+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦
¦ 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 ¦
¦ ¦
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+