Formats

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS MUST INCLUDE SUBTITLES AND THEY MUST BE "BURNED IN", AS IN PERMANENTLY VISIBLE.

Please do not include color bars, or tone on your entry.

Submission Formats accepted:

  • DVD with Standard DVD Architecture and Mpeg-2 VTS. Standard NTSC or PAL. Please do not include any extra videos, files or information on the DVD.
  • DVD in data mode with any projectable codec video file, such as .wmv, Mpeg4 or h.264 .mov, or .mpg. Resolution may be from 720x480 to 1920x1080, acceptable framerates are 24p, 25p, 29.97, or 30p.
  • VHS: Standard NTSC.


Exhibition Formats available:

  • DVD with Standard DVD Architecture and Mpeg-2 VTS. Standard NTSC or PAL.
  • File formats of any projectable codec video file, such as .wmv, Mpeg4 or h.264 .mov, or .mpg. Resolution may be from 720x480 to 1920x1080, acceptable framerates are 24p, 25p, 29.97, or 30p.
  • 35mm. Filmmaker is responsible for shipping to Film Festival.


Substituting Your Submission Copy for an Exhibition Copy:

  • If you have submitted your film on VHS, you must send a DVD or 35mm copy for exhibition. A DVD must be postmarked ASAP, no later than the June 1st, 2008, or please communicate you will be sending a 35mm print for exhibition ASAP.
  • If you have submitted a DVD and wish to exchange for another DVD, please make sure it is absolutely necessary and that the new copy is of substantially higher quality. It must be postmarked ASAP, no later than the June 1st, 2008.


We will not make a copy, dub, or change your film in any way. We do not have the time to "review" formats.

Technical Suggestions

So you've finished editing your movie and want to enter Schweitzer Lakedance. Now how do you get it out of the computer and into the hands of the waiting Festival screening committee? Here is a suggested workflow, to get your file into the best final condition possible.

  • In your Non-Linear Editor (Premiere, Vegas, Final Cut Pro, etc.) Check all audio levels, and visual levels for glitches, inaudible levels, gaps in transitions, or any other flaws. Render this final file, using a "lossless", uncompressed or "intermediate" video codec, with an uncompressed audio codec soundtrack (such as PCM wav). Naturally, it will be a large final file, possibly dozens of gigabytes, depending on the length of your project. Now your file is ready to be converted for DVD.
  • "DVD" is not a format. It is a set architecture. Read more about architecture here, but the easiest way to learn is to take a look at a few movies you already have on DVD. In essence, there are two folders, AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. VIDEO_TS is where your files will go. Its important to note it is nearly impossible to go beyond this stage without the tools to do so. There is a very specific way in which the files must be made within the VIDEO_TS folder, and named. You have three choices here, the free method, outsourcing, or purchasing a program which will do it all for you automatically.
  • The All-In-One program. Programs such as iLife for Mac or Nero, Easy Media Creator, PowerProducer 4, DVD-Lab, or if you have Vegas Pro already, it comes with DVD-Architect. These programs will take your final file and allow you to visually design the menus for your DVD, will automatically encode your file to the proper format, and will create the DVD structure, then burn the DVD for you.
  • All of the above programs will give you a nice looking DVD. But what happens when you want to do it yourself and maintain maximum quality? Well, the secret is in how the .VOB (Mpeg-2) file is encoded, and the encoder's capability. The most important determining factor to watch for, is the bitrate of the file. There are many others factors to determine, but remember, the video AND the audio both have to fit into 9000k, and you'd be advised for maximum capability to keep that to 8000k. So first determine how much audio bitrate you are going to use, THEN determine your video bitrate. If you exceed this bitrate, DVD players will choke, and there is nothing that can be done. This is the most common mistake of self-authorers. The second most common mistake is to use Mpeg-2 audio encoding, when offered. There are three ways to encode audio codecs: uncompressed PCM (wav), Ac3, and Mpeg-2. For some strange reason, Mpeg-2 codecs throw DVD authoring programs and some DVD-players into fits. Don't use it, either use uncompressed or AC3. AC3 is highly recommended (remember it has to be at 48khz), because it is very efficient and will reduce the bitrate required for audio on a DVD. This is a very basic description. There are many tutorials on the process on the internet, here is one website devoted to the science. At Lakedance, we have found one program that offers maximum quality superior to all. The good news is, it is free. The downside is for a novice it is very difficult to use. It is called HcEnc. Learn to use that (which means you also must learn to use AVISynth), and you will achieve maximum visual quality beyond even what some outsource companies can manage. But HcEnc will only handle the video codec, you will need to handle the audio seperately.
  • Outsourcing your DVD authoring is s viable solution and there are many companies that will undertake this for you. This is, of course, the most expensive option, and many companies will not entertain DVD authoring for a client unless there is a certain volume involved. Still, if you have a budget large enough, outsourcing to a company that specializes in optimizing the quality on DVD can be a very good option.



Advanced Authoring tips:

  • Film Festivals like Lakedance do not need to see a retail DVD. Not only do we not have the time to watch your commentaries or behind-the-scenes interviews, it can be a hindrance to our projection or judging. What we need is the movie. That's it. If you make it so that there is no menu on the DVD, just the movie and when we pop in the DVD it auto plays the movie, that is perfectly fine, and in most cases ideal. If you want to include a menu, make it a single menu that has one button to play the file. Nothing else is necessary, nor desired. Besides, those other components waste precious space on your DVD.
  • Black sections. Many festivals need a header and tail of black. Lakedance does not. The maximum black you need to include should be 3-5 seconds of black.
  • Color Bars. Some film festivals will calibrate their projectors to your film based on color bars. Most will not. Lakedance has calibrated their projectors to accomodate a wide slate of films and due to the sheer numbers of films we play, it is not feasible to make changes for every film.
  • Aspect Ratio. Your final movie needs to be 16x9 or 4x3. There are no other aspect ratios, you either need to add black (letterbox) or resize your project if for some reason you have another resolution (such as 35mm scope). The time to change the aspect ratio is not in the DVD flag stage, that merely tells the DVD player what the AR is of the VOB file.
  • Finally, and we cannot stress this enough, check your DVD before sending it to a film festival or sending it off to your relatives. Play it in as many players as you can find, PC, Mac, standalone, old, new, upscaling, etc. Make sure it will play in everything, there is no skipping, stuttering or choking.