Anime Expo 2015 AMV Competition - WINNERS POSTED!

[Rider4Z]

What do you mean by actually have to watch all of the videos? Don't you/ the judges watch all of the videos anyways to judge them?

Vlad was exaggerating. All videos (sansDQs) were always shown to the judges. They switched to independent judging so individually they may watch in more comfort and in blocks if they wish. Sitting for 10-15+ hours is very tiring and draining and can skew results if the judges are not properly caffeinated and fed.

[kutiekittykandykorn]

What do you mean by actually have to watch all of the videos? Don't you/ the judges watch all of the videos anyways to judge them?

of course... Just instead of doing over one weekend marathon style in on room, the judging now have a lot more time to watch, re-watch all the videos and judge them on their own. In the old days (for AX) it use to be like 8 - 10 hours of marathon judging in a room so you ended up being quite burnt out before you finished watching them all

Vlad

Oh okay, I see X3

[kutiekittykandykorn]

Our judging system is such that the judges need to watch and rewatch entries multiple times, in fact. If a judge does it right, they will have watched each vid at least five times, the top picks often far more.

Previously (prior to 2012) we had a judging system that was more or less mob rule. Each video would be played to a cabal of judges in a dark room late at night (it'd be a VERY long night) and the judges would give an arbitrary score to each vid. If a video was really awful, they could howl for it to be skipped, but not until a minimum of 60sec of it played first.

With either system, the only vids the judges don't see at all are the ones that had been DQ'd in advance for failure to follow the rules.

Oh okay, I misunderstood then X3 Thank you for explaining! ^^

[kutiekittykandykorn]

What do you mean by actually have to watch all of the videos? Don't you/ the judges watch all of the videos anyways to judge them?

Vlad was exaggerating. All videos (sansDQs) were always shown to the judges. They switched to independent judging so individually they may watch in more comfort and in blocks if they wish. Sitting for 10-15+ hours is very tiring and draining and can skew results if the judges are not properly caffeinated and fed.

Okay, I see X3

[BasharOfTheAges]

Some cons still manage it just fine. You do need to have a heavy handed DQ first pass beforehand to get the numbers reasonable though.

The scoring option also avoids the implicit "category fitness" part of ranked judging since you can score something based on its stand-alone merit and have discussions of category outside of the scoring.

I was more commenting on AX, even with heavy DQs most likely entries will be in the mid 200s! I'd hate to lockup judges in a room and tell them to watch them all in one siting.

I think ranking works if you have fixed categories.... But then again there are many ways judging can be done...

Vlad

I wasn't considering fluid category makeup in an actual contest, but more the problem of having videos that could legitimately be in 2 categories but don't make either because "category fit" is implied when you rank by category (because rank N in category A has absolutely no relevance or method of comparison to rank N in category B - they're non-overlapping sets).

If you have a Draction video in Drama and some of your judges think it belongs in action, it's almost implied they should be ranking it lower as it's a "bad example" of a drama video in their mind. The fact that it's in a named category highly implies that category should be a primary factor in judging. With straight scoring (which you can do distributed too) you could theoretically get rid of the categories (only for judging) and score every video in a vacuum, without the set-relative binning having an undue influence.

I suppose if you handle all vague or ambiguous submissions by fiat before they even get to the judges, it's not really an issue for you anymore. I'm used to running it in a more democratic process (and in some cases having people obviously downvote or upvote decisions they don't agree with).

[Cyrix]

Whoo, remembered to submit my video, even more than a month before the deadline!

[EMrain]

Hey its Retro-Megabyte,

Two things I am concerned about:

1. What does the whole thing about the Freshness Cutoff Date? I mean, according to the context of the page its from? That freshness cutoff date is outdated, literally. I'm not sure if its a mistake or not, but I would like to know what it says this: "Your entry must not have been available for public view (online or at an event) prior to the freshness cut-off date of October 1st, 2014."

2. Video Quality concerns: I know the minimum resolution they will accept is 480p, which some of the footage I have is in 480p. The overall resolution I want my AMV to have is 720p, but again, not sure if it looks like 720p, which is why I'm wondering whether they would accept such edited footage. Therefore, I uploaded a Test Render Evaluation to YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CATh1k_kTx8 and I want you guys to tell me if there is a likely chance that they will accept it in. Some of the footage I have is in 720p, but not all of what I have is.

Again, I'm just want some honest and credible answers, as credible as you guys can answer my pressing questions. Thanks,

- Retro

[Rider4Z]

1. What does the whole thing about the Freshness Cutoff Date? I mean, according to the context of the page its from? That freshness cutoff date is outdated, literally. I'm not sure if its a mistake or not, but I would like to know what it says this: "Your entry must not have been available for public view (online or at an event) prior to the freshness cut-off date of October 1st, 2014."

It means they want new(er)/unseen stuff. If your vid was played in another contest or you posted it online before 10/1/14 it's not eligible to partake. Date of completion doesn't matter, just when/if it's been shown.

2. Video Quality concerns: I know the minimum resolution they will accept is 480p, which some of the footage I have is in 480p. The overall resolution I want my AMV to have is 720p, but again, not sure if it looks like 720p, which is why I'm wondering whether they would accept such edited footage. Therefore, I uploaded a Test Render Evaluation to YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CATh1k_kTx8 and I want you guys to tell me if there is a likely chance that they will accept it in. Some of the footage I have is in 720p, but not all of what I have is.

so you're mixing standard footage with HD. not unheard of. in your test footage it didn't look like you distorted the aspect ratio at all so you already got that going for you . you might try adding a few filters to clean the standard footage up a little bit so it blends with the HD better.

[XStylus]

Hi RM! Welcome!

Hey its Retro-Megabyte,
1. What does the whole thing about the Freshness Cutoff Date? I mean, according to the context of the page its from? That freshness cutoff date is outdated, literally. I'm not sure if its a mistake or not, but I would like to know what it says this: "Your entry must not have been available for public view (online or at an event) prior to the freshness cut-off date of October 1st, 2014."

Nope, that's not a mistake at all. The freshness cutoff basically means "Don't send us old AMVs". If you made an AMV and released it to the world anytime prior to that cutoff date, the contest considers that to be old. Anything newer than October 2014 is fair game. Hope that makes some sense.

2. Video Quality concerns: I know the minimum resolution they will accept is 480p, which some of the footage I have is in 480p. The overall resolution I want my AMV to have is 720p, but again, not sure if it looks like 720p, which is why I'm wondering whether they would accept such edited footage. Therefore, I uploaded a Test Render Evaluation to YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CATh1k_kTx8 and I want you guys to tell me if there is a likely chance that they will accept it in. Some of the footage I have is in 720p, but not all of what I have is.

Though related, "Video Quality" and "Resolution" are two separate things. If your AMV's resolution is 480p or better (preferably 720p if your source is in that quality), then you've satisfied the resolution part.

As for Video Quality, that's a bit harder. But if the video looks heavily blurred and has a lot of macroblocks, it'll get dinged for VidQual.

The example clip you sent isn't awful, but it's not great. It's not bad enough to get you DQ'd, but it could use some work, and that'd mean learning AVIsynth which can do wonders if used right. It has a steep learning curve though because it's all scripting.

Again, I'm just want some honest and credible answers, as credible as you guys can answer my pressing questions. Thanks,

This is a forum of fellow AMV creators. You'll always get good help here.

As for coordinators such as myself, I'm scum. Don't trust a damn word I say.

[EMrain]

Hi RT! Welcome!

Hey its Retro-Megabyte,
1. What does the whole thing about the Freshness Cutoff Date? I mean, according to the context of the page its from? That freshness cutoff date is outdated, literally. I'm not sure if its a mistake or not, but I would like to know what it says this: "Your entry must not have been available for public view (online or at an event) prior to the freshness cut-off date of October 1st, 2014."

Nope, that's not a mistake at all. The freshness cutoff basically means "Don't send us old AMVs". If you made an AMV and released it to the world anytime prior to that cutoff date, the contest considers that to be old. Anything newer than October 2014 is fair game. Hope that makes some sense.

2. Video Quality concerns: I know the minimum resolution they will accept is 480p, which some of the footage I have is in 480p. The overall resolution I want my AMV to have is 720p, but again, not sure if it looks like 720p, which is why I'm wondering whether they would accept such edited footage. Therefore, I uploaded a Test Render Evaluation to YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CATh1k_kTx8 and I want you guys to tell me if there is a likely chance that they will accept it in. Some of the footage I have is in 720p, but not all of what I have is.

So, is it a good idea if I edit the normal footage that I have, render it, and apply the quality fixes to the finished AMV edit? Would that be a good idea or not?
Though related, "Video Quality" and "Resolution" are two separate things. If your AMV's resolution is 480p or better (preferably 720p if your source is in that quality), then you've satisfied the resolution part.

As for Video Quality, that's a bit harder. But if the video looks heavily blurred and has a lot of macroblocks, it'll get dinged for VidQual.

The example clip you sent isn't awful, but it's not great. It's not bad enough to get you DQ'd, but it could use some work, and that'd mean learning AVIsynth which can do wonders if used right. It has a steep learning curve though because it's all scripting.

Again, I'm just want some honest and credible answers, as credible as you guys can answer my pressing questions. Thanks,

This is a forum of fellow AMV creators. You'll always get good help here.

As for coordinators such as myself, I'm scum. Don't trust a damn word I say.