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Sins of a Solar Empire Video Contest Rules & Requirements

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Sins of a Solar Empire Video Contest Rules & Requirements

The nitty-gritty

from Sins Forums

So you've read all about the video contest on the front page, and you want to know exactly what you need to do huh?  Well, here are the official rules and entry requirements.  If something is unclear or not covered in the rules, please feel free to post them on this thread.  I will be by regularly to answer anything that comes up.

-Z

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Prizes:

  1. Grand Prize:
    • Video included on the June 2008 PC Gamer Demo Disc
    • Autographed copy of Sins of a Solar Empire
    • Sins T-Shirt
  2. 1st & 2nd Runners Up:
    • Sins T-Shirt

Deadline:

Submissions must be in by 11:59pm EST, March 6th 2008.  Any submissions after that time will be disqualified.

Judging:

Entries will be judged by Stardock and Ironclad.  In the event that judges can not agree on a winner, Stardock reserves the right to change to grand prize as it sees fit.

Eligibility

  • Must be 18 years of age or older as of 3/4/2008
  • Must be a registered owner of Sins of a Solar Empire (no pirates, thanks)

Video Requirements:

  • Must display all three Sins races without using mods.
  • Must be based on the released version of the game (no beta video).
  • Must be original (i.e. you can't take bits from existing footage like the intro video or other gameplay videos)
  • Must not run longer than 2 minutes
  • All audio used in the trailer must either be from the game, original work, or public domain
  • Must not be larger than 50mb

Of course, since the video might go on the PC Gamer Demo Disc, there are some exacting tech specifications for the video too.

Standard Definition WMV

  1. Minimum video bit rate - 2000 Kbps
  2. Sample Rate (audio) - 128/48 khz stereo CBR
  3. Frame Rate - 29.97
  4. Image Size - 640x480
  5. Codec WMV Version - v9 for audio and v8 for video - 2 pass CBR (Constant Bit Rate - normalize audio to around 10db).

High Definition WMV

  1. High Definition Quality Video - 5000 Kbps to 8000 Kbps
  2. Sample Rate (audio) - 128/48 khz stereo CBR)
  3. Frame Rate - 29.97
  4. Image Size - 1280x720
  5. Codec WMV Version - v9.1 for audio and v9 for video - 2 pass CBR (Constant Bit Rate - normalize audio to around 10db)

How To Submit Your Video

To start with, create your video to the above content and technical specifications, then upload your video to GameTrailers. 

Then take the link to your GT video and post it HERE.  Just the link, nothing more.  On March 5th we will go through the trailers and pick the winners.  We will announce the results shortly after.

It's very very very important that you keep all original video assets after uploading your GT video.  If you win, we'll be asking you for your full-size, full-quality trailer for inclusion on the demo disc.

Alteration of Contest Rules

Stardock reserves the right to modify these contest rules at its discretion.

61,764 views 38 replies
Reply #26 from Sins Forums Top
Google for video capture software?

Personally I use camtasia.

I was wondering about the high definition video. Now you said that max limit is 50 mb for the video, is that even do-able with such high quality settings for the video render? I know it's only 2 minutes, but dang.
Reply #27 from Sins Forums Top

How do I turn of the hud so I can have pure game screen
End of quote

Ctrl-Shift-Z will turn off the HUD. Make sure you switch over to Cinematic mode first, though!

Siege of Centauri
Reply #28 from Sins Forums Top
Do you want both a hi-def video and a regular def one? Or one or the other?
Reply #29 from Sins Forums Top

One or the other, doesn't need to be both, just whatever works best for you. :)

On the codec question - 9.2 and 9 should be fine.

Reply #30 from Sins Forums Top
So is 50mb the absolute limit for both the standard def, and high def entries? It seems almost impossible to get the high def video under 50mb, and the standard def ruins the widescreen.
Reply #31 from Sins Forums Top
The 50MB limit is the max, sorry.  It's a PC Gamer restriction for their demo disc.
Reply #32 from Sins Forums Top
Sorry, one more question/problem. I’ve been trying to upload my video to GameTrailers all night, but I keep getting various errors and timeouts. Is there any other way to submit it?
Reply #33 from Sins Forums Top
I suppose you could stick it up on YouTube.
Reply #34 from Sins Forums Top

Hi all - we've extended the deadline for this until Thursday (3/6).  If you're going to enter, please be sure to post links to your movies!

Reply #35 from Sins Forums Top
You say we can't use video from the opening cinematic - can we use parts of it as background audio?
Reply #36 from Sins Forums Top

With the encoders, just use whatever flavor of 9 you've got. ;)

Xeonexs - Ctrl-Shift-Z

Reply #37 from Sins Forums Top
Finally done with mine, have uploaded it to every video provider in existence and have had problems with every single one, heh. Currently uploading to modDB to see if that'll fix it, otherwise I'll just provide a direct file link and one crappy streaming one from Google Video.
Reply #38 from Sins Forums Top
So when can we expect the results? :)

/pressure