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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ The SD x264 TV Releasing Standards 2012 │
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│ └───[ INTRO ]───┘ │
│ │
│ x264 has become the most advanced video codec over the past few years. │
│ Compared to XviD, it is able to provide higher quality and compression at │
│ greater SD resolutions. It also allows better control and transparency over │
│ encoding settings. With CRF in the mix, we can also ensure that a diverse │
│ array of material will get the most appropriate bitrate for them and not │
│ arbitrary and fixed sizes. This standard aims to bring quality control back │
│ to SD releases. There are many standalone players/streamers such as TviX, │
│ Popcorn Hour, WDTV HD Media Player, Boxee, Xtreamer, PS3, XBOX 360, iPad, & │
│ HDTVs that can playback H264 and AAC encapsulated in MP4. │
│ │
│ The SD x264 TV section was formed to separate releases from the ruleless │
│ world of TV-XviD. This document will cover the rules and guidelines for │
│ only SD resolution x264 television rips. │
│ │
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│ └───[ RELEASE RULES ]───┘ │
│ │
│ Compliance with this document is optional as of its pre date, and │
│ mandatory as of 2012-02-22 16:00 UTC. │
│ │
│ Video: │
│ - Sources requiring resize are to be cropped and resized using sharp │
│ resizers such as Lanczos/Lanczos4, Spline36, or Blackman. Bicubic is │
│ banned. │
│ - HD video taken from the decoded HD output of a set-top box (e.g. │
│ component, DVI, HDMI) may be used as a source; source must be tagged │
│ in dirname as AHDTV. Decoded output of PDTV or DSR sources is banned. │
│ Releases taken from a natively recorded transport stream shall be tagged│
│ as HDTV, PDTV, or DSR. Dupes are as follows: HDTV > AHDTV > PDTV > DSR. │
│ AHDTV captures must be done at the native format of the channel, e.g. │
│ 720p or 1080i. │
│ - Sources that sideconvert 1080i to 720p (such as BellTV) are allowed but │
│ must be tagged as PDTV or DSR. │
│ - If there is a question as to the validity of a source, the release │
│ may be nuked source.sample.requested_<reason.for.nuke> (e.g. │
│ source.sample.requested_suspicion.of.analog.source) within 24 hours of │
│ pre. The group has 24 hours from the nuke to pre a RARed SOURCE.SAMPLE │
│ that is at least 10 seconds in length in order to document that the │
│ source is valid. Failure to provide source proof or providing bad │
│ source proof shall result in the release remaining nuked, and it may │
│ then be propered. │
│ - Improper IVTC methods that result in jerky playback, such as Force │
│ Film, are banned │
│ - Interlaced video sources must be deinterlaced with a smart deinterlacer │
│ such as Yadif. FieldDeinterlace is banned. │
│ - Group watermarks of any kind on the video are banned │
│ - Intros, outros, betweenos, or any other form of defacement of the │
│ episode are banned │
│ - "Native" refers to the standard in which the video was produced (e.g. │
│ NTSC or PAL). NTSC produced video is native to NTSC, PAL produced video │
│ is native to PAL. PAL produced video that is broadcast in NTSC is │
│ converted. NTSC produced video that is broadcast in PAL is converted. │
│ - Converted video that has significant artifacting (e.g. blended frames) │
│ and cannot be reversed to native must use CONVERT tag │
│ - Converted video that does not have significant artifacts does not need │
│ convert tags and may not be nuked for the conversion │
│ - Native releases are allowed after those tagged CONVERT. Use NATIVE tag. │
│ │
│ Audio: │
│ - Allowed audio formats are VBR AAC LC (Low Complexity). │
│ - Average bitrate on AAC audio must be 96 - 160 kbps. │
│ - AAC audio must be normalized and downconverted to stereo. │
│ - Nero and Apple encoders are recommended. FFmpeg is banned. │
│ - Dupes based on audio format are forbidden and must be tagged INTERNAL │
│ - Multiple language audio tracks are allowed and must be listed in NFO │
│ - Dupes are not allowed based on multiple audio tracks │
│ - Severe audio drops resulting in one full missing word or otherwise the │
│ inability to understand material dialogue is considered to be a │
│ technical flaw and may be propered │
│ - Audio that is 120ms or more out of sync or drifts more than 120ms │
│ between any two points (e.g. needing -80 at one and +40 at another) is │
│ considered to be technically flawed and may be propered │
│ │
│ Framerate: │
│ - IVTC or deinterlacing must be applied as needed │
│ - 50/60fps video may be released at 50/60fps or 25/30fps. Releasing true │
│ 25/30fps video at 50/60 is considered a technical flaw. │
│ - In rare cases, 25/50Hz sources should be IVTC'd to 24 or 30 fps. │
│ - In rare cases, 30/60Hz sources should be IVTC'd to 25fps. │
│ Failure to apply IVTC when needed is a technical flaw. │
│ │
│ Codec/Container: │
│ - Video codec must be x264 (8-bit depth). │
│ - Container must be MP4. │
│ - You will have 30 days from latest x264 rev date to update in order to │
│ maintain all bug fixes and improvements in the x264 codec │
│ - Stripping or falsifying encode information in the file header is banned │
│ - Custom muxing tools are permitted; however, output must be compatible │
│ with standard demuxers. │
│ - Custom Matrices are allowed │
│ - Encoded colorspace must be 4:2:0. │
│ - Deblocking must be used; values are at the discretion of the group. │
│ (default is enabled, 0:0 settings) │
│ - No setting can go below what is specified by --preset slow. │
│ - Keyframe interval (--keyint) must be at least 200 and at most 300. It │
│ is recommended to be 10*framerate (film=240, PAL=250, NTSC=300). │
│ - Minkeyint must be 30 or less │
│ - Colormatrix must be set to source specification. If not specified by │
│ source, bt709 must be used for sources with resolution greater than or │
│ equal to 1280x720 (e.g. HDTV and some PDTV) and sources with lower │
│ resolutions must use bt601 (e.g. DSR and some PDTV). │
│ - Constant Rate Factor (--crf) must be as follows: │
│ ┌─────────────────┬───────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Compressibility │ CRF │ General Examples │ │
│ ├─────────────────┼───────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┤ │
│ │ High │ 19-20 │ Scripted, Talk Shows, Poker, Animation │ │
│ │ Medium │ 21-22 │ Documentary, Reality, Variety │ │
│ │ Low │ 23-24 │ Sports, Awards, Live Events, Competitive- │ │
│ │ │ │ Reality │ │
│ └─────────────────┴───────┴───────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ - x264 parameters shall not vary within a release │
│ - Zones (--zones) are forbidden. │
│ - Any deviation in CRF from given examples must be specifically justified │
│ in the NFO. Use discretion when deviating CRF by matching the │
│ compressibility of the show to a corresponding CRF value. CRF values │
│ below 19 and above 24 are never permitted. │
│ - As a general suggestion, average video bitrate in excess of 1500kb/s │
│ is a sign that a higher CRF value should be chosen, when possible │
│ - Allowed parameters for --tune (optional) are film/grain/animation │
│ - Level 3.1 must be respected. │
│ - Suggested command line: │
│ x264.exe --crf ## --preset slow --level 3.1 --colormatrix bt709 -o │
│ out.h264 in.avs │
│ │
│ Resolution: │
│ - WS HDTV and WS PDTV sources with greater than 720px horizontal res must │
│ be cropped as needed and resized to 720px width and mod2 height to │
│ maintain proper AR. │
│ - WS PDTV sources with horizontal source res of 720-704px must be cropped │
│ as needed and only height must be resized to the proper anamorphic AR │
│ using mod2. Upscaling/downscaling is forbidden. │
│ - All other sources, including FS HDTV, must be cropped as needed and │
│ resized to 640px width and mod2 height to maintain proper AR. │
│ - When cropping, remove everything that is not actual picture, including │
│ black or other colored borders, duplicate lines, and full-time tickers. │
│ Removing or retaining fading edges is at capper's discretion and shall │
│ not be considered undercropped or overcropped. │
│ - In the case of varying crops, crop to the most common frame size (e.g. │
│ pitch/primary view in sports). │
│ - Actual picture area may be over- or under-cropped by 1px maximum per │
│ side. More than 1px on any side is considered a technical flaw. │
│ - Encoded Video resolution must be within 2% of the original aspect ratio │
│ To calculate AR error (%): (Original AR - Release AR)/Original AR * 100 │
│ OAR = (SourceWidth-CropLeft-CropRight)/(SourceHeight-CropTop-CropBottom)│
│ Release AR = EncodedWidth / EncodedHeight │
│ │
│ Subs: │
│ - Optional, but encouraged │
│ - Text based format is preferred (e.g. SubRip, SubStation Alpha, etc). │
│ - Subtitles must be in "Subs" directory. │
│ - Burned subtitles will only be allowed when the source exhibits such │
│ subtitles in the picture itself │
│ - Subtitles cannot be used as a basis for a dupe │
│ - Group marks in subtitles are banned │
│ │
│ Packaging: │
│ - Releases must be packed in RAR file format. │
│ - Rars may be in 15, 20, or multiples of 50 MB. 15 and 20 MB sizes must │
│ contain 1-101 files. Multiples of 50 MB must contain 10-101 files. │
│ 1MB = 1,000,000 bytes. │
│ - Multi-episode releases with no clear delineation such as credits must │
│ not be split │
│ - RAR compression must not be used │
│ - Recovery and MD5 record are optional │
│ - Encryption or password protection is forbidden │
│ - Must have SFV and NFO │
│ - RAR, SFV, and sample files must have unique, lowercase filenames with │
│ the group tag. │
│ - Missing SFV or RAR(s) on all sites is considered a technical flaw. │
│ Corrupt RARs (errors on extraction) are considered technical flaws. │
│ SFVFix and RARFix are not permitted. Uploading a missing SFV or RAR to │
│ all presites after pre is not permitted. Release REPACK. │
│ │
│ Credits/Previously On: │
│ - Previously on footage is optional, but suggested to be included │
│ - Full end credits must be included if they contain show content or │
│ outtakes/bloopers. End credits are optional and suggested if they are │
│ clean, and purely optional in other cases. │
│ │
│ Samples: │
│ - REQUIRED! │
│ - 50-70 seconds in length and in a separate folder marked as Sample │
│ - Must be taken from the episode, not encoded separately │
│ - Stream samples are recommended for any questionable issue with the │
│ source, e.g. no IVTC possible │
│ │
│ Propers: │
│ - Propers are only permitted in the case of a technical flaw in the │
│ original release (e.g. Bad IVTC, Interlacing, missing footage, bad crop,│
│ commercials, bad x264 settings used, bad source, etc.) │
│ - Scrolling or other alert messages added by a station (e.g. weather, │
│ Amber alerts) must be at least 30 seconds in length in order to │
│ nuke/proper │
│ - Drops with missing footage but no missing dialog must be at least 2 │
│ seconds long in any one instance to be considered a technical flaw │
│ - Proper reason must be clearly stated in nfo, including timecodes and │
│ extent of the flaw when appropriate │
│ - Sample of propered release is encouraged │
│ - Qualitative propers are not allowed │
│ - Flaws (such as drops) present in any optional content are not a flaw │
│ and shall not be nuked or propered. │
│ - Propers based upon the rules set forth here are allowed only on │
│ releases that come after this document goes into effect │
│ │
│ Internals: │
│ - Internals are allowed to be pred for any reason, including releases │
│ with technical flaws or those done with alternate codecs, containers, │
│ or settings for experimental purposes │
│ - Any severe technical flaws or deviations must be mentioned in the NFO │
│ - With the exception of the following rule, internal releases may only be │
│ nuked for severe technical flaws or deviations that are not mentioned │
│ in the NFO │
│ - Using DIRFIX.iNTERNAL to avoid a dupe nuke is banned, and such │
│ dirfixes shall be nuked fix.for.nuke │
│ │
│ Directory Naming: │
│ - Show.Name.SXXEXX.Episode.Title.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ - Show.Name.YYYY.MM.DD.Guest.Name.HDTV.x264-GROUP for daily or other │
│ dated shows │
│ - Episode title and guest name are optional │
│ - Show.Name.PartXX.HDTV.x264-GROUP for miniseries │
│ - ALL others are FORBIDDEN. (e.g 0x00 000 EXX.EP.TITLE PART.VI) │
│ Sport: │
│ - League.YYYY.MM.DD.Event.EXTRA.TAGS.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ - Competition.YYYY-MM.Event.EXTRA.TAGS.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ Using just the year is only permitted if the event is once per year │
│ (e.g. a WWE PPV). In the case of leagues which have seasons that span │
│ multiple years, it is permissible to tag the release with just the years│
│ of the season. Inclusion of MM and DD is mandatory for all constantly │
│ running shows (e.g. WWE). │
│ If there is no league, the sport needs to be used instead │
│ The following are some examples of correct directory names: │
│ - EPL.2010.01.01.Manchester.United.vs.Arsenal.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ - TNA.Impact.2010.03.02.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ - WWE.WrestleMania.2010.PPV.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ - Tennis.US.Open.2011.Final.Player1.vs.Player2.HDTV.x264-GROUP │
│ - Different shows that have the same title in different countries (e.g. │
│ The Marriage Ref) must have the ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 country code in the │
│ directory name, except for UK shows (e.g. The.Marriage.Ref.UK not │
│ The.Marriage.Ref.GB). ISO country code is not needed for the original │
│ show (e.g. The.Marriage.Ref.US is forbidden). │
│ - Different shows with the same name in the same country produced in │
│ different years must have the year of the first season in the directory │
│ name, e.g. Human.Target.2010 and Doctor.Who.2005. Year is not needed │
│ for the first show with a particular name. │
│ - Channel name (e.g. National.Geographic, History.Channel) shall not be │
│ tagged on any normal series starting after this ruleset's effective │
│ date. Miniseries and single-episode docus may optionally be tagged with │
│ the channel name. │
│ - The use of audio format tags such as AAC, and AAC.x.x is FORBIDDEN │
│ - READ.NFO tag is allowed; however, discretion is recommended │
│ - PROPER.READ.NFO is NOT allowed. The NFO is REQUIRED to have a reason; │
│ therefore, the tag is redundant. │
│ - All repacks must include detailed reason as to why it's being repacked │
│ in the nfo │
│ - Other permitted tags are: PROPER, REPACK, RERIP, REAL, UNCUT, DUBBED, │
│ SUBBED, iNTERNAL, OAR, PPV, CONVERT, NATiVE │
│ - Acceptable characters in naming a directory include (NO spaces or │
│ double dots - single dots ONLY): │
│ │
│ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ │
│ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz │
│ 0123456789._- │
│ │
│ Nukes: │
│ Releases must be nuked for any of the following reasons: │
│ - Any valid proper listed in the propers section │
│ - Missing nfo, or missing Sample │
│ - Invalid directory naming format │
│ - Mislabeled directory that could prevent finding the release in a │
│ dupecheck, including incorrect season/episode/date or incorrect title │
│ - Dupe │
│ - Releases may not be propered for bad tagging or missing nfo/sample │
│ │
│ Fixes: │
│ - The following fixes are allowed: NFOFix, SampleFix, DirFix, SyncFix, │
│ ProofFix │
│ - DirFix requires NFO and NFO must state which release is being fixed │
│ - The original release shall be unnuked when a valid fix is released │
│ - A proper may not be released for an issue that was fixed, unless the │
│ fix does not completely correct the issue │
│ │
└───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘
┌───────┴┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┴───────┐
│ The SD x264 TV Releasing Standards 2012 (2012-02-22) │
│ │
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┌───────┴┴───────────────┬──────────────────────────┬────────────────┴┴───────┐
│ └────────[ GROUPS ]────────┘ │
│ │
│ TVx2642012 rules created by the following groups: │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ ASAP BAJSKORV C4TV D2V DiVERGE FTP KYR │
│ LMAO LOL MOMENTUM SYS TLA YesTV │
│ │
└──┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──┘
└┬───\ Thanks to the x264 developers for their assistance in /───┬┘
└┬───\ determining assistance in determining the best /───┬┘
└────\ mix of encode settings. /────┘