All About Movie Tags (what Is A Dvdrip, Cam Etc.)

Original Sources

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 wont be possible, so the camera

make 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. A great

example is the JURASSIC PARK 3 TC done last year. 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 serial 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 thru 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 (for example, Star Wars

episode 2) again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips

are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.



VHSRip -Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly

skating/sports videos and XXX releases.



TVRip -TV episode that is either from Network (capped

using digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or

PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sending the program around

to networks a few days earlier (do not contain "dogs"

but sometimes have flickers etc) Some programs such as

WWF Raw Is War contain extra parts, and the "dark

matches" and camera/commentary tests are included on

the rips. PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card,

generally giving the best results, and groups tend to

release in SVCD for these. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are

all supported by the TV scene.



WORKPRINT (WP) -A workprint is a copy of the film that

has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music,

and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some

WPs are very different from the final print (Men In

Black is missing all the aliens, and has actors in

their places) and others can contain extra scenes (Jay

and Silent Bob) . WPs 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 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 easily available

in a lot of countries, and its easy to put out a

release, which is why there are so many in 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 -
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 -
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.



KVCD Thanks for lardo4life for the info
KVCD is a modification to the standard MPEG-1 and

MPEG-2 GOP structure and Quantization Matrix. It

enables you to create over 120 minutes of near DVD

quality video, depending on your material, on a single

80 minute CD-R/CD-RW. We have published these

specifications as KVCDx3, our official resolution,

which produce 528x480 (NTSC) and 528x576 (PAL) MPEG-1

variable bit rate video, from 64Kbps to 3,000Kbps.

Using a resolution of 352x240 (NTSC) or 352x288 (PAL),

it's possible to encode video up to ~360 minutes of

near VCD quality on a single 80 minute CD-R. The mpeg

files created will play back in most modern standalone

DVD players. You must burn the KVCD MPEG files as

non-standard VCD or non-standard SVCD (depends on your

player) with Nero or VCDEasy.



DivX / XviD -
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.






Misc Info

Regional Coding -
This was designed to stop people buying American DVDs

and watching them earlier in other countries, or for

older films where world distribution is handled by

different companies. A lot of players can either be

hacked with a chip, or via a remote to disable this.



RCE -
RCE (Regional Coding Enhancement) was designed to

overcome "Multiregion" players, but it had a lot of

faults and was overcome. Very few titles are RCE

encoded now, and it was very unpopular.



Macrovision -
Macrovision is the copy protection employed on most

commercial DVDs. Its a system that will display lines

and darken the images of copies that are made by

sending the VHS signals it can't understand. Certain

DVD players (for example the Dansai 852 from Tescos)

have a secret menu where you can disable the

macrovision, or a "video stabaliser" costs about 30UKP

from Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk)



NTSC/PAL -
NTSC and PAL are the two main standards used across the

world. NTSC has a higher frame rate than pal (29fps

compared to 25fps) but PAL has an increased resolution,

and gives off a generally sharper picture. Playing NTSC

discs on PAL systems seems a lot easier than

vice-versa, which is good news for the Brits An RGB

enabled scart lead will play an NTSC picture in full

colour on most modern tv sets, but to record this to a

VHS tape, you will need to convert it to PAL50 (not

PAL60 as the majority of DVD players do.) This is

either achieved by an expensive converter box (in the

regions of £200+) an onboard converter (such as the

Dansai 852 / certain Daewoos / Samsung 709 ) or using a

World Standards VCR which can record in any format.



News Sites -
There are generally 2 news sites for film release for

p2p and they are:

nforce - VCD Help
Code:
http://www.vcdhelp.com/

Code:
http://www.nforce.nl.




About 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.






Usenet Information

Access -
To get onto newsgroups, you will need a news server.

Most ISPs supply one, but this is usually of poor

retention (the amount of time the files are on server

for) and poor completition (the amount of files that

make it there). For the best service, a premium news

server should be paid for, and these will often have

bandwidth restrictions in place.



Software -
You will need a newsreader to access the files in the

binary newsgroups. There are many different readers,

and its usually down to personal opinion which is best.

Xnews / Forte Agent / BNR 1 / BNR 2 are amongst the

popular choices. Outlook has the ability to read

newsgroups, but its recommended to not use that.



Format -
Usenet posts are often the same as those listed on

VCDQUALiTY (i.e., untouched group releases) but you

have to check the filenames and the description to make

sure you get what you think you are getting. Generally

releases should come down in .RAR sets. Posts will

usually take more than one day to be uploaded, and can

be spread out as far as a week.



PAR files -
As well as the .rxx files, you will also see files

listed as .pxx/.par . These are PARITY files. Parity

files are common in usenet posts, as a lot of times,

there will be at least one or two damaged files on some

servers. A parity file can be used to replace ANY ONE

file that is missing from the rar set. The more PAR

files you have, the more files you can replace. You

will need a program called SMARTPAR for this.






Scene Tags

PROPER -
Due to scene rules, whoever releases the first Telesync

has won that race (for example). But if the quality of

that release is fairly poor, if another group has

another telesync (or the same source in higher quality)

then the tag PROPER is added to the folder to avoid

being duped. PROPER is the most subjective tag in the

scene, and a lot of people will generally argue whether

the PROPER is better than the original release. A lot

of groups release PROPERS just out of desperation due

to losing the race. A reason for the PROPER should

always be included in the NFO.



SUBBED -
In the case of a VCD, if a release is subbed, it

usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burnt

throughout the movie. These are generally in

malaysian/chinese/thai etc, and sometimes there are two

different languages, which can take up quite a large

amount of the screen. SVCD supports switch able

subtitles, so some DVDRips are released with switch

able subs. This will be mentioned in the NFO file if

included.



UNSUBBED -
When a film has had a subbed release in the past, an

Unsubbed release may be released

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.

Earlier in the year people referred to Centropy going

"internal". This meant the group were only releasing

the movies to their members and site ops. This is in a

different context to the usual definition.



STV -
Straight To Video. Was never released in theaters, and

therefore a lot of sites do not allow these.



OTHER TAGS -

*WS* for widescreen (letterbox)
*FS* for Fullscreen.



RECODE -
A recode is a previously released version, 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.



REPACK -
If a group releases a bad rip, they will release a

Repack which will fix the problems.



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 first in case. If a group realise there is

something wrong, they can request a nuke.

NUKE REASONS :: this is a list of common reasons a film

can be nuked for (generally DVDRip)

** BAD A/R ** :: bad aspect ratio, ie 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.



DUPE -
Dupe is quite simply, if something exists already, then

theres no reason for it to exist again without proper

reason.