+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ The TV XviD Releasing Standards 2007 ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ Requirements Notepad with terminal font or any other ascii viewer. ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ +---[ INTRO ]---+ ¦ ¦ Thanks to those who came before with TVx2642K7, TDX2K2, and TXD2K5. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ These standards are intended to bring a level playing field to the TV-XviD ¦ ¦ scene and attempt to put down some rules to end some of the controversy ¦ ¦ that has plagued us in recent years. ¦ ¦ ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ +---[ RELEASE RULES ]---+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Release sizing: ¦ ¦ - Shows 18:00-23:59 shall be 175MB ¦ ¦ - Shows 24:00-34:59 shall be 233MB ¦ ¦ - Shows 35:00-52:59 shall be 350MB ¦ ¦ - Shows 53:00-59:59 shall be 440MB ¦ ¦ - Shows 60:00-64:59 shall be 525MB ¦ ¦ - Shows 65:00-95:00 Shall be 700MB ¦ ¦ *NOTE: Shows 60:00-64:59 may be sized at either 525 or 700MB at the ¦ ¦ capper's discretion based on show framerate and content. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Best effort should be made to release all episodes of a given series ¦ ¦ at the same size. If one episode runs slightly over or under the size ¦ ¦ lines, it should still be done at the same size as other episodes in ¦ ¦ order to maintain consistency. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - 2CD releases may be optionally split into separate discs, but this is ¦ ¦ not required. 3CD or more releases must be split to prevent issues with ¦ ¦ 2GB files. If releases are split into multiple discs, they must be ¦ ¦ placed in directories named CD1, CD2, CD3, etc. (No Disc1, cd1, or other ¦ ¦ naming styles). ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Episodes that air back-to-back without a natural break such as full ¦ ¦ credits or commercials in between must be encoded as a single release. ¦ ¦ Directory naming for this will be in the following format ¦ ¦ TV.Show.S03E04-E05.HDTV.XviD-Group. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Releases must be within the range of 5.0MB under to 3.0 MB over the ¦ ¦ target size. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Previously on/Credits: ¦ ¦ - It is suggested that any previously on footage be included in the ¦ ¦ release, but it is not required. No release may be propered for glitches ¦ ¦ in or missing portions of previously on footage. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Credits that are overlayed on actual show content are required to be ¦ ¦ included ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Credits that are run cleanly, i.e. with no modifications such as ¦ ¦ promos for upcoming shows, are encouraged but not required ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Credits run with promos for other shows are not recommended, but may ¦ ¦ optionally be included ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Video: ¦ ¦ - 2-pass variable bitrate XviD must be used ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Quantization type must be either MPEG or H.263. Custom quantization ¦ ¦ matrices are not allowed. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - QPel and GMC are not allowed ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - B Frames ¦ ¦ - The use of B frames is required ¦ ¦ - A maximum of 2 consecutive B frames may be used ¦ ¦ - This document gives no preference to packed vs. unpacked bitstreams ¦ ¦ as there are benefits to each format, and it is trivial to convert ¦ ¦ between them using MPEG4 Modifier. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Framerates must be in relation to the original source. Valid ¦ ¦ framerates for releases are FILM (23.976 fps), PAL (25.000 fps), and ¦ ¦ NTSC (29.970 fps). ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Valid resolutions are 512x384 or 576x432 for 43; 624x352, 640x352, ¦ ¦ or 640x368 for 169; and 544x352 or 576x368 for 149. NTSC Video ¦ ¦ (29.970 fps) may also be released at 608x336. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Releases shall be cropped so that all blacknoise on the edges is ¦ ¦ removed. In the case of changing crops, cropping should be done so that ¦ ¦ no part of the release is overcropped. Portions of a channel logo ¦ ¦ extending into black areas must be cropped. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Video defacement such as intros, outros, and group watermarks is ¦ ¦ forbidden. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Audio: ¦ ¦ - Allowed audio formats are VBR MP3 and original AC3. ABR is considered a ¦ ¦ VBR technique. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - MP3 audio should be encoded using standard LAME presets such as ¦ ¦ '--preset 128' or '-m s -V 5 -b 32' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Average bitrate on MP3 audio may not exceed 192kbps ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - MP3 audio must be normalized ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Audio frequency must be maintained at 48kHz ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Original AC3 audio may be used at the discretion of the capper. ¦ ¦ However, transcoding to AC3 is forbidden. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Release NamingPackaging: ¦ ¦ - Directory Naming ¦ ¦ - Numbering for episodic programming shall be in the format S00E00 or ¦ ¦ 0x00 (or S00E0000x000 for series with more than 99 episodes per ¦ ¦ season) ¦ ¦ - Number for date-based programming including sports and variety shows ¦ ¦ shall be in the format YYYY.MM.DD ¦ ¦ - Other numbering formats such as S00.E00, DD.MM.YY, and MM.DD.YY are ¦ ¦ not permitted ¦ ¦ - For variety shows, it is strongly recommended that the primary ¦ ¦ guest's name be included in the directory name ¦ ¦ - Different shows that have the same name in different countries should ¦ ¦ be tagged with the ISO country code for the country of airing ¦ ¦ - example Big.Brother.US.S01E01.PDTV.XviD-Group ¦ ¦ - Different shows with the same name produced in different years should ¦ ¦ be tagged with the year of airing of the first season ¦ ¦ - example Battlestar.Galactica.2003.S03E01.HDTV.XviD-Group ¦ ¦ - Releases are to be named in the format ¦ ¦ Show.Name.S00E00.HDTV.XviD-Group ¦ ¦ Show.Name.2007.08.10.Guest.HDTV.XviD-Group ¦ ¦ Show_Name.0x00.HDTV_XviD-Group ¦ ¦ - The episode title may optionally be included between the episode ¦ ¦ number and the source ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Additional Tagging: ¦ ¦ - PROPER, REPACK, RERIP, REAL, UNCUT, SUBBED, iNTERNAL, DIRFIX, ¦ ¦ SAMPLEFIX, NFOFIX, or Read.NFO are allowed (discretion is recommended) ¦ ¦ - All releases tagged PROPER, REPACK, RERIP, REAL, and Read.NFO must ¦ ¦ include notes in the NFO as to why the release was tagged that way. ¦ ¦ PROPER.Read.NFO is therefore redundant and should not be used. ¦ ¦ - Additional tagging should be placed directly before the source, i.e. ¦ ¦ Show.Name.S00E00.PROPER.HDTV.XviD-Group ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Source Naming: ¦ ¦ - Valid source names are DSR, WS.DSR, PDTV, WS.PDTV, HDTV, and no tag ¦ ¦ - Analog source will have no tag other than WS if appropriate. ¦ ¦ - Source Definitons: ¦ ¦ - 480i\576i\576p shall be tagged DSR when horizontal resolution is ¦ ¦ less than 704px ¦ ¦ - 480i\576i\576p shall be tagged PDTV when horizontal resolution is ¦ ¦ greater than or equal to 704px ¦ ¦ - 720p\1080i\1080p shall be tagged HDTV ¦ ¦ - 4:3 content broadcast at HDTV resolutions shall be tagged PDTV ¦ ¦ - Windowboxed (16:9 with black on all sides)\Letterboxed (16:9 with ¦ ¦ black on the top and bottom)\Native 16:9 content shall be labeled as ¦ ¦ Widescreen (WS.DSR or WS.PDTV) ¦ ¦ - The use of the HDTV tag implies widescreen, so WS.HDTV shall not ¦ ¦ be used ¦ ¦ - All sources listed must be 100% digital. S-Video, composite, or RF ¦ ¦ from a digital receiver to a tuner card is analog. Valid DSR, PDTV, ¦ ¦ and HDTV sources will be received via a digital connection such as ¦ ¦ USB, Firewire, or Ethernet from a receiver, or using an ATSC, QAM, or ¦ ¦ DVB tuner. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - AVI: ¦ ¦ - Container must be AVI ¦ ¦ - The AVI itself should be named like the release and include some ¦ ¦ format of episode number (show initials are fine, as is shortening the ¦ ¦ episode number) ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - RAR\SFV: ¦ ¦ - Releases shall be packed into 15,000,000 or 20,000,000 byte rars ¦ ¦ using store compression ¦ ¦ - An SFV must be created for all RAR files in the release ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Sample: ¦ ¦ - All releases must include a sample of length :50-1:10, cut directly ¦ ¦ from the release ¦ ¦ - The sample must be placed in a directory named Sample (SAMPLE and ¦ ¦ sample are not permitted) ¦ ¦ - The file itself should be named uniquely, preferably containing the ¦ ¦ name of the release as well as the word sample ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - NFO: ¦ ¦ - An NFO must be included in the release and, at a minimum, must ¦ ¦ contain release name, episode number (or title), and date of ¦ ¦ airing/release ¦ ¦ - The NFO must be named uniquely based on the name of the release ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Allowed Characters: ¦ ¦ - abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ¦ ¦ - ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ¦ ¦ - 0123456789 ¦ ¦ - ._- ¦ ¦ - All Sample, NFO, SFV, and RAR names MUST be in all lowercase ¦ ¦ letters. The name of AVI inside the RARs is permitted to contain ¦ ¦ capital letters ¦ ¦ - Double dots (..) are not allowed ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Propers: ¦ ¦ - Propers are only permitted in the case of technical flaws with the ¦ ¦ original release or violations of applicable rules ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - All propers must include a note in the NFO detailing the flaw in the ¦ ¦ original release, including timecodes if relevant ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Including a sample of the flaw is suggested but not required ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - Propers are expressly permitted in cases of any of the following flaws ¦ ¦ in a release: ¦ ¦ - Audio 150ms or more out of sync ¦ ¦ - Severe audio drops resulting in the inability to understand material ¦ ¦ dialogue ¦ ¦ - Improper audio normalization, including audio with levels that vary ¦ ¦ widely between parts, very quiet audio, or audio with excessive ¦ ¦ clipping ¦ ¦ - Bad cropping resulting in a line of black pixels or noise along an ¦ ¦ edge for the entire episode ¦ ¦ - Releases missing a significant portion of video, either in duration ¦ ¦ or content ¦ ¦ - Loss of 2 seconds of fade in after a break, with no lost dialogue, ¦ ¦ is considered bad form, but is not a valid proper reason ¦ ¦ - Change in video format (i.e. PDTV on an HDTV release) exceeding five ¦ ¦ seconds or causing loss of dialogue. ¦ ¦ - Local overlays such as weather, breaking news, or Amber Alerts that ¦ ¦ exceed five minutes in length, cause a change in video format (i.e. ¦ ¦ drop to PDTV on an HDTV release), or cause loss of dialogue or video ¦ ¦ - The proper release must be completely free of overlays to be ¦ ¦ considered valid; merely having less spam is not enough ¦ ¦ - Inclusion of 2 or more seconds of commercials over an entire release ¦ ¦ - Releases with sizing outside the allowed range. 3.01MB oversize is a ¦ ¦ valid proper reason. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ The TV XviD Releasing Standards 2007 (2007-08-22) ¦ ¦ ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ + ------[ GROUPS ] ------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ TVX2K7 rules created by the following Groups: ¦ ¦ ------------------------------------------------ ¦ ¦ DIMENSION LOL FQM XOR ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ TVX2K7 rules signed by the following Groups: ¦ ¦ ------------------------------------------------ ¦ ¦ 2HD aAF AFFiNiTY BiA CAPH CaRaT CRiMSON FoV FUtV ¦ ¦ GOTHiC hV iNGOT KYR NODLABS NoTV OMiCRON ORENJi ¦ ¦ RiVER SSTV SYS TBS YesTV ¦ ¦ ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+