xREL.v3

The 720p x264 TV Releasing Standards 2011 Update 2

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 ]

Compliance with this document is optional as of its pre date, and
mandatory as of 2011-08-15 00:00 UTC.

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.
- Sources that sideconvert 1080i to 720p (such as BellTV) are banned
- If there is a question as to the validity of a source, the release
may be nuked source.sample.requested_<reason.for.nuke> (e.g.
source.sample.requested_suspicion.of.analog.source) within 24 hours of
pre. The group has 24 hours from the nuke to pre a RARed SOURCE.SAMPLE
that is at least 10 seconds in length in order to document that the
source is valid. Failure to provide source proof or providing bad
source proof shall result in the release remaining nuked, and it may
then be propered.
- 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 are banned
- Intros, outros, betweenos, or any other form of defacement of the
episode are banned
- Upconverted  sources must not be done as 720p.x264. See notes regarding
HR.PDTV.x264.
- "Native" refers to the standard in which the video was produced (e.g.
NTSC or PAL). NTSC produced video is native to NTSC, PAL produced video
is native to PAL. PAL produced video that is broadcast in NTSC is
converted. NTSC produced video that is broadcast in PAL is converted.
- Converted video that has significant artifacting (e.g. blended frames)
and cannot be reversed to native must use CONVERT tag
- Converted video that does not have significant artifacts does not need
convert tags and may not be nuked for the conversion
- Native releases are allowed after those tagged CONVERT. Use NATIVE tag.

Audio:
- Must be original source audio, AC3 if available. Transcoding audio that
is already in a consumer-grade format (AAC, AC3, MP2, etc.) is banned.
Minor adjustments to audio (channel count, adding/removing frames) in
order to prevent issues with playback or sync are permitted.
- Dupes  based  on audio format are forbidden and must be tagged INTERNAL
- Multiple language audio tracks are allowed and must be listed in NFO
- Dupes are not allowed based on multiple audio tracks
- Severe audio drops resulting in one full missing word or otherwise the
inability to  understand material dialogue is considered to be a
technical flaw 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 may be released at 50/60fps or 25/30fps. Releasing true
25/30fps video at 50/60 is considered a technical flaw.
- In rare cases, 25/50Hz sources should be IVTC'd to 24 or 30 fps.
- In rare cases, 30/60Hz sources should be IVTC'd to 25fps.
Failure to apply IVTC when needed is a technical flaw.

Codec/Container:
- Must be x264 (8-bit depth).
- Must use Matroska (.mkv) for container
- You will have 30 days from latest  x264  rev date to update in order to
maintain all bug fixes and improvements in the x264 codec
- 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 Matrices are allowed
- Encoded colorspace must be 4:2:0.
- Deblocking  must  be  used;  values are at the discretion of the group.
(default is enabled, 0:0 settings)
- Sample Aspect Ratio (--sar) must be square (1:1).
- No setting can go below what is specified by --preset slow.
- 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).
- Minkeyint must be 30 or less
- Constant Rate Factor (--crf) must be as follows:

Compressibility    CRF    General Examples

High              18-19   Scripted, Talk Shows, Poker, Animation
Medium            20-21   Documentary, Reality, Variety
Low               22-23   Sports, Awards, Live Events, Competitive-
Reality

- x264 parameters shall not vary within a release
- Zones (--zones) are forbidden.
- Any deviation in CRF from given examples must be specifically justified
in the NFO. Use discretion when deviating CRF by matching the
compressibility of the show to a corresponding CRF value. CRF values
below 18 and above 23 are never permitted.
- As a general suggestion, average video bitrate in excess of 5000kb/s
is a sign that a higher CRF value should be chosen, when possible
- Allowed parameters for --tune (optional) are film/grain/animation
- Level 4.1 must be respected.
- Suggested command line:
x264.exe --crf ## --preset slow --level 4.1 -o out.mkv in.avs

Resolution:
- 1080i/p sources must be cropped as needed and resized to fit within
1280x720 with width=1280 and/or height=720. Never upscale, never add
borders. Resolution must be mod2.
- 720p sources may optionally be cropped to the nearest mod2, or may be
left at mod16
- When cropping, remove everything that is not actual picture, including
black or other colored borders, duplicate lines, and full-time tickers.
Removing or retaining fading edges is at capper's discretion and shall
not be considered undercropped or overcropped.
- In the case of varying crops, crop to the most common frame size (e.g.
pitch/primary view in sports).
- Actual picture area may be over- or under-cropped by 1px maximum per
side. More than 1px on any side is considered a technical flaw.
- 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
- 720p sources shall never be resized

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
- Subtitles cannot be used as a basis for a dupe
- Group marks in subtitles are banned

Packaging:
- Releases must be packed in RAR file format.
- Rars must be in multiples of 50 MB, no more than 101 files (.rar-.r99)
if using old-style naming, or 99 (.part01.rar-.part99.rar) if using
new-style naming. 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, lowercase filenames with
the group tag.
- Missing SFV or RAR(s) on all sites is considered a technical flaw.
Corrupt RARs (errors on extraction) are considered technical flaws.
SFVFix and RARFix are not permitted. Uploading a missing SFV or RAR to
all presites after pre is not permitted. Release REPACK.

Credits/Previously On:
- Previously on footage is optional, but suggested to be included
- Full end credits must be included if they contain show content or
outtakes/bloopers. End credits are optional and suggested if they are
clean, and purely optional in other cases.

Samples:
- REQUIRED!
- 50-70 seconds in 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.)
- Scrolling or other alert messages added by a station (e.g. weather,
Amber alerts) must be at least 30 seconds in length in order to
nuke/proper
- Drops with missing footage but no missing dialog must be at least 2
seconds long in any one instance to be considered a technical flaw
- 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 goes into effect

Internals:
- Internals are allowed to be pred for any reason, including releases
with technical flaws or those done with alternate codecs, containers,
or settings for experimental purposes
- Any severe technical flaws or deviations must be mentioned in the NFO
- With the exception of the following rule, internal releases may only be
nuked for severe technical flaws or deviations that are not mentioned
in the NFO
- Using  DIRFIX.iNTERNAL to avoid a dupe nuke is banned, and such
dirfixes shall be nuked fix.for.nuke

Directory Naming:
- Show.Name.SXXEXX.Episode.Title.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP
- Show.Name.YYYY.MM.DD.Guest.Name.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for daily or other
dated shows
- Episode title and guest name are optional
- Show.Name.PartXX.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP for miniseries
- ALL others are FORBIDDEN. (e.g 0x00 000 EXX.EP.TITLE PART.VI)
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).
If there is no league, the sport needs to be used instead
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
- Tennis.US.Open.2011.Final.Player1.vs.Player2.720p.HDTV.x264-GROUP
- Different  shows  that have the same title in different countries (e.g.
The Marriage Ref) must have the ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 country code in the
directory name, except for UK shows (e.g. The.Marriage.Ref.UK not
The.Marriage.Ref.GB). ISO country code is not needed for the original
show (e.g. The.Marriage.Ref.US is forbidden).
- Different shows with the same name in the same country 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. Year is not needed
for the first show with a particular name.
- Channel name (e.g. National.Geographic, History.Channel) shall not be
tagged on any normal series starting after this ruleset's effective
date. Miniseries and single-episode docus may optionally be tagged with
the channel name.
- The use of audio format tags such as AAC, AC3, and AC3.x.x is FORBIDDEN
- READ.NFO tag 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.
- All repacks must include detailed reason as to why it's being repacked
in the nfo
- Other  permitted  tags are: PROPER, REPACK, RERIP, REAL, UNCUT, DUBBED,
SUBBED, iNTERNAL, OAR, PPV, CONVERT, NATiVE
- 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
- Releases may not be propered for bad tagging or missing nfo/sample

Fixes:
- The  following  fixes are  allowed: NFOFix, SampleFix, DirFix, SyncFix,
ProofFix
- DirFix requires NFO and NFO must state which release is being fixed
- 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. Windowboxed (with large black bars on all
sides) content lacks sufficient source resolution to warrant releasing
in HR format and is therefore banned.
- Video shall be cropped and resized to fit within 960x544 following
standard crop and resize rules listed above
- Directory tags shall be HR.PDTV.x264 for 4:3 shows, and HR.WS.PDTV.x264
for 16:9 shows
- All other standard rules apply

The 720p x264 TV Releasing Standards 2011 (2011-08-07)

[ GROUPS ]

TVx2642011 rules created by the following groups:

187HD 2HD aAF BAJSKORV BiA C4TV DAH DiCH DHD
DIMENSION DiVERGE FTP GNARLY IMMERSE KYR
LOCATiON LMAO MiNDTHEGAP MiRAGETV MOMENTUM
NGCHD ORENJI PREMiER RIVER SFM SiTV SYS W4F
xD2V YesTV

Dedicated to Spatula (RIP 2010-11-22) who made the first ever scene TV-x264
release: The.Unit.S01E04.HD720p.x264-MiRAGETV.

Thanks  to   the   x264+matroska   developers   for   their
\  assistance in determining the best mix of  encode settings.  /