Otakon 2008 AMV Contest Submission Rules
So, you want to submit your AMV to Otakon 2008? Who doesn't?! Otakon accepts AMVs in a wide variety of formats, but you must follow the rules so that we can handle your video properly!

GENERAL RULES

  • Each entrant is allowed only one (1) submission. Users found creating multiple studios with the intent to circumvent the submission limit will have all of their entries disqualified.
  • If you are submitting a solo project, and also want collaboration credit on someone else's video, please contact the contest coordinator for instructions on how to handle this special case.
  • Entries will be accepted only through FTP or the mail. We will not download your entry for you. We will not accept entries through e-mail, or those sent through AIM/MSN/etc.
  • Do not include studio bumpers or video credits. Any lead-in/lead-out that we can not remove may be grounds for disqualification. Otakon will create a custom, uniform title card based on the information that your provide.
  • Your entry must be primarily anime and/or video game footage. The exception to this rule is a live-action adaptation of an anime, intended for television broadcast or release to movie theaters. Such live-action adaptations will be accepted without penalty.
  • Your entry's audio must be primarily music. Excessive narration/dialog may be grounds for disqualification, as your submission may be better suited for Otakon's Fan-Parody department instead (No we will not automatically forward your submission to the Fan-Parody department). The exception to this rule is an entry with audio taken from a theatrical movie trailer or tv commercial, that has been submitted to the "Trailer" category. "Custom-made" trailer audio using various elements of dialog is also acceptable in the "Trailer" category and said entries will be accepted without penalty.
    • Your entry may not contain audio taken from an english anime dub. Japanese audio is perfectly fine. Any dubbing work that you do on your own is also acceptable.
  • Your entry may not contain subtitles, whether they be from a fansub or from a commercial release. Subtitles that you have added on your own are acceptable.
  • You submission must be at least 30 seconds in length, but no longer than 6 minutes.
  • The Otakon 2008 AMV Contest is open to the general public. Thus, submissions with nudity, offensive language, and/or excessive violence may be grounds for disqualification.
  • Convention attendance is not required to enter. Attending the convention will not increase your chances of making the final cut/winning an award.
  • Anti-Trolling Policy: Regardless of the date that we receive your entry, should your entry receive a major award at another anime convention prior to June 7th, your entry will be disqualified from the final competition. Any award that your entry wins AFTER June 7th will not be held against you.
  • The better quality video that you send us, the better it will look. Remember, the contest is shown on large projection screens, not a small TV. Visual anomalies from poor compression will be enlarged.
  • The Otakon 2008 AMV contest will accept submissions from anyone with the exceptions of AMV contest voting staff and AMV contest ballot counters.
  • Otakon reserves the right to reject any video that does not adhere to the rules.
  • Deadline: Your submission must be received (not postmarked) by Saturday June 7th, 2008. Entries received late will not be accepted into the Otakon 2008 AMV contest.
  • Otakon accepts VHS, SVHS, SVHS-ET, and mini DV entries.
  • Entries submitted on tape must be in the NTSC format. We can not accept PAL format tapes at this time.
  • Entries must be recorded at SP speed. Anything else will look terrible.
  • You must fill out a submission form. Access the submission form here. You may include a printed copy of the form or the confirmation email that you received after filling it out, but it is not necessary.
  • Please label the spine of your tape with the following information:
    • Your video title.
    • Your studio name. This MUST match the studio name that you provided us with on your submission form.
    • Tape format (VHS, SVHS, or SVHS-ET).
  • Please include at least 15 seconds of black leader before your video starts in order to prevent the "rainbow effect" from appearing in your video, and to give our equipment time to adjust the tracking.
  • Please ensure that the only video on your tape is the one that you intend to submit.
  • After you have filled out the submission form, please mail your tape to the following address:
    Otakon AMV Contest
    PO Box 336
    Edison, NJ 08818-0636
    USA
  • Submitted tapes can not be returned.
  • Otakon is not responsible for lost or damaged media. We will do our best to notify you when your entry is received. If you're really paranoid, ship your tape with delivery confirmation.
  • Deadline: Your submission must be received (not postmarked) by Saturday June 7th, 2008. Entries received late will not be accepted into the Otakon 2008 AMV contest.
  • Otakon accepts entries recorded on CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-DL and DVD+DL.
  • Otakon will accept entries in virtually any file format using almost any form of compression. The more "popular" the codec, the better the chances are of us handling your video properly. If we can't convert your video, we will let you know.
  • Entrants are STRONGLY encouraged to submit in MPEG1 or MPEG2 format. All submissions not received in either of these formats will be converted to MPEG2.
    • NTSC interlaced video is perfectly acceptable. PAL interlaced video is not. If your submission is interlaced, please test it on a broadcast-quality decoder card such as a Hollywood+ or a Netstream2000 to ensure proper field order throughout your video. Your VGA card's tv-out function is not a suitable means of testing your submission.
    • If your video is 23.976 or 24 frames per second, when encoding your mpeg2, please flag it for "3:2 pulldown on playback". Otherwise your video will appear "jumpy" when we play it back.
    • When encoding an MPEG2, please use either MPEG1 Layer 2 audio, or AC3. WAV, AIFF, MP3, etc. are not acceptable when submitting in MPEG1 or MPEG2 format, as our screening computer does not natively handle these formats.
  • Acceptable framerates are 23.976, 24, 29.97, and 30. Any other framerate will be converted to the nearest valid framerate.
  • The contest is screened at 720x480. All entries that we receive will be scaled to this size.
  • Please encode your video for 4:3 playback. This includes letterboxing widescreen footage ahead of time. Videos flagged as 16:9 will be screened improperly. We will letterbox what we can, but Otakon makes no guarantees that we will catch everything.
  • If submitting on DVD, refrain from authoring your disc if at all possible. Simply burn your video to the disc as a data file.
  • If a video is too large to fit on one disc, we recommend splitting the file using WinRAR or 7-zip.
  • You must fill out a submission form. Access the submission form here. You may include a printed copy of the form or the confirmation email that you received after filling it out, but it is not necessary.
  • Name your file in the format "Studio Name - Video Title.ext". Example: "VicBond007 Productions - Accidentally in Love.mpg". Use the same studio name and video title that you provided on your submission form.
  • Please use a marker to label the surface of your disc with the following information:
    • Your video title.
    • Your studio title. This must match the studio name that you provided on your submission form.
    • If your video spans more than one disc, label the disc in the format of "Disc X of Y". (Example: Disc 1 of 3).
  • Do not affix an adhesive label to the disc, and do not simply label the disc case.
  • Please ensure that the only content on your disc is the video that you intend to submit to the contest.
  • After you have filled out the submission form, please mail your disc to the following address:
    Otakon AMV Contest
    PO Box 336
    Edison, NJ 08818-0636
    USA
  • Submitted discs can not be returned.
  • Otakon is not responsible for lost or damaged media. We will do our best to email you when your entry is received.
  • Deadline: Your submission must have finished uploading by 1:00 AM EST, Sunday June 8th, 2008. Entries received late will not be accepted into the Otakon 2008 AMV contest.
  • Otakon will accept entries in virtually any file format using almost any form of compression. The more "popular" the codec, the better the chances are of us handling your video properly. If we can't convert your video, we will let you know.
  • Entrants are STRONGLY encouraged to submit in MPEG1 or MPEG2 format. All submissions not received in either of these formats will be converted to MPEG2.
    • NTSC interlaced video is perfectly acceptable. PAL interlaced video is not. If your submission is interlaced, please test it on a broadcast-quality decoder card such as a Hollywood+ or a Netstream2000 to ensure proper field order throughout your video. Your VGA card's tv-out function is not a suitable means of testing your submission.
    • If your video is 23.976 or 24 frames per second, when encoding your mpeg2, please flag it for "3:2 pulldown on playback". Otherwise your video will appear "jumpy" when we play it back.
    • When encoding an MPEG2, please use either MPEG1 Layer 2 audio, or AC3. WAV, AIFF, MP3, etc. are not acceptable when submitting in MPEG1 or MPEG2 format, as our screening computer does not natively handle these formats.
  • Acceptable framerates are 23.976, 24, 29.97, and 30. Any other framerate will be converted to the nearest valid framerate.
  • The contest is screened at 720x480. All entries that we receive will be scaled to this size.
  • Please encode your video for 4:3 playback. This includes letterboxing widescreen footage ahead of time. Videos flagged as 16:9 will be screened improperly. We will letterbox what we can, but Otakon makes no guarantees that we will catch everything.
  • You must fill out a submission form. Access the submission form here.
  • Name your file in the format "Studio Name - Video Title.ext". Example: "VicBond007 Productions - Accidentally in Love.mpg". Use the same studio name and video title that you provided on your submission form.
  • You may sign up for an FTP account at any time by going to the Otakon FTP Signup Page. Once you sign up for an account, instructions on connecting to the FTP server will be provided to you via email. Logging into the web interface with your FTP username and password will also give you access to FTP upload instructions, as well as a link to the submission form.
  • We will email you once your entry AND your submission form have been received and tested.