New leadership, new rules for UWOL...

[Finn-Erik Faale]

Lorinda,

Thank you so much for taking the responsibility to let the UWOL challenge move forward.

[Simon Wood]

I was just thinking about the upload rule changes that are to be announced, and thought I would offer a suggestion.

How about setting up a designated UWOL Channel on Vimeo? Participants would upload their videos to their own accounts and then add the videos to the UWOL Channel. This would minimize compression mishaps, and centralize the videos in one place. It would also create more awareness of the UWOL challenge to the public (possibly).

Just an idea!

[Kevin Railsback]

Simon,
Every film from UWOL 1 to 20 are already centralized in one place. If you go to uwolchallenge.com you can watch every film submitted.
For as much trouble as we had with compression and upload issues, it's pretty damn impressive to have such a library of nature and wildlife films all theme based to see how other filmmakers approached the challenge.
I always worry with Vimeo, YouTube, ExposureRoom that the terms of service will change, people will delete their videos and we've lost a lot of good assets.

It's amazing to look back at the early challenges and see the progression of the filmmakers as they learned from their peers work as well as the constructive criticism they received.

[Simon Wood]

Ah yes that's true; good points.

I guess this suggestion was partly because I'm having real problems trying to get my video out on the previous UWOL compression guidelines - its just not happening. I'm going to keep at it for another day, after which I'll have to throw in the towel as I have to head off to do work elsewhere.

The problem I'm anticipating is that even if I get to grips with the old guidelines and have something presentable ready by tomorrow, then the new guidelines will come out and I'd have to start over. Oh well.

*edit* - ok, I managed to get a reasonable version out which should meet the old UWOL guidelines; it came in at 47mbs. It looks a bit washed out, but should work if I cant get anything better!

[Lorinda Norton]

Originally Posted by Simon Wood

... I managed to get a reasonable version out which should meet the old UWOL guidelines; it came in at 47mbs. It looks a bit washed out, but should work if I cant get anything better!

I'm relieved to hear that Simon! If you can believe it, we're still trying to work out a solution that will benefit and be acceptable to anyone who wishes to participate. Kevin is invaluable in this process. Stay tuned...

[Lorinda Norton]

Chris is slammed and hasn't had time to set up our account yet, but with three days left before the deadline I thought we'd better have some things in writing for all of you. Much of the wording is exactly as it was, with the main changes being length of time for completion (#1) guidelines on uploading (#7 with attention to #8) and the judging (#9). Many thanks to Meryem for her helpful suggestions!

1. Timings – The UWOL Challenge will run 4 times per year: March, June, September, plus the annual DVC/UWOL Charity Challenge every December. With the exception of the varying dates and rules of the charity challenge, each one will begin on the 1st of the month. A sign-up thread will be posted on DV Info Net in the UWOL forum one week before the challenge begins. Contestants are required to sign up for each challenge separately. Once the thread closes on the start date for the challenge, no new players will be admitted for that challenge. Players have one month to shoot, edit and post their videos online. This gives at least three full weekends for participants to travel to new and difficult-to-reach locations with their gear.

2. Signing Up – You must sign up for a free account at DV Info Net. You will need to do this so you can access the sign-up thread in our dedicated “Under Water Over Land” forum on DV Info Net.

3. Contest Topic – On the first of the month, a theme will be posted into a new thread on the UWOL forum at DV Info Net.

4. Production – Submissions should be 2-3 minutes in length. Entries exceeding the 3-minute limit can be posted on the site but will be disqualified from judging. Credits are excluded from the 3-minute limit.

5. Material – Material must be original and shot for the purpose of being judged in the current contest. Previously shot footage, as long as it is just a clip or two for educational or illustrative purposes, was shot specifically for UWOL (not stock footage) and does not exceed 10% of the total is permissible. The use of effects templates from Motion and After Effects, Livetype, etc. is permissible, without limits. You retain the rights to your video.

6. Music – All music must be fully licensed. If you use copyrighted materials (music or other copyrighted works) be prepared to show us proof that you own the right to use it. Without proof, we will remove your video from the site. You have the option of providing us with an image-only version, in the event we are forced to remove it, since our goal is to enable players to make beautiful images to develop good production practices.

7. Submissions – All finished videos will be uploaded to the UWOL Challenge account on Vimeo Pro, an account provided by Chris Hurd of DV Info Net especially for the UWOL Challenge. There will be no charge for contestants. Details of the Vimeo Pro hosting service may be found at http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-...o-service.html. Players are also encouraged to post links to additional copies of their videos from their personal Web sites in their feedback threads, if desired.

It is your responsibility to be sure that the Challenge coordinator has your most up-to-date e-mail address so that the challenge coordinator can forward you the Vimeo password during submissions week. If you don't send the e-mail, you won't receive the required upload clearance. At the deadline, the password will be changed, submissions will be locked, and no new submissions will be admitted. Please send your email information to uwol@dvinfo.net.

8. For players concerned about possible usage of their material by Vimeo, as outlined in its TOS, a watermark, such as © Jane Doe, 2011, may be displayed throughout the video and would not affect the judging of its content.

9. Judging – All players who submit a video automatically become judges in that round, with the exception of the DVC/UWOL Charity Challenge, where donors to the charity pool also vote. Videos will be available for viewing and feedback after the deadline. At any time after that, judges may send their votes for the top three videos by email to uwol@dvinfo.net. In your email, include the player’s name and title of video along with the placement (#1 #2 #3). One vote per judge/team, and no voting for your own video. Videos should be judged 50% on best use of theme and 50% on overall production value.

10. Winners – On rounds with high numbers of submissions, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be announced, along with honorable mention for videos receiving three or more votes. In the event of lower numbers of submissions, fewer rankings may be posted as a courtesy to lower-ranked videos. When available, prizes will be awarded to winners.

11. Fun – Oh, and last but definitely not least, all participants must have fun!

These guidelines are subject to revision without notice

[Lorinda Norton]

About rule #1, because of the current challenge, obviously, we won't be having one in September this year. So be ready to have a blowout in December with the charity challenge!

[Mike Sims]

Overall, the new rules look good. Many thanks to everyone that have worked so hard behind the scenes to bring this about. I’m still completely at a loss how to go about posting video to what is, in essence, someone else’s Vimeo account (Pro or otherwise). When the time finally comes I will need explicit instructions, please. Might I suggest you append this Compression Guidelines on Vimeo to Rule 7?

It would have been nice to know about the changes outlined in Rule 5 earlier. I, for one, could have made a better video this time. Oh, well.

For the record, I am not in the least concerned about possible usage of my material by Vimeo, nor the attendant increase in my liability. I don’t think it will happen. I simply feel that the policy is exploitative and don’t like having to imply my approval. I will watermark my video. I just don’t think that doing so, in any way, addresses the underlying problem. Oh, well- them’s the breaks. It seems I will have seven long months to think about it.

[Simon Wood]

Thanks Lorinda and Chris. A very interesting turn of events.

So a 3 minute video could have up to 18 seconds of previously shot footage, assuming it had been specifically shot for a previous UWOL entry?

I'm also not clear on how we will upload to the Vimeo account? Will Chris Hurd release the password to us closer to the time, or do we email him the videos and he uploads them himself? Bear in mind that if a Channel was set up then we could just link in our videos directly from our own accounts.

Either way I think the new rules will make everything a lot easier when it comes to compression, so I'm glad to have joined your group at this juncture!

Looking forward to see what everyone came up with.

[Lorinda Norton]

Originally Posted by Simon Wood

So a 3 minute video could have up to 18 seconds of previously shot footage, assuming it had been specifically shot for a previous UWOL entry?

Yes, that's about it. This plus the use of effects templates was added to the rules because of (as I understand it) previously-granted requests in prior UWOL challenges.

Instructions for uploading to the UWOL Vimeo Pro account will be provided as soon as the account is set up. Chris will be hands-off once that is done (he's got way too many other irons in the fire!). It is my understanding that we'll all have access to the password and just upload directly to it, but let me find out for sure. Should be pretty straightforward--you compress your video as you would for a regular Vimeo account and then upload directly once I get the word and pass it along to all of you.

[Bob Safay]

Well I have finally finished my entry, just awaiting further instructions. I got very lucky, last week I had to go to Jacksonville, Florida for a few days. This provided my with the opertnity to take a little detour and finish my project.

I want to throw this out as an idea, how about next time we do a challenge, as a ringer, we are allowed to include say 20% of our footage as existing stock footage that we shot for past challenges. Just a thought. Bob

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

I’m still completely at a loss how to go about posting video to what is, in essence, someone else’s Vimeo account (Pro or otherwise).

Hi Mike, basically it's going to be a generic VPro account available to all UWOL participants. It's billed to my credit card, so I guess you could say it's my account, but it's for everyone here to use. I suppose we'll change the upload password each round, and email that password to the participants.

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

For the record, I am not in the least concerned about possible usage of my material by Vimeo, nor the attendant increase in my liability. I don’t think it will happen. I simply feel that the policy is exploitative and don’t like having to imply my approval. I will watermark my video. I just don’t think that doing so, in any way, addresses the underlying problem.

We're practically neighbors, Mike, and I'm in the San Antonio area frequently. I'd be happy to meet you for lunch sometime soon to discuss your concerns in greater detail. I know most of the key folks at Vimeo, including their general manager. I've known their marketing director for a very long time before she worked for Vimeo. They're great people, honestly. I can probably get a better idea of how you feel about this if we can meet in person and talk it over.

[Mike Sims]

I’d love to meet you anytime, Chris, if for no other reason than to shake your hand and say thank-you for DVI.

[Lorinda Norton]

Because of Chris and his generosity, UWOL Challenge has a new home on Vimeo Pro. Thank you so much, Chris!

He brought up a crucial point that I missed including in the rules about emailing the password to each participant, so now would be a good time for all of you to shoot an email to uwol@dvinfo.net in order to receive it.

Bear with us, folks. We're getting there!

[Geir Inge]

Hi Lorinda.

1) As I read the rules, I read them as there are no limitation on format/size of the video file.
Is this correct?
Do we have to upload to the Vimeo Pro or can we use our own Vimeo Plus account?

Or...

2) Do we have to use the Vimeo Pro account to upload the video being judged and then we can put a link in our feedback tread, from our own Vimeo account?

I have another question about rendering, but I'll take it in the "wonder and woe" tread :)

Geir Inge