tvx2642k8.nfo
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│ │
│ The 720p x264 TV Releasing Standards 2008 │
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│ Requirements: Notepad with terminal font or any other ascii viewer. │
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│ └───[ INTRO ]───┘ │
│ │
│ Well, the 2007 rules did a pretty decent job of getting us here, but given │
│ the advances over the last year, it's time again to get together and bring │
│ better quality to the scene. │
│ │
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┌───────┴┴─────────────────┬───────────────────────┬─────────────────┴┴───────┐
│ └───[ RELEASE RULES ]───┘ │
│ │
│ This document takes effect starting with shows airing 2008-04-20. │
│ │
│ Episode Sizing: │
│ - 12:15 - 16:30 = 373MB │
│ - 16:30 - 24:45 = 559MB │
│ - 24:45 - 33:00 = 746MB │
│ - 33:00 - 49:45 = 1119MB │
│ - 49:45 - 66:15 = 1493MB │
│ - 66:15 - 99:30 = 2239MB │
│ - Other runtimes should be scaled to keep a minimum video bitrate of │
│ 2700kbit/s at a multiple of 559 or 746MB. │
│ - Releases must be no more than 2MB undersized and must be no more than │
│ the even division of a 4479MB DVDR. For example, a 44:00 release must │
│ be no more than 4479 * 1/4 = 1119.75 MB, and a 25:00 release must be │
│ no more than 4479 * 1/6 = 746.5 MB. │
│ │
│ │
│ Audio: │
│ - Must be original source audio, AC3 if available │
│ - Re-encoding/transcoding audio is forbidden │
│ - Dupes based on audio format are forbidden and should be tagged INTERNAL │
│ - Sources with clipping audio will be considered a nuke │
│ - Multi-language audio tracks are allowed. Multiple languages must be │
│ muxed into the MKV. These languages must be identified in the container │
│ when muxing. │
│ - 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 │
│ │
│ │
│ Video: │
│ - 720p sources are not to be resized. In the event of imperfections │
│ lasting the majority of the episode, the release shall be cropped with │
│ borders added to retain 1280x720 resolution │
│ - 50/60fps 720p video such as sports must be dropped to 25/30fps │
│ - 1080i/p sources are to be cropped and resized using sharp resizers such │
│ as Lanczos/Lanczos4, Spline36, or Blackman. Bicubic is banned. │
│ - 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 LeakKernelDeint. 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. │
│ │
│ │
│ Framerate: │
│ - IVTC or deinterlacing must be applied as needed │
│ - In rare cases PAL shows should be IVTC'd to 24fps. Therefore using a │
│ PAL source is not an excuse for lack of IVTC. │
│ │
│ │
│ Codec/Container: │
│ - Must be x264 │
│ - Must use Matroska (.mkv) for container │
│ - Stripping or falsifying encode information in the file header is banned │
│ - Must be High Profile (MeGUI requires this to select some options) │
│ - Custom Matrices are allowed │
│ - Must be minimum 2 passes. The final pass must be done as one continuous │
│ encode spanning the entire episode, i.e. may not be segmented. │
│ - Deblocking must be used; values are at the discretion of the group but │
│ must be the same between passes (default is enabled, 0:0 settings) │
│ - Adaptive quantization must be used (enabled by default in builds >= │
│ 805 from x264.nl) │
│ - Chroma M.E. must be used (enabled by default) │
│ - M.E. Algorithm (--me) must be Hexagon (hex) or better │
│ - Subpixel refinement (--subme) must be 6 or 7 │
│ - 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). │
│ - Min GOP Size (--min-keyint) must be at least 20 and at most 30. It is │
│ recommended to be equal to the framerate (film=24, PAL=25, NTSC=30). │
│ - Trellis (--trellis) must be 1 or higher │
│ - Number of Reference Frames (--ref) must be 3 or higher │
│ - CABAC must be used (enabled by default) │
│ - Macroblock options (--partitions) must be default │
│ ("p8x8,b8x8,i8x8,i4x4") or higher ("all") │
│ - Adaptive DCT (--8x8dct) must be used │
│ - Number of B-frames (--bframes) must be 3 or higher and must be the same │
│ in both passes │
│ - Adaptive B-Frames must be used (enabled by default) │
│ - B-Pyramid (--b-pyramid) must be used in both passes │
│ - Weighted B-Prediction (--weightb) must be used │
│ - Bidirectional M.E. (--bime) must be used │
│ - B Frame mode (--direct) must be set to Spatial (default) or Auto and │
│ must be the same for both passes │
│ - Suggested command lines: │
│ x264.exe --pass 1 --bitrate #### --stats "some.stats" --threads auto │
│ --keyint 240 --min-keyint 24 --bframes 3 --b-pyramid --me dia --subme 1 │
│ --partitions none --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output NUL │
│ "some.avs" │
│ │
│ x264.exe --pass 2 --bitrate #### --stats "some.stats" --threads auto │
│ --keyint 240 --min-keyint 24 --ref 3 --bframes 3 --b-pyramid --bime │
│ --weightb --subme 6 --trellis 1 --8x8dct --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim │
│ --output "some.mkv" "some.avs" │
│ │
│ │
│ Resolution: │
│ - 1280 x 720 │
│ │
│ │
│ Subs: │
│ - Optional │
│ - VOBSUB is the preferred format │
│ - 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 │
│ - Release muxed with subs must still adhere to the filesizes listed above │
│ - Multi-language subtitles cannot be used as a basis for a dupe │
│ │
│ │
│ Packaging: │
│ - All releases must be MKV │
│ - Releases must be packed with RAR and broken into 50,000,000 byte RARs; │
│ 100MB RARs are allowed for releases 2200MB and larger. │
│ - Multi-episode releases should not be split │
│ - Compression must not be used │
│ - Recovery and MD5 record are optional │
│ - Encryption or password protection is forbidden │
│ - Must have SFV and NFO │
│ │
│ │
│ Credits/Previously On: │
│ - Not required. Ripper's discretion. │
│ │
│ │
│ Samples: │
│ - REQUIRED! │
│ - Roughly sixty seconds length and in a separate folder marked as Sample │
│ - Must be taken from the episode - not encoded separately │
│ - Stream samples are recommended for any questionable issue with the │
│ source, e.g. no IVTC possible, 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.) │
│ - Sample of propered release is encouraged │
│ - Proper reason must be stated in nfo │
│ - Qualitative propers are not allowed │
│ - Propers based upon the rules set forth here are allowed only on │
│ releases that come after this document is made public │
│ │
│ │
│ Directory Naming: │
│ - Show.Name.SXXEXX.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for normal series │
│ - Show.Name.YYYY-MM-DD.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for sports/daily shows │
│ - Show.Name.PartXX.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for miniseries │
│ - ALL others are FORBIDDEN. (e.g 0x00 000 EXX.EP.TITLE) │
│ - 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 │
│ - Acceptable characters in naming a directory include (NO spaces or │
│ double dots - single dots ONLY): │
│ │
│ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ │
│ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz │
│ 0123456789._- │
│ │
│ │
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┌───────┴┴───────────────┬────────────────────────────┬──────────────┴┴───────┐
│ └───[ NOTES TO THE RULES ]───┘ │
│ │
│ HR.PDTV.x264: │
│ - HR PDTV x264 encodes are allowed for shows airing on an HD channel but │
│ that do not air in HDTV │
│ - 4:3 resolution is 720x544, 16:9 resolution is 960x544 │
│ - 16:9 shows must fill the screen on the source broadcast. Widescreen │
│ shows letterboxed within a 4:3 frame within a 16:9 frame (aka │
│ windowboxing or postage stamp) lack sufficient source resolution to │
│ warrant releasing in an HR format. │
│ - Releases must be cropped and resized as necessary │
│ - Sizing is as follows: │
│ Animation │
│ 12:15 - 16:30 = 139MB │
│ 16:30 - 24:45 = 186MB │
│ 24:45 - 33:00 = 279MB │
│ 33:00 - 49:45 = 373MB │
│ 49:45 - 66:15 = 559MB │
│ 66:15 - 99:30 = 746MB │
│ Live action │
│ 12:15 - 16:30 = 186MB │
│ 16:30 - 24:45 = 279MB │
│ 24:45 - 33:00 = 373MB │
│ 33:00 - 49:45 = 559MB │
│ 49:45 - 66:15 = 746MB │
│ 66:15 - 99:30 = 1119MB │
│ - All other standard rules apply │
│ │
│ │
│ Internals: │
│ - All INTERNALS must follow TVx2642k8 rules apart from the time length │
│ rules │
│ - NOTE: INTERNAL dirfix is allowed as a basis of avoiding a nuke │
│ │
│ │
└───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘
┌───────┴┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┴───────┐
│ The 720p x264 TV Releasing Standards 2008 (2008-04-17) │
│ │
└───────┬┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬┬───────┘
┌───────┴┴───────────────┬──────────────────────────┬────────────────┴┴───────┐
│ └--------[ GROUPS ]--------┘ │
│ │
│ TVx2642k8 rules created by the following groups: │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ 2HD aAF BiA CTU DHD E7 GOTHiC KuDoS │
│ MirageTV ORENJi PiX TERRA YesTV │
│ │
└──┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──┘
└----\ Thanks to the x264 developers for their assistance in /----┘
└----\ determining the best mix of encode settings. /----┘
└----\ Edited By n 2008. Respect goes to all x264 teams. /----┘