Manifest 2008 - Anime Music Video Competition

It's time for the Anime Music Video prodigies from around the world to battle it out once again in this year's competition. AMVs offer a creative outlet for anime fans who like to tinker around with video editing and music syncing their favourite anime. So what are you waiting for?

General Rules

  1. AMVs must not have been submitted to Manifest AMV competitions in previous years and no videos premiered prior to September 16, 2007 (hence about over a year old by Manifest 2008) are eligible to compete.
  2. Video footage should be mostly derived from anime, manga, or Japanese video games.  Any non-anime footage must not exceed more than 25% of the total video length.
  3. No more than three (3) submissions per person or group will be accepted. Each person who contributed to the assembling of the AMV must be listed on the submission form.
  4. AMVs must not have an intro or credits. Specifically designed intro titles containing your name and your video's details will be made for each entry.
  5. No unneeded text, logos, or any other identifiable marking are to be found within the video itself.  This includes subtitles, DivX or Cartoon Network logos, etc.  Text you inserted yourself for the purpose of furthering the video concept or story is allowed, subject to final approval by the AMV Coordinator.
  6. AMVs longer than 6 minutes will not be accepted.
  7. You may submit AMVs that contain concepts/footage that are suitable for an audience above 18 years of age. Note though that having excessive objectionable material will mean your AMV might not be screened to the public and hence not be eligible to win the Fan Favourite category.
  8. All submission media (CDs or DVDs, etc) become the property of Manifest and will not be returned to the creator(s) so please do not send us your only copy.
  9. This competition is open internationally.  You do not have to attend the convention in order to compete and/or win.  Prizes will be mailed out if necessary.
  10. Manifest Organising Committee members are allowed to enter videos which can be screened. However these submissions are limited to compete only for the Fan favourite section and will not be awarded sponsor donated prizes.
  11. AMVs may be rejected for any reasons, at the discretion of the AMV coordinator. Not all submissions may be shown. If your AMV is rejected, Manifest AMV competition coordinators may attempt to contact you to discuss possible edits or alterations that would make it acceptable.
  12. You must submit videos that only you yourself or your group created.  Submitting someone else's video or impersonating someone will mean your immediate disqualification from the AMV competition and all other competitions run at Manifest.  A one year ban from the Manifest convention itself may also result if you are discovered.

Note: Rules are subject to change at any time.

Competition Structure

As from before, the competition is divided into two main sections; the Judge votes and the Fan votes.  Below you will find how the sections are arranged.

  1. Judge Vote - this section is judged by a group of people, both from within the Manifest Organising Committee and by people considered knowledgeable in the area of AMVs, anime, audio and video production.  To win an award here, a video must show real editing prowess with a combination of the technical knowledge and the creative drive behind AMVs.  Below are the categories in this year's competition.  Note however that this is subject to change. As such, we ask you only to write down in your submission form your preferred category for your video.  Videos will be judged just before Manifest itself where we determine the appropriateness of your video in the category.
     
    • Best Action/Upbeat - videos which are a sure fire way to get the adrenaline pumping.
    • Best Drama/Romance - tear jerker or heart wrenching videos that tug at your soul.
    • Best Comedy/Parody - funny, unique, odd or sometimes just plain wrong videos.
    • Best Fun/Trailer - something that just made us smile or made us say it was cool.
    • Manifest's Choice - this is awarded by the AMV Coordinator and members of the Manifest Organising Committee only, and is one which we believe deserves attention almost entirely because of the inspiration and impression it made on us.
       
  2. Fan Vote - Due to the increased number of videos submitted to Manifest, it is likely that the Fan Vote session will be divided into two categories.  Depending on the quality of entries, Manifest appointed judges may split the Fan Vote screening to amateur and pro.  Please refer to the Manifest screening schedule closer to the convention date for final confirmation.  Videos might not be screened for Fan Votes based on the rules above or quality and/or technical issues.  The audience is essentially asked to grade the videos which they watch during the screening, and a total is tallied to find out the winners afterwards.
     
  3. It is possible for a video to win both in the Fan Vote and Judge Vote section.
     
  4. Both Judge and Fan vote winners are announced at the closing stages of the convention, and soon after announced online.  In previous years, winners have been awarded awesome medallions as well as the usual swag of anime goodies and we hope to continue that, so be sure to give us your best!

Format Guidelines

  1. Submissions must be in digital format only (no VHS submissions will be accepted). Strictly only the formats below will be accepted, no exceptions, and we prefer that you encode them in either MPG, AVI, MKV, MP4 or OGM containers only:
     
    • DivX, XviD, DV-AVI, HuffYUV
    • MPEG1, MPEG2
    • x.264
       
  2. Submissions can be in CD or DVD or submitted online.  Please note that you must not author the discs (i.e. not make them playable on a DVD or VCD player) and provide them only as plain data.  We will be playing from computers, connected to sound systems and projectors.
     
  3. Please send the best quality possible (i.e. video should typically be 640x480 or bigger). This is not a specific requirement for videos and your entry won't necessarily be disqualified for poor quality, however overall audio and video quality will impact the judges’ decisions in the end.  Our equipment is best suited for playing the following specifications:
     
    • Audio:
      44.1kHz or higher PCM, or MP3 (at least 192kbps), or Layer 2 audio for MPEG2 submissions (at least 224kbps)
    • Video:
      XviD or DivX MPEG4 at 3.3Mbps or higher. A first pass encode, if you feel sufficiently happy with the quality is also suitable.
      or
      MPEG2 at 6-12Mbps
       
  4. You may include multiple copies of the video in different formats but only those encoded in the formats listed above will be used. In general, it is your responsibility to ensure that your submission can be played by us on the day.  For help in regards to encoding, visit the AnimeMusicVideos.org guides or visit us at Amvience Studios (forums or email) and we'll try to give you pointers as much as we can.
     
  5. Multiple submissions may share the same media, but should as far as possible be separately accessible. This means arranging different video submissions in separate directories/folders and having clear names of files matching your submission form details.
     
  6. Online submissions should be made into a zip file, both for smaller sizes and easier file management.

 

Submission Guidelines

Please make sure that all your submission media are clearly labelled. Also include the following details (either as a text file in your submission media or as a printed copy or both) for each of your entries (in the zip file if submitting online).

  • Name(s) of creator(s)' real names please (not your AMV creator persona)
  • Studio Name and/or www.animemusicvideos.org nickname (if applicable)
  • Contact email address
  • Mailing address
  • Video title
  • Preferred video category (may be more than one)
  • Music title and artist
  • Source Anime/Game

It is recommended that you email the AMV coordinator that you have sent your submission, so that we know to expect from you soon.  Also we would appreciate it if you tell us if you're attending Manifest or if you have a proxy for you there, so that in the event that your video wins, we can have someone pick up the prize.

Submissions must be received by August 25, 2008 (not just postmarked but physically in our hands).  This date may change, so keep a look out in the news section for updates.

Entries may be made by post to:

AMV Competition
c/o MANIFEST
P.O. Box 21036
Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, Vic, 8011

For information on FTP submissions please click here, however we do accept submissions via other online methods such as your own server, or file hosting websites like YouSendIt or RapidUpload.  Email the links to us, together with the information above.  All submissions will be responded to, so if you have not received a reply after some time, please check with us again.

Online submissions, suggestions or queries, should be directed to the AMV coordinator at amv@manifest.org.au.