AdFest 2007

[trinitysj]

count me in...

[Alexa]

Does this contest have a sponsor? sorry, if this is a repeat, I can't at this moment, read through the whole thread.

alexa

[Barry_S]

We'll be announcing the prizes and sponsors, but haven't done so just yet.

[trinitysj]

ok dumb question. ?-- 3 seconds of white on black title --?
3 seconds white text on black title???
this is how i understand it.

thanks

[Dmitry Kichenko]

A question (sorry if it has been asked already, but there are just too many pages to read here) - are there any content restrictions at all? Meaning, can the product really be anything?

[Bezakor]

what's an advert ?¿

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

it's uppdock.

[Jared Meyer]

Uppdock? What's that?

:evil:

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

d'oh!

[cinealma]

Sometimes it's called "snoo", other times "matter baby", or so I've been told.

[Barry_S]

A question (sorry if it has been asked already, but there are just too many pages to read here) - are there any content restrictions at all? Meaning, can the product really be anything?

The only restriction is our users good taste. So yes, no restrictions. :)



ok dumb question. ?-- 3 seconds of white on black title --?
3 seconds white text on black title???
this is how i understand it.

thanks

Right, white text on a black background.

[macgregor]

How many ads can we enter?

[Tom Marshall]

This many...


Let's keep it to two entries per filmmaker max, although you can crew on as many projects as you want.

[agwah]

btw

http://www.steorn.com/news/releases/?id=1001

http://www.kinetica-museum.org/new_site/index.php?ptitle=Kinetic%20Art%20Collection&mfile=kinetica_exhibition_images.php

[Simon Höfer]

Yeah, thats what I thought five minutes ago :D dvxuser.com is working for steorn... but its only a museum ^^

[ConspiracyPenguin]

As of now I am in the "maybe" category, if I enter this will be my first project on DVXUser so forgive me if my question seems somewhat "little". I am wondering what the rules are for Ad Fest as far as using licensed material goes. Lets say a song by Elvis Presley? Thank you for your time.

[ConspiracyPenguin]

Alright now I am almost definately in, I'll be teaming up with my friends Shaun W and Rick V for this one. Still wondering though (for future reference) what the rules are for using licensed material in contest entries. Thanks a lot.

[dougspice]

The rules are you can't do it. You must fully own the rights to everything you deliver, same as any other property you are publishing or releasing to others.

[ConspiracyPenguin]

Alright, as I expected...thanks for your help!

[Larry Rutledge]

Yes, you must have license to use any material in your entry. That said, if you need music there are several EXTREMELY talented composers here who would be more than happy to create custom music for your film.

I'll get the list together later and append it to this message.

[ConspiracyPenguin]

Great! Thanks, that will be good to know for future reference.

[Dmitry Kichenko]

Crap.

[Larry Rutledge]

Crap.

Let me guess, Dmitry. You are using music for which you don't have a license, right?

Finish editing to the music you are using, then give the finished film to one of our great composers here and they'll make some awesome music to fit the film.

[Dmitry Kichenko]

I'll compose the score, it's not a big deal. I just.. really wanted to use this one song. Oh well.

[Larry Rutledge]

That's why it's important to read the rules...stated in the first post of this thread:




No copyright violations, you *must* use licensed or royalty-free music

[Barry_S]

Well, somehow I omitted this regular rule from the list, so I just added it for clarity. But this is federal law and you shouldn't be including any copyright violations in any of your work--period. Do I have to post a rule stating that no kittens may be harmed in the making of your films? :)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

...Do I have to post a rule stating that no kittens may be harmed in the making of your films? :)

Crap.

[JasonFox]

Do I have to post a rule stating that no kittens may be harmed in the making of your films? :)

But adult cats are fair game. Sweet.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Ah good save Jason.

I think I can make that work :beer:

[Dmitry Kichenko]

Well, somehow I omitted this regular rule from the list, so I just added it for clarity. But this is federal law and you shouldn't be including any copyright violations in any of your work--period. Do I have to post a rule stating that no kittens may be harmed in the making of your films? :)

Is it okay if I'm Russian and live in Canada though?

The FBI is never gonna get through the customs.

[TowerFan]

To the AdFest powers that be:

Would it be possible to get a heads-up on the final submittal format. Quicktime or WMA, resolution, bitrate, any particular codec, file size, etc. I'd like to get a head start on this because it'll take some experimentation for me.

(Sorry if this was posted earlier but I haven't read through all 30 pages of this thread.)

Thanks!!

[rawlikesushi]

quick question and sorry if this has already been asked, but i didn't see it mentioned......can there be any audio during the 5 seconds before and the 10 seconds after the 30 second spot? or do those 2 sections have to be audio-free?

[Erik Olson]

In a typical commercial, you wouldn't place audio under the black at the top or coming out of the spot.

e

[Luzer]

Concerning copyright violation......what about the use of classical music and photographs?

Just a curious question. ;)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I'm sure classical music may be used but you have to have the rights to the performance. There is no problem using Beethoven's Fifth since it is in the Public Domain, but there is a problem using the Boston Philharmonic's 1985 recording of it. So if you play it on a synth, have a friend(s) play something on their instrument(s), pay to use a classical track from a stock library, or find a Public Domain recording (I think they do exist beyond a certain date), then you are fine. If it's "classical" (with finger quotes) or "neo-classical" as in "new" then content rights apply as well as media/performance rights.

You can use a photograph, painting, or stick figure drawing as long as you have the rights to it.

It's not about not using material that's not original - lot's of ads use Beattles songs or riff on something like the Mona Lisa, it's about having the rights to whatever you use.

[Brandon Rice]

You do have the right to remain silent :)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

You also have the right to bare arms. Which is nice in the summer time.

Or is it "bear" arms? Nah, must be "bare" arms. I mean what would I do with a bear's arm?

I guess I could hold it out and swat at people while making a growling noise, "grrr" "grrr" "look at me I have a bear arm and I'm gonna getcha!"

... which would definitely be very cool, but I'm sure our forefather's were probably talking about our inalienable right right to wear short sleeves and muscle shirts. I mean there was no air conditioning back then, so ...

[TowerFan]

Would it be possible to get a heads-up on the final submittal format.

OK, so apparently it's top secret for now, so be it. How about a hint as to when the requirements will be posted?

Thanks.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Usually it's announced within a couple of weeks of the upload date.

In the past it has been
- Quicktime
- !6X9 or wider aspect ratio either letterboxed or true widescreen.
(maybe this will change since these are TV spots? dunno)
- any image size so long as your video us under 60 to 50MB -- but that was for a 5 or 6 minute movie, so expect it to be less. I think that gives you through rate of somehere between 900-1200kbps

If you are on a Mac it should be almost a no brainer (with a little help from folks here) even if they don't announce the subnission format until a day before they are due.
- export your full quality movie
- quit FCP
- drag you movie into compressor
- choose the LAN optimized for download preset
- pick a reasonable size for the image
- experiment with the through rate if the file is too big by lowering it in increments of 100kbps or so
... things to experiment with in compressor
- crop out the black bars - saves file size and bandwidth - why render those when you can use that bandwidth and size just for the image
- audio - drop down one sample level from the default. If you are desperate or in a hurry, going from stereo to mono will chop off a few megabytes as well.

[TowerFan]

Thanks for the info and tips Jack. Am using Avid Xpress HD with Sorenson Squeeze on a PC platform. The rules state 16x9 but that's not a problem. I looked at a few random SpyFest entries and it looked like they used H.264. I'm hoping that H.264 isn't required as I'm getting an error from Sorenson when trying to use it. I'd like to use H.264 as it is a really good codec, but alas I can't get it to work.

I'll probably post the error in a few forums and see what help I can get. Thanks again!

[Brandon Rice]

Get QT-Pro, that's what I use to compress to QTime. I also use Avid Xpress Pro. I use Sorenson, only for MPEG2 files.

[Jaime V]

Got a quick question regarding this rule:

"...The following format must be followed. 3 seconds of white on black title, fade down to 2 seconds of black, 30 second spot, fade to 2 seconds of black,..."

So does that mean the white on black title stays up for 3 full seconds and then fades to black and stays black for 2 seconds? So it would be:

1) 3 second white on black title
2) Fade of random time
3) 2 second black

Does that make sense?

Thanks,

[Barry_S]

Please include the fade in the 3 second title--so 2.5 seconds of title and a 0.5 second fade would be fine--or something like that. Thanks.


Got a quick question regarding this rule:

"...The following format must be followed. 3 seconds of white on black title, fade down to 2 seconds of black, 30 second spot, fade to 2 seconds of black,..."

So does that mean the white on black title stays up for 3 full seconds and then fades to black and stays black for 2 seconds? So it would be:

1) 3 second white on black title
2) Fade of random time
3) 2 second black

Does that make sense?

Thanks,

[rawlikesushi]

Great question Jaime V. That's what I was wondering too!!! ;)

[Jaime V]

Please include the fade in the 3 second title--so 2.5 seconds of title and a 0.5 second fade would be fine--or something like that. Thanks.

Thanks Barry!

[rawlikesushi]

thanks e!!!!

[TowerFan]

Get QT-Pro, that's what I use to compress to QTime. I also use Avid Xpress Pro. I use Sorenson, only for MPEG2 files.

Thanks for your input Brandon. I suppose I should finally cave in and get QT-Pro since Avid is so joined at the hip with the QT format.

[TowerFan]

I'd like to use H.264 as it is a really good codec, but alas I can't get it to work.
Quick update in case any one is interested. I found a codec in Sorenson called AVC. Apparently AVC = H.264. Man I'm an idiot sometimes. Works a treat now!

[martin-sfx]

If anyone has problems encoding to h.264 I recommend using the freeware tool MpegStreamclip (http://www.squared5.com). It's very easy to use, the rendering is fast and it does a great job at downscaling video while retaining all the detail of the original. Much better than After Effects or Premiere.

[Karl151k]

Any news on upload instructions yet? I can't find them anywhere on the forum... Have I simply missed them? Thanks!

[Barry_S]

Hold tight, Larry will be announcing the upload instructions shortly.

[zumez]

Wicked Awesome!

[Luzer]

Question.

This may sound silly but by "white on black title" does it mean white text on black or black text on white?

[Larry Rutledge]

That's white text on black background

[cinealma]

When you say "acknowledge" dvxuser.com, does that mean a "special thanks to" kind of thing or a "created for DVXUser.com AdFest 2007" or ???


Thanks.

[Larry Rutledge]

Whatever you want it to say, as long as "dvxuser.com" is in it somewhere. Probably your second example is the better of the two, but whatever floats your boat :)

[LynchMob]

Can someone let me know where the upload details are?

[Larry Rutledge]

They haven't been posted yet...just be patient and watch this forum. They'll be posted soon.

[TowerFan]

Filmmakers may not reveal what the logo/brand represents in their commercial before the spots are screened.

Quick question. Does rule #5 apply to the film's poster that is displayed on the user's AdFest download page?

I created a poster for the ad, and it gives a hint as to what Kinetica is, but I'm not sure if this qualifies as revealing "before screening".

Thanks!

[Barry_S]

That wouldn't count as revealing the info before screening--so you're cool.


Quick question. Does rule #5 apply to the film's poster that is displayed on the user's AdFest download page?

I created a poster for the ad, and it gives a hint as to what Kinetica is, but I'm not sure if this qualifies as revealing "before screening".

Thanks!