┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ├──────────┤ Web Definitions for x264 v1.0 a.k.a. wdx264 ├─────────┤ ├──────────┤ THE.2016.WEB.AND.WEBRIP.SD.HD.X264.RULESET.v1.0-WDX264 ├─────────┤ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ [ Intro ] │ │ In the last 18 months, web based streaming and video on-demand services │ │ have increased in popularity. Initially used as a source for missed │ │ broadcasts, it has since evolved into an exclusive source for original │ │ content. Like most technology, online services are continually evolving │ │ the way in which files re provided to end users. As codecs mature, │ │ bandwidth increases in speed and decreases in price, equivalent │ │ improvements in quality follows at the benefit to the end-users. This │ │ increase in quality has the flow-on effect of often being a legitimate │ │ logo-free alternative to antiquated MPEG-2 HDTV streams. As companies │ │ such as Netflix and Amazon continue to produce popular content at an │ │ exponential rate, it became obvious that this new broadcast medium │ │ deserved to be recognised with an original ruleset. │ │ │ │ The purpose of this document is to create a high standard for web-sourced │ │ files. It attempts to prevent any improper handling of files, and reduce │ │ the potential for adding to the increasing number of ongoing nuke-wars. │ │ This ruleset is structured in such a way that everything attempts to be │ │ clear and concise, and something everyone must adhere to. │ │ │ │ Compliance with this document is optional as of its pre date, and │ │ mandatory as of 2016-03-21 00:00:00 UTC (1458518400 Unix time). │ │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ 1) [ Untouched: WEB.H264 / WEB.x264 ] │ │ 1.1) Untouched releases must be considered as anything that has been │ │ losslessly downloaded by official (offered) or unofficial (backdoor) │ │ methods. │ │ 1.1.1) Untouched video streams must use a commercial (e.g. CoreAVC, │ │ MainConcept) or GPL-licensed (e.g. x264, x265) H.264/MPEG-4 AVC │ │ or H.265/HEVC codec. │ │ 1.2) Source video and audio streams must be left as obtained from the │ │ source. Transcoding of audio or video streams is not allowed. │ │ 1.3) Untouched video streams without x264 headers must be tagged as │ │ WEB.H264. Untouched video streams with x264 headers present in the │ │ H264 stream must be tagged as WEB.x264. │ │ 1.3.1) In situations where HEVC/H265 is used, any untouched sections │ │ referring to H264/x264 must be considered as H265/x265. │ │ 1.3.1.1) H265 must be used in place of H264. │ │ 1.3.1.2) x265 must be used in place of x264. │ │ 1.3.2) Until H265/x265 support is improved in mainstream demuxers, │ │ untouched video streams which use H265/x265 do not dupe H264/x264 │ │ files, and vice-versa. │ │ e.g. WEB.H265 does not dupe WEB.H264 │ │ WEB.x264 does not dupe WEB.x265. │ │ 1.4) Transcoding untouched files must only occur if files do not meet the │ │ standards and specifications listed in this section, and must only │ │ be a last resort. │ │ 1.4.1) Any transcoding of untouched files must follow the transcoding │ │ standards, see section 2. │ │ 1.4.2) Transcoding must be done from files of the highest resolution and │ │ bitrate offered. │ │ 1.4.3) Transcoding may occur when correcting a technical flaw. │ │ e.g. Cropping black borders, deinterlacing an interlaced source. │ │ 1.4.4) In situations where a target resolution is not offered by any │ │ lossless source, or the resolution offered by any source does not │ │ meet the minimum resolution requirements, transcoding from the │ │ highest resolution and bitrate offered is allowed. However, if at │ │ least one source can provide the correct resolution, transcoding │ │ is not allowed. │ │ e.g. If 1080p and 720p can be retrieved from multiple sources, │ │ but SD cannot be retrieved from any source, transcoding the │ │ 1080p to SD is allowed. │ │ 1.4.5) If the untouched file does not contain any technical flaws and │ │ meets the minimum standards required, transcoding to create any │ │ WEBRip.x264 is not allowed, use INTERNAL. │ │ e.g. 1080p.WEB.H264 -> 720p.WEBRip.x264. │ │ 1.5) Untouched video streams which do not use an AVC or HEVC codec must be │ │ transcoded and follow the transcoding standards, see section 3. │ │ 1.6) Standard definition (SD) refers to a resolution with a horizontal │ │ minimum of 720 pixels or a resolution which does not exceed the │ │ specifications of 720p, see rule 6.2. │ │ 1.6.1) If all sources provide standard definition resolutions which fall │ │ below the above minimum, transcoding from the highest available │ │ resolution is allowed, see rule 1.4.4. │ │ 1.6.2) Except in situations where only one source has the file on offer │ │ at a specific resolution. If the resolution of the file falls │ │ below the above minimum, the file may still be released, but the │ │ NFO must state why the resolution does not meet the minimum. │ │ 1.7) DRM and any user identifiable information must be removed. │ │ 1.8) Dupes based on source are not allowed, use INTERNAL. │ │ 1.9) YouTube may only be used as a source if geographical restrictions │ │ apply to legitimate content uploaded by the rights holder or on a │ │ verified channel. │ │ 1.10) Must use the highest available bitrate offered by the source for │ │ that resolution. │ │ e.g. Releasing a 720p at 4,000 Kbps bitrate, when a 720p at │ │ 8,000 Kbps bitrate is offered is not allowed. │ │ 1.11) Must be free of technical flaws. Including, but not limited to: DRM, │ │ sync issues, interlaced, lack of IVTC, bad AR, missing footage, │ │ missing dialogue, unrelated footage or commercials, under or over │ │ crop. │ │ 1.12) VFR (Variable Frame Rate) methods are allowed only if present in the │ │ original source. │ │ 1.12.1) If CFR (Constant Frame Rate) can be used when remuxing and does │ │ not result in playback issue, CFR must be used. │ │ 1.13) Trimming unrelated footage (section 8) is allowed and must be done │ │ losslessly via keyframe intervals (GOP). MKVToolnix is the │ │ recommended tool. │ │ 1.13.1) If unrelated footage cannot be removed via this method, the file │ │ must be transcoded and follow the transcoding standards, see │ │ section 3. │ │ 1.14) Incorrect pixel aspect ratio (PAR) or a non-square sample aspect │ │ ratio (SAR) must be fixed using the correct display aspect ratio │ │ (DAR) set at a container level (--aspect-ratio). MKVToolnix is the │ │ recommended tool. │ │ e.g. A video stream with a non-square SAR must specify the correct │ │ DAR when muxing. │ │ 1.15) Releases with a non-square SAR are not considered technically │ │ flawed. │ │ 1.15.1) However, a source which provides files with a square SAR will │ │ trump an equivalent file with a non-square SAR. It is recommended │ │ to use a source which provides files with a square SAR. │ │ 1.15.2) In situations where a source initially provides a non-square SAR │ │ file and later updates with a square SAR file, the initial │ │ release with a non-square SAR is considered of lower quality │ │ and a technical flaw. │ │ e.g. Release A: 960x720, SAR: 4:3, DAR: 16:9. │ │ Release B: 1280x720, SAR: 1:1, DAR: 16:9. │ │ Both releases are considered as 720p. │ │ If Release A is first: Release A remains unnuked and is a │ │ valid release until Release B is released. Release B then │ │ propers Release A. │ │ If Release B is first: Release A dupes Release B. │ │ │ │ 2) [ Untouched: Audio ] │ │ 2.1) Must use the original audio track offered by the source. │ │ 2.2) Non-destructive audio normalisation tools such as ReplayGain may be │ │ used, and must be done to the maximum gain. Audio normalisation on │ │ lossy tracks is optional. │ │ 2.3) Standard definition releases must only contain an audio track with a │ │ maximum of 2.0 channels. │ │ 2.3.1) Except where the only available audio track on offer contains more │ │ than 2.0 channels. The NFO must mention why an audio track with │ │ more than 2.0 channels was used. │ │ 2.3.2) In situations where a source provides two audio tracks, a 2.0 and │ │ 5.1 track, the 2.0 audio track must be used. │ │ 2.3.3) If a source provides identical audio tracks using two different │ │ codecs, it is at the discretion of the group which track is used. │ │ It is recommended to use the smaller file. │ │ e.g. A source offers AC3 2.0 and AAC 2.0, the group may choose to │ │ remux the AC3 or AAC. │ │ 2.4) High Definition releases must use the highest available audio format │ │ and quality offered by the source. │ │ 2.4.1) In situations where a lesser audio format is offered for larger │ │ resolutions in comparison to lower resolutions, groups must use │ │ the highest available audio format from all resolutions. │ │ e.g. A source provides an AC3 5.1 track for SD resolutions, but │ │ an AAC 2.0 track for 720p/1080p. The AC3 5.1 track must be │ │ used for 720p/1080p resolutions. │ │ 2.4.2) If using the highest available audio format results in a technical │ │ flaw (e.g. sync issues or glitches), minor adjustments to the │ │ audio track may be applied. If groups are unable to correct any │ │ flaws, the original audio track must be used. │ │ │ │ 3) [ Transcoded: WEBRip.x264 ] │ │ 3.1) Transcoded releases should be considered as anything that has been │ │ captured or encoded by a group to a lesser format or quality (lossy). │ │ 3.2) Transcoded releases must be tagged as WEBRip.x264. │ │ 3.3) Dupes based on source are not allowed, use INTERNAL. │ │ 3.4) Must be free of technical flaws. Including, but not limited to: DRM, │ │ sync issues, interlaced, lack of IVTC, bad AR, missing footage, │ │ missing dialogue, unrelated footage or commercials, under or over │ │ crop, dupe or dropped frames. │ │ 3.5) Upscaling video streams is not allowed. │ │ e.g. 2160p from a 1080p stream is not allowed. │ │ 3.6) Streams must be captured at the highest available resolution and │ │ bitrate offered. │ │ 3.6.1) Streams must not have any degradation in quality throughout the │ │ capture, and releases with drops to a lower resolution or bitrate │ │ is considered a technical flaw. │ │ 3.6.2) 1080p and 2160p streams are considered of equal value when │ │ capturing, and encodes (SD/720p/1080p) produced from 1080p or │ │ 2160p captures are considered identical. It is encouraged, and │ │ recommended, to capture from a 2160p stream where possible and │ │ resize so as to produce a higher quality encode. │ │ 3.6.3) Audio must be captured in the highest format offered by the source │ │ stream, not what the capturing device is capable of. This includes │ │ channel count and bitrate offered. │ │ e.g. If a Netflix show lists a 5.1 track, the resultant capture │ │ and release should also contain a 5.1 audio track. │ │ 3.7) Captures should be done at the native broadcast framerate of the │ │ source. │ │ 3.7.1) Captures from devices which are unable to output a native format │ │ must be restored to the original framerate. │ │ 3.7.2) If captures cannot be completely restored to their native │ │ framerate, such as a single dupe frame every 1000 or blended/ghost │ │ frames due to mangling from the streaming device, this is │ │ considered a technical flaw. │ │ 3.8) Captures should be done at the native colour space of the source │ │ (e.g. YUV or RGB), and manual corrections should be made to achieve │ │ an output near-identical to the source. │ │ 3.9) Capture software and hardware which introduces video cropping greater │ │ than 2 pixels on any side is not allowed, and is considered a │ │ technical flaw. │ │ 3.10) Final resolution must maintain the same aspect ratio as the source │ │ after cropping and kept at mod 2. │ │ 3.10.1) Sources must have all black borders cropped to the widest frame. │ │ 3.10.2) The same aspect ratio, as calculated from the source, must be │ │ used, see rule 6.17. │ │ 3.11) If the video is being transcoded from an untouched source (rule │ │ 1.4.4 and 1.4.5), the NFO must state the reason for transcoding. │ │ 3.11.1) If a technical flaw is present that is being rectified by │ │ transcoding (rule 1.4.5), the flaw must also be included with the │ │ reason for transcoding. │ │ e.g. A file from 2 lossless providers both have the same │ │ interlacing flaw. │ │ The flaw: Interlaced video. │ │ The reason: No other WEB.H264 provider has a correctly │ │ deinterlaced file. │ │ │ │ 4) [ Transcoded: Codec ] │ │ 4.1) x264 8-bit must be used. │ │ 4.1.1) Custom builds of x264 are allowed and must be based off the x264 │ │ codebase, e.g. x264-tMod, x264-kMod. │ │ 4.1.2) Any experimental or alternate codecs (e.g. x265) are not allowed, │ │ use INTERNAL. │ │ 4.2) x264 revision must be no more than 50 revisions from the latest at │ │ pre time. It is recommended to use the latest revision when encoding. │ │ Use the official x264 git repo as the only │ │ reference: http://git.videolan.org/?p=x264.git;a=summary │ │ 4.3) Segmented encoding is not allowed. │ │ 4.4) Justification must be listed in the NFO for use of non-standard CRF │ │ values. │ │ 4.5) Decimal values may be used for CRF values. │ │ 4.6) Constant Rate Factor (--crf) must be used by default. │ │ 4.6.1) A CRF value of 19 must be used for all SD resolutions. │ │ 4.6.1.1) If the resultant video bitrate exceeds 2,000 Kbps, the CRF │ │ value must be incremented by 1. │ │ 4.6.1.2) If the resultant video bitrate exceeds 1,500 Kbps, the CRF │ │ value may be optionally incremented by up to 1.0, e.g. 19.2, │ │ 19.6. │ │ 4.6.2) A CRF value of 18 must be used for all 720p resolutions. │ │ 4.6.2.1) If the resultant video bitrate exceeds 9,000 Kbps, the CRF │ │ value must be incremented by 1. │ │ 4.6.2.2) If the resultant video bitrate exceeds 8,000 Kbps, the CRF │ │ value may be optionally incremented by up to 1.0, e.g. 18.2, │ │ 18.6. │ │ 4.6.3) A CRF value of 17 must be used for all 1080p resolutions. │ │ 4.6.3.1) If the resultant video bitrate exceeds 15,000 Kbps, the CRF │ │ value must be incremented by 1. │ │ 4.6.3.2) If the resultant video bitrate exceeds 14,000 Kbps, the CRF │ │ value may be optionally incremented by up to 1.0, e.g. 17.2, │ │ 17.6. │ │ 4.6.4) A CRF value of 17 must be used for all 2160p resolutions. │ │ 4.7) Use of 2-pass is accepted for all resolutions of 720p and above, │ │ however this method should be used only in extreme cases and not as │ │ a primary replacement for CRF methods. e.g. If the source contains an │ │ excessive amount of grain or black and white scenes. │ │ 4.7.1) 2-pass should be a last resort when encoding. Instead, groups are │ │ encouraged and recommended to use CRF as the default encoding │ │ method. │ │ 4.7.2) The NFO must provide sufficient evidence of 2-pass producing a │ │ visual improvement, bitrate, or file size advantage over CRF in │ │ regards to the source used. │ │ 4.7.3) There is no maximum or minimum file size when using 2-pass methods │ │ as target bitrates should take precedent over target file sizes. │ │ Multiples of 1120MiB (1,174,405,120 bytes) may be used as a │ │ general guide for calculating target bitrates. │ │ 4.7.4) If groups are unsure of how to calculate an adequate target │ │ bitrate applicable for the source, CRF should be used. │ │ 4.7.4.1) 720p bitrate must be between 4,000 Kbps and 9,000 Kbps │ │ inclusive, and should have a target bitrate of approximately │ │ 5,500 Kbps. Minimum bitrate for animation is 2,500 Kbps. │ │ 4.7.4.2) 1080p bitrate must be between 9,000 Kbps and 15,000 Kbps │ │ inclusive, and should have a target bitrate of approximately │ │ 10,500 Kbps. Minimum bitrate for animation is 5,500 Kbps. │ │ 4.7.4.3) 2160p bitrate must not exceed 60,000 Kbps. │ │ 4.8) Resultant bitrate must not exceed the source bitrate. │ │ 4.8.1) When transcoding from an untouched source, it is recommended to │ │ use SelectRangeEvery() for a rough estimation on the final CRF │ │ value to use. │ │ 4.8.2) The following algorithm can also be used to estimate a CRF value │ │ if the value originally used results in a bitrate which exceeds │ │ the source. │ │ ValidCRF = [-6 * (DestinationBitrate - ExcessiveBitrate) / │ │ ExcessiveBitrate] + CRFUsed │ │ e.g. Source bitrate: 4,500Kbps │ │ Target bitrate: ~4,400Kbps │ │ Encoded bitrate @ CRF17: 5,900Kbps │ │ ValidCRF = (-6 * (4400 - 5900) / 5900) + 17 │ │ ValidCRF = 18.52, round up to 19 should result in an average │ │ bitrate below the source. │ │ 4.9) Settings cannot go below what is specified by --preset slow. │ │ e.g. -subme 7 or -me hex is not allowed. │ │ 4.10) Deblocking (--deblock) must be used. Values used are left to the │ │ discretion of the group. Recommended values: -3:-3 for film, 1:1 │ │ for animation. │ │ 4.11) Sample Aspect Ratio (--sar) must be square (1:1). │ │ 4.12) Keyframe interval (--keyint) must be at least 200, and at most 300. │ │ It is recommended to let x264 decide which value to use, but │ │ 10*framerate is a good guideline. │ │ 4.13) Minimum GOP length (--minkeyint) must be 30 or less. │ │ 4.14) Level 3.1 must be used for SD resolutions. │ │ 4.15) Level 4.1 must be used for all 720p and 1080p resolutions. │ │ 4.16) Level 5.1 must be used for all 2160p resolutions. │ │ 4.17) Encoded colourspace (--output-csp) must be 4:2:0. │ │ 4.18) Colour matrix (--colormatrix) must be set for all SD resolutions. │ │ 4.18.1) 'bt709' must be used for encodes from high definition sources. │ │ 4.18.2) Source specification must be used for standard definition │ │ sources. │ │ 4.18.3) 'undef' must be used if not specified by the source for standard │ │ definition sources. │ │ 4.19) Colour matrix (--colormatrix) may be optionally set to 'bt709' for │ │ all resolutions of 720p and above, but is not required. │ │ 4.20) Custom matrices are not allowed. │ │ 4.21) Zones (--zones) are not allowed. │ │ 4.22) Optional tuning (--tune) parameters allowed are: film, grain, or │ │ animation. │ │ 4.23) Optional settings recommended for tuning per source, see doom9.org │ │ for further information: │ │ 4.23.1) For complex video, --preset slower/placebo is encouraged. │ │ 4.23.2) --aq-mode 3 --aq-strength x.x │ │ e.g. 0.6-0.9 for digital films. │ │ 0.5-0.7 for grainy films. │ │ 0.9-1.1 for animation. │ │ 4.23.3) --psy-rd x.x:0.0 │ │ e.g. 0.8-1.2 for films. │ │ 0.5-0.8 for animation. │ │ 4.23.4) --trellis 2, --no-fast-pskip, --no-mbtree │ │ │ │ 5) [ Transcoded: Audio ] │ │ 5.1) Segmented encoding is not allowed. │ │ 5.2) Audio tracks already in a lossy format must not be transcoded, but │ │ kept in the original format. │ │ 5.3) Stereo must be used for stereo sources, and mono must be used for │ │ mono sources. │ │ 5.3.1) Any audio track with identical channels is considered a mono │ │ source. │ │ 5.3.2) Dual mono is not allowed. │ │ 5.4) VBR AAC LC (Low Complexity) must be used for SD releases. │ │ 5.4.1) Apple/QAAC, FDK-AAC or Nero must be used. │ │ 5.4.2) Quality based VBR encoding must be used, targeted or constrained │ │ VBR must not be used. Only the following methods are allowed (in │ │ order of preference): │ │ 5.4.2.1) QAAC: --tvbr 82 --quality 2 │ │ 5.4.2.2) FDK-AAC: --bitrate-mode 4 --profile 2 │ │ 5.4.2.3) Nero: -q 0.4 │ │ 5.4.3) AAC audio must be normalised to the maximum gain. Normalisation │ │ must be a complete 2-pass method. No pre-defined values or │ │ estimations of maximum gain is allowed. Only the following │ │ normalisation methods are allowed (in order of preference): │ │ 5.4.3.1) eac3to: -normalize │ │ 5.4.3.2) sox: --norm │ │ 5.4.3.3) QAAC: --normalize │ │ 5.4.4) Any existing normalisation values must be stripped prior to │ │ applying normalisation. │ │ 5.4.5) FFmpeg, FAAC, and MEncoder are banned. │ │ 5.4.6) AC3 is allowed for INTERNAL releases only. │ │ 5.4.7) Audio with more than 2 channels must be down-mixed to stereo, │ │ with the exception of INTERNAL releases. │ │ 5.4.8) Audio must not be resampled. Audio must be kept in the original │ │ format as the source. e.g. 48KHz for 48KHz sources. │ │ 5.5) AC3, DTS, DTS-ES, E-AC3, MP2, and FLAC are the only allowed formats │ │ for resolutions 720p and above. │ │ 5.5.1) AC3 bitrate must not be below 640 Kbps, unless the original source │ │ audio is already in a low bitrate lossy format. In which case, the │ │ original audio must be used and not transcoded. │ │ 5.5.2) AC3 640 Kbps, DTS 1536 Kbps, and FLAC must be created from a │ │ higher bitrate source. │ │ │ │ 6) [ Video / Resolution ] │ │ 6.1) Standard definition (SD) refers to a maximum horizontal display │ │ resolution of 720 pixels. │ │ 6.2) 720p refers to a maximum display resolution of 1280x720. │ │ 6.3) 1080p refers to a maximum display resolution of 1920x1080. │ │ 6.4) 2160p refers to a maximum display resolution of 3840x2160. │ │ 6.5) Upscaling is not allowed. │ │ 6.6) Resolution must be mod 2. │ │ 6.7) English spoken titles with foreign overlays (e.g. locations and │ │ on-screen text shown in another language) are not allowed, use │ │ INTERNAL. │ │ 6.8) Non-English spoken titles with hardcoded English subtitles must be │ │ tagged as SUBBED. │ │ 6.9) Dupes based on resolution are not allowed. │ │ 6.9.1) Except in situations of releases with a different aspect ratio. │ │ The relevant tag must be used, and the reason mentioned in the │ │ NFO, see rule 19.5.3. │ │ 6.9.2) Releases which contain an additional 20 pixels or more worth of │ │ video on any side are not considered dupes. These releases must be │ │ tagged as WS or OM (open matte) and not PROPER, and the original │ │ release must not be nuked. │ │ 6.10) Retention or removal of faded edges is left to the discretion of the │ │ group. Inclusion of faded edges is not a technical flaw, and cannot │ │ be propered. │ │ 6.10.1) Faded edges refer to a line of pixels which are of similar │ │ appearance to pixels' parallel to the video frame. │ │ 6.11) Black borders and anything that is not part of the video must be │ │ cropped. │ │ 6.11.1) Black borders refer to: black or coloured borders, duplicate │ │ lines, dirty lines or pixels. │ │ 6.12) Video can be over or under cropped by a maximum of 1px per side. │ │ Over or under cropping by more than 1px per side is considered a │ │ technical flaw. │ │ 6.12.1) Under crop refers to portions of the video frame which is not │ │ actual picture. Files which contain black borders greater than │ │ 1px on any side is considered a technical flaw. │ │ 6.12.2) Releases which include faded edges must consider faded edges as │ │ a valid part of the video frame and do not count as black │ │ borders. │ │ e.g. A release cannot be propered if 1px of faded edges and 1px │ │ of black exists. │ │ 6.12.3) Situations where video cropping of the same content varies │ │ between sources are not considered a technical flaw, and may │ │ not be propered. │ │ 6.13) In the case of varying aspect ratios throughout the video, cropping │ │ must be done to the widest video frame. │ │ 6.13.1) Studio logos, intertitles, and credits must be disregarded when │ │ determining the widest frame. │ │ 6.14) Any sort of visual glitch present in the video stream is considered │ │ a technical flaw. │ │ 6.14.1) Except in situations where glitches are a result of a live-stream │ │ or issues with the broadcast or source and are completely │ │ unavoidable. It is recommended, but optional, to mention glitches │ │ or gaps in playback in the NFO. │ │ 6.14.2) Unavoidable glitches as a result of broadcast, live-stream, or │ │ mastering issues may be propered with a glitch-free version. │ │ 6.14.3) Visual glitches are defined as, but not limited to: │ │ visual/compression artifacts, signal/stream issues, missing │ │ frames. │ │ 6.15) Resized and transcoded video must be within 0.5% of the original │ │ aspect ratio. │ │ 6.16) Sample aspect ratio (SAR): │ │ SAR = (PixelHeight / PixelWidth) / (DARHeight / DARWidth) │ │ 6.17) Display aspect ratio (DAR): │ │ DAR = (PixelWidth * DARWidth) / (PixelHeight * DARHeight) │ │ 6.18) Display resolution: │ │ DisplayWidth = PixelWidth * (SARWidth / SARHeight) │ │ 6.19) Aspect ratio (AR) error: │ │ Original AR = (SourceWidth - [CropLeft + CropRight]) / │ │ (SourceHeight - [CropTop + CropBottom]) │ │ Release AR = EncodeWidth / EncodedHeight │ │ AR Error % = [(Original AR - Release AR) / Original AR] * 100 │ │ 6.20) Target resolution when resizing to maintain mod2 and reduce AR │ │ error: │ │ TargetHeight = TargetWidth / [(SourceWidth - │ │ [CropLeft + CropRight]) / (SourceHeight - │ │ [CropTop + CropBottom])] │ │ The correct mod 2 value can also be calculated from the ceiling of │ │ TargetHeight if the value is odd, and the floor of TargetHeight if │ │ the value is even. │ │ 6.20.1) Alternatively, the following can be used to confirm the correct │ │ resolution is used from the above method by calculating the upper │ │ and lower integer limit of TargetHeight: │ │ HeightA = floor(TargetHeight + [TargetHeight mod 2]) │ │ HeightB = floor(TargetHeight - [TargetHeight mod 2]) │ │ The TargetHeight value (HeightA or HeightB) which results in an │ │ aspect ratio error which tends to zero must be used. │ │ e.g. TargetWidth: 1280. │ │ SourceWidth: 1920, SourceHeight: 1080. │ │ CropLeft + CropRight = 0, CropTop + CropBottom = 4. │ │ TargetHeight = 1280 / ((1920 - 0) / (1080 - 4)) or 717.33. │ │ HeightA = floor(717.33 + (717.33 mod 2)) or 718. │ │ HeightB = floor(717.33 - (717.33 mod 2)) or 716. │ │ TargetWidth x HeightA = 1280x718 with -0.09% AR error. │ │ TargetWidth x HeightB = 1280x716 with 0.19% AR error. │ │ -0.09% tends closer to zero than 0.19% does (0.09 < 0.19), │ │ therefore, HeightA must be used. │ │ │ │ 7) [ Framerate / Filters ] │ │ 7.1) IVTC, deinterlacing, or decimation must be applied as required. │ │ 7.2) Only smart deinterlacers, such as Yadif, QTGMC, or TFM, must be used. │ │ 7.2.1) FieldDeinterlace must not be used for deinterlacing. │ │ 7.3) Only accurate field matching filters, such as TIVTC or Decomb, must │ │ be used for inverse telecining (IVTC). │ │ 7.3.1) Use of MEncoder, MJPEG tools, libav, libavcodec, or FFmpeg as IVTC │ │ filters are not allowed. │ │ 7.3.2) Deinterlacing filters must not be applied to telecined sources as │ │ a method of inverse telecine. Use of an accurate field matching │ │ filter must be used on telecined sources to recreate progressive │ │ frames and must be decimated to remove any duplicate frames. │ │ e.g. Yadif must not be used on a telecined source with a frame │ │ sequence of PPIIP, as Yadif will attempt to deinterlace │ │ every frame, including the progressive frames. TFM and │ │ TDecimate should be used in this situation. │ │ 7.4) Only sharp resizers are allowed. Simple resizers such as bicubic, │ │ simple, etc, are not allowed. Only the following resizers are allowed │ │ (in order of preference): │ │ 7.4.1) Spline36Resize/Spline64Resize. │ │ 7.4.2) BlackmanResize. │ │ 7.4.3) LanczosResize/Lanczos4Resize. │ │ 7.5) Sources which contain footage at varying FPS throughout (hybrid │ │ sources) and may or may not require IVTC is left to the discretion │ │ of the group. The NFO must list a reason as to the final decision. │ │ 7.5.1) It is assumed that the majority of a title contains enough unique │ │ frames at 30,000/1,001 fps to warrant a higher framerate. If it │ │ can be proven IVTC/decimating does not result in any loss of │ │ unique frames, this is considered a technical flaw. │ │ e.g. The native format of a Netflix title is 30,000/1,001 fps but │ │ contains some footage filmed at 24,000/1,001 fps. Choosing │ │ to encode the entire release at 30,000/1,001 fps is valid. │ │ 7.6) Native and converted framerates refers to the standard in which the │ │ video was produced. │ │ 7.6.1) NTSC produced video is native to NTSC. │ │ 7.6.2) PAL produced video is native to PAL. │ │ 7.6.3) NTSC produced video that is broadcast in PAL is considered as │ │ converted video. │ │ 7.6.4) PAL produced video that is broadcast in NTSC is considered as │ │ converted video. │ │ 7.7) Converted video that has significant artifacts (e.g. blended frames) │ │ and cannot be reversed to the native format must be tagged as │ │ CONVERT. │ │ 7.7.1) Converted video which does not have any artifacts does not require │ │ the CONVERT tag and must not be nuked for the conversion. │ │ 7.8) 50 / 60 fps video may be released at 50 / 60 fps or 25 / 30 fps. │ │ True 25 / 30 video released at 50 / 60 fps is not allowed and │ │ considered a technical flaw. │ │ 7.8.1) In rare situations, 25 / 50 fps sources should be restored to │ │ 24 or 30 fps. │ │ 7.8.2) In rare situations, 30 / 60 fps sources should be restored to │ │ 25 fps. │ │ │ │ 8) [ Audio ] │ │ 8.1) Audio must be in the original format provided. Minor adjustments │ │ (channel count, adding or removing frames) in order to prevent issues │ │ with playback or sync is allowed. │ │ 8.1.1) Valid lossy codecs are: AAC, AC3, DTS, DTS-ES, E-AC3, MP2. │ │ 8.1.2) For audio originally packaged in a lossless (LPCM) format, audio │ │ must be converted to a lossy format without any down-mixing of │ │ surround channels. e.g. AC3 640 Kbps, DTS 1536 Kbps, and FLAC. │ │ 8.2) Transcoding lossy audio to another lossy format is not allowed. │ │ 8.3) Sync must not drift at all during the entire release. │ │ 8.4) Glitches that occur in any audio channel present (e.g. L, R, C, SL, │ │ SR, etc.) are considered a technical flaw. │ │ 8.4.1) Except in situations where glitches are a result of a live-stream │ │ or issues with the broadcast or source and are completely │ │ unavoidable. It is recommended, but optional, to mention glitches │ │ or gaps in playback in the NFO. │ │ 8.4.2) Unavoidable glitches as a result of broadcast, live-stream, or │ │ mastering issues may be propered with a glitch-free version. │ │ 8.4.3) Glitches are defined as, but not limited to: an audible glitch, │ │ missing audio, pops or clicks as a result of encoding, gaps within │ │ playback, missing dialogue, muted or muffled audio, echoing. │ │ 8.5) A release must only contain a single audio track. │ │ 8.5.1) Dual-language audio tracks are allowed for non-English material │ │ only. │ │ 8.6) If the original language of a title is not English: │ │ 8.6.1) An English dubbed track is allowed as a secondary audio track. │ │ 8.6.2) Releases containing only a dubbed audio track must be tagged as │ │ DUBBED. │ │ 8.7) Non-English releases without a secondary English audio track must │ │ use a language tag indicating the primary spoken language. │ │ 8.8) Dupes based on audio format or multiple audio tracks are not allowed, │ │ use INTERNAL. │ │ 8.9) Retail audio may be used in placed of audio tracks extracted from │ │ the source. Proof of the source disc must be provided, see │ │ section 13. │ │ │ │ 9) [ Credits / Previously On / Unrelated Footage ] │ │ 9.1) Credits and 'Previously On' footage must be included and is not │ │ optional. │ │ 9.2) Any unrelated commercials or paid advertisements, regardless of │ │ duration (e.g. 1 faded/half opacity frame or 10 seconds) must be │ │ completely removed from the release. │ │ 9.3) Content rating cards and viewer warnings separate to the show must │ │ be completely removed and it is considered a technical flaw if │ │ present. │ │ 9.3.1) Except in situations where the content warning is integrated into │ │ the opening of the show and cannot be removed, e.g. Cops. │ │ │ │ 10) [ Container ] │ │ 10.1) Container must be Matroska (.mkv). MKVToolnix is the recommended │ │ muxer. │ │ 10.2) Custom muxing tools are allowed. However, the output must adhere to │ │ the latest Matroska specification and must retain identical │ │ compatibility with demuxers as files created with MKVToolnix. │ │ 10.3) Support for file streaming and playback from RAR is mandatory. │ │ 10.4) Matroska header compression must not be enabled. │ │ 10.5) Header stripping or modification is not allowed. │ │ 10.6) Falsifying or modification of encoding parameters and information │ │ is not allowed. │ │ │ │ 11) [ Subtitles ] │ │ 11.1) Subtitles for English spoken titles without foreign dialogue are │ │ optional, but encouraged. │ │ 11.1.1) Optical character recognition (OCR) must not result in spelling │ │ errors or mistakes. │ │ e.g. Zero ('0') used in place of an upper-case O ('o'). │ │ 11.1.2) Minor errors in grammar or punctuation which do not change the │ │ meaning of the sentence are allowed, however, it is recommended │ │ all errors be corrected. │ │ 11.2) English spoken titles with foreign dialogue must include a separate │ │ subtitle track for forced subtitles. │ │ 11.2.1) Foreign dialogue subtitle tracks must be set as forced and it is │ │ considered a technical flaw if not done correctly. │ │ 11.2.2) In situations where the source video stream contains hardcoded │ │ subtitles for English spoken titles with foreign dialogue, a │ │ separate subtitle track for the forced subtitles is not required. │ │ 11.3) Non-English spoken titles without hardcoded subtitles must include │ │ an English subtitle track set as default. │ │ 11.4) Group watermarks in subtitles are not allowed. │ │ 11.5) Dupes based on subtitles are not allowed, use INTERNAL. │ │ 11.6) Propers based on the inclusion of optional subtitles is not allowed. │ │ 11.7) Fan-made or custom subtitles are not allowed. │ │ 11.8) Groups must not burn subtitles in to the video stream. │ │ 11.9) External subtitles located in 'Subs' directories are not allowed. │ │ 11.10) Must be free of any technical flaws. Including, but not limited │ │ to: sync issues, incorrect OCR, invalid default or forced muxing │ │ flags. │ │ 11.11) Subtitles must be extracted from the original source, or obtained │ │ from another source which provides the same video. │ │ e.g. A source obtained from iTunes does not contain subtitles, but │ │ can be extracted from Netflix. These subtitles can be muxed │ │ into the final release. │ │ 11.12) Retail subtitles may be used in place of subtitles extracted from │ │ the source. Proof of the source disc must be provided, see section │ │ 13. │ │ 11.13) Adjustments and edits may be made to subtitle tracks. │ │ 11.13.1) Edits can refer to: adjusting timecodes, fixing grammar, │ │ spelling, or punctuation errors, etc. │ │ 11.13.2) A summary of the changes must be listed in the NFO. │ │ e.g. Shifted all timecodes by 2 seconds to ensure sync is │ │ maintained throughout, or spelling errors fixed │ │ throughout, etc. │ │ 11.14) Subtitles must be muxed into the final MKV in text based │ │ format, i.e. SubRip (.srt) or SubSation Alpha (.ssa/.ass). │ │ 11.14.1) Retail subtitles must be muxed in text based (.srt/.ssa/.ass) │ │ or PGS (.sup) format. PGS is recommended. │ │ 11.14.2) All subtitle tracks must have the character set (--sub-charset) │ │ set to a Unicode format or UTF-8 when muxing. │ │ 11.14.3) Subtitles must not set as default or forced unless otherwise │ │ specified. │ │ 11.14.4) The correct ISO 639 language code supported by MKVToolnix must │ │ be set for all subtitle tracks. │ │ 11.14.4.1) In situations where the language is not supported by │ │ MKVToolnix, 'und' must be used. │ │ e.g. en for English, de for German, etc. │ │ 11.14.5) The correct character encoding │ │ │ │ 12) [ Packaging ] │ │ 12.1) Must be packed with RAR files, broken into a maximum of 99 volumes. │ │ 12.2) RAR5/RARv5.0 is not allowed. RAR3/v2.0 or RAR4/v2.9 must be used. │ │ 12.2.1) Custom RAR tools are permitted. However, files must adhere to │ │ the RAR4/RARv2.9 archive specification and must retain identical │ │ compatibility with extractors and demuxers as files created with │ │ WinRAR/rar. │ │ 12.3) Permitted RAR sizes are: │ │ 12.3.1) 15,000,000 bytes or 20,000,000 bytes for SD. Multiples of these │ │ values are not allowed. │ │ 12.3.2) Positive integer multiples of 50,000,000 bytes for all │ │ resolutions. │ │ e.g. (50 * 10^6) * n bytes, where n > 0. │ │ (50 * 10^6) * 4 bytes, 100,000,000 bytes, │ │ 400,000,000 bytes, etc. │ │ 12.3.3) Releases must have a minimum of 10 volumes before the next │ │ multiple of 50,000,000 bytes is used. │ │ e.g. 10 volumes at 50,000,000 bytes can be repackaged to 5 │ │ volumes at 100,000,000 bytes. │ │ 5 volumes at 100,000,000 bytes cannot be repacked to 4 │ │ volumes at 150,000,000 bytes. │ │ 12.4) Must have SFV and NFO. │ │ 12.5) RAR, SFV, and Sample files must have unique, lower-case filenames │ │ with the group tag. │ │ 12.5.1) Group tags must be unique to each group, and may be an │ │ abbreviated variation of the group name. │ │ 12.6) Missing RAR(s) or SFV on all sites is considered a technical flaw. │ │ 12.7) Corrupt RAR(s) (errors upon extraction) is considered a technical │ │ flaw. │ │ 12.8) RAR compression and recovery records are not allowed. │ │ 12.9) Encryption or password protection is not allowed. │ │ │ │ 13) [ Proof ] │ │ 13.1) Proof picture(s) must have unique filenames and placed in a separate │ │ directory named 'Proof'. │ │ 13.1.1) Proof file(s) must be included in every release which requires │ │ proof. │ │ 13.2) Proof must be in JPEG or PNG format. │ │ 13.3) Proof is required for iTunes sourced files only. A screenshot of │ │ the download in progress must be provided. │ │ 13.3.1) A release which fails to pre with the required proof is │ │ considered a technical flaw and can be propered. │ │ 13.3.2) Proof fixes must be within 24 hours of original pre. Fixes │ │ provided after a proper has been released, or after 24 hours has │ │ elapsed from the original pre, will not be accepted. │ │ 13.3.3) It is also recommended, in an unobstructed way, to include the │ │ group name within the screenshot written in Notepad or a similar │ │ text editor. │ │ 13.4) Releases which include retail-sourced elements (e.g. retail │ │ subtitles) must include source proof. │ │ 13.4.1) Proof must be photographs of the printed side of all physical │ │ discs used with the group tag clearly visible. │ │ 13.4.2) The minimum resolution for photographs is 640x480px. Disc details │ │ must be clear and legible. │ │ 13.5) Small identifiable or sensitive information may be obscured or │ │ redacted. │ │ 13.6) User identifiable EXIF data must be stripped. It is recommended all │ │ EXIF data be stripped. │ │ │ │ 14) [ Samples ] │ │ 14.1) All releases must include a 50-70 second sample for each release. │ │ 14.2) Samples must have unique filenames and placed in a separate │ │ directory named 'Sample'. │ │ 14.3) Samples must be cut from the final video, not encoded separately. │ │ │ │ 15) [ NFO ] │ │ 15.1) NFO must be present in every release. │ │ 15.2) It is recommended, but optional, to include the following │ │ information in the NFO: │ │ 15.2.1) Release name and group. │ │ 15.2.2) Title and release date. │ │ 15.2.3) CRF value / bitrate used. │ │ 15.2.4) Audio format. │ │ 15.2.5) Source. │ │ 15.2.6) Relevant IMDB/TVDB/Amazon link. │ │ 15.2.7) Total video size or RAR count. │ │ 15.3) It is optional, but highly recommended, that the source for │ │ untouched files be mentioned in the NFO. │ │ │ │ 16) [ Tagging ] │ │ 16.1) Only the following additional tags are allowed: │ │ ALTERNATIVE.CUT, CONVERT, COLORIZED, DC, DIRFIX, DOCU, DUBBED, │ │ EXTENDED, FESTIVAL, FINAL, INTERNAL, LIMITED, MULTI, NFOFIX, OM, │ │ PPV, PROOFFIX, PROPER, REAL, REMASTERED, READNFO, REPACK, RERIP, │ │ SAMPLEFIX, SOURCE.SAMPLE, SUBBED, THEATRICAL, UNCENSORED, UNRATED, │ │ UNCUT, and WS. │ │ 16.2) Variations of any additional tags are not allowed. │ │ e.g. READ.NFO or RNFO is not allowed, READNFO must be used. │ │ 16.3) READNFO should be used sparingly. Discretion is recommended. │ │ 16.3.1) The READNFO tag must not be used with PROPER, REPACK, or RERIP. │ │ The NFO is required to contain a reason, therefore the tag is │ │ redundant. │ │ 16.4) Tags must only be used once, but the order is left to the discretion │ │ of the group. │ │ 16.4.1) Except in situations where the REAL tag is required to be stacked │ │ to differentiate between multiple invalid releases. │ │ e.g. A REAL.REAL.PROPER.REPACK is required for a │ │ REAL.PROPER.REPACK and PROPER.REPACK. │ │ 16.5) Tags must be grouped together, period-delimited, and must follow the │ │ mandatory directory format, see rule 17.4. │ │ e.g. EXTENDED.LIMITED, REMASTERED.REPACK, REAL.PROPER. │ │ │ │ 17) [ Directory Nomenclature ] │ │ 17.1) Acceptable characters allowed for directories are: │ │ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ │ │ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz │ │ 0123456789.- │ │ 17.2) Single punctuation must be used. Consecutive punctuation is not │ │ allowed. │ │ e.g. Show----Name.S01E01, Show.Name....S01E01, │ │ Show.-.Name.--.S01E01, etc. │ │ 17.3) Typos or spelling mistakes in the directory are not allowed. │ │ 17.4) Releases must follow the matching directory format: │ │ 17.4.1) Movie.YEAR.<TAGS>.[LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.4.2) Weekly.TV.Show.SXXEXX[Episode.Part].[Episode.Title].<TAGS>. │ │ [LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.4.3) Miniseries.Show.Name.Part.XX.[Episode.Title].<TAGS>. │ │ [LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.4.4) Daily.TV.Show.YYYY.MM.DD.[Guest.Name].<TAGS>. │ │ [LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.4.5) Daily.Sport.League.YYYY.MM.DD.Event.<TAGS>. │ │ [LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.4.6) Monthly.Competition.YYYY.MM.Event.<TAGS>. │ │ [LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.4.7) Yearly.Competition.YYYY.Event.<TAGS>. │ │ [LANGUAGE].<RESOLUTION>.<FORMAT>-GROUP │ │ 17.5) Named directory arguments formatted inside <> must be included. │ │ Optional arguments formatted inside [] may be used in some cases. │ │ 17.5.1) Episode part refers to episodes, usually cartoons or animation, │ │ which split episodes into stories by different directors. │ │ Episodes parts must be alphanumeric (a-z, A-Z, 0-9). │ │ e.g. The first episode from Season 2 of SpongeBob SquarePants │ │ is split into S02E01A/B, etc. https://goo.gl/CVGXKu │ │ 17.5.2) Episode title and guest names are optional. │ │ 17.5.3) Guest name(s) used must be in the order in which they appear on │ │ the show to avoid any confusion. │ │ 17.5.4) Tags refers to all permitted tags only, see section 16. │ │ 17.5.5) Non-English releases must include the language tag and must be │ │ used to denote the language of the audio track. English releases │ │ must not include the language tag. │ │ 17.5.5.1) Language tags must be the full name of the language. │ │ Abbreviations or language codes are not allowed. │ │ e.g. FRENCH, RUSSIAN, GERMAN. │ │ 17.5.6) Resolution identifiers are only applicable for releases 720p and │ │ above, and must precede the format of the release, see section 6 │ │ for resolution specifications. │ │ e.g. 720p.WEB.H264, 2160p.WEBRip.x264. │ │ 17.5.7) Format refers to whether the release is transcoded (WEBRip.x264) │ │ or untouched (WEB.H264/WEB.x264). │ │ 17.6) Do not indicate source, ripping, or encoding methods that were used. │ │ Use the NFO for any technical details. │ │ 17.7) All movie releases must include the production year. │ │ 17.8) Movie distribution tags (FESTIVAL, LIMITED) must be used with │ │ discretion. Use boxofficemojo.com or IMDB screen details as │ │ references. │ │ 17.9) Different shows with the same title and format produced in different │ │ countries must have the ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 country code in the │ │ show name. │ │ 17.9.1) Except for UK shows, which should use UK, not GB. │ │ 17.9.2) This rule does not apply to an original show, only shows that │ │ precede the original with the same premise or format. │ │ e.g. The.Office.S01E01 and The.Office.US.S01E01. │ │ 17.10) Different shows with the same title produced in the same country │ │ which begin in different years must have the year of the first │ │ season in the directory. │ │ 17.10.1) The year is not required for the show broadcasted first. │ │ e.g. Second.Chance.S01E01 and Second.Chance.2016.S01E01. │ │ 17.11) Different shows with the same titles produced in the same country │ │ which begin in different years must have the ISO-3166-1 alpha 2 │ │ country code followed by the year of the first season in the │ │ directory. │ │ 17.11.1) See rules 17.12 and 17.13 for country code and year │ │ explanations. │ │ e.g. Wanted.S01E01 (2005), Wanted.AU.S01E01 (2013), │ │ Wanted.AU.2016.S01E01 (2016). │ │ 17.12) Show names which are hyphenated or include punctuation must follow │ │ the format shown in the title sequence or credits of the first │ │ episode congruent to the list of acceptable characters. │ │ 17.12.1) If no title card exists, the format listed on the official │ │ website for the show must be used, followed by what is listed │ │ by the streaming service. │ │ 17.12.2) Additional titles and names given to an individual season must │ │ not be used. │ │ e.g. Archer.Vice.S05, Strike.Back.Legacy.S05. │ │ 17.13) Directory nomenclature and numbering must remain consistent │ │ across the lifetime of an individual show or event. │ │ 17.13.1) Shows which contain acronyms or secondary titles must follow the │ │ format used by the first release. │ │ e.g. Law.and.Order.SVU.S01E01 is the standard format that must │ │ be used for all following episodes, │ │ Law.and.Order.Special.Victims.Unit.S01E02 is not allowed. │ │ Shadowhunters.The.Mortal.Instruments.S01E01 is the │ │ standard format, Shadowhunters.S01E02 is not allowed. │ │ 17.13.2) Groups cannot change the directory format of a show after a │ │ second release or episode with the same format exists. │ │ e.g. 2016-01-01: Law.and.Order.SVU.S01E01 sets the format. │ │ 2016-01-08: Law.and.Order.SVU.S01E02 continues the format. │ │ 2016-01-09: Law.and.Order.Special.Victims.Unit.S01E01. │ │ DIRFIX is not valid as the second episode already exists │ │ and continues with the previously defined format. │ │ 17.13.3) Except in situations where the show has an official change in │ │ its name, whereby all official references by the broadcaster or │ │ studio is of the new name. This change must be mentioned in the │ │ first NFO with the new name with relevant references. │ │ e.g. Gold.Rush.Alaska.S01E01 changed to Gold.Rush.S02E01. │ │ 17.13.4) Official name changes for a show does not include the renaming │ │ of individual seasons. Seasonal name changes must be ignored. │ │ e.g. Power.Rangers.S01 and Power.Ranges.S07 must be used. │ │ Power.Rangers.Lost.Galaxy.S07 must not be used. │ │ Strike.Back.S03, Strike.Back.S05 must be used. │ │ Strike.Back.Vengeance.S03, Strike.Back.Legacy.S05 must │ │ not be used. │ │ 17.13.5) Any deviations or changes require sufficient evidence listed in │ │ the NFO as to the reason for change. │ │ 17.14) For shows which begin on network television and continue │ │ exclusively on a web-based service, the title or numbering of the │ │ show shall not change. │ │ 17.14.1) Except in situations where the show is not a direct continuation │ │ of the previous seasons. │ │ 17.14.2) If the show continues without any changes, the title of the show │ │ shall not change, but will follow the season and episode │ │ numbering as listed on the web-based service which purchased │ │ the show. │ │ 17.15) User contributed services such as TVRage, TVMaze, or TheTVDB must │ │ not be used as a reference when naming and numbering episodes. It │ │ may be used as a general guide; however, official guides must be │ │ used. │ │ 17.15.1) The following order must be used as the primary source for │ │ naming and numbering. │ │ 17.15.1.1) Official website of the show. │ │ 17.15.1.2) Order and format listed by the streaming service. │ │ 17.15.1.3) Network guide. │ │ │ │ 18) [ Fixes ] │ │ 18.1) Only the following fixes are allowed: │ │ DIRFIX, NFOFIX, PROOFFIX, and SAMPLEFIX. │ │ 18.2) Any other form of fix is not allowed. │ │ e.g. RARFIX, SFVFIX, SUBFIX, etc. │ │ 18.3) All fixes require an NFO and must state which release is being │ │ fixed. │ │ 18.4) A proper may not be released for an error that can be fixed with │ │ the above methods, with the exception of proof fixes, see rule │ │ 13.3.2. │ │ 18.5) If multiple releases from a single season require a DIRFIX, a single │ │ DIRFIX per season is allowed and is recommended. │ │ e.g. Show.Name.S01.DIRFIX.WEBRip.x264-GROUP. │ │ 18.5.1) If a single DIRFIX is used, all relevant releases and │ │ corresponding fixes must be listed in the NFO. │ │ │ │ 19) [ Dupes ] │ │ 19.1) Same second releases, with a maximum acceptable variance of two │ │ seconds (+/- 2 seconds) between timestamps reported by a majority │ │ of pre bots, are not considered dupes and should not be nuked. │ │ 19.1.1) Timestamps must be considered as whole integers and round half │ │ towards zero. │ │ 19.1.2) The earliest timestamp must be used when considering dupes. │ │ e.g. Release A: 1451572201.427158 -> 1451572201 │ │ Release B: 1451572203.626645 -> 1451572203 │ │ Release C: 1451572204.137665 -> 1451572204 │ │ Release B does not dupe Release A: 1451572203 - 1451572201 │ │ = 2, i.e. maximum variance allowed. │ │ Release C dupes Releases A and B: 1451572204 - 1451572201 │ │ = 3, i.e. 3 > 2. │ │ 19.1.3) In situations where a release is found to contain a technical │ │ flaw, same second dupes which do not exhibit any technical flaws │ │ must be considered the final release. Groups may release a DIRFIX │ │ to PROPER for their original release, but it is not required. │ │ e.g. Release A and Release B are released at the same time. │ │ Release A is nuked as containing glitches, Release B then │ │ becomes the de facto release and a DIRFIX to PROPER may be │ │ released. │ │ 19.2) WEBRip.x264 dupes WEB.H264/x264. │ │ 19.3) WEB.H264/x264 does not dupe WEBRip.x264. │ │ 19.4) WEB.H264/x264 and WEBRip.x264 does not dupe DSR/PDTV. │ │ 19.5) WEB.H264/x264 and WEBRip.x264 dupes an equivalent AHDTV/HDTV/Retail │ │ release. │ │ 19.5.1) SD WEB.H264/x264 and WEBRip.x264 dupes an SD AHDTV/HDTV/Retail │ │ release. │ │ 19.5.2) 720p, 1080p, 2160p WEB.H264/WEB.x264 and WEBRip.x264 dupes a │ │ respective AHDTV/HDTV/Retail release. │ │ e.g. 720p.WEB.H264 dupes 720p.HDTV.x264, 1080p.WEBRip.x264 │ │ dupes 1080p.AHDTV.x264. │ │ 1080p.WEB.H264 does not dupe 720p.BluRay.x264 if │ │ 1080p.BluRay.x264 does not exist. │ │ 19.5.3) Except in situations where the aspect ratio of a │ │ WEB.H264/x264 and WEBRip.x264 release exceeds that of its │ │ respective AHDTV/HDTV/Retail release. │ │ e.g. A 2.39:1 release will not dupe a 1.78:1 retail provided │ │ there is clearly more footage visible on-screen. Proof │ │ demonstrating this difference is recommended, but not │ │ mandatory. │ │ 19.5.4) Except in situations where a WEB.H264/x264 or WEBRip.x264 release │ │ is an uncensored or extended edit of its respective │ │ AHDTV/HDTV/Retail release. │ │ e.g. An uncensored WEB.H264 release does not dupe HDTV.x264, │ │ EXTENDED.WEBRip.x264 does not dupe BluRay.x264. │ │ 19.6) Releases with hardcoded subtitles (i.e. SUBBED) dupes releases with │ │ muxed-in subtitles. │ │ 19.7) Releases with muxed-in subtitles do not dupe releases with hardcoded │ │ subtitles. │ │ 19.8) Native video streams do not dupe converted video streams. │ │ 19.9) Converted video streams dupe native video streams. │ │ │ │ 20) [ Propers / Rerips / Repacks ] │ │ 20.1) Detailed reasons must be included in the NFO for all repacks, │ │ rerips, and propers. │ │ 20.1.1) Proper reasons must be clearly stated in the NFO, including │ │ timestamps and specifics in regards to the flaw when appropriate. │ │ A sample demonstrating the flaw in the original release is │ │ encouraged, but not mandatory. │ │ 20.2) Propers are only permitted in the case of a technical flaw in the │ │ original release. │ │ 20.3) If fixing a technical flaw requires transcoding of the file, it must │ │ follow the transcoding rules and tagged as WEBRip.x264. │ │ 20.4) Transcoded releases cannot proper any untouched files. │ │ e.g. WEBRip.x264 cannot proper WEB.H264. │ │ 20.4.1) Unless it is a transcode of a lossless stream correcting the │ │ technical flaw, see rule 1.4. │ │ 20.4.2) Unless it can be proven that all untouched sources are flawed │ │ which cannot be repaired by transcoding, but a WEBRip does not │ │ exhibit the same technical flaw(s). │ │ e.g. iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix only offer the content. Amazon │ │ and iTunes sourced files cannot be repaired by transcoding, │ │ however a Netflix WEBRip is fine. │ │ 20.5) Untouched files can proper transcoded releases for any valid │ │ technical flaw. │ │ 20.6) Audio or visual glitches can be propered with a release which does │ │ not exhibit the same flaw. │ │ 20.6.1) In situations where mastering issues results in visual or audio │ │ glitches, a release must not be nuked until a valid proper, │ │ repack, or rerip using a glitch-free source or master is │ │ released. │ │ 20.7) RERIP must be used for ripping or encoding issues. │ │ 20.8) REPACK must be used for packing or muxing issues. │ │ 20.9) Propers are only valid for releases with timestamps after the │ │ official start date of this ruleset. │ │ 20.9.1) Groups cannot proper existing releases using rules created as a │ │ result of this ruleset. │ │ e.g. If the resolution is not mod 2 or x264 revision used is │ │ older than 50 revisions at the time of pre, the release │ │ cannot be nuked. │ │ 20.9.2) With exceptions of a release containing technical flaws which │ │ would apply to any ruleset regardless of section. e.g. bad IVTC, │ │ sync issues, bad or invalid cropping, etc. │ │ │ │ 21) [ Internals ] │ │ 21.1) Internals are allowed to be released for any reason, including, but │ │ not limited to: releases containing technical flaws, use of │ │ alternate codecs, containers, or settings for experimental purposes. │ │ 21.2) Any severe technical flaws must be mentioned in the NFO. │ │ 21.3) Internal releases may only be nuked for technical flaws that are not │ │ mentioned in the NFO. │ │ 21.3.1) In situations where technical flaws are not mentioned in the NFO, │ │ groups may provide an NFOFIX to avoid or reverse a nuke. │ │ 21.4) Using DIRFIX.INTERNAL to avoid a nuke is not allowed, and must be │ │ nuked fix.for.nuke. │ │ │ │ 22) [ Ruleset Specifics ] │ │ 22.1) This ruleset is to be considered the ONLY official ruleset in │ │ regards to WEB and WEBRip releases. It supersedes all previous │ │ rules and precedents derived from existing TV and Retail rules in │ │ regards to WEB sources. │ │ 22.2) Rules listed under untouched or transcoded labelled sections only │ │ apply to releases of that type and supersede any similar rule │ │ mentioned elsewhere. │ │ e.g. Rule 6.1 defines SD as resolutions with a maximum horizontal │ │ display of 720 pixels, unless the release is considered │ │ untouched, in which case rule 1.6 applies. │ │ 22.3) If there is a question as to the validity of a source used, the │ │ release may be nuked within 24 hours of pre requesting a source │ │ sample and must include the initial suspicion or reason. │ │ e.g. source.sample.requested_suspicion.of.invalid.decimation. │ │ 22.3.1) The group has 24 hours from the first nuke to pre a source │ │ sample that is at least 10 seconds in length. │ │ 22.3.2) Source samples must be packed with RAR files, and use the │ │ SOURCE.SAMPLE tag. │ │ 22.3.3) Providing insufficient proof to disprove any claims, or a │ │ failure to provide any source proof, and the release must remain │ │ nuked and can be propered. │ │ 22.4) The following definition of keywords throughout this ruleset are as │ │ follows: │ │ 22.4.1) Must: the rule is explicit in the definition and is compulsory. │ │ 22.4.2) Should: implies the rule is a suggestion, and is non-compulsory. │ │ 22.4.3) Can or may: implies the rule is optional, and is non-compulsory. │ │ │ │ 23) [ Notes ] │ │ 23.1) Proof is only enforced for iTunes as all other sources require │ │ various unofficial (backdoor) methods of downloading. Creating a │ │ fake GUI showing an active download is not difficult, which could │ │ result in proof being fabricated. As such, it is pointless to │ │ require proof for anything but iTunes, where streams can only be │ │ downloaded by a single method. │ │ 23.1.1) This includes web stores or shops which provide video files via a │ │ regular HTTP download. Policing or moderating these methods would │ │ be implausible for a single ruleset. Providing screenshots of a │ │ download in progress from a website does not prove the file was │ │ obtained from an official source. │ │ 23.2) The burden of proving P2P source material is on the propering group │ │ or nuker. │ │ 23.3) The inclusion of 2-pass in this ruleset should not be misconstrued │ │ as preferring it for every release, CRF must always be considered │ │ the primary method. Instead, it is encouraged for groups to use │ │ 2-pass methods for rare cases when files provided are of extreme │ │ high quality. │ │ 23.3.1) Video which contains an excessive amount of noise may often │ │ result in an unnecessary large bitrate. In such situations, │ │ using a smaller bitrate using 2-pass can result in a file size │ │ improvement with negligible loss in video quality. │ │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ [ Signed ] │ │ │ │ 2HD AEROHOLiCS ALTEREGO AZR AMB3R ANiHLS ANiURL BARGE BATV BiQ C4TV │ │ CHAMPiONS DEADPOOL DEFEATER DEFLATE DRAWER FADE FaiLED FiHTV FQM │ │ GORE HatchetGear iBlade KOENiG KYR Ltu NTROPiC QCF REGRET RiVER RPTV │ │ SH0W SiGeRiS SKGTV spamTV TASTETV TiMELiNE WaLMaRT W4F WNN ZOMBiE │ │ │ │ [ Refused to sign ] │ │ │ │ CBFM │ │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ [ Revisions ] │ │ 2016-03-16 - ecb63c67 - Final commit and public release of ruleset. │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘