- N A T A - Open Round!

[NATA]

You Ready?

Over the next 25 days, animators from across the world will have the opportunity to define their animating skill in this Tournament to decide would the ultimate Champion of Flash Artists is for the year 2012. This is the First Newgrounds Annual Tournament of Animation.

*** Open Round ***

The Theme for the Open Round is...

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Discovering Time Travel
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*** Rules ***
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* You have until 11:59:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on May 10th to complete your submissions. No submissions will be accepted after the deadline without penalty.
* Entries must fit the theme above to both level the playing field and ensure that entries were not previously created.
* The animation must be no shorter than 1 Minute and no longer than 10 Minutes.
* The animation must be submitted on NewGrounds, in flash format or other acceptable format viewable on NewGrounds.
* Excess nudity, profanity, and other things of profane nature are not allowed. (It cannot have a "Mature" rating.)
* Absolutely NO copyright material is allowed without permission. If you use copyrighted music or other material in your animation, you MUST get the permission of the original creator of that material.
* If you would like to parody, then use similar names instead of the real names - ie. "Smears" instead of "Sears". No copyrighted material whatsoever.
* The Audio portal is a great source for music, just be sure to get permission to use it for this contest!
* Any entry in violation of these rules will be disqualified.
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*** Judging ***
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Entries will be judged by the following judges:
* Tom Fulp
* Elliot Cowan
* Dave Bruno
* NitWitt
* SymphyBunny

Judging for the Open Round will be performed by each judge selecting their "top picks" and combining the top pick lists to narrow the entries down to the top 32, which will enter the brackets. In each bracketed round, judging will be score-based on each entry.
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*** Submissions ***
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* Entries must be uploaded via the NewGrounds Flash Portal.
* Entries must be tagged with "nata2012open" to distinguish them from other rounds and years.
* Entries must be submitted before the deadline. (See above)
* Be sure to post a link to your entry in this topic, to be sure your entry does not get lost.
* Entries will otherwise be found by searching "nata2012open" on NewGrounds, showing all entries with that tag.
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*** Late Penalties ***
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Late penalties look like this for submissions after the deadline:
0 - 29 minutes: - 5 total points
30 - 59 minutes: - 10 total points
1 - 2 hours: - 15 total points
2 - 3 hours: - 20 total points
3 - 4 hours: - 30 total points
4 - 5 hours: - 40 total points
5+ hours: Disqualified
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*** Current Prize ***
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The top 32 scored entrants from the Open Round will each move on to the Novice Round brackets and receive a $15 prize for making it in. All prizes will be awarded in October, AFTER the competition ends.
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*** Fine Print ***
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* By submitting an entry to NATA 2012, you agree to allow NATA and its organizers to use your material to promote the contest and use it for possible calendars and other merchandise.
* All entrants must have a paypal or the ability to receive a check in the mail in order to claim their prizes.
* The final Champion of Flash Artists at the completion of the contest must create an illustrated image of themselves interacting with planet Earth, as is NATA tradition to document their victory with such an image on the NATA website.
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Good Luck!!

[DCzerkies42]

Time to get started :D

[artistunknown]

Ooh, I can work with that theme. I had an idea for a series revolving around that, but it's a parody. What specific rules revolving around parodying characters are there? If it's allowed, I know what I'm going to be working on, if not, then I'm going to need to do some more thinking, heh.

[Emrox]

At 4/15/12 11:40 PM, LazyAss23 wrote: Time to get started :D

OH I GET IT LIKE "TIME" TO GET STARTED

okay I'll shut up now

[DCzerkies42]

At 4/15/12 11:40 PM, LazyAss23 wrote: Time to get started :D

I got my friend to inspire ideas in me :D

[Brewster]

Awesome! I've started alreadyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

[joekuli]

Party time people....time travel sounds like an interesting subject.

[Cordyceps]

I better see some HG Wells somewhere in here.

Good luck to the participants.

[The-Great-One]

Lock and load people. This should be very fun.

[redghost1313]

So the theme is discovering time travel. All those years of watching doctor who, old Sci-fi movies and crummy cartoons will finally pay off. This round will be an all out brawl between the entries, good thing i have my crowbar.

[Patonion]

Time travel sounds fun, I'm sure I can come up with something by then.

[NAveryW]

To make sure everyone's entry is as high quality as possible, remember: If you make a story about a person going back in time to prevent something but ending up causing it, you're immediately disqualified.

[CyanSandwich]

I think I like this theme.

[DCzerkies42]

I have the most ingenius Idea right now, Writing down all the storyboard, tomorrow get most drawings done :D or sketchs :D

I have to say this is a great theme my friend is pitching me a genius idea.

[DaveBruno]

Hey everybody!

Looks like Ill be judging this year! Haha I feel bad I haven't really been keeping up with Newgrounds the past 6 months, things got a little busy for me. That being said, I definitely have enough time to pick apart your pieces! If anyone has any questions or anything feel free to PM me about them, Id be happy to answer. Otherwise I hope everyone has fun with this and learns something about their craft, and maybe even something about themselves. I know I did.

Good luck! And may the odds be ever in your favor! ;)

-Dave Bruno

[LazyModeComics]

At 4/16/12 01:13 AM, DaveBruno wrote: Hey everybody!

Looks like Ill be judging this year! Haha I feel bad I haven't really been keeping up with Newgrounds the past 6 months, things got a little busy for me. That being said, I definitely have enough time to pick apart your pieces! If anyone has any questions or anything feel free to PM me about them, Id be happy to answer. Otherwise I hope everyone has fun with this and learns something about their craft, and maybe even something about themselves. I know I did.

Good luck! And may the odds be ever in your favor! ;)

-Dave Bruno

Oh Dave,

Your infinite wisdom showers me in the warmth of Apollo. Tis a beacon in a world of darkness, fear, and contempt. Oh how I seek the nurturing milk and knowledge of your bosom. Heed my words dear friend, for I sit upon a sheath of hope. Do not cut me, for I am just a man, only a man.

Dearest friend,

-Jake

[neeko]

Awesome. cant wait to get this started.

[DaPigMask]

It's been a long time since the last time I animated something with flash (I've been doing some stuff, the traditional way to practice haha). I guess this is my chance and motivation to get back into flash and toonboom again. NATA HERE I COME !

[Zunzulo]

Bring it on newgrounds.

[NATA]

There may or may not be category prizes at the end of the contest, as well. These prizes will most likely involve NG Store credit :)

Possible categories include "Funniest Entry", "Best Entry that didn't make it", and "Best Story". But this is yet to be seen.

Again, good luck to all, and may the favors be forever in your odd.

... wait.

[coughing-dog]

Oh boy!

[Ninjkabat]

At 4/15/12 11:38 PM, NATA wrote:
* The Audio portal is a great source for music, just be sure to get permission to use it for this contest!

I thought when users submitted to the audio portal they were also granting a license to have it used in animations, thereby giving us permission...

Is it because this is a special contest with sponsors and commercialization and all that? I'm totally down with shooting a PM to the users who make the audio I want to use, but I'm just worried about finding a song on a dead account and never getting a response. Wouldst I be disqualified in such an example?

[NATA]

At 4/16/12 03:17 AM, Ninjkabat wrote:

At 4/15/12 11:38 PM, NATA wrote:
* The Audio portal is a great source for music, just be sure to get permission to use it for this contest!

I thought when users submitted to the audio portal they were also granting a license to have it used in animations, thereby giving us permission...

Is it because this is a special contest with sponsors and commercialization and all that? I'm totally down with shooting a PM to the users who make the audio I want to use, but I'm just worried about finding a song on a dead account and never getting a response. Wouldst I be disqualified in such an example?

The great majority of audio files on NG state that you can use them freely so long as you credit them in your animation, and also for "non-commercial" purposes. While a contest like this isn't necessarily commercial in the sense that you're actively selling and making profit from it, you do in fact have the potential to be making money while using someone else's music. It is courteous to include the music author in the loop because if they are aiding your entry's quality, then they may feel entitled to a cut of the prize you earn while using it.

If they do not reply to you, you can still technically use their music. However, if they decide to come back some day and aren't happy with not receiving a cut of the prize, then it is your responsibility to settle things with them.

I hope this clears up the "audio rights usage" discussion in advance that we have every year :)

[x-factor11]

At 4/16/12 03:31 AM, NATA wrote: music stuff

Fair enough, haha.

Now to go music hunting. Sort of already know what I want to do animation wise in my head, but now just need the music to complete the idea haha.

[Ninjkabat]

At 4/16/12 03:31 AM, NATA wrote: music stuff

Ok, common sense is the name of the game. Got it. Time to get-a-script-writtin'.

[DingoWalleyStudio]

Got it, Time Travel on May 10th. Got it. I'll try, but I make no guarantees on actually getting in...

[CyanSandwich]

At 4/16/12 02:44 AM, NATA wrote: Again, good luck to all, and may the favors be forever in your odd.

... wait.

Ah yes, may the favors be in all of our odd's.

[DuDuL]

Time travel :D Sounds fun time to start it!

Also quick question - there are no problems uploading the submissions to YouTube yeah?

[Jomillex]

I LOVE IT!
I love every year when the theme is announced 3 years I've followed the competition and I think I'll find a good way around the theme! Good luck everyone, And may the odds be ever in you favor!

Hunger games fuck yeah

I think the Portal Music schit is going to be bothersome, the only songs I really think will work are commercial songs but no matter I'll make it work!

[BlackMist75]

Woohoooo, time for Nata!