Standard Rules for MAD Contest

Explanation of Standard Establishment

This standard aims to establish unified contest rules for Chinese MAD contest, with a high degree of universality. Through this standard, most MAD contest can streamline the length of their contest columns or help participants avoid repeatedly reading similar contest regulations. This not only improves the readability and consistency of the rules but also provides a more convenient reference framework for both event organizers and participants.

What is a MAD Contest?

A MAD Contest is a platform for MAD creators (Maders) to showcase their skills, engaging in fair contest with other Maders to vie for higher rankings, championships, or other special awards.

MAD Contests are usually divided into three categories:

• Major Contests: These are typically the most competitive, featuring generous prizes and longer submission periods (ranging from one month to six months). They accept a wide variety of submission types, although some specific contests, like the Golden Festival, may only accept static works. Examples include Fenghua Huizhan, TOS, Rose Festival, and the Nanjing University MAD Contest.
• IC (Iron Chef): These contests have specific limitations, often related to the songs used (participants can only use the tracklist provided by the organizers in the contest group). The submission periods are very short, requiring participants to deliver the best possible work within just a few days. Examples include NMIC and IFT IC.
• Exhibition Contests: Occasionally, the community holds exhibition contests to celebrate holidays like the Spring Festival or other special occasions. These contests do not have rankings or prizes; the organizers typically determine whether a submission qualifies for inclusion in the exhibition list. Examples include the MAD New Year Festival and the "Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!" New Year Celebration.

Usage Instructions

If these rules fully apply to your contest, simply paste the link to this standard (https://madproducer.cn/archives/1309) into the contest column, make some supplementary explanations, such as introducing the contest tracks and informing participants of the submission method. You may write the contest introduction and other content as usual. For standards that do not fully apply to this rule, you can modify them by referencing this standard without needing to apply to the website. You can refer to the contest column rules modification example below for guidance.

Example of Rules Modification for the Contest Column

Since some entries in this rule do not apply to most contest, such as 1.1 Participation Eligibility ("Anyone can participate") and 3.2 Public Disclosure of Works, an example modification is provided below. You may directly copy and use it.

Example of Rules Modification for the Contest Column:

This edition of the XX Contest follows the "MAD Contest Standard Rules" set by the MAD Producer team. The complete rules can be found at: https://madproducer.cn/archives/1309.

Given that some standard clauses differ from the requirements of this contest, the following adjustments are made:

1. Participation Eligibility (Standard Rule 1.1): The original rule allowed everyone to participate. This contest adjusts the rule to only allow participants who are not judges or organizers.
2. Public Disclosure of Works (Standard Rule 3.2): The original rule required works to remain unpublished until the finalists were announced. This contest adjusts the rule to allow participants to freely release their works on any platform after successfully submitting their entries and receiving confirmation from the organizers.

Contest Standard Rules

I. Participation Requirements

1. Eligibility for Participation
   • Everyone is eligible to participate, including judges and organizers. Submissions from judges will be scored by other judges.
   • Individual works, dual collaborations (Collab), and multi-person collaborations (MEP) are supported. For the latter two, the collaborator IDs must be indicated.
2. Submission of Works
   • The number of submissions must not exceed the quantity required by the contest organizer, and the entry award can only be claimed once.
   • Previously published works are not accepted, including the public release of original files, and submissions cannot be entered into any other contest.

II. Work Specifications

1. Original Works and Materials
   • The work must be original, allowing for creative homage (parody), but completely copying is prohibited.
   • You may use ACG-related materials such as anime, manga, and game CGs, but the use of third-party materials should not exceed 10% of the total duration.
   • All materials must be legal and pass the review. Any content that violates the rules (such as pornography, gambling, drugs, explicit violence, illegal materials, etc.) will result in disqualification.
2. Technical Requirements
   • The file size must not exceed the limit set by the event organizer, and using loops as the main content is prohibited.
   • The work must be a completed version; drafts or unfinished works are not accepted.
3. Logo Requirements
   • The work must include the contest logo. The format is flexible, and the specific files will be provided by the contest organizers.

III. Scoring and Ranking

1. Shortlisted and Awards
   • Works will be scored based on quality, and those who are shortlisted will participate in the ranking contest. Tied ranks will be counted as the same position.
   • Each person can only receive one reward (excluding special awards). If there are multiple submissions, the highest ranking will be used.
   • Collaborative submissions can only receive one reward (excluding special awards), which will be distributed by the team organizer.
2. Work Disclosure
   • Contest entries must not be publicly released before the announcement of the finalists. Non-finalist works can be made public after the results are announced; finalist works can only be disclosed after the official compilation is published.

IV. Violation Handling

• Any works that violate the above rules will be disqualified from the contest. If a violator has already received prizes or rewards, these will be reclaimed, and the organizers will decide how the reclaimed prizes will be used.

V. Submission Guidelines

• The contest submission methods include submitting via QQ private message to the organizer, email submission, and web submission.
• The standardized format for submitting entries via QQ private message to the organizer is as follows:
  • When submitting, please include your video, cover image (PNG or JPG file), and any comments (TXT file) in a single ZIP file.
  • The ZIP file name should be formatted as: [Your Track Name] - [Your ID] - [Your Work Title]
  • For collaboration entries (Collab), the ZIP file name should be formatted as: [Collab] - [Your Track Name] - [Your ID & Co-creator's ID] - [Your Work Title]
  • For multi-person collaboration entries (MEP), the ZIP file name should be formatted as: [MEP] - [Your Track Name] - [Team Name/Organizer ID] - [Your Work Title], and a detailed list of collaborators should be included in a TXT file within the ZIP folder

• The standardized format for submitting entries via email (please copy this format directly without modification) is as follows:
  • Email Subject:
    • [Contest Name] Your Nickname (If it's a collaboration, please include your ID & co-creator's ID; if it's a multi-person collaboration, please include the team name/all collaborators' IDs, with the organizer's ID first)
  • Email Body:
    • Your chosen track:
      Work Title:
      Message (optional): (Typically optional)
      Contact Information: (QQ or other contact methods to ensure we can reach you)
      Notes: (Please modify this section if any notes are necessary; leave it unchanged if no notes are required)
      Please attach your video and cover files (PNG or JPG) in the email.
• Web Submission is done via a form. Please follow the instructions and fill out the form step by step.
• Please render and compress the video according to the requirements set by the contest organizer.

VI. Additional Notes

• The final interpretation of this rule belongs to the contest organizer, who has the right to adjust the rules as necessary and notify the participants.

MAD Producer team (麦德工坊团队)