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Digital video: If you have a digital camcorder – one that captures in Digital8, MiniDV, HDV, or any of the DVD formats – you're ready to start shooting your masterpiece. Then you need to get your movie from your camera to your computer to submit it.

From camera to computer: You'll need to connect your camcorder to your computer, either via the USB or FireWire ports (Firewire is preferred.) If you camcorder doesn't have USB or Firewire, but stores video on DVD disc, you'll need to insert that disk into your computer then play it back and save it in one of the formats we accept, such as .MP4. Your camcorder came with a disc of applications to help you do you this or you can use Apple's iMovie or Windows's MovieMaker to save your movie in the right format. Many computers, such as the Sony Vaio, have their own video export/edit programs.

Analog video: If you have an analog camcorder – one that uses VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 tape – you can still get your videos onto onto your computer. It will require an extra step and some additional equipment, though, since these camcorders are not usually equipped with computer connections. You'll need to digitize the video with a converter box, which will convert the analog signal from the camcorder to a digital signal that the computer can understand. After the video has been digitized, you can edit it or upload it.

However, there is no need to edit your movie before you upload it. Just keep it short and sweet.

Editing: If you want to be a bit more hands-on with your video, most new computers come with basic video-editing software installed (like Apple's iMovie or Windows MovieMaker). Once you have copied the video from your camcorder to your computer, you can edit your video with these programs. Most allow you to not only edit the video, but add effects, titles, and music to make your video look and sound more interesting.

Upload: Once you're happy with your video, you'll need to save it in a format we accept in order to upload it. We accept videos as QuickTime .MOV, Windows .AVI and .MPG files— these are the most common formats and they work well within our system. We specifically recommend the MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format at 320x240 resolution with MP3 audio. Resizing your video to these specifications before uploading will help your clips look better.