Animators near and far now gather for the Ninth Annual Newgrounds Annual Tournament of Animation, 2015! Beginning today, animators from around the world will compete for the top 32 spots in the tournament, with bracketed matchups to eliminate all but one - the Champion of Animation 2015. Do you think you have the skills to make it all the way to the top?

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*** Open Round ***

The Theme for the Open Round is...

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* 10 Amazing Facts *

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*** Rules ***

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* You have until 11:59:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on Thursday, June 18th to complete your submissions. No submissions will be accepted after the deadline without penalty.

* Be sure to include the NATA Logo (Yellow / Black) in your entry preloader or credit screen.

* 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 any video or flash format, so long as it can be considered animation. 3D, flash, traditional, and stop-motion are all acceptable formats.

* 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.

* Parody law is fair game, but not in ways that directly rip off the original material. Use spoofy, similar names instead of the real names. No copyrighted material whatsoever.

* The Audio portal is a great source for music, just be sure to get permission and/or come to a winnings agreement 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 - Founder of Newgrounds

* StejkRobot - Champion of Animation, 2014

* RicePirate - Newgrounds Animator

* MindChamber - Newgrounds Animator

* ... and possibly more! We are currently seeking 1-2 more judges by the end of the Open Round.

Judging for the Open Round will be performed by each judge listing their top 32 animations in order of best to least-best. Entries placed higher on a judge's list will receive more points.

Example:

#1 entry on a judge's list -> 32 Points

#2 entry on a judge's list -> 31 Points

... and so on. Therefore, the highest total points that can be scored by one entrant in the Open Round is 128 Points (with 4 judges), and it would only be possible for one person to get this score.

Those 32 animators will then 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 Portal.

* Entries must be tagged with "nata2015open" 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.

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*** Late Penalties ***

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Open Round late penalties look like this for submissions after the deadline:

0 - 29 minutes: - 5 total points

30 - 59 minutes: - 10 total points

1 - 3 hours: - 15 total points

3 - 5 hours: - 20 total points

5+ hours: Disqualified

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*** Prizes ***

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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 $20 prize for making it in. Additional round prizes to be announced. All prizes will be awarded after the completion of the tournament.

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*** Fine Print ***

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* By submitting an entry to NATA 2015, 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 Animation 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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Best of Luck!!