To encourage holiday sales of its EXILIM line of digital cameras, Casio America is running a contest to find the best and most creative YouTube depictions of users’ dream sanctuaries for sports, video gaming, film appreciation, or just living the connected life.

The Casio “Dream Digs” contest is intended to publicize the YouTube-friendly features of the EXILIM camera line, which can take MPEG4 video recordings and comes equipped with YouTube Uploader software.

From Oct. 25 until Dec. 31, entrants can create a two-minute video about their ideal home set-up in any of these four categories and post that clip to Casio’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/casiousa. Contestants don’t need to use a Casio EXILIM product to make or upload their films, but they do need to have a YouTube account and to agree to the site’s term of use.

Casio wants to see contestants compete to win in four different video categories. They can opt to show off their “Dream Digs”, living spaces that they think others will envy; they can show off a “Collector’s Crib” of videos, CDs and games; they can depict how well they’ve made a space for themselves while on a tight budget; or they can show a techie paradise, if they have one. Contestants can submit only one video in one category.

Grand prizes of a Casio EX-V8 digital camera, a 4 GB SanDisk memory card and a $3000 Best Buy gift card will be awarded in each of the four categories when the winners are announced Feb. 4, 2008. Two first-prize winners in each category will receive a Casio EX-S880 camera, a 2 GB SD card and a $500 Best Buy gift card.

“This is a new and exciting way for Casio to engage consumers and tap into the young, techno-savvy YouTube generation,” said John Holmish, Casio America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, in a statement. “This contest is a great platform for us to educate consumers as to the benefit of our new YouTube Capture Mode and have fun at the same time.”