This is an unfortunate necessity.
· Videos cut from the contest may be shown at an overflow showing of the contest.
· A listing of entries that made it into the contest will be announced at least within the week of the contest.
· The following awards will be given:
o Best of Show
o Staff Pick
o Best Action
o Best Drama
o Best Romance
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, Romance added to Drama, Upbeat added to Action.
o 2 or more videos will be required in each category for the category to compete.
· If you are curious as to how judging will work this year you may contact the coordinator for more information.
· 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 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 convention regrets to inform you that this courtesy can only be extended to entrants in the United States. All international entrants will have to send SASE (or cash for postage) in order to receive their award.

· 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 Romance
§ Videos here are much like drama, except they focus on the relationships between two people. The aww factor plays heavily in this category.
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:

· We will be employing an AMV 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. The database can be found here.
· All entries must contain an entry form. Those submitting multiple entries will need to submit a form for each video.
o Entry forms will be filled out at the website given. There is a help section within the database which will answer any questions you may have.
o If you already signed up for the database by submitting to another contest using this system then you can use the same username to submit to Ohayocon.

· FTP will be available upon request only. Requests will be made via the entry form. Go to the Video Status area after filling out an entry form and click on the Request FTP Access link for the contest.

· Entries may also be mailed. Send your video and printed entry form to:
o ATTN: Ohayocon 2009
o Nathan Silverthorn
o 15750 Gulley
o Taylor, Mi, 48180
· Please make sure to include a printed copy of your entry form with your snail-mailed entry.
· 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.
· 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 ohayocon [AT] ngsilver.com.

[Scintilla]

Man, it is going to take me forever to get used to the Quote button being at the BOTTOM of posts.

· Entries will ONLY be accepted in the following formats:
o AVI
§ HUFFYUV
§ LAGARITH
§ DIVX
§ XVID
§ DV
o MPEG
o MPEG-2 (preferred)
o H.264
o x.264

H.264 and x264 in what containers? Can we send a Matroska file? And is AAC audio acceptable?

WMV, RM, and MOV files will also NOT be accepted.

This is irrelevant, but thank you so much for doing the commas correctly there. You have no idea how much it ticks me off that everyone seems to screw that up these days.

[ngsilver]

· You may submit your video with compressed audio, however, your video may be disqualified if there are any problems converting the audio if you do not include an uncompressed wav along with your entry.

I believe this statement covers the question about AAC, since it is a form of compressed audio.

If I cared about which containers you submitted h.264 and x.264 in I would have outlined them. The container really doesn't matter since the system I use can read and convert accordingly.

Also, please see: http://contests.ngsilver.com/ohayocon/s ... ations.htm specifications on the preferred entry format. As stated in the rules one of the methods we will use to play the contest is from an authored DVD, these settings will help ensure the least amount of conversion/quality loss when moving to the DVD format.

[ngsilver]

This is just a friendly reminder that entries are due in aprox. 1 month.

Lets see those entries. And as always, questions are welcome.

[Rider4Z]

i'm having a problem locating the entry form. i was directed to a login page, and from there i registered as a new user. after i went thru that i was taken to "NGSilver's AMV Contest Database System". and that's where i'm now stuck. i have "!!!" next to "Edit Creator Information". but all of the links in the menu on the left take me back to the main page of "NGSilver's AMV Contest Database System".

either the links are broken or i'm dumb

anyway i'd still like to enter

[ngsilver]

I see that you're authenticated. However you will not be able to enter a new video until you have updated your creator information. That is why the red !!! is there (and is explained in short detail on the main page once you log in and in greater detail in the help section.)

I'm in the system right now, using multiple user accounts. I'm not experiencing the same problem you seem to. Try again. The system requires cookies to keep you logged in, if the links keep taking you back to the login page enabling cookies should fix that problem as you have to be authenticated in order to access any part of the system. You might also try deleting your cache and cookies if that doesn't fix it.

If it is still causing you problems send me an email or PM me with your browser version, operating system, and any mods you may have in place on your browser. So I can properly troubleshoot to fix your problem.

[Rider4Z]

i'm still having the same problem in firefox. so i tried internet explorer and it works fine there


edit: ah k i got 2 entered

[ngsilver]

What version of Firefox are you using? What privacy settings are you running under? What mods and plugins do you have on it? All of these could be a factor is why it isn't working for you in Firefox. Though I'm unsure as to what exactly. The browser itself shouldn't be the problem, since I code specifically to work with Firefox first before I even bother testing in IE. Please PM me this information, I would like to figure out what is causing that problem so that I can fix the glitch.

[Alt_z3]

I have the latest version of firefox, and everything works perfectly.

[Rider4Z]

k got my vids uploaded. don't worry about my firefox. it does a few other weird things besides this. that's why i never got rid of explorer