R.I.C.E

General Info

RICE: Rewards Imagined by Community of Editors

RICE is a community feedback event made by editors, for editors.
The categories & the videos that apply to them are decided through voting during the event by the participants.
That means the only people who vote, review, and judge entries are the editors who submitted something to it.

You must be a member of the server to participate in RICE.
If you are not already in the server, you can click here to join.

The Basics

  • RICE is an annual event with the same dates every year. (See: Schedule)
  • To submit a video, you must be in the server by 30 November, before RICE starts.
  • Anyone can be a spectator, regardless of when they joined.
  • RICE uses blind submissions, meaning no one (including spectators) should know who created which video.
  • All participants (including spectators) are encouraged to review all videos and provide feedback or constructive criticism.
  • Award categories are decided by peers after seeing all the videos for that year.
  • Videos can use any source (live-action, animation, etc.)
  • Minimum video duration of 30 seconds.
  • Submit two videos as long as 5 minutes each or a single video up to 10 minutes.
  • Submitted videos must follow content restrictions.
Read this before submitting (tap to expand)

RICE involves a lot of reading.

  • This event has many rules and text-based news updates throughout the month.
  • Comments left on videos may be several paragraphs.
  • If you are leaving feedback, most videos have a creator comment asking for specific advice.
  • You are not committed to reading everything, but expect to be confused and/or left behind if you don't.

RICE is a feedback event first.
We want everyone to leave as much constructive criticism as feasible.

  • You may leave a public note in the submission form detailing what feedback you would like to receive.
  • You may upload additional materials, like side-by-side comparisons of no effects vs. effects or parodies vs originals, etc.

RICE is intended for BentoVid regulars.

  • Anyone can be a spectator, but people who submit videos must have joined by 30 November.
  • It is a mostly casual environment with people who are already familiar with one another.
  • Accessibility is a focus (CWs, VPR, captions, etc.).
    These are not required to submit but may be applied to your video.
    (Your video files will not be changed.)

The coordinator might submit a video.

  • No one is able to nominate the coordinator's video for any awards - it is completely removed from voting.
  • The coordinator's video is unblinded after category finalization.
  • The purpose of the coordinator entering a video is only to receive feedback from other participants.

When RICE ends, your videos are unblinded and displayed on the RICE Event History page.

  • Password-protected downloads are available through an indirect link.
  • This website is not indexed by search engines.

The finalist & awards show is pre-rendered, publicly viewable on YouTube, and uses the following settings:

  • 23.976 fps
    Submissions not at the framerate will be played at this framerate and may stutter.
  • 1920x1080p
    Larger submissions will be downscaled.
    Smaller submissions will be scaled up to fit as much as possible without cropping.
  • All videos have lower thirds added to them
    The graphics are 155px high and remain on the video through its entire run.
    Submissions with text will be shrunk so the graphic does not cover it.

These only apply to the finalists and awards shows. During the actual event, your videos remain in their natural state.

If you are uncomfortable with any of the above, consider spectating instead.
Spectators do not submit a video and cannot vote for the main awards, but they can view and comment on all videos, suggest categories, and select a video to win the spectators' choice award, called Okazu.
Spectator signup has the same window as video submission: January 1 - February 1.

2027 Umami

Comedy + Action

Ha-has and boom-booms.
Preferably at the same time.
:)

The Umami is the theme for that year's RICE.
It is changed every year and is announced at the end of the previous year's RICE Awards video.

Participation in the theme is optional, but it is the only (genre-related) category announced before the event starts.

New for 2026

(Click to reveal)

Deadline time changes
All deadlines were changed from 12PM Noon EST (17:00 UTC) to 10AM EST (15:00 UTC).
The dates remain the same.

Membership age minimum
People who intend to submit a video must have joined no later than 30 November.
However, anyone can be a spectator.

Rule changes

  • The content restrictions were modified and clarified.
  • The rule about subtitles, watermarks, etc., was removed.

New category scaling
≤ 49 videos → 8 7 categories
50 - 70 videos → 10 9 categories
71+ videos → 12 11 categories

New permanent awards

  • Wandering Samurice is now its own separate award independent from other categories.
  • If there are 10+ spectators, the spectators can give their own award named Okazu.

New video amount & duration rules

  • You can submit two videos with a max length of 5 minutes each (down from 5:30) OR
  • You may submit a single video up to 10 minutes long

Category suggestion changes

  • Spectators can suggest categories, but not vote on them
  • The word "Best" is banned from category names
  • You must list 3 example videos that will fit in your category when you suggest it

The Coordinator might submit a video

  • No one is able to nominate the coordinator's video for any awards - it is completely removed from voting
  • The coordinator's video is unblinded after category finalization
  • The purpose of the coordinator entering a video is only to receive feedback from other participants

General website update
The RICE pages were redone & updated for (hopefully) easier navigation & understanding.

Your videos are unblinded & accessible for download via an indirect link after the event
This is not new. It has been declared on the submission form since RICE 2022.
Since many people have missed this declaration, it has been added to the new "Read this before submitting" section and this notice.

NEW FOR 2027
There will be some changes for 2027. I am not sure when they will be live on the site.

The submission form opens on January 1, 2027.
All submissions must be received by 10:00am EST (15:00 UTC) on February 1, 2026.
Submit to RICE

If you have any questions, please DM @standardquip (Vars) on Discord.

Rules

Rules Navigation

Video Submission Requirements

Blind judging is a key part of RICE, so videos must not identify their editors.

  • To the best of your knowledge, your video must not have been seen by other participants (including spectators).
  • Your video must not be publicly available online until after the RICE awards stream has ended - usually the 2nd week of March.
  • Videos cannot contain any identifiable editor names even if they are not your names.

  • RICE submissions may be sent to other events ONLY if the editor remains anonymous until on or after 4 March.
    This includes when the editor + identifying video information appears in text!

    Frequently Asked Questions (tap to expand)
    Do I have to make a video specifically for RICE?

    No, but your video must not:

    • have won any prior awards
    • have been publicly attributed to you yet
    • be easily found online
    • have been seen by other other RICE participants, to the best of your knowledge
    Can I submit unfinished videos to RICE?

    Yes, but your video will get better feedback and have a better chance at awards if you fill the timeline (and don't have any black spots left).
    If your video is truly unfinished, try to include detailed notes in your "editor comment" for more useful feedback.

    Can I beta test or proof my video before I submit it to RICE?

    The official stance is that as long as you are reasonably sure other RICE participants (including spectators) haven't seen your video, you can submit it.
    In practice, this means you should only beta test with people who have said they will not be participating in RICE.

    While it is impossible to ensure complete anonymity for every video, participants are expected to follow the spirit of the rule and avoid sharing videos with anyone who plans on participating in RICE.

    Can I submit my RICE videos to other contests before RICE is over?

    Your video cannot be unblinded before 4 March.
    Videos cannot be shared outside RICE with the editor name attached before this date.

    • If a contest posts only video titles or only editor names (not "video title by editor name"), it is allowed.
    • Awards shows on 4 March or later are fine.
    • For small or obscure contests, use your best judgment.

    The spirit of the rule is to keep submissions anonymous. If other participants are unlikely to see who created your video before 4 March, go ahead and submit to that contest.

    Part of the advantage of being an event designed for server regulars is the allowance for flexibility in this matter. Use your best judgement and submit in good faith.

Discord server membership

  • Anyone can be a spectator, regardless of when they joined.
  • To submit a video, you must join the server by November 30th, before RICE begins.
    (For example, to submit to RICE 2026, you need to join by November 30, 2025.)

Video count & length

  • You can submit up to two videos.
  • Each video must be at least 30 seconds long.
  • If you are submitting two videos, each video cannot be longer than 5 minutes.
  • If you are submitting only one video, it can be up to 10 minutes long.
  • These are hard limits. We do not round the durations.

Multiple editors

  • A video can have a maximum of 2 editors credited.
  • The collaboration counts as 1 video submission for each editor listed.
  • If a video credits more than 2 editors, it will be rejected.
    Why? (Tap to expand)
  • Limits costs (each editor will receive the award if the video wins)
  • Reduces organizational overhead
  • Keeps voting fair

All video types and sources are accepted.
It can be live action, animated, or other.

Content Restrictions
Your video must follow a general 16+ rating or below.
Read the actual content restrictions here.

File specifications

  • .MP4
  • 8-bit
  • H.264 (AVC) or x264 codec
  • 250MiB or under

If you don't know what this means, use AMVTool's default settings to encode the final version of your video for submission.

Files over 250MiB will be recompressed with the original file discarded.

Files otherwise outside the specs will not stream properly on the platform we use to view and comment on videos.
If your video does not stream properly, a proxy version will be made.
While participants have the option of downloading original files, many only view the streamable versions.

Subtitles and captions
These are used for accessibility - e.g. understanding song lyrics or spoken dialogue.
Upload a separate SRT file for captions. Embedded subtitles will not display on the streaming platform we use.

Note: colors, fonts, and positioning in the SRT file will not be respected.
If special styling is needed, burn the captions into the video.

Content Restrictions

Your video must follow a general "16+" rating or below. If your video does
not meet the specifications listed below, it will be rejected.

RICE content restrictions are stronger than the general server rules.
Content that may be posted to #my-vid-share may not be allowed in RICE.
As RICE is a feedback event, we want all participants to be able and willing to
watch and comment on all videos.

  • No porn.
    1. No exposure of lower body sexual organs on screen (penis, testicles, vulva, vagina, or anus).
      Note: Nipples and breasts are allowed if they are presented in a non-sexual context.
    2. Sexual arousal of the viewer should not be the intended effect of coital scenes.
  • No predominantly obscene/harassing lyrics.
    Songs with lyrics that do not follow these rules must be cut or otherwise censor the words that do not comply.
    1. No audio sources (e.g. songs, trailers) where sexual acts are the primary theme.
    2. No racial epithets, racial slurs, or hate speech of any kind in lyrics.
    3. Cussing/swears should be less than approximately 30% of the overall content/words.
  • No realistic or detailed wounds.
    • Realistic and detailed wounds include explicit visual or anatomical elements designed to mirror real-world injuries and/or internal organs - even if those elements are minimal.
    • "Blood" refers to any red or black fluid that comes from a wound.
    • "Wounds" refer to open injuries with visibly broken skin.
    • Blood without a visible wound is not a concern.
    • These rules are enforced EXACTLY as written. Context is NOT taken into account.
    Realistic and detailed wounds are:
    1. Bloody dismemberment of body parts.
      (such as arms, fingers, teeth, etc., being split from the body).
      Example GIF

      From Sekiro Shadows Die Twice (2019 - game):

      sekiro_arm

    2. Visible internal organs such as muscle, intestines, guts, brains, eyes popping out, etc.
      Example GIF & image

      From Elfen Lied (2004 - 2005):

      elfenlied

      From Cyberpunk Edgerunners (2022):

      cyberpunkedgerunners_gore

    3. Visibly torn or shredded skin inside a bloodied wound.
      Example images

      From Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022):

      mk_gore


      From the show Supernatual (2005 - 2020) season 10:

      spn_tornskin

      and season 5:

      spn_tornskin2

    4. Blood that pulses, pumps, or spurts from a wound.
      (Continuous, non-rhythmic sprays or flows are permitted.)
      Example GIF

      From the Supernatural (2005 - 2020) show, season 3:

      spn_pump

    5. Blood chunks.
      Example image

      From the Supernatural (2005 - 2020) show, season 5:

      spn_bloodchunks

    Wounds are NOT realistic or detailed when any of the following are true:
    1. The wounds are hidden, censored (such as covered by clothes), healed, closed, or not present.
    2. The scene or action takes place in silhouette
    3. There is no blood coming from the wound.
    4. The blood is a color other than black or red.
    Comparison: acceptable non-detailed wounds vs. restricted realistic/detailed wounds (Tap to expand - contains gifs)
    Acceptable Content Restricted Content
    • No wound (this is how the character normally looks)
    • No blood
    dandadan%20human%20anatomy%20mannequin
    • There is blood and it is red or black
    invincible_face
    • The wound is not visible and/or undetailed (blood or shadow covers it)
    • The dismemberment has already happened. You do not see the limb actively being separated.
    my%20hero%20academia%20season%208
    it's%20getting%20pretty%20bad%20at%20out
    • There is blood and it is red or black
    • The dismemberment is occuring on screen
    • There are visible internal organs (the detail in the muscle)
    elfenlied
    • The blood is a color other than black or red
    neon%20colored%20guts
    • The blood is black or red
    • The blood has chunks
    spn_snap
    • There is no blood in the dismemberment
    cook_bulbasaur
    • The action happens in silhouette
    mha_dismemberment
    • There is blood in the dismemberment
    • The blood is black or red
    sekiro_arm
    • The blood is a continuous liquid spray
    addams_family
    • The blood is pulsing
    spn_pump
    • The wound is not detailed (it's a blood-filled gash)
    mha_arm
    • There is visible torn or shredded skin in the wound
    mk_gore

Discussion Rules

In addition to the Server Rules,

1️⃣ Don't guess or reveal videos until finalist voting is over.

  • Don't say you made a particular video (even as a joke)
  • Don't say you think a particular editor made a particular video (even as a joke)
  • Don't answer questions about your video in the Kollab comments.
  • A reveal thread is usually created when voting ends. You can reveal at that time and in that thread.

2️⃣ Use the Kollaborate comments for anything you want the editor to see.
They are exported to TXT files at the end of the event.
You can use this tool to convert from Text (Copy&Paste) to your editing program's marker format.

3️⃣ When reviewing videos, do not emphasize video quality related to compression.
We asked for videos under a certain size and many people aren't experienced with compressing to specific file sizes.
Video quality may be lower than usual because of this.
Don't discount an otherwise good video due to compression issues.

4️⃣ Refrain from playful jabs or joke insults.
What you say affects more than the person you're talking to.
Even if you think the those jokes are okay between you and the person you're joking with, it can give the wrong impression for people who are not in on the joke, are not close to you, and/or are new to the event.
Even if your joke may have been fine at another time, during RICE it may be interpreted incorrectly due to the stressful nature of the event. This goes for both voice chats and text chats.

5️⃣ Creating RICE Events (voice chats) must be done a certain way.
Anyone, including spectators, is allowed to schedule/host VCs related to the RICE videos.
Want to host a viewing where no one is allowed to talk? A VC where only positive things are allowed to be said? How about a VC that is a roundtable of feedback?
You can do it, just make sure you state what it is about before you start. Events can be anything as long as they are related to the current RICE videos in some way.

  • Use /create in #rice-events .
  • They must have descriptions.
    Descriptions must contain:
    • A brief description of what your event is about.
    • What channel the VC will be in.
    • How you will handle CWs.
      Acceptable options:
    • No CWs provided.
    • CWs provided in voice and/or text with video title.
    • # second pause before video plays (at least 30 seconds is recommended - so participants have time to look up the CWs themselves).


      It's also recommended (though not required) to state whether captions will be on or off.

Schedule

Note:
"Entrants" refer to RICE participants who have submitted videos.
"Participants" refer to entrants AND spectators.



December

  • Initial notification of the event, release of the basic rules and info for early motivation.
  • Release of the CW Request form.
    • Submit any subject matter you want RICE submissions to be CWed and/or VPR'd for

1 January

  • RICE Video Submissions open.
  • Spectator Signup opens.
  • RICE Discord channels open to the public.

1 February - 10AM EST (15:00 UTC)

  • Video submission deadline.
  • Submissions form is closed.
  • Spectator signups close.

1 - 4 February
It is a range to give the coordinator time to finalize/certify submissions, give everyone the proper discord roles, etc.
Generally speaking, everything should be available no later than 2 February.

  • Videos become available for participants.
  • Award name suggestion form opens.

The form for suggesting award names opens as soon as the videos are available to download.

The deadline for suggesting award names is 15 February.
The form allows all participants to submit any award name - more typical categories like "Drama," custom names for already-suggested awards, and/or your own custom/funny awards. All category submissions are made public in real-time or close to it, so you'll always know what's already been suggested.

Note: The word "Best" cannot be used in category names.

15 February
Deadline for the submission of category suggestions.


15 - 17 February
Award finalization voting form opens.

  • All submitted award names are collected with repeats discarded.
  • The coordinator groups similar awards together at their discretion.
  • RICE Entrants vote on:
    • Which award "groups" should be used for the rest of the event
    • Which award name & description should represent that group

22 February
Deadline for award finalization form submissions.


22 - 23 February

  • Final award names are released/decided.
  • If the coordinator submitted a video, it is revealed. You will not be able to nominate it for any awards.
  • Video nomination form opens.
  • Entrants nominate the finalists for each category.
  • Spectators nominate Okazu finalists if there are 10+ spectators.

28 February
Deadline for video nomination form submissions.


28 February - 1 March

  • The list of RICE finalists are released. There are 5 finalists per category.
  • Finalists form opens.
  • Entrants vote on:
    • Which finalist video should win each category
    • Which non-finalist video should win Tamago Don

If there are 10+ spectators:

  • Spectators vote on which video will win Okazu

A When2Meet is posted to determine the date and time of the RICE awards stream.

3 - 4 March

  • Deadline for finalists form submissions.
  • The RICE Awards date/time is announced.
  • A thread for video/editor reveals is made after finalist voting has ended.

2 - 7 days later
The actual date of announcement varies based on the scheduling availability of the entrants.

  • RICE Winners announced!
  • The Umami (theme) for next year is revealed.
  • Entrants can upload/show their videos publicly at the end of the awards show.
  • Kollaborate comments are exported to TXT format for editors to download.
  • The event is finally over! :)

Late March / Early April

  • The RICE channels are closed (usually around 15 March).
  • When the coordinator receives the physical RICE Awards, they DM the winners asking for their mailing address.

The awards are 5x7" (12.7x17.78cm) cards and stickers. They can be mailed globally in an A9-sized envelope and should not be stopped by customs.

RICE In-Depth

The overly verbose description about how RICE works.
Navigate using the menu on the left.
( You DO NOT need to read this to participate in RICE. )

RICE Event History

Lists past RICE event information and downloads.
Use the menu to the left to navigate.