- Submissions must not exceed the content rating of the contest: PG-13 for AMV Showdown and Blender, PG for Saturday Morning AMVs, and 18+ for NSFW AMVs. If the AMV doesn’t seem to fit in this rating, the AMV Department may instead consider the video for the appropriately-rated contest.
- Please do not add bumpers or credits to your AMV.
- No subtitles/fansubs are allowed unless you add them yourself.
- AMVs with poor audio/video quality will be disqualified. This includes interlacing issues, audio distortions, etc.
- No visible studio trademarks may be included in your video submission.
- Length: Please keep AMV video submission under 5 minutes and 30 seconds total in length. Any submissions over this length will have to be really good to make the contest.
- Only three entries allowed per participant per contest. This means you may submit three AMVs in AMV Showdown, three in AMV NSFW, three in AMV Blender and three in AMV Saturday Morning.
- We will not tolerate or allow any plagiarism (defined as “the “wrongful appropriation” and “stealing and publication” of another author’s “language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions” and the representation of them as one’s own original work). Any submissions that are found to plagiarize someone else’s work or submission will be removed and the contestant will be contacted by Katsucon’s AMV Department. If the video submission is found to be plagiarized, you will not be allowed to participate in any future Katsucon AMV contests.
- In the interest of featuring fresh and exciting content in our AMV competitions we ask that you refrain from submitting AMVs that have won awards in three or more AMV competitions.
- All AMVs should be at least 75% Japanese animation or game footage.
- Additional contest-specific considerations:
- NSFW AMVs: Editors must be 18 years of age to submit. This is an adult-themed category; therefore, videos will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and any videos deemed “too extreme” will not qualify (e.g., sexual violence). Please contact [email protected] for any questions regarding your video’s content.
- Please submit your final videos in the video formats listed below only. This will help us greatly with giving your video the proper amount of time for review and preparing it for the contest. Any videos that require us to edit or change settings will be disqualified.
Video Formats
- NTSC Only, submissions in PAL format cannot be reviewed
- MPEG 2, MP4, and uncompressed AVI are preferred format.
- Please submit through Dropbox or Google Drive links. No YouTube or Vimeo links can be accepted.
- No Audio bitrate less than 128kbps and/or a sample rate less than 44.1khz.
- No Video resolution less than 720×480 (16:9) or less than 640×480 (4:3).
- No obscure video codecs please! If we cannot easily convert it, it’s out.
- Non-Interlaced video (Progressive) video only.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the submission deadline for the AMV contests?
The submission deadline for all of the AMV contests is typically December 1st.
What is the different between the various contests?
Each contest features its own selection of videos to enjoy and vote on! Contests with two showings (Showdown & NSFW) have the same content for each showing.
- The AMV Showdown: Our main AMV event at Katsucon. It is a PG-13 rated contest that shows both Friday and Saturday.
- Saturday Morning AMVs: This is an all-ages, PG-rated contest which shows on (you guessed it!) Saturday morning. It features both new videos and some age-appropriate entries from the AMV Showdown.
- NSFW AMVs: This is our 18+ contest for the AMVs too raunchy for our other shows.
- AMV Blender: Blender is a short AMV showcase that acts as a pre-show to the AMV Showdown. It is a great place for first-time editors to submit a short clip to show their stuff and for experienced editors to showcase ideas too short for a full AMV. Clips can be from 15 to 60 seconds long.
Why did my AMV get rejected?
Common reasons include:
- Interlacing: Interlacing is a problem that can come up either in the initial capturing of video (always select the ‘De-Interlace’ option) OR when you export your video from your editing software. If it is an issue with export settings, you can re-export your video after changing those settings.
- Watermarks: This is a logo appearing on the video from someone who handled the video file, usually in one of the corners. This happens a lot with pirated copies of anime. We are unable to accept video footage with watermarks on it, so please make sure your video is watermark-free before you start editing. As always, we encourage our editors to purchase their own copy of the source material.
- Subtitles: We only allow editor-created subtitles to be present in AMVs. Subtitles from the original anime source are not allowed to be included.
- Video Quality: We want to ensure your AMV looks and sounds great for the big screen! Please always export at the best quality possible.
- Uploaded on YouTube or an untrustworthy media-sharing site: We only accept AMVs through trusted media sharing sites like Dropbox or Google Drive. We do not want to have to (A) pay a fee to get your AMV or (B) get a virus because of a shady sharing site. Both have happened in the past and have necessitated this rule.
What happens if I submit my AMV to the wrong contest or category?
Your submission may be moved to a different contest if it is not able to be shown in the contest initially selected on your submission form. For example, an AMV that is too extreme for the PG-13 AMV Showdown will instead be considered for the NSFW competition. Likewise, if you submit for the PG contest and the AMV is a better fit for the PG-13 AMV Showdown, then we will consider it for the AMV Showdown.
Similarly, if an AMV appears to be mistakenly submitted to the incorrect category, we may consider the AMV for another category in addition to the originally-selected category.
Can the same AMV wind up in multiple contests?
We generally aim to offer a unique line-up for each AMV contest. However, videos may be considered for multiple contests if the editor purposely submits to both contests or there are limited entries in a specific category/contest.
As an example: AMV submissions to the Showdown that are also family friendly may also be considered for the Saturday Morning contest. Your video is not removed from Showdown consideration when this happens; it is simply also considered for the Saturday Morning contest.
Please contact us at [email protected] for any questions not answered above
