Frequently-asked-questions

I AM HAVING TROUBLE REGISTERING OR RECEIVING THE ACTIVATION EMAIL

If you are having trouble registering, or haven't received the activation email, please follow these steps;

1. First, check your spam or junk folder for an activation email.  Unfortunately legitimate emails are sometimes classified as spam.

2. If that doesn't help, please send us the following;
- operating system, browser & version you are using (eg. Windows 7, Google Chrome, 4.0.249.89 (38071), the version can be found in the About menu of your browser
- your IP address by going to myIPaddress.com, it will show you a series of numbers separated by dots, just copy and paste those back to us

3. It is always best to make sure you have the latest browser version installed, please use one of the following;
Apple Safari for Mac or PC
Mozilla Firefox for Mac or PC
Google Chrome for Mac or PC
Internet Explorer for PC

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WHAT FILE FORMATS DO YOU SUPPORT?

We always prefer .mov or .mp4, but here are the file types supported and common extensions:

• video/quicktime: .mov, .qt
• video/mp4: .mp4
• video/mpeg: .mp2, .mpa, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2
• video/x-msvideo: .avi

Please note we no longer support .wmv.

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WHAT ASPECT RATIOS DO YOU SUPPORT?

We only support 16:9 format (widescreen) or wider so please don't upload any 4:3 videos. The aim is for the winning video to be used as the official music video so it needs to be compatible with the standards of all today's media platforms, which is currently 16:9 or wider. Please note that we don't accept videos that are wider than 2.39:1.

For more help about aspect ratios, this Wikipedia page is a good source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image).

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WHAT ARE THE RECOMMENDED SETTINGS FOR VIDEOS?

Export and compression settings vary depending on what software you are using, and it can get tricky! We've tried to simplify the key settings though that you should be aware of, to make it as easy as possible! Look for the following settings in the software you use, they may appear under the "Advanced", "Settings" or "Options" tabs.

Codec
• Select H.264 for the video codec and AAC for the audio codec

Frame Rate
• This should usually be set to 25

Keyframes
• Refers to how often the compressor references your uncompressed video, set it to every 30 frames

Data Rate
• 5,000 Kbits/second for widescreen high definition

Resolution
• Minimum 1280x720 for widescreen high definition, or preferably 1920x1080. We no longer accept any SD videos as these cannot be used as an official video in today's media. We also don't accept 4:3 videos, or videos that are wider than 2.39:1.

Deinterlace
• Yes, otherwise strange horizontal lines might appear in your video

Sound Sample Rate
• 44.1 KHz or 44,100 Hz

Audio quality
• Select a bit rate of at least 128 Kbps

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MY VIDEO HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BECAUSE IT HAS BLACK BARS, OR IS THE WRONG ASPECT RATIO

If your video has not been approved, it is probably due to one of the following reasons;

Aspect Ratio
We need your video in HD, and 16:9 or wider so that we can use it in all media types if selected as the official video. If you want to check your aspect ratio, you can divide the width by the height, eg. the minimum resolution we accept is 1280x720. Dividing the width by the height gives you 1.7778, which is 16:9 (16 divided by 9). Remember, don't include black bars in the resolution width or height though. Read more about aspect ratios here.

Black Bars
Horizontal or vertical black bars are not acceptable. Sometimes, exporting a 4:3 movie to 16:9 simply adds black vertical bars left and right of your footage, this is still a 4:3 video, and therefore won't be approved. If your video is wider than 16:9 (eg. 1.85:1 or 2.39:1) then our transcoding process will add top and bottom black bars so that it plays within our 16:9 player. Never add any black bars, regardless of what resolution you are uploading.

Titles/Credits
Sorry, but we don't allow any titles or credits to appear on the video. There is space on your video's page (when uploading) where you can put credit and extra information. Titles are added by the media outlet that ends up playing the winning video (eg. MTV).

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CAN I UPLOAD A NEW VERSION OF MY VIDEO?

You can upload an updated version of your entry and you’ll keep all of the votes, views and comments your previous version had.

Just follow these simple steps;

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CAN I CHANGE THE THUMBNAIL IMAGE OF MY VIDEO?

It is easy to change your video thumbnail to something that you like, just follow these steps;

- Login to Genero.tv
- Choose EDIT PROFILE from the top dropdown menu
- Click the thumbnail of the video you want to update
- At the bottom of the page, you will see an EDIT THUMBNAIL section, just put the time in minutes:seconds, and click EDIT THUMBNAIL, eg. 01:35

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CAN'T PLAY VIDEOS USING IE9 - INTERNET EXPLORER 9

If you are unable to play videos when using IE9 (Internet Explorer 9), please follow these steps;
- in the area you enter a URL, to the right there is an icon which looks like a page with a tear through the middle
- clicking this icon will turn 'compatibility view' on
- the icon should change from a grey colour to a blue colour, and it should also force the page to reload
- you should now be able to play all videos

If you are still having problems, please contact us

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WHAT IS THE LIMIT ON FILE SIZES?

Please ensure your video upload is less than 300MB.

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