Category 13: Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Entry Content

Your entry is made of two parts:

• The work you are submitting for the judges to view (the Work to Be Considered).
• Descriptive information about how the VFX for the project were created (the Before & Afters material).

Entrants are responsible for their own quality control. The VES accepts no responsibility for viewing materials that do not play properly, are submitted at the wrong resolution or format, or are of inferior quality (see Submission Format, below).

FACILITY IDs: Viewing materials (including Before & Afters), supplemental written materials, or slates may NOT contain the names of facilities, production company logos, logo bugs, or individuals that worked on the project. Entries containing such material will be required to resubmit without identifying marks or they may be disqualified

Work to Be Considered

This is the project material you wish to enter for an award. All Work to Be Considered must be submitted as premiered. Long single shots may be edited down for length by trimming the head or tail of the shot, or lifting one continuous section from the middle. However, you may NOT:

• Change the order of sequences from how they appeared within the project
• Change the order of or edit shots (except very long shots as stated above) within a sequence
• Put different contextual material around the Work to Be Considered other than how it was premiered
• Add fades or dissolves to “smooth” awkward transitions created by cutting down the sequence. However, you may place a few frames of black between segments
• Use sound other than the original sound track as premiered
• Add watermarks to any viewing material

You should provide some contextual material surrounding the Work to Be Considered where it is available. “Contextual Material” is the shots (visual effects or otherwise) immediately preceding or following the work you are submitting. This contextual material shows how the Work to Be Considered fits into the scene, sequence, or project. Contextual Material must be short and solely shown to set up the effects being presented.

Before & Afters

All entries must submit Before & Afters. The Before & Afters material must be unique to this entry and tailored to the category you are entering. Where the special (practical) effects played a major role in the project, the Before & Afters should include footage demonstrating this fact. Before & Afters entered in different categories from the same project must be significantly different from one another and must specifically address the shots and category being submitted. Before & Afters must demonstrate how the work was accomplished through one or more of the following:

• Storyboards Animatics and/or previs
• Raw plates
• Raw elements
• Work-in-progress (developmental progression of shot)
• The finished shot

In addition:

• Company logos, logo bugs, or individual names identifying who worked on the entry are not permitted. Entries containing such material will be required to resubmit without identifying marks or they may be disqualified.
• Special Venue entries must include video footage of the project from the perspective of the audience.
• Real-Time entries should include video footage demonstrating game assets in their native authoring environment. Overlays showcasing hardware and software performance are also welcomed.
• You may not use the same Before & Afters clip for two different categories, though limited reuse of individual shots is permissible as long as they fit the intent of the category.

Your entry may be disqualified if the Before & Afters material contains any of the following:

• Extraneous material that does not relate directly to the Work to Be Considered
• Shots or sequences that are not shown in the Work to Be Considered
• Talking heads explaining the work (voice-over narration is acceptable)

Written Supporting Material

Submitters may, at their option, provide a concise written description of how the Work to Be Considered was created. Please submit a PDF file of your written material at the time of submission by uploading the PDF by clicking on “Actions>Upload supplemental material” on the Submission Form. PDFs of nominated entries will be posted on the View & Vote website. Do not send printed copies of written supporting material to the VES.

Guidelines for Written Material:

• Put the Submission Number on every page
• Keep the number of pages to a minimum
• Written material may not include the names of individuals or facilities that directly worked on the visual effects.
• Reprints of magazine or web articles are not allowed
• Please name the PDF file the same as the submission number of your submission (e.g. 01-9999).

Audio

All sound used in the Work to Be Considered portion of the entry must be the original sync sound as premiered. Entries may be submitted MOS, but they must be clearly labeled as such on the slate. However, the Before & Afters material may have alternate audio, including relevant commentary. Commentary may not include the names of facilities or individuals that did the work, be self-congratulatory, or otherwise off-topic.

Slate

Use only the official VES Awards Slate that was automatically generated when you created your submission. If revised materials are submitted, they must be clearly labeled “Revised” on the slate and given a revised submission date.

Submitting Viewing Materials

Viewing materials must be submitted in electronic form. We will not accept a submission in physical media form.

Electronic Submissions

When you first made your submission you created a unique username and password to use for electronic material submissions. Use the same username and password for all your submissions. But keep in mind that each individual entry will also be given a unique file name that corresponds to only one specific Submission Number.

Submission Format: DNxHD 36 / DNxHD LB 8-bit

As in previous years, the electronic submission format is DNxHD 36 (DNxHD LB 8-bit) in a QuickTime wrapper. Note that the former Avid DNxHD36 codec is now named DNxHD LB 8-bit.

Updated upload instructions can be found in the Online Submission Guide at https://vesawards.sohonet.com/awards/guide/

The submission/encoding format is easy to use, and is compatible with all major computing platforms (PC, MAC, Linux). It has been designed to be practical on all but the slowest of Internet connections.

All viewing material must follow these guidelines:

• 1920 x 1080p, 23.98 fps DNxHD 36 8-bit video (DNxHD LB 8-bit video)
• Color levels per Rec. 709/BT.709
• Reference black is defined as 8-bit value 16, and reference white is defined as 8-bit value 235
• Viewing material need not be submitted in the final grading
• Note: all entries will be displayed as above in video range. DO NOT submit materials in full RGB range or they will look incorrect. The VES does not have the capability to correct material submitted in full range
• Audio in 16-bit 44.1KHz

No exceptions to these requirements.

The VES is not responsible for any artifacting present in video files used for online voting that may be caused by interlaced footage.

Upload Order

The entry must be uploaded in two parts:

• The Work to Be Considered (the entry) is one upload; and
• The Before & Afters material is the second upload.

Use the VES slate on both uploads and follow the upload order below in assembling your submission:

Upload No. 1:

Upload No. 2:

Do not combine your uploads.  Viewing material deviating from these format specs will not be accepted.

File Naming Conventions

Your uploaded submission(s) must be named as follows:

For Part 1: Work to Be Considered

• Entry ID.mov (This is the original project material)

For Part 2: Before & Afters

• Entry ID.beforeandafters.mov (This is your Before & Afters file)

For example: For Submission ID 02-0003, name your files as follows:

• Work to Be Considered: 02-0003.mov
• Before & Afters: 02-0003.beforeandafters.mov

The total fee for each entry is $460, regardless of how many individuals are named on the submission or their VES affiliation.

Vouchers

Each VES member is entitled to one personal Submission Voucher that will cover that member’s entry fee for one entry only or that member’s pro-rated portion of one entry if he or she is a part of a team entry.

For purposes of pro-rating, VES vouchers are deemed to have a value of $115 regardless of the category being entered. Therefore, the non-VES entrants must pay the difference between the $460 total entry fee minus the value of the VES vouchers being applied to the entry.

• Example #1: Assume that an entry in category 4 (where a total of five entrants is allowed) is using two vouchers valued at $230. That leaves a balance of $230 to be split among the remaining three entrants for a total value of $460.
• Example #2: Assume that an entry in category 12 (limited to four entrants) is using one voucher only. That leaves a balance of $345 to be split among the remaining three entrants.

Each member may make a voucher by photocopying his or her valid VES membership card and including it with the submission as his or her portion of the entry fee.

Vouchers are non-transferable.

Payment

Payment must be received by the VES no later than 5 PM PST, November 30, 2018. Entries are not complete and will not be vetted until payment has been made.