┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ The 720p x264 TV Releasing Standards 2011 │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Requirements: Notepad with terminal font or any other ascii viewer. │ ├──────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬──────────────────────────────┤ │ └───[ INTRO ]───┘ │ │ │ │ This standard aims to produce consistent quality releases. If consistent │ │ release size doesn't matter, but consistent quality does, this is for you. │ │ │ └───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘ ┌───────┴┴─────────────────┬───────────────────────┬─────────────────┴┴───────┐ │ └───[ RELEASE RULES ]───┘ │ │ │ │ This document takes effect starting with shows airing from 2011-06-15. │ │ │ │ │ │ Video: │ │ - 1080i/p sources are to be cropped and resized using sharp resizers such │ │ as Lanczos/Lanczos4, Spline36, or Blackman. Bicubic is banned. │ │ - 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. Releases taken from a natively recorded transport │ │ stream shall be tagged as HDTV and do not dupe AHDTV releases. AHDTV │ │ releases do dupe HDTV. AHDTV captures must be done at the native format │ │ of the channel, i.e. 720p or 1080i. │ │ - Improper methods of IVTC that result in loss of half the fields │ │ (SeparateFields.SelectEven, YV12InterlacedSelectTopFields) are banned │ │ - Improper IVTC methods that result in jerky playback, such as Force │ │ Film, are banned │ │ - 1080i video sources must be deinterlaced with a smart deinterlacer such │ │ as Yadif. FieldDeinterlace is banned. │ │ - Group watermarks of any kind on the video will not be tolerated │ │ - Intros, outros, betweenos, or any other form of defacement of the │ │ episode will not be tolerated │ │ - Sources that sideconvert 1080i to 720p (such as Bell Expressvu) are │ │ banned │ │ - Upconverted sources must not be done as 720p.x264. See notes regarding │ │ HR.PDTV.x264. │ │ │ │ Audio: │ │ - Must be original source audio, AC3 if available │ │ - Re-encoding/transcoding audio or faking header is forbidden │ │ - Dupes based on audio format are forbidden and must be tagged INTERNAL │ │ - Multi-language audio tracks are not allowed. │ │ - Severe audio drops resulting in the inability to understand material │ │ dialogue is considered to be technically flawed 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 such as live events may be kept at original fps, if it │ │ was produced at such high rate (i.e has unique frames) │ │ - In rare cases, 25/50Hz sources should be IVTC'd to 24fps. │ │ - In rare cases, 30/60Hz sources should be IVTC'd to 25fps. │ │ Failure to IVTC is a technical flaw. │ │ │ │ Codec/Container: │ │ - Must be x264 │ │ - Must use Matroska (.mkv) for container │ │ - x264 version used must be no older than 30 days from the newest revision│ │ available on x264.nl │ │ - Stripping or falsifying encode information in the file header is banned │ │ - Custom muxing tools are permitted; however, output must be compatible │ │ with standard demuxers to the same extent that files created with │ │ MKVToolnix are. Custom muxers may not excessively pad files; excessive │ │ padding is defined as more than is used by mkvmerge 4.0.0 with header │ │ compression disabled. │ │ - Custom Matrices are allowed │ │ - Deblocking must be used; values are at the discretion of the group. │ │ (default is enabled, 0:0 settings) │ │ - Minimum medium (default) or higher (--preset) must be used │ │ - Encode must not be segmented │ │ - 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). │ │ - Constant Rate Factor (--crf) must be 20 for low motion shows (e.g. │ │ documentary, reality, scripted, variety, talk shows). │ │ - Constant Rate Factor (--crf) must be 21-23 for high motion shows │ │ (e.g. sports). values are at the discretion of the group │ │ - Allowed parameters for (--tune) are film/grain/animation │ │ - Level 4.1 must be respected. │ │ - Suggested command line should be: │ │ x264.exe --crf 20 --level 4.1 -o out.mkv in.avs │ │ │ │ Resolution: │ │ - Crop to closest mod2 without undercropping. Then, if width>1280 or │ │ height>720, downscale with 1:1 SAR to fit in 1280x720. Never upscale, │ │ never add borders. │ │ - 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 muxed into the MKV. "Subs" directories are forbidden. │ │ - Burned subtitles will only be allowed when the source exhibits │ │ such subtitles in the picture itself │ │ - Multi-language subtitles cannot be used as a basis for a dupe │ │ - Group watermarks in subtitles are strictly forbidden. │ │ │ │ Packaging: │ │ - Releases must be packed in RAR file format. │ │ - Rars must be in multiples of 50 MB, no more than 99 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 filenames │ │ │ │ Credits/Previously On: │ │ - It is suggested that any previously on footage be included in the │ │ release, but it is not required. │ │ - Full end credits must be included if they contain show content or │ │ outtakes/bloopers. End credits are optional if they are clean or │ │ contain promotions for future episodes or other shows. │ │ │ │ Samples: │ │ - REQUIRED! │ │ - 50-70 seconds in length and in a separate folder marked as Sample │ │ - Must be taken from the episode, i.e.- not encoded separately │ │ - Stream samples are recommended for any questionable issue with the │ │ source, e.g. no IVTC possible, IVTC to 24.975fps, etc. │ │ │ │ │ │ Propers: │ │ - Propers are only permitted in the case of a technical flaw in the │ │ original release (e.g. Bad IVTC, Interlacing, missing footage, resizing │ │ 720p source, bad crop, commercials, bad x264 settings used, bad source, │ │ etc.) │ │ - Scrolling messages added by a station (e.g. weather, Amber alerts) must │ │ be at least 30 seconds in length in order to nuke/proper │ │ - Over- or under-cropping by more than 1 pixel is considered a technical │ │ flaw, although it is preferable to crop the 1 pixel out. │ │ - 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 is made public │ │ │ │ Internals: │ │ - All internals must conform to TVx2642k11 rules, with the exception of │ │ minor known technical issues and different (--crf) parameter. │ │ Using the INTERNAL tag to try and protect a severely flawed release │ │ from nukes is forbidden. │ │ - Using INTERNAL.DIRFIX as a cheap attempt at avoiding a nuke is │ │ forbidden. If the release is technically flawed, it is still deemed │ │ nukable both before and after an attempted INTERNAL.DIRFIX and the │ │ DIRFIX shall be nuked for fix.for.nuke. │ │ │ │ Directory Naming: │ │ - Show.Name.SXXEXX.Episode.title.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP │ │ Episode title is optional │ │ Episode title is required on some shows that dont have SxxExx │ │ - Show.Name.PartXX.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for miniseries │ │ - Show.Name.YYYY-MM-DD.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for daily shows │ │ Sport: │ │ - League.YYYY.MM.DD.Event.EXTRA.TAGS.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP │ │ - Competition.YYYY-MM.Event.EXTRA.TAGS.720p.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). │ │ The following are some examples of correct directory names: │ │ - EPL.2010.01.01.Manchester.United.vs.Arsenal.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP │ │ - TNA.Impact.2010.03.02.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP │ │ - WWE.WrestleMania.2010.PPV.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP │ │ - ALL others are FORBIDDEN. (e.g 0x00 000 EXX.EP.TITLE) │ │ - Different shows that have the same title in different countries (e.g. │ │ Law & order) must have the ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 country code in the │ │ directory name, except for UK shows (e.g. Law.and.Order.UK not │ │ Law.and.Order.GB). ISO country code need not apply to the show's │ │ country of origin (e.g. Law.and.Order.US is forbidden). │ │ - Different shows with the same name and 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. However, the initial │ │ series does not need a year tag. │ │ - The use of audio format tags such as AAC, AC3, and AC3.x.x is FORBIDDEN │ │ - READ.NFO 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. │ │ - Other permitted tags are: PROPER, REPACK, RERIP, REAL, UNCUT, DUBBED, │ │ SUBBED, INTERNAL, OAR, PPV │ │ - 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 │ │ │ │ │ │ Fixes: │ │ - The following fixes are allowed: NFOFix, SampleFix, DirFix, SyncFix │ │ - RAR and SFV fixes are not allowed. REPACK your entire release. │ │ - 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 │ │ │ └───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘ ┌───────┴┴───────────────┬────────────────────────────┬──────────────┴┴───────┐ │ └───[ NOTES TO THE RULES ]───┘ │ │ │ │ HR.PDTV.x264: │ │ - HR PDTV x264 encodes are allowed for non-HD shows airing fully │ │ upscaled on HD channels │ │ - Crop to closest mod2 without undercropping. Then, if width>960 or │ │ height>540, downscale with 1:1 SAR to fit in 960x540. Never upscale, │ │ never add borders. │ │ - All other standard rules apply │ │ │ └───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘ ┌───────┴┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┴───────┐ │ The 720p x264 TV Releasing Standards 2011 (2011-06-15) │ │ │ └───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘ ┌───────┴┴───────────────┬──────────────────────────┬────────────────┴┴───────┐ │ └--------[ GROUPS ]--------┘ │ │ │ │ TVx2642k11 rules created by the following groups: │ │ ───────────────────────────────────────────────── │ │ aAF BALLS BiA C4TV DiCH DiVERGE FTP IMMERSE │ │ KYR LMAO MOMENTUM NGCHD RiVER W4F WHEELS │ │ │ └──┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──┘ └----\ Thanks to the x264+matroska developers for their assistance in /----┘ └----\ determining the best mix of encode settings. /----┘ └----\ /----┘