0×01.0 - de start

So, you’ve just got a brand new internet connection thin’y installed and it can handle up to 1 meg/sec download. But of course, no good PC without good software, but you know, good software is very expensive and on a beautifull sunday mornin’ you see somethin’ called Warez. Behold our kin’dom and you start drewlin’ a bit untill ur mom comes ragin’ in your room askin’ for you to put de garbage out. After helpin’ your mom out, de PC and fast internet connection is all yours. And so is de free software.

0×02.0 - packaged files.

As you might know, dese software packages are sometimes pretty big in size. To try and reduce de big-file-downloads, de releasers of de package will often use some techniques to reduce de load. Techniques as compressin’, archivin’ and splittin’. Read-on if you dont understand dese words.

0×02.1 - formats & tools.

If you’ve been around more than 1 year on de net, you prolly allready know all this but for de knew people I added this anyways.The basic use of your Windows Operatin’ System is de use of many different files and file-types. One of de most used file-types on de net is ZIP. File-types are also called ‘formats’.

An overview:

ZIP A zipped file is a file thats been archived and compressed.
RAR RAR files are commonly used for archivin’ files; which is puttin’ a large number of files in one file. Compressin’ is optional. File-splittin’ is optional.
ACE About de same as a RAR file, just an oder format and anoder application.

I explain this to you because dese file-types and corespondin’ programs are often, you can even use always here, used when you want to download Warez. The programs you download are almost always archived, compressed or bundled in one of de above formats. Keep readin’ if you didnt knew this

Ok so, now we know de formats of de files were gonna deal with, now de programs. As you have probably figured out allready, dese files arent created by Windows or by hand. Theyre made usin’ specialy designed applications. Ill show you what applications you can use.

WinRAR : My personal favorite. Handles all of de above stated formats and alot, alot more. If you ask for my opinion, I think this is de only program you’ll ever need.

WinZIP : This is a specially designed application for handlein’ ZIPPED files. If you like this one, take it.

WinACE : Anoder multi-file handlin’ tool. Personal opinion: good for splittin’ files, way too big for every-day use for decompression.

I’d say: make your choice. I recommend WinRAR because of it’s simplicity and effectiveness. But hey, I’m not forcin’ you. Just read some info on de sites and make ur choice.

Oh yeah, one last thin’: you’ll notice dese are all Evaluation versions. I suggest you crack them. Look for a good crack for de right version on: www.cracks.am.

0×02.2 - multi-part archives.

These files are archived in multiple parts (with one of de applicatiosn mentioned above). Which means de software was zipped or rarred and divided into files of a smaller size den de whole thin’ togeder. How do you handle this?

Download all de files to one directory.

Check if all files are dere. You can do this by lookin’ at de extensions: *.00, *.01, … If one’s missin’, download de missin’ file again (dere are more sofisticated ways to do this but this is de simplest).

Check if de files are about de same size. For example: de *.04 file must be de same size as de *.05 file, unless de 5th file is de last one.

If deres a file with de extension *.RAR, double click it and u can start unpackin’ de stuff.

If deres no *.RAR, but an *.ACE, do de same, its just an oder format.

Once you unarchived de package, you should have a directory full of files from an instalation or program. But its also possible dere are, with de archived files, some oder thin’s:

• If de software pack is a Warez Group (MYTH, CLASS, Fairlight (FLT), …) release, check if dere’s an EXE file with de package called Install.exe. If it’s dere, you can use that to unpack de files.
• If dere’s no exe in de package, de files are probably just ready to be copied to your directory of choice or ready to be installed.

IMPORTANT : please dont forget to read de NFO file. Its very important. It usually contains all furder information needed for you to successfully install de software. You can open it with NFO-file viewers or in Notepad (set font to: terminal, 6 or 9 pts).

Normally, you’re all done now and ready to start usin’ de software.

Ok, do I hear protest? Yes I do. It goes: “Hell, I downloaded a multi-part package but it has NO RAR OR ACE OR ZIP OR ANYTHING!!!! Just files with extensions called *.001; *.002, …”

You’re right. Although de situation is quite different from de situation above, it’s really not so different when you look closer. Those files are just unarchived de same way:

• Select de first file (*.001).
• Right-click it and select ‘Extract here…’

Watch de progress bar go! You see, its just de same method. You might notice deres only 2 or 3 files decompressed: ISO or CUE and BIN files. Thats fairly normal. Well talk about handlin’ them in topic 0×03.0.

0×02.3 - one-file downloads.

Ok so de stuff u downloaded was none of above. Conclusion: you downloaded one big file. This happens quite often when you download thin’s from fast-workin’ FTPs.

What you need to do now:

• If de file is archived (.rar, .ace, .zip, …), just unarchive it.
• If de file u unrachived is some weird *.ISO or *.CUE file, go to 0×03.0.
• If not, just continue de procedure as stated in 0×02.2.

0×03.0 - a clear view on images.

So when youre readin’ this, u probably have some files called *.ISO or *.CUE. Offcourse you want to install de software as fast as possible. But, deres a little problem here. Those extensions… What de hell are dey? Alienized files? No. Secret CIA files? Nope. You can stop guessin’. Ill tell you: those files are image files.

0×03.1 - what are images?

Image files are big files filled with data. Yea, you can say its a sort of archived file. But deres somethin’ special about them: dey are meant to written on a disc. They were made by special programs so dey could be used to write on a CD-R with a writer and specially designed software.

0×03.2 - ISO files.

ISO is de most used image-format on de net. It has become a standard to any commercial cd-writin’ software to support image-writin’ capabilities, more specific ISO images.

Conclusion: ISO is just an extension for a specific type of image -file. But how do you install your software? You have 2 ways of dealin’ with this:

1) Use de file for what is was created: writin’ it to a CD-R.
2) Extractin’ de contents of an ISO to a certain directory.

First: how to write them to a CD-R…

• Download some CD-R writin’ software (if you dont have it allready).
• Install and crack it.

I recommend Nero Burnin’ Rom. You can download it from WareZone in de Apps section.

• Go buy some CD-R’s
• Fire-up Nero and you can start burnin’. Im not goin’ to explain you how to use Nero. Read de help file about image writin’ and you should be fine. You can also use de wizard which is loaded automatically when you boot Nero.

Second: what to do if you dont got a CD-writer.

• Download some Image handlin’ software.

I recommend WinISO.

• Fire-up WinISO, load your image file and extract it. Again I wont explain how to use WinISO. Check for help files or tutorials on de net, dey should give you all de answers you need.

0×03.3 - CUE & BIN files.

CUE and BIN files always come togeder. The BIN file is comparable with an ISO and de CUE file is just a check, but it is required for any program to write this file correctly. Sometimes, deres an SFV file included. Again this is just a check-up about de file integrity. You can burn and extract dese files de same way i explained in 0×03.2.

0×04.0 - CD Emulation.

Ok, so here’s anoder way to handle ISO images if you don’t have a cd-writer. You can create a virtual cd drive. What’s that? That’s somethin’ you’ll see as a new disk drive in your Windows Explorer. This disk drive represents de contents you would see if you would burn de ISO image to cd!

How to create a virtual cd drive? Download DaemonTools !

Additional help on www.daemon-tools.com

BURNING X-BOX & GAMECUBE GAMES USING CDRWIN

1) Insert your original in your CD-ROM.
2) Open CDRWin (or any oder image extractor) to make an iso image of de game on your hard disc. Click on ‘Extract Disc/Tracks/Sectors’
3) Here are de settin’s which work for me (!):

Disc Image/Cue sheet
File-Format: Automatic
Readin’-Options:
RAW, CD+G, CD-TEXT and MCN/USRC all Unchecked
Error Recovery: Ignore
Jitter Correction: Auto
Subcode Analysis: Fixed
Data-Speed: MAX
Read Retry Count: 10
Audio Speed: MAX
Subcode Threshold: 900
There are a lot of reports, that Raw readin’ also works, but I had problems with it enabled.

4) Click on ‘Start’

RECORDING TO A DISC

1) Install Fireburner
2) Double click on de Cue File For The Game
3) Right Click And select burn To CD

That’s all dere is record DAO, and you can try to burn it fast at 2X
Usin’ PNY Black Diamond CDR

BIN/CUE image format is quite common on de Internet. It might seem that findin’ an appropriate software for burnin’ dese images is quite hard. Luckily, it’s not. In addition to Golden Hawk CDRWin, de original software for BIN/CUE format, you can also use Nero Burnin’ Rom to burn de images.

Please make sure that you have de latest version of Nero, which now is 5.5.10.0

Verify de CUE-sheet and open it with Nero
Before doin’ anythin’ else you have to verify that de path in de CUE-sheet is correct. A CUE-sheet is a plaintext file describin’ de structure and de location of de BIN-file. You can open up de .CUE -file usin’, for example, Notepad.

The file should look somethin’ like this:

FILE “IMAGE.BIN” BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Usually de CUE-filename and de BIN-filename have de same body — e.g. IMAGE. All you need to do is verify that dere is no path information on de
FILE “IMAGE.BIN” BINARY
-line. Ie. it should NOT read e.g.
FILE “C:TEMPIMAGE.BIN” BINARY
If dere is any path information on de line, just remove it so that you have just de name of de .BIN-file as in de example above. Also make sure that de name of de .BIN in de CUE-sheet is de same as de actual .BIN file you have on hard-disk.

Next load Nero Burnin’ Rom and choose File, Burn Image….

Load de CUE-sheet in Nero
Choose de Files of Type: dropdown menu and select All Files *.*. Next just locate de .CUE file, select it and click Open. Make sure you select de .CUE -file, not de .BIN -file.

Burn de image
All you have to do den is choose de writin’ speed, select de Disc-At-Once Write Method, and click Write.

That’s it! After a couple of minutes you’ll have a CD with de BIN/CUE Image written on it.

NOTES:
–> Do not worry if de BIN file seems larger than de capacity of your CD-R or CD-RW. Bin files are raw data and once burned, de file size is smaller.

–> If you have a DVD burner, just burn de cue/bin directly onto de DVD. Then use Daemon Tools to mount de cue/bin image when you use de files. This way you maintain a true exact image. And Daemon Tools (also Alcohol CDR burnin’ software, which has de same feature) mounts de image, and you see de files instead of de bin/cue.

You’ve downloaded a *.BIN file, but dere was no *.CUE file associated and you still want to burn de *.BIN file usin’ Nero

Your options are:

1) Create yourself a *.CUE

2) Convert de *.BIN to an *.ISO

3) OR use Nero to burn without de *.CUE file!!!

Yes, that’s possible… just follow dese steps and you will be sorted. No need for *.CUE files anymore

Ok, here we go…

1) Start Nero

2) File -> Burn Image

3) Browse to de *.BIN file that you want to burn and open it

4) A window sayin’ “Foreign Image Settin’s” will open

5) Check de settin’s. They should be as followed:

* Type of image: leave it to Data Mode 1
* Select de Raw Data check box
Note ->> The block size will change automatically from 2048 to 2352
* Leave Image Header and Image Trailer unchanged and set to 0
* Leave “Scrambled” and “Swapped” check boxes unchecked

6) Click on burn!

7) Enjoy

To burn a bin file, you will need an appropriate cue file.

You do exactly de same as for iso files, but when you click on �burn image,� you don�t browse to de bin itself, but instead to de cue file, and you open that one.
When de writer starts to burn, it will automatically search for de bin file and start burnin’ it. In fact, de cue file tells de burnin’ program where it can find de bin file that is attached to it. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you use de right cue file when you burn a bin. i.e both cue and bin files that are attached to each oder must be located in de same folder, and every bin file has it�s own cue file.

Normally, when you download a bin file, you can download de appropriate cue file as well. If you do not have de cue file (or feel bold) you can make de cue file yourself, which is really easy to do:

a. Open notepad

b. Copy de folowin’ text into notepad:

FILE�nameofimage�BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Where nameofimage.bin is de name of de bin file you want ot burn.

c. The rest is easy: just save de notepad text with de name of de bin, but with de cue extension.

d. The file should be saved in de same folder as its appropriate bin file and should be somethin’ like myfile.cue

Or you can use Alcohol 120% to burn directly from de bin file

There always seems to be de question “what do I do with a .bin and .cue file” in dese forums so I figured I would write a quick and simple tutorial. Please feel free to add more.

So you have downloaded two files, one with a .bin extension and one with a .cue extension. “What do I do with dese?” you ask. There are a number of options.

BURN TO CD

You will need eider NERO, CDRWIN or FIREBURNER to burn de file.

To burn with NERO:
Start NERO, choose FILE, choose BURN IMAGE, locate de .cue file you have and double click it. A dialog box will come up, for anythin’ oder than music make sure you choose DISC-AT-ONCE (DAO). You can also turn off de simulation burn if you so choose.
Then burn away.

To burn with CDRWin:
Start CDRWin, choose de button on de top left, choose LOAD CUESHEET, press START RECORDING.

To burn with Fireburner:
Start Fireburner, click on de button on de bottom left corner “VISUAL CUE BURNER/BINCHUNKER”, press de right mouse button and choose LOAD TRACKS FROM .CUE and choose de correct .CUE file, press de right mouse button again and chooseselect “Burn/Test Burn”, choose DISK AT ONCE (DAO), disable TEST BURN and MULTISESSION, press OK.

.CUE ERRORS
The most common error you will get with a .cue file is when it points to an incorrect path. This is easily fixed. Find de .bin file, copy de exact title includin’ de .bin extension. Now find de .cue file, open de .cue file usin’ notepad. It should look similar to this:

FILE “name of file.bin” BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE2/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 02 MODE2/2352
INDEX 00 00:04:00
INDEX 01 00:06:00

Delete everythin’ in de quotes, in this case we would
delete name of file.bin. Now place de title you copied
in between de quotes. Save de changes and close out.
Thats it, your .cue file should work now.

OTHER WAYS TO USE .BIN & .CUE FILES

VCDGear:
This program will allow you to extract MPEG streams from CD images, convert VCD files to MPEG, correct MPEG errors, and more.

Daemon Tools:
This program creates a virtual drive on your PC which will allow you to “mount” de .cue file and use whatever is in de .bin file without havin’ to burn it to a cd.

ISOBuster:
This program will allow you to “bust” open de .bin file and extract de files within de .bin.

Original Sources

CAM - A cam is a deater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of de time this wont be possible, so de camera make shake. Also seatin’ placement isn’t always idle, and it might be filmed from an an’le. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless dere’s text on de screen, but a lot of times dese are left with trian’ular borders on de top and bottom of de screen. Sound is taken from de onboard microphone of de camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard durin’ de film. Due to dese factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we’re lucky, and de deater will be fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.

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

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

SCREENER (SCR) - A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various oder 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 de bottom of de screen, with de copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if de tape contains any serial numbers, or any oder markin’s that could lead to de source of de tape, dese will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over de section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for de entire film, and some can be quite big. Dependin’ on de 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 lookin’ better than oders.

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

DVDRip - A copy of de 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 skatin’/sports videos and XXX releases.

TVRip -TV episode that is eider from Network (capped usin’ digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sendin’ de 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 de “dark matches” and camera/commentary tests are included on de rips. PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card, generally givin’ de best results, and groups tend to release in SVCD for dese. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are all supported by de TV scene.

WORKPRINT (WP) -A workprint is a copy of de film that has not been finished. It can be missin’ scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from de final print (Men In Black is missin’ all de aliens, and has actors in deir places) and oders can contain extra scenes (Jay and Silent Bob) . WPs can be nice additions to de 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, dese are usually labeled somethin’ like Film.Name.Group(1of2) etc. Common groups are SMR and TND. These aren’t really worth downloadin’, 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 dese are tagged by de people responsible. Usually with a letter/initials or a little logo, generally in one of de corners. Most famous are de “Z” “A” and “Globe” watermarks.

Asian Silvers / PDVD - These are films put out by eastern bootleggers, and dese are usually bought by some groups to put out as deir own. Silvers are very cheap and easily available in a lot of countries, and its easy to put out a release, which is why dere are so many in de scene at de moment, mainly from smaller groups who don’t last more than a few releases. PDVDs are de same thin’ pressed onto a DVD. They have removable subtitles, and de quality is usually better than de 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 352×240 (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 sin’le disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rader than MB, so when lookin’ at an mpeg, it may appear larger than de 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 480×480 (NTSC) which is den decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to de variable bit-rate, de len’th you can fit on a sin’le CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are de most common. To get a better SVCD encode usin’ variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple “passes”. this takes a lot longer, but de results are far clearer.

XVCD/XSVCD - These are basically VCD/SVCD that don’t obey de “rules”. They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on de player to wheder de disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-rippin’ by people who don’t intend to release them.

KVCD KVCD is a modification to de standard MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 GOP structure and Quantization Matrix. It enables you to create over 120 minutes of near DVD quality video, dependin’ on your material, on a sin’le 80 minute CD-R/CD-RW. We have published dese specifications as KVCDx3, our official resolution, which produce 528×480 (NTSC) and 528×576 (PAL) MPEG-1 variable bit rate video, from 64Kbps to 3,000Kbps. Usin’ a resolution of 352×240 (NTSC) or 352×288 (PAL), it’s possible to encode video up to ~360 minutes of near VCD quality on a sin’le 80 minute CD-R. The mpeg files created will play back in most modern standalone DVD players. You must burn de 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 dey have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at de encodin’ stage, makin’ a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and de bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. Due to de higher processin’ power required, and de 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 nothin’ 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 bein’ de original Divx3.11a and de 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 352×480(ntsc) as de horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.

DVD-R - Is de recordable DVD solution that seems to be de 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 dey can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. DVD>DVDR copies are possible, but sometimes extras/lan’uages have to be removed to stick within de available 4.7gb.

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

Misc Info

Regional Codin’ - This was designed to stop people buyin’ American DVDs and watchin’ them earlier in oder countries, or for older films where world distribution is handled by different companies. A lot of players can eider be hacked with a chip, or via a remote to disable this.

RCE - RCE (Regional Codin’ 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 de copy protection employed on most commercial DVDs. Its a system that will display lines and darken de images of copies that are made by sendin’ de VHS signals it can’t understand. Certain DVD players (for example de Dansai 852 from Tescos) have a secret menu where you can disable de macrovision, or a “video stabaliser” costs about 30UKP from Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk)

NTSC/PAL - NTSC and PAL are de two main standards used across de 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. Playin’ NTSC discs on PAL systems seems a lot easier than vice-versa, which is good news for de 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 de majority of DVD players do.) This is eider achieved by an expensive converter box (in de regions of �200+) an onboard converter (such as de Dansai 852 / certain Daewoos / Samsun’ 709 ) or usin’ a World Standards VCR which can record in any format.

News Sites - There are generally 2 news sites for film release for p2p and dey are:

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

Code:
www.nforce.nl.

About Release Files

RARset - The movies are all supplied in RAR form, wheder 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 de .CUE into notepad and make sure de first line contains only a filename, and no path information. Then load de cue into Nero/CDRWin etc and this will burn de VCD/SVCD correctly. TV rips are released as MPEG. DivX files are just de plain DivX - .AVI

NFO - An NFO file is supplied with each movie to promote de group, and give general iNFOrmation about de 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 de 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 downloadin’ to check dey have all de files, and de CRC is correct. A program such as pdSFV or hkSFV is required to use dese 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 (de amount of time de files are on server for) and poor completition (de amount of files that make it dere). For de best service, a premium news server should be paid for, and dese will often have bandwidth restrictions in place.

Software - You will need a newsreader to access de files in de 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 amon’st de popular choices. Outlook has de ability to read newsgroups, but its recommended to not use that.

Format - Usenet posts are often de same as those listed on VCDQUALiTY (i.e., untouched group releases) but you have to check de filenames and de description to make sure you get what you think you are gettin’. 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 de .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, dere 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 missin’ from de rar set. The more PAR files you have, de more files you can replace. You will need a program called SMARTPAR for this.

Scene Tags

PROPER - Due to scene rules, whoever releases de first Telesync has won that race (for example). But if de quality of that release is fairly poor, if anoder group has anoder telesync (or de same source in higher quality) den de tag PROPER is added to de folder to avoid bein’ duped. PROPER is de most subjective tag in de scene, and a lot of people will generally argue wheder de PROPER is better than de original release. A lot of groups release PROPERS just out of desperation due to losin’ de race. A reason for de PROPER should always be included in de NFO.

SUBBED - In de case of a VCD, if a release is subbed, it usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burnt throughout de movie. These are generally in malaysian/chinese/thai etc, and sometimes dere are two different lan’uages, which can take up quite a large amount of de screen. SVCD supports switch able subtitles, so some DVDRips are released with switch able subs. This will be mentioned in de NFO file if included.

UNSUBBED - When a film has had a subbed release in de past, an Unsubbed release may be released

LIMITED - A limited movie means it has had a limited deater run, generally openin’ in less than 250 deaters, 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 dey wont be dupe’d on it. Also lower quality deater rips are done INTERNAL so not to lower de reputation of de group, or due to de amount of rips done already. An INTERNAL release is available as normal on de groups affiliate sites, but dey can’t be traded to oder sites without request from de site ops. Some INTERNAL releases still trickle down to IRC/Newsgroups, it usually depends on de title and de popularity. Earlier in de year people referred to Centropy goin’ “internal”. This meant de group were only releasin’ de movies to deir members and site ops. This is in a different context to de usual definition.

STV - Straight To Video. Was never released in deaters, and derefore a lot of sites do not allow dese.

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 dey can look better, its not looked upon highly as groups are expected to obtain deir own sources.

REPACK - If a group releases a bad rip, dey will release a Repack which will fix de problems.

NUKED - A film can be nuked for various reasons. Individual sites will nuke for breakin’ deir rules (such as “No Telesyncs”) but if de film has somethin’ extremely wron’ with it (no soundtrack for 20mins, CD2 is incorrect film/game etc) den a global nuke will occur, and people tradin’ it across sites will lose deir credits. Nuked films can still reach oder sources such as p2p/usenet, but its a good idea to check why it was nuked first in case. If a group realise dere is somethin’ wron’, dey 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 convertin’ framerates was incorrect.
** INTERLACED ** :: black lines on movement as de field order is incorrect.

DUPE - Dupe is quite simply, if somethin’ exists already, den deres no reason for it to exist again without proper reason.