How to participate?

This page gives you information you need to prepare your participation to the Nikon Film Festival. We recommend that you read it carefully to avoid format issues.

It’s open to all

It doesn't matter who you are or how much experience you have.
Nikon Film Festival encourages creation by reducing barriers and promotes openness through uncompromising accessibility.

The hardest part remains: daring, creating and sharing.

It's free of charge

Because it has the ambition to be open to as many people as possible, the Nikon Film Festival is a totally free event.

With a minimum of help, simplicity and a good idea, even the smallest budgets can get started.

The challenge
Making shorts movies of 2 min 20 sec
On a imposed theme

Read more

Recommended format

Below are the encoding settings for uploading your videos to our site and our recommendations for providing an optimal broadcast experience.

About image

Ratio

16:9 (recommended)
or 4:3 (black bands will appear on the sides)

If you suggest a different format (vertical, square, etc.), the player automatically adapts video

Resolution

1080p minimum
Up to 3840 x 2160 (4K)

Progressive

Framerate

24 FPS (recommended)
25 FPS

Codec video

H.264 / AVC (recommended)
H.265 / HEVC
DivX
WMV9
MPEG-2

Files Format

.mp4
.mov
.avi
.mpeg4

Video duration

Must be between 120 and 140 seconds including generic
Video player used can round up to the next second so we tolerate up to 02:21:00

File weight

Up to 2 Go maximum

About sound

Codec Audio

AAC - LC (recommended)
MP3
WMA9
MPEG Layer 2

Channels

Stéréo + 5.1 (recommended)
Stéréo

Sampling rate

96 kHz
48 kHz

Music

Original composition
or royalty-free content

If you wish to include copyrighted material in your video, you must seek prior permission or check rights of use associated with that work

In case of a claim, you may be required to mask or replace the copyrighted music

Subtitles

Subtitles are not mandatory to participate if your film is already in English, but they make it easier to watch your work and make it more accessible

Addition of English subtitles (if original version is not already in English) allows for automatic entry into the international competition

Embedding

They must be directly embedded in the image before video’s uploaded

Most commonly used font types

Arial - Helvetica - Roboto - Tiresias

Color

White or black (recommended)
You can consider other colors depending on desired aesthetic, but remember to check legibility on the whole movie

Position

Subtitles are usually positioned at the center bottom, but sometimes they can interfere with the visibility of certain information and should be moved

Other recommendations

Maximum 36 characters per line (including spaces)
Maximum two lines of subtitles if possible
Avoiding a subtitle overlapping a change of plan

Here is an example

TEARS COME FROM ABOVE réalisé par Manon Stutz et Margaux Fazio

Still questions?