AMV Minis Entry Rules

[Zarxrax]

AMV Minis Season 2 Entry Rules

No longer accepting entries at this time.
Please do not submit anything.

Please read these rules in their entirety.

1. Content
For the most part, your entries should contain anime, and should NOT be adult in nature. Please try to avoid excessive violence, sexuality, and strong language. Most episodes of AMV Minis will be intended for viewing by a wide audience.

Also, all entries should be 30 seconds in length, or shorter. If it goes over by just a tad, it might be acceptable if your video is really good. PLEASE try to keep your videos as short as possible. Get the point across and then end it. I'm much more likely to accept a mediocre 5 second video than a mediocre 25 second video.

2. Humor
All entries should try to be funny in some way. I would advise sticking with jokes that the majority of viewers will get. Also, please avoid putting the main joke within 1 second of the beginning or ending of the video, as the transitions may cut into it.
Try to be original and unexpected. Don't rehash old jokes that have already been done.

3. Production Quality
Please put some hard work and effort into your entries. If it looks like it was tossed together in 5 minutes without any real care, then it will probably simply be rejected. Your videos shouldn't have fansub subtitles on them or a "divx" logo or any other crap like that. This is serious business. Also if the video quality looks bad it may be rejected as well. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T GET YOUR SOURCE VIDEO FROM A STREAMING SITE LIKE YOUTUBE.
I suggest you read the Video Quality For Dummies thread: http://amvhell.com/showthread.php?t=3104

4. Selection Process
When I receive an entry, I (or other appointed judges) primarily look at two things. "Is it well made?" and "is it funny?" If I answer "no" to both of these questions, then the video will probably be rejected. If I answer "yes" to both of these questions, then the video will probably be accepted.
If the video is funny but poorly made, I may request that you modify or redo it. For videos that are merely "ok", the selection process can be highly subjective. Shorter videos tend to have a much better chance of being accepted.

5. Accepted Formats
Target output specs are:
848x480 if widescreen, 640x480 for fullscreen.
23.976 fps Progressive

If your video doesn't meet these specs, I can still work with it, but ideally you should try to target these to begin with. Please don't send me interlaced videos. Almost everyone does for some reason.

I would suggest that you submit your video as a high quality h.264 MP4 or MKV. Use CRF 18 or lower. Audio should be 320kbit AAC or 320kbit MP3.
Other formats may or may not be accepted. Be warned that using other formats may impact the quality of your video. Don't send me quicktime files.

The easiest way to get your video into an acceptable format is to:
-Install AviSynth.
-Grab Zarx264gui.
-Export your video from your editing program in a lossless or uncompressed format.
-Load your video into Zarx264gui, set the quantizer to 18 or less, set audio bitrate to 320 (or quality 0.6 or higher), and press Encode.

6. Entry Form
Sign up for a DropBox account and upload your video into your public folder. Then fill out the entry form located here: Form removed, do not submit entries


7. Follow Up
You can track progress on your video in the AMV Minis Entries forum. Correspondence is conducted ONLY through the threads in that forum. So you must make sure to check it for updates every now and then. I will try to let everyone know whether their video has been accepted or rejected in a reasonable time. However, sometimes it can be easy to forget. I get lots of entries, and I have a life outside of this. If a month passes by without any reply, you can send me a private message asking what was decided.
I would recommend that you also SUBSCRIBE to the AMV Minis Entries forum (you can do it by clicking here), that way in case you forget to check it, it will notify you whenever I reply about one of your videos.
If your video is rejected, the thread will be closed. This is just to help me keep things organized. If you have questions about why your video was rejected, you can send me a private message about it.
You might see a star rating appear by your entry thread. A 5-star rating means that your video was accepted. All other ratings are merely codes used internally to help keep things organized.

[Lietuvis]

Any length restrictions?

[Zarxrax]

Ah, good catch, i forgot to mention that.

[daikaisho vanguard]

How about language?
Must it be English, or will subs do?

[Zarxrax]

It's better if it's english, but if you have subs make sure they are easy to read.

[Tazuto]

What if you have over 20 something audio clips you can use but no clue of which animes to use??

[Zarxrax]

What if you have over 20 something audio clips you can use but no clue of which animes to use??

I'd start watching some anime.

[Tazuto]

I'd start watching some anime.

rofl yea i know, but i know that YOU guys know what animes would be perfect, also i use WMM+SuperC so how do i get the vid into that format??? O-o cause i only understood half* those words

[Hoodoo]

[SIZE=5]

1) Xvid in an AVI container, compressed with constant quantizer 2 or 1, and disable B-frames. Use uncompressed audio or 320kbit mp3.
2) x264 in MP4 container. Use CRF 18 or lower. Audio should be uncompressed or 320kbit AAC or 320kbit MP3.

lolwut?



tutorial preeze T_T

[Zarxrax]

I'll try to make a tutorial in the next week or so.

[Tazuto]

i just perfected my first amv hell clip and im sure its going to be accepted into the first episode(that is when i figure out how exactly to put it into the required format)

[Hoodoo]

i just perfected my first amv hell clip and im sure its going to be accepted into the first episode(that is when i figure out how exactly to put it into the required format)

That's about where I am too

[Tazuto]

Would a MP4 container and H.264/AVC work????

[scarmullet]

You mention that if the picture looks bad you wont accept it. What about if it was an artistic choice.

I made a video using audio from the opening to the 80's He-man cartoon and video from Eva. I purposely made the picture quality VHS quality, kinda like watching one of the old He-man episodes on VHS.

Would that be accepted?

[Tazuto]

You mention that if the picture looks bad you wont accept it. What about if it was an artistic choice.

I made a video using audio from the opening to the 80's He-man cartoon and video from Eva. I purposely made the picture quality VHS quality, kinda like watching one of the old He-man episodes on VHS.

Would that be accepted?

im not in charge of it but i think would be cool =)