CAM -

A cam is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this won’t be possible, so the camera may shake. Also seating placement isn’t always idle, and it might be filmed from an angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there’s text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we’re lucky, and the theater will be’ fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.

TELESYNC (TS) -

A telesync is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically, check the sample before downloading the full release. A high percentage of Telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.

TELECINE (TC) -

A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. TC should not be confused with TimeCode , which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film.

SCREENER (SCR) -

A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a 4:3 (full screen) a/r, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a “ticker” (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any s*rial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder through poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others.

DVD-SCREENER (DVDscr) -

Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD.

DVDRip -

A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail. again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.

Retail DVD -

DVD's that are available in shops.

VHSRip -

Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly skating/sports videos and XXX releases.

TV-Rips/Episodes -

·  Preair/VCD

These are the first releases usually available on a TV show since they are encoded while the program airs, unlike the other release formats. Sometimes they are even from the feed to local stations and therefore available before it airs on tv.

The quality of these releases vary, but are generally pretty low since it is VCD, and widescreen shows (that includes the black lines, so it doesn’t leave many lines for the actual video). The only advantage to this format is that it is available fast and it plays on all the standalone dvd players but if you have something that supports xvid go for one of the formats below if possible.

·  TVRip

Postair rips from an analogue source but the image quality is generally very good and they are encoded in xvid.

·  DVB (Digital Video Broadcast):

The standard for direct broadcast television in Europe and the US Based on MPEG2 Compression.

·  DSRip (Digital Satellite)

Recorded from Digital Satellite, quality is similar to PDTV. Encoded in XviD.

·  HDTV (High Definition TV)

Digital recording from a source stream at either 1080i or 720p at a bitrate from 19,39mbps or higher.

·  PDTV (Pure Digital TV)

Other resolution digital recordings from source streams at a bitrate of 10+mbps or higher. It is a label given to files that were ripped directly from a purely digital source, having less resolution than HDTV. This is accomplished by using a TV tuner card capable of receiving Digital Video Broadcasts or C-Band. Encoded in XviD.

·  SDTV (Standard Digital Television)

Digital recording or capture from a source stream at any resolution with bitrate under 10mbps.This includes DirecTiVo but also captures from digisat or digicable with analog capture cards.

·  PPV (Pay Per View television):

Pay television programming for which viewers pay a separate fee for each program ordered.

WORKPRINT (WP) -

A workprint is a copy of the film that has not yet been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WP’s are very different from the final print (’Men In Black’ in it’s time for example was missing all the aliens, and had actors in their places (kinda funny though!)) and others can contain extra scenes. WP’s can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained.

DivX Re-Enc -

A DivX re-enc is a film that has been taken from its original VCD source, and re-encoded into a small DivX file. Most commonly found on file sharers, these are usually labeled something like Film.Name.Group(1of2) etc. Common groups are SMR and TND. These aren’t really worth downloading, unless you’re that unsure about a film u only want a 200mb copy of it. Generally avoid.

Watermarks -

A lot of films come from Asian Silvers/PDVD (see below) and these are tagged by the people responsible. Usually with a letter/initials or a little logo, generally in one of the corners. Most famous are/were the “Z” “A” and “Globe” watermarks.

Asian Silvers / PDVD -

These are films put out by eastern bootleggers, and these are usually bought by some groups to put out as their own. Silvers are very cheap and easy to come by in a lot of countries, and its easy to put out a release, which is why there are so many on the scene at the moment, mainly from smaller groups who don’t last more than a few releases. PDVDs are the same thing pressed onto a DVD. They have removable subtitles, and the quality is usually better than the silvers. These are ripped like a normal DVD, but usually released as VCD.

FORMATS

VCD (Video CD) -

VCD is an mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352x240 (NTCS). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74.

SVCD (Super Video CD) -

SVCD is an mpeg2 based (same as DVD) which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480x480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. To get a better SVCD encode using variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple "passes". this takes a lot longer, but the results are far clearer.

XVCD/XSVCD -

These are basically VCD/SVCD that don't obey the "rules". They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on the player to whether the disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-ripping by people who don't intend to release them.

DivX / XviD (Digital Video Express) -

DivX is a format designed for multimedia platforms. It uses two codecs, one low motion, one high motion. most older films were encoded in low motion only, and they have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at the encoding stage, making a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and the bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. Due to the higher processing power required, and the different codecs for playback, its unlikely we'll see a DVD player capable of play DivX for quite a while, if at all. There have been players in development which are supposedly capable, but nothing has ever arisen. The majority of PROPER DivX rips (not Re-Encs) are taken from DVDs, and generally up to 2hours in good quality is possible per disc. Various codecs exist, most popular being the original Divx3.11a and the new XviD codecs.

CVD -

CVD is a combination of VCD and SVCD formats, and is generally supported by a majority of DVD players. It supports MPEG2 bit-rates of SVCD, but uses a resolution of 352x480(ntsc) as the horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.

DVD-R -

Is the recordable DVD solution that seems to be the most popular (out of DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+R). it holds 4.7gb of data per side, and double sided discs are available, so discs can hold nearly 10gb in some circumstances. SVCD mpeg2 images must be converted before they can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. DVD>DVDR copies are possible, but sometimes extras/languages have to be removed to stick within the available 4.7gb.

MiniDVD -

MiniDVD/cDVD is the same format as DVD but on a standard CDR/CDRW. Because of the high resolution/bit-rates, its only possible to fit about 18-21 mins of footage per disc, and the format is only compatible with a few players.

MISCELLANEOUS INFO -

NTSC/PAL -

PAL and NTSC are two different video standards, the former being European, and the latter being American. NTSC has a higher frame rate than pal (29fps compared to 25fps) but PAL has an increased resolution and generally gives sharper picture.

MP3 Releases -

·  Radio: Audio from radio material

·  WEB: Audio downloaded from an online music store

·  VLS: Vinyl Single (1-2 tracks)

·  EP: Vinyl Maxi-single (2-5 tracks)

·  LP: Vinyl Full-length Album

·  CDS: CD Single (1-2 tracks)

·  CDM: CD Maxi-single (2-5 tracks)

·  CDR: CD-Recordable (CD-R)

·  DVD: Audio from a DVD. Often cabaret shows or concert/music dvd's.

·  DVDA: Audio tracks which come on a DVD as a bonus. The DVDA part can't be played by normal DVD players.

·  MD: Audio from a MiniDisk

·  TAPE: Music from a tape

·  Promo: Promotional

·  XX: Imported

·  RETAiL: Retail

·  Liveset: A record of a DJ mixing live. Mostly recorded using:
- DAB: Digital Audio Broadcasting is a system used to broadcast radio programmes.
- SAT: Music broadcasted via satellite channels.
- CABLE: Music broadcasted by radio channels via cable radio.

·  Bootleg: Illegally recorded and pressed record. Often live recordings, sometimes studio out-takes. The name comes from people who hid a microphone in their boots.

·  Labelcode/Catnumber:This is a code which is like a unique code for every music cd/vinyl/etc. The code isn't just some number, but it contains values which are recognisable. For example: Catnumber: WNRD2371 is a cd from WieNerwoRlD Ltd.

·  Clean: The music is censored. Generally sexual or violent words, which are replaced by 'bleeps' or stripped.

·  Explicit: The music is not censored.

Software -

·  AIO: AIO stands for All-In-One, meaning an all-in-one software pack. For example: Microsoft Office, which contains Word, Frontpage, Publisher, Access etc.

·  RTM: RTM means Release To Manufacturing. This release is leaked before it's available in stores. A RTM version of a software title is the final retail version, the one that you will be seeing in stores.

·  VLM: VLM stands for Volume License Key. This means that the cracked application is already licensed, and therefore doesn't require an activation after installation.

·  Crack Type: For example crack or keygen.

·  Machine: On what machine is it compatible, such as Nokia phones, PDA etc.

·  OS: With which operation system is it compatible. For example Windows, Mac etc.

PlayStation -

·  PS2: A copy of a Playstation 2 game released to CD.

·  PS2DVD: A copy of a Playstation 2 game released to DVD.

·  MULTi3 / MULTi4 / MULTi5 etc: This means the release contains multiple languages. The number at the end indicated the number of languages.

PlayStation Portable -

·  UMDRip: This applies only to Playstation Portable (PSP) games, and it means that some stuff was ripped from the original game because it was not required or was ripped to save space. For example languages or movie files.

·  UMDMovie: The Playstation Portable (PSP) is also capable of playing movies. Though a PSP can't playback DVD's or CD's, only UMD discs. So movies for the PSP get released on UMD discs.

·  PSXPSP: This is a PSX (Playstation 1) game playable on a PSP (Playstation Portable) using custom PSP firmware.

·  USA, JAP, EUR: Especially PSP releases, but also other console releases, are sometimes tagged as USA, JAP and EUR. These are alternative regions, and they replace PAL and NTSC. USA are off course the United States of America, JAP is Japan and EUR is Europe.

·  256MS, 512MS, 1GB and 2GB: These tags only apply to PSP releases, and they show the required size of an UMD disc. UMD discs can contain up to 2 gigabytes. When a game is 100mb it fits on every UMD disc, but when a game is 900mb it will only fit on 1GB and higher UMD discs.

RELEASE FILES -

RARset

The movies are all supplied in RAR form, whether its v2 (rar>.rxx) or v3 (part01.rar > partxx.rar) form.

BIN/CUE

VCD and SVCD films will extract to give a BIN/CUE. Load the .CUE into notepad and make sure the first line contains only a filename, and no path information. Then load the cue into Nero/CDRWin etc and this will burn the VCD/SVCD correctly. TV rips are released as MPEG. DivX files are just the plain DivX - .AVI

NFO

An NFO file is supplied with each movie to promote the group, and give general iNFOrmation about the release, such as format, source, size, and any notes that may be of use. They are also used to recruit members and acquire hardware for the group.

SFV

Also supplied for each disc is an SFV file. These are mainly used on site level to check each file has been uploaded correctly, but are also handy for people downloading to check they have all the files, and the CRC is correct. A program such as pdSFV or hkSFV is required to use these files.

SCENE TAGS…

PROPER -

The proper tag is to indicate that the show has been released before by a different release group, but that this release is of higher quality, or fixes certain flaws in the previous release (such as out of sync issues.) A reason for the PROPER should always be included in the NFO. When a group 'propers' a PROPER, it is tagged as REAL.PROPER.

LIMITED -

A limited movie means it has had a limited theater run, generally opening in less than 250 theaters, generally smaller films (such as art house films) are released as limited.

INTERNAL -

An internal release is done for several reasons. Classic DVD groups do a lot of INTERNAL releases, as they wont be dupe’d on it. Also lower quality theater rips are done INTERNAL so not to lower the reputation of the group, or due to the amount of rips done already. An INTERNAL release is available as normal on the groups affiliate sites, but they can’t be traded to other sites without request from the site ops. Some INTERNAL releases still trickle down to IRC/Newsgroups, it usually depends on the title and the popularity. Some years ago people referred to Centropy going “internal”. This meant the group was only releasing the movies to their members and site ops. This is in a different context to the usual definition.

STV -

Stands for straight-to-video (also known as made-for-video, direct-to-video, or straight-to-DVD). A film that is released straight-to-video is one which has been released to the public on home video formats before or without being released in movie theaters or broadcast on television. Most sites do not allow this.

FESTiVAL -

This is a variation of STV/LiMiTED. A FESTiVAL is a movie which hasn't been shown in a public theater, but has been shown on a film festival (such as Cannes Film Festival).

SE (Special Edition) -

Like the name suggests, it is a special DVD edition of a movie. Often special editions contain extra material like deleted scenes, interviews, or a making-of.

DC (Director's Cut) -

A director's cut is a specially edited version of a movie that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit of the movie. It is often released some time after the original release of the film, where the original release was released in a version different from the director's approved edit.

DL (Dual Language) -

Contains more than one language. Synonym: ML.

FS / WS (A.K.A. Aspect Ratio Tags -

FS stands for FullScreen and WS stands for WideScreen (letterbox).

LANGUAGE CODES -

The language of the movie and the language of the subtitles can also be mentioned in the release name. Sometimes the language is fully mentioned in the release name, such as DUTCH, NORDiC, GERMAN and iTALiAN. Sometimes it's shortened, then the ISO standard country abbreviations are used. These are the same as the abbreviations which are used for www-domains, for example: NL (Dutch), NO (Nordic), DE (Germany), IT (Italian). For the full list of country abbreviations, click here. When there are multiple languages or subtitles, MULTi or MULTiSUBS is mentioned. In general, when the language is fully mentioned in the releasename, this is the movie language. The abbrivation usually means the subtitle(s). So DUTCH will mean that the language is Dutch, and NL will mean that the menu/subtitle is Dutch.

EXTENDED -

Sometimes movies are released again on DVD because now the movie is extended. They have put back deleted scenes. For example, E.T. was produced first in 1982 and years later it was brought on DVD again, but now digitally remastered and extended.

DIGITALLY REMASTERED -

Digitally remastered means that an older, not-digital movie has been re-edited, remastered and is released on DVD. Some really old movies look very bad compared to the new digital movies. When remastered, they make it look better by editing and recoloring the video, etc. Remastering generally implies some sort of upgrade to a previous existing product, frequently designed to encourage people to buy a new version of something they already own.

RATED/UNRATED -

Rated means a movie is censored, unrated logically means uncensored. The unrated usually features more footage then a rated version, it could range from mere seconds to a few minutes.

RECODE -

A recode is a previously released version of a movie, usually filtered through TMPGenc to remove subtitles, fix color etc. Whilst they can look better, its not looked upon highly as groups are expected to obtain their own sources.

R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 (A.K.A. Region Code) -

A dvd is released in a certain geographical area, or region and it's not viewable on a dvd player outside of that region. This was designed to stop people buying American dvd's and watching them earlier in other countries, or for older films where world distribution is handled by different companies.
The regions are:
Region 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5 - Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
Region 6 - Peoples Republic of China

REPACK -

If a group releases a bad rip, they can release a REPACK. A REPACK is a fixed version of the original release. It's similar to PROPER but done by the same group. Note that a Repack is different from a fix. A fix will repair the original release whereas a repack is a new release.

RERIP -

A previous rip was bad, now it's ripped again properly. Similar to REPACK.

SUBBED -

If a release is tagged SUBBED, it usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burned throughout the rip.

UNSUBBED -

When something has been release subbed before, an unsubbed release may be released.

CUSTOM.SUBBED -

A release can also be custom subbed. Movies often are released earlier in the USA than in Europe. These movies mostly contain a few subtitles, the ones that are spoken in the USA. European groups can create custom subtitles and add these to the dvd(rip). For example, when Dutch subtitles were added to a NTSC DVDr: Madagascar.2005.Custom.NL.Subbed.NTSC.DVDr-Group. Off course, it's not just European, Japanese movies can also be subbed english for example.

DUBBED -

If a film is dubbed, it is a special version where the actors' voices are in another language. Dubbed versions of English-language films are for people who don't understand English very well. In some countries, dubbing is very common, for example Germany.

READNFO -

When something important is mentioned in the NFO, or as a replacement for the PROPER tag, READNFO can be added to the release name.

DUPE -

Dupe is quite simple, if something exists already, then theres no reason for it to exist again without proper reason.

NUKED -

A film can be nuked for various reasons. Individual sites will nuke for breaking their rules (such as “No Telesyncs”) but if the film has something extremely wrong with it (no soundtrack for 20mins, CD2 is incorrect film/game etc) then a global nuke will occur, and people trading it across sites will lose their credits. Nuked films can still reach other sources such as p2p/usenet, but its a good idea to check why it was nuked in the first place. If there’s something wrong with a group release, they can request a nuke.

NUKE REASONS - this is a list of common reasons a film can be nuked for

·  BAD A/R = bad aspect ratio, i.e people appear too fat/thin

·  BAD IVTC = bad inverse telecine. Process of converting framerates was incorrect.

·  INTERLACED = black lines on movement as the field order is incorrect.

·  OUT OF SYNC = video and audio do not synchronize.