2007 AMV IRON CHEF

[Geirr]

I forgot to send mention (from TX where I was at a COOL pyrotechnic event!)  that I am also planning an AMV IRON CHEF competition.

It works like this:

- Up to FIVE contestants gather a number of hours before the showing event.
- Each contestant brings his/her own computer and editing tools.
- There will be a 'bank' of songs in .mp3 format for participants to choose from in common.
- Each participant gets a 'bank' or directory containing a unique set of pre-ripped VOBs, raw episodes, and fansubs (the participant would have to remove any subtitles) from 2 - 3 series. Contestans cannot bring their own anime or music.
- The show would begin something like 5 hours after the participants get their raw materials.
- A chef's hat plus some other anime-oriented fun prize to the winner, as determined by audience vote at the showing.

Does this sound like it will work?

- G

PS: A Question for you all, in the meantime:

- If -more- than five people show up to try this, how should five contenders be selected? I am thinking of a randomizer, such as I could bring a card shoe and deal like 3 - 5 hands of blackjack** to all contenders (point-value chips only, no real $$$) and the five people with the most chips after the hands are dealt get to be the participants. This would go fairly fast, and the contenders could at least have some feel of competing directly against each other in the thinning down process.

**
1. Standard rules.
2. This would not work if, like, 20 people showed up.

[Pie Row Maniac]

Few things:

- People would bring their own computers? Aside from troublesome to carry to/from the con, it could easily have unfair advantages if different people have computers with a wide range of specs. For example, Editor A's system has 1 gig of ram while Editor B's has 4 gigs. It's pretty easy to tell who will have the easier time editing. To have it balanced you'd best supply them with computers with the same specs and editing software pre-installed on it, along with the footage and audio already placed on it.

- Editing with MP3 format can cause the editing program to screw up and/or crash, at least that's the case with Premiere most of the time. I'd suggest WAV format.

- Five hours seems like a pretty drastic amount of time, but it'd be worth trying. I say this because the Iron Editor at AWA do two hours and the editors are pretty exhausted after that. I can only imagine how draining five hours would be.

[TomtheFanboy]

Few things:
- Five hours seems like a pretty drastic amount of time, but it'd be worth trying. I say this because the Iron Editor at AWA do two hours and the editors are pretty exhausted after that. I can only imagine how draining five hours would be.

I figure they don't HAVE to work on their video the whole time. If they finish sooner they can take a nap.

I don't edit but I've seen some awesome projects come out of these contests so I'm very interested in seeing this happen. Will there be a "theme" to the music and anime?

[kurosakiichigo666]

OOOHHH!! I wanna do it! I love making AMV's!

[Geirr]

Well - this is still planning & evolving, so maybe:

- The time question - How 'bout: Release materials on Saturday afternoon, results due Sunday night. (so, like about 24hrs.) And no, the contestants don't get sequestered from the rest of the con in any way (LOCK THEM IN ROOM 312A! AND THEY CAN ONLY GET PIZZA OR CHINESE DELIVERED IN 4 HOUR INTERVALS. 5 GALLONS OF HIGH-FRUCTOSE CAFFEINE DRINKS PER CONTESTANT. MINIMUM.)

- Music: If you like WAV there are mp3 to WAV converters out there; some are even free.

- Computers: I'm still thinking it's best to have everybody bring their own favorite tools. Otherwise (a) where does the con get all the SOFTWARE LICENSES for all the computers? ($$$) (b) I can predict at LEAST ONE complaint of 'my favorite editing tools aren't on the competition computer that got assigned to me,' not to mention how long everybody would take to get used to a new system, configure software which may or may not be familiar ("Hey, I use version 8.2 and all they got here is version 6.1 - you all stink!") Some folks are out there making AMVs on laptops, so it's not like people dragging around boat-anchor mainframes. (Anybody ever try to make an AMV on an IBM 7090 series? 'Hey here it is!' and he runs into the room with a spool of TAPE the size of a frisbee...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_7094

If the con volunteers me some computers to use we'll do it that way, but then the next step might be to have editors furnish their own software and part of the extended time would be to allow them to install/configure? A possibility, but I'd still bank on contestants bringing their own stuff.
[Heck, full-auto shooting matches work that way!]

- G[/img]

[Pie Row Maniac]

Get sponsoring from an internet cafe or a computer store. I'm not sure of the details but you can get them to loan a few systems. As for the software licenses, I couldn't tell you. The folks who manage the Iron Editor at AWA could give you some ideas of how to run ours.

http://www.awa-con.com/index.php?page=vat_amv_contests
There's a couple emails on there you can try contacting if you want, and a summary about how they run Iron Editor.

[Geirr]

What do you guys think of bringing your own music IN ADDITION to being allowed to peruse through a 'standard' selection at the con?

I feel that a person's own music collection is an aspect or a reflection of his or her personality, and so if I only allowed a fixed set of music, then for the participants, it'd be a bit like wandering around inside someone else's head, instead of working out of your own 'home ground.'

You each know your own music collections and how you sort things and what you think is engaging, and why. I'd think that'd be easier than having no option besides wandering around inside someone else's music collection, sorted and categorized in an unfamiliar way.

So I'd like to offer participants the option to bring their own music tracks and we'd have one or more people at check-in simply listen to the track(s) and vet them for radio-clean lyrics.

Comments?

[Pie Row Maniac]

So who's been selected to participate?

Is this just a free-for-all, where anyone can come with their equipment and video/audio, then go all out?

[Kayoe]

I will not be participating this year, (mainly due to lack of experience) so I’m not sure if my opinion counts for anything in this matter, but I’ll give it anyway.

I think everyone should be limited to the same choices of music, it keeps people on even ground.  In my mind it would be ideal to have just a song library that is unknown by the competitors until the day of, it keeps them from planning ahead of time based on their song (like what kind of theme they’re going for, what story they want to tell) before the contest starts.
However I also understand what you’re saying about music being a reflection of your personality, so I do understand the need to have access to your own music, so I have an idea, that I feel is fair. Any of your own music that can be used by you during the competition must be declared before/at the start of the contest.  And you must be willing, and able, to share that music with other members of the contest if they ask you for it.  The folks who brought the music still have a slight advantage because they may already have some plans for it, yet everyone still has access to all the same music.