Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:37 am (PDT)
FYI
Terminology - What is a CAM, R5, DVDRip, DVDSCR, XviD
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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.
R5
R5 refers to a specific format of DVD released in DVD Region 5, the former
Soviet Union, and bootlegged copies of these releases that are distributed
on the Internet. In an effort to compete with movie piracy, the movie
industry chose to create a new format for DVD releases that could be
produced more quickly and less expensively than traditional DVD releases. R5
releases differ from normal releases in that they are a direct Telecine
transfer of the film without any of the image processing common on DVD
releases, and without any special features. This allows the film to be
released for sale at the same time that DVD Screeners are released. Since
DVD Screeners are the chief source of high-quality pirated movies, this
allows the movie studios to beat the pirates to market. In some cases, R5
DVDs may be released without an English audio track, requiring pirates to
use the direct line audio from the film's theatrical release. In this case,
the pirated release is tagged with ".LINE" to distinguish it from a release
with a DVD audio track.
The image quality of an R5 release is generally comparable to a DVD Screener
release, except without the added scrolling text and black and white scenes
that serve to distinguish screeners from commercial DVD releases. The
quality is better than Telecine transfers produced by movie pirates because
the transfer is performed usingprofessional-grade film scanning equipment.
Because there is no scene release standard for pirated R5 releases, they
were variably tagged as Telecines, DVD Screeners, or even DVD rips. In late
2006, several release groups such as DREAMLiGHT, mVs, and PUKKA began
tagging R5 releases with ".R5" or r5 line (the line meaning it has direct
english line audio) and suggesting that other groups do the same.
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.
DivX / XviD
XviD & DivX are the most commonly encoded movies. DivX used to be the most
popular, until it went from open source to a corporation that bought the
rights & started charging for it (although the crack can easily be obtained
for the DivX encoder, most people have switched to XviD, not only because it
is open source, but also because it is superior in many ways). In the last
year or so, many stand-alone DVD players have been released that are capable
of playing DivX/XviD movies (even on CDRs), which has made this the most
popular form of encoding. The majority of XviD/DivX rips are taken from DVDs
and are generally in as good quality as possible that can fit on one 700MB
CDR disc, which is why most XviD/DivX movies are almost exactly 700MB, so
they can be burnt onto a CDR & played in these new DVD players (which can be
purchased just about anywhere for as little as $30-$40 USD). Various codecs
exist, the most popular at the moment being the new XviD 1.2 codec. DivX
encoded movies will definitely play on these new DVD players, & it only
takes a little simple tweaking by the ripper to ensure XviDs will play on
them as well, but it is therefore not guaranteed. (If you want to learn more
about XviD/DivX encoding so you can make your own DVDrips, just visit doom9
org)
x264
x264 is a free software library for encoding H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video streams.
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.