Movies encoding/recording source definitions

Sources

CAM

A cam is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera make shake. Also seating placement isn't always idle, and it might be filmed from an angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there's text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we're lucky, and the theater will be' fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.


TELESYNC (TS)

A telesync is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically, check the sample before downloading the full release. A high percentage of Telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.


TELECINE (TC)

A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. A great example is the JURASSIC PARK 3 TC done last year. TC should not be confused with TimeCode , which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film.


SCREENER (SCR)

A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a 4:3 (full screen) a/r, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a "ticker" (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder thru poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others.


DVD-SCREENER (DVDscr)

Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD.


DVDRip

A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail (for example, Star Wars episode 2) again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.


VHSRip

Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly skating/sports videos and XXX releases.


TVRip

TV episode that is either from Network (capped using digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sending the program around to networks a few days earlier (do not contain "dogs" but sometimes have flickers etc) Some programs such as WWF Raw Is War contain extra parts, and the "dark matches" and camera/commentary tests are included on the rips. PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card, generally giving the best results, and groups tend to release in SVCD for these. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are all supported by the TV scene.


WORKPRINT (WP)

A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print (Men In Black is missing all the aliens, and has actors in their places) and others can contain extra scenes (Jay and Silent Bob) . WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained.


DivX Re-Enc

A DivX re-enc is a film that has been taken from its original VCD source, and re-encoded into a small DivX file. Most commonly found on file sharers, these are usually labeled something like Film.Name.Group(1of2) etc. Common groups are SMR and TND. These aren't really worth downloading, unless you're that unsure about a film u only want a 200mb copy of it. Generally avoid.


Watermarks

A lot of films come from Asian Silvers/PDVD (see below) and these are tagged by the people responsible. Usually with a letter/initials or a little logo, generally in one of the corners. Most famous are the "Z" "A" and "Globe" watermarks.


Asian Silvers / PDVD

These are films put out by eastern bootleggers, and these are usually bought by some groups to put out as their own. Silvers are very cheap and easily available in a lot of countries, and its easy to put out a release, which is why there are so many in the scene at the moment, mainly from smaller groups who don't last more than a few releases. PDVDs are the same thing pressed onto a DVD. They have removable subtitles, and the quality is usually better than the silvers. These are ripped like a normal DVD, but usually released as VCD.

R5/TC's

Over the past 6 months the major movie studios have been releasing retail dvds early in Russia. They do this to stop the widespread use of pirated telecines (which were once very common). Lately however there has been very few real telecines, most of the scene telecines you see are actually R5 retails. R5 retail is rushed out by the studio, they are basically competing with pirates, so there is little to no cleanup of the film after the telecine process. So the main difference between telecines put out by the pirates is that the r5's are done using pro equipment, professional studios and professional people. The quality of R5 retail is very similar to dvdscr's, no time is usually spent cleaning up dvdscrs either. Actually KMI is in this business since february and releasing B & C grade movies same week as theater release. (Mithya, Bombay 2 BangKok etc.. are amoung these).



Scene Tags...

PROPER

Due to scene rules, whoever releases the first Telesync has won that race (for example). But if the quality of that release is fairly poor, if another group has another telesync (or the same source in higher quality) then the tag PROPER is added to the folder to avoid being duped. PROPER is the most subjective tag in the scene, and a lot of people will generally argue whether the PROPER is better than the original release. A lot of groups release PROPERS just out of desperation due to losing the race. A reason for the PROPER should always be included in the NFO.


LIMITED

A limited movie means it has had a limited theater run, generally opening in less than 250 theaters, generally smaller films (such as art house films) are released as limited.


INTERNAL

An internal release is done for several reasons. Classic DVD groups do a lot of INTERNAL releases, as they wont be dupe'd on it. Also lower quality theater rips are done INTERNAL so not to lower the reputation of the group, or due to the amount of rips done already. An INTERNAL release is available as normal on the groups affiliate sites, but they can't be traded to other sites without request from the site ops. Some INTERNAL releases still trickle down to IRC/Newsgroups, it usually depends on the title and the popularity. Earlier in the year people referred to Centropy going "internal". This meant the group were only releasing the movies to their members and site ops. This is in a different context to the usual definition.


STV

Straight To Video. Was never released in theaters, and therefore a lot of sites do not allow these.


ASPECT RATIO TAGS

These are *WS* for widescreen (letterbox) and *FS* for Fullscreen.


REPACK

If a group releases a bad rip, they will release a Repack which will fix the problems.


NUKED

A film can be nuked for various reasons. Individual sites will nuke for breaking their rules (such as "No Telesyncs") but if the film has something extremely wrong with it (no soundtrack for 20mins, CD2 is incorrect film/game etc) then a global nuke will occur, and people trading it across sites will lose their credits. Nuked films can still reach other sources such as p2p/usenet, but its a good idea to check why it was nuked first in case. If a group realise there is something wrong, they can request a nuke.


NUKE REASONS...

this is a list of common reasons a film can be nuked for (generally DVDRip)

BAD A/R = bad aspect ratio, ie people appear too fat/thin
BAD IVTC = bad inverse telecine. process of converting framerates was incorrect.
INTERLACED = black lines on movement as the field order is incorrect.


DUPE

Dupe is quite simply, if something exists already, then theres no reason for it to exist again without proper reason.

Formats

VCD

VCD is an mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352x240 (NTCS). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74.


SVCD

SVCD is an mpeg2 based (same as DVD) which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480x480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. To get a better SVCD encode using variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple "passes". this takes a lot longer, but the results are far clearer.


XVCD/XSVCD

These are basically VCD/SVCD that don't obey the "rules". They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on the player to whether the disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-ripping by people who don't intend to release them.



DivX / XviD / X264 / H264

DivX is a format designed for multimedia platforms. It uses two codecs, one low motion, one high motion. most older films were encoded in low motion only, and they have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at the encoding stage, making a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and the bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. The majority of PROPER DivX rips (not Re-Encs) are taken from DVDs, and generally up to 2 hours in good quality is possible per disc. Various codecs exist, most popular being the original Divx3.11a and now the DivX6 and the new XviD codecs.
X264 (free version of the commercial H264 version) is the new MP4 format which gives better quality in smaller size than XviD or DivX. This is the format choosen by High Definition Consortium and used on BluRay Discs. This format requires a good CPU to be viewed smoothly (720 x 480 or higher resolutions). This is the format of choice for HDTV rips and BluRay rips.
X264 cannot be played on most standalone DVD players. You can find a list of compatible players on NERO web site. These players have the NERO-DIGITAL logo and can play most X264 or H264 rips.


CVD

CVD is a combination of VCD and SVCD formats, and is generally supported by a majority of DVD players. It supports MPEG2 bit-rates of SVCD, but uses a resolution of 352x480(ntsc) as the horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.


DVD-R

Is the recordable DVD solution that seems to be the most popular (out of DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+R). it holds 4.38 GB of data per side, and dual Layer discs are available, so discs can hold nearly 10 GB in some circumstances. SVCD mpeg2 images must be converted before they can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. DVD>DVDR copies are possible, but sometimes extras/languages have to be removed to stick within the available 4.7gb.
DVDR have two category:
- Shrinked: These rae DVD9 compressed to DVD5 with standard 1 touch conversion software like DVDSHRINK, DVDFABDEcryptorHD, IMTOO DVD, CLONEDVD etc... Quality can be ok to bad. But quality is very far from the original DVD9.
- CCE or M/CCE (See below)

MiniDVD

MiniDVD/cDVD is the same format as DVD but on a standard CDR/CDRW. Because of the high resolution/bit-rates, its only possible to fit about 18-21 mins of footage per disc, and the format is only compatible with a few players.



CCE DVDR

This is the best quality you can get for DVD9 converted to DVD5.
The process uses top of the chart Cinema Craft Encoder, a professional video compression software used by mostly all video companies worldwide. QUality can be as googd as the original DVD9 to even better than the original DVD9. This depends on the skill of the ripper. The process can take from severral hours to 2 days for completing a good CCE.


M/CCE

Or Manual CCE, is the process of doing all the CCE encoding tasks without any front-end integrated software lik DVDRebuilder (pro).
De-junking (Revoving all junks & extra stuffs, ads, Making of etc..) is done by hand with specialized software.
The video stream is demuxed, treated seperately and directly in CCE then finally muxed with the audio and the DVD structure is recreated from scratch.
This gives a better quality CCE if done correctly by an experiennced CCE releaser.



DVD9

This is the full quality original version. 8.76 GB in size on a dual layer disc. SOme Movies comes in dual (Many Movies) or 3 DVD9 (Lagaan & KKKG) with the 2nd or 3rd DVD being the "Making Of" & other "Extras".


HDDVD

This is the now dead competitor in the High Definition media format.
15 to 25 GB in size on a dual layer disc, With resolution of 720p, 720i, 1080p or 1080i. See below for definition of i & p.
Soudn can be in DDS, DTS, TruHD and other lossless format.


BluRay - [BR]

This is the winner of the High Definition media format War and now the standard for HD.
25 to 50 GB in size on a dual layer disc, With resolution of 720p, 720i, 1080p or 1080i.
Sound can be in DDS, DTS, TruHD and other lossless very High resolution audio format.
Most of the time you will need expensive setup to play these audio tracks to it topest quality.
And a TRUE HDTV is mandatory.

720p
Only for High Definition: 1280 x 720 pixels resolution.
The frames are progressive, just like a photography, and is the best quality in this size for viewing on LCD & Plasma monitors.

720i
Only for High Definition: 1280 x 720 pixels resolution.
This is interlaced filelds, just like an Old TV set, and is best viewed on LCD & Plasma HDTV.
Not good for PC monitors.(As well as on TRUE HDTV)

1080p
Only for High Definition: 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution.
The frames are progressive, just like a photography, and is the best quality in this size for viewing on LCD & Plasma monitors. (As well as on TRUE HDTV)

1080i
Only for High Definition: 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution.
This is interlaced filelds, just like an Old TV set, and is best viewed on LCD & Plasma HDTV.
Not good for PC monitors.



Release Files


RARset
The movies are all supplied in RAR form, whether its v2 (rar>.rxx) or v3 (part01.rar > partxx.rar) form.


BIN/CUE
VCD and SVCD films will extract to give a BIN/CUE. Load the .CUE into notepad and make sure the first line contains only a filename, and no path information. Then load the cue into Nero/CDRWin etc and this will burn the VCD/SVCD correctly. TV rips are released as MPEG. DivX files are just the plain DivX - .AVI

ISO
Many DVDs or DVD9 are released in this format. an ISO is a standard image file that can be burned directly to DVD. Its made using popular software like WinISO, PowerISO or free soft like IMGBURN etc...
IMGBURN is the best arround to burn ISO images. (Nera can get you in troubles with ISO images, so avoid it).

NFO
An NFO file is supplied with each movie to promote the group, and give general iNFOrmation about the release, such as format, source, size, and any notes that may be of use. They are also used to recruit members and acquire hardware for the group.

SFV

Also supplied for each disc is an SFV file. These are mainly used on site level to check each file has been uploaded correctly, but are also handy for people downloading to check they have all the files, and the CRC is correct. A program such as pdSFV or hkSFV is required to use these files.