AdFest 2007

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

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

Just a curious question. ;)
 
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.
 
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 ...
 
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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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
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,


 
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.

Jaime V said:
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,
Click to expand...
 
Brandon Rice said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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TowerFan said:
I'd like to use H.264 as it is a really good codec, but alas I can't get it to work.
Click to expand...
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!
 
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.
 
Any news on upload instructions yet? I can't find them anywhere on the forum... Have I simply missed them? Thanks!
 
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