How to make a kvcd or in oder words how to get 700meg avi file down to about 450megs to make a vcd without any picture loss.

So you’ve downloaded a movie its in avi format you want to watch it on your dvd player. You re-encode it it comes out to about 1100 maybe 1200 megs. You need to split it and save on 2 disks.

The followin’ tutorial will show you how to do it on one disk.

First you are goin’ to need some tools :

Virtualdub
CODE
heanet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/virtualdub/VirtualDub-1.5.10.zip

Heada3che
CODE
mitglied.lycos.de/darkav/download/headac3he-0.23a.rar

and some dlls
CODE
mitglied.lycos.de/darkav2/download/MPAlib_MMX-1.00(1.50).rar
mitglied.lycos.de/darkav2/download/ssrc_MMX-1.01(1.28).rar
mitglied.lycos.de/darkav2/download/Vorbis_MMX-1.20(1.74).rar
mitglied.lycos.de/darkav2/download/Lame_enc_MMX-1.28(3.93).rar
mitglied.lycos.de/darkav2/download/MP2enc_MMX-1.15(1.13).rar
Put de above dlls in de same folder as heada3che

Besweet
CODE
dspguru.notrace.dk/BeSweetv1.4.zip
dspguru.notrace.dk/BeSweetGUIv0.6.zip
Put dese 2 in de same folder

Nero

Tmpegnc

You will need some templates
CODE
www.kvcd.net/dvd-models.html

Right click all de pal templates if your dvd player is pal or ntsc if ntsc. Save them to de template folder in de tmpegnc folder.

So to begin :

1) Open virtualdub
2) Go to file
3) Open video file
4) Locate de avi file you want to convert. If you get a warnin’ ignore it.
5) Click de audio button at de top
6) Make sure source audio and direct stream copy have a black dot next to it
7) Goto file
8) Save wav
9) Now you have to call this with a .ac3 extension. For example view from de top.ac3
10) I would save this in de same file your avi is. When you have named it, press save.
11) A box will open. Let it run. It is takin’ de sound from de film.
12) Now press audio and select no audio.
13) You should have a black dot next to no audio and direct stream copy
14) Go to video
15) Select direct stream copy
16) Go to file save as avi
17) Save de file what you want again put in de same folder as de original avi. I call de film title with no sound viewfromdetopnosound
18) Press save
19) It will save a film without sound

You can now close virtualdub

20) Open besweet. A scary lookin’ box appears.
21) At de besweet.exe, locate de besweet folder. It will show besweet.exe in de enter file name box
22) Click on this and at de bottom it will say valid press ok
23) Now goto input and find de ac3 file we just made you will need to change de enter file name from .Lst to .ac3
24) Double click on de ac3 file you made and at de bottom. It will say valid
25) Press ok
26) You are now lookin’ at de GUI. Make sure Use ac3 decoder is ticked and downconvert sample rate is ticked
27) In de toolname dropdown box make sure it says mp2. Leave de rest alone.
28) Now press copy command to clipboard
29) Go to start
30) Click Run
31) Right click paste
32) Press ok
33) If all de settin’s are correct a black box will open and de ac3 will be transcodin’ to mp2
34) If not check if de boxes are ticked
35) If its ok leave it to run
36) Once de black box has disappered, close besweet

Open heada3che
Note: Make sure you put all de dlls in de heada3che folder oder wise you will get error messages

37) Press source file
38) Find de new mp2 file we just made
39) Change de destination format to mp2
40) Press start
41) Once its finished close headac3he

Thin’s are goin’ to start lookin’ messy inside your folder so if you want, you can delete some files.

42) Go to de folder where youre original avi file is
43) You can delete de ac3 file de mp2 file without de .2 in it. For example, you will have two file names de same. One is with de .2 on de end. Keep this one.

Open tmpegnc

44) Close de wizard if it opens
45) Press de video source browse button
46) Find de file we made with nosound on de end ie viewfromdetopnosound
47) Now if you had gone to de kvcd page and downloaded all de templates this will help. If not go do that now
48) Press load. You will see a load of files in front of you with some startin’ with kvcd
49) Pick de first one beginin’ with kvcd
50) Highlight it press open
51) Now press start. What will happen is de preview box in front of you will start encodin’. Dependin’ on de make up of de original avi file, it will effect de outcome of de finished film
52) If you look at de box and all you see is a tiny box with film. That is de size it will come out
53) If it looks weird press stop and reload a different template. The best result is one that looks like widescreen
54) Just press start and overwrite de file. Let it run
55) After it is done, press file mpeg tools. The first box should be simple multiplex
56) Press de video input browse button and find de new file we just made. It will have a m1v extension
57) Press de audio input browse button
58) Find de mp2 file with de .2 in de title de output. The box will be automatically set to mpeg
59) Press run and let it run
60) Close tmpgenc
61) Open nero
62) Select vcd
63) Untick de create standard compliant cd
64) Press new
65) Find de new file we have made. It will be in de original avi folder but will have a mpeg extension
66) Now you have to drag this into de left box. Don’t right click and copy to compliation
67) A box will appear and a blue line will go across. If a warnin’ comes up with not bein’ a compliant vcd, just ignore carry on
68) Press burn and burn at de speed you want
69) Once finished press de ok box
70) Press done de disk will come out and now to test. Put it in your dvd player and hay presto de film kicks in

You have got yourself a KVCD!

How To Copy A Dvd Which Will Play On A X Box

TOOLS YOU WILL NEED:

DVD decrypter
DAEMON TOOLS
DVD2ONE
NERO 5.5.10 or above.

1. Rip de DVD in ISO mode with DVD decrypter to your hdd.
(mode=ISO-read)

2. Right click DEAMON TOOLS icon on your desktop
Virtual cd/dvd rom
Device 0 [k] no media
Mount Image - ISO file

3. Make a main folder ( title MOVIE ) on your desktop.
Make 2 subfolders in it VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS

4. Open DVD2ONE. choose movie only or entire disc.
Source - drive you mounted in step 2 (VIDEO_TS)
Destination - VIDEO_TS folder you created in step 3.
Start

5. DEAMON TOOLS - unmount de drive you made in step 2.
You can now delete de ISO file to save disk space

6. open NERO
Close wizard
New Compilation DVD
Left Column (DVDROM/UDF/ISO)
No Multisession
UHF check Force DVD compatability (required for x box)
Label ( NAME OF MOVIE ) ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
Click New
Drag over de VIDEO_TS FOLDER and AUDIO_TS folder you made
BURN

Have you ever downloaded a game, app or movie and when it was finished, you find out that are some missin’ files or corrupt ones?

Well here’s a way to find those files:

www.incomplete.me.uk

This is a service that works through irc (so mirc (or anoder) must be installed to use it).
You go on de specific channel (manually or by clickin’ one of de direct links on de site) and den “ask” for de specific file.

When dere’s someone out dere who has it, it will be send to you automatically

If not, de file request shall be put on a queue list untill someone that has it, has sent it to de person that requested it.

Obey de rules though, if not you can be banned from de channel and in severe cases your provider can be banned so oders won’t be able to use this.

I hope this can help out some people here, who have experienced or will experience this

Tools Needed:

SmartFTP [ smartftp.com ]
NAPALM FTP Search Site [ search.ftphost.net ]
vcdquality.com Release Nfo Site
DAMN NFO Viewer or just notepad [www.damn.to ]

This tutorial is so i can stop answerin’ tha same questions everyday in this tutorial I’ll explain how to use search sites like NAPALM effectively. basically better search results and a quality release. We are goin’ to use a movie as de example so here we go.

First thin’ I do is try and figure who released it and if any were nuked and why most of de time you can find de NFO at de sites below

www.deisonews.com - www.nforce.nl - www.vcdquality.com
we are goin’ use vcdquality to find out NFO on Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life
h**p://www.vcdquality.com/index.php?imdbid=0325703

Say you chose de copy Centropy released

Here is de link to de nfo file

h**p://www.vcdquality.com/nfo.php/ctp-tr2.nfo?id=16662&show=text&save=1

If you read it you see a section that says Archives [56/56*15]

Ok so now you know your lookin’ for 2 CD’s and that are Split RAR files at 15mb each. You will also see this (( password is “drudgereportdotcom” )). Im sure that will help later so now to go find de file names by doin’ a search.

Here are some sites you can use

NAPALM - RELIZ - AMUN - FTPSpider

Im goin’ to use NAPALM for de example do an un-filtered search for “tomb raider centropy” without de quotes. But I wouldn’t recommend always searchin’ as above because de name of tha Movie/App/Game/ReleaseGroup isnt always goin’ to be in file name or url. So results could be limited but it helps on gettin’ correct file names. You should notice that de file name seems to be in this format ctp-tr1.r54 and ctp-tr2.r54. “ctp-tr1.r54″ is in a file from CD1 and “ctp-tr2.r54″ is in a file from CD2

Ok so now we know de file names, so search for ctp-tr2.r54 and you will have more streamlined results before we had over 100 results from each ftp that had this movie. With one result per file at over 50 files per cd, that would take way to lon’ to go through page by page till you get to each FTP site.

Now that we have tha search narrowed down by a sin’le file name each result is a different ftp site. Notice also that I have searched for a high number file from cd 2. The reason for this is because it is more likely that it has been fully uploaded and not missin’ any files because most people start uploadin’ from cd1 and in order of first split file .rar .r00 .r01 and NOT from cd2 and backwards .r50 .r49 .r48.

Ok that was easy enough but now we get to de hopefully not slow part of DOWNLOADING de files. Normally you can get better speeds from an anonymous server because you can use multiple connections at once. Say de server only gives ya 4k download, you may be able to connect 50 times at once and get more like 200k download, but a FTP that needs a Password and user name normally isnt that easy. The reason is normally bacause only 1 connection per IP is allowed and amount of users at one time is limited to about 15 or less, so dere are always a lon’ line of peope waitin’ to get in. Basically even if we could have more than one connection per IP, if it took 9 hours to get access you would need to wait that lon’ for each connection or thread. By de time anoder thread connected you would have probably already finished downloadin’ de file anyway.

NAPALM search site has nice search and filter option that will only show anonymous servers in de results page. Now open up SmartFTP and dere are a few options we want to be sure and change.

Tools > Settin’s > General:
Set Default Download Path to whatever you want

Tools > Settin’s > Connection:
Set Max Retries to -1 (( -1 = unlimited ))
Set Retry Delay to @ least 40 sec.*

*(( because some ftp will ban if you hammer/try and login to often ))
*(( read welcome messages on tha ftp log/status window for possible hammer rules ))

Tools > Settin’s > Connection > Keep Alive:
Make sure Keepalive is checked
Set interval to about 40
(( if set to low will be anoyin’ & to high may not be effective on some sitez ))
Highlight NOOP in de list and push Remove
Now type LIST into de box and push tha Add
(( This is de command that keepalive uses to pretend your not idle ))
(( some ftps will kick you out if you are idle to lon’ ))
(( and some still do with tha NOOP command we so have changed it to LIST
(( if you want you can change it to somethin’ better all i know is this works for me ))
(( nobody wants to sit for 9 hours waitin’ to get in den get kicked out ))

SmartFTP also has Clipboard monitorin’, so all you need to do is have smart ftp runnin’. Go Back to NAPALM. Right click a link and select “Copy Shortcut” from tha menu and smartFtp will popup and say FTP URL in clipboard detected. If you want to open that site, just cick yes.

But it can be even more simple than that if you want.

Tools > Settin’s > Display > Prompts:
Uncheck: On URL Catch
(( Now it will just open tha FTP without any prompt ))

When you are conectin’ to ftp you need to watch tha log/status window

For possibe crap links (( dead links and/or ratio sites )), dese are tha most common errorz to look for:

530 Account Disabled.
No connection could be made because de target machine actively refused it. A connection attempt failed because de connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

550 Permission denied
While tryin’ to download a file
(( this is probably a ratio site if it has everythin’ you ever wanted and more & looks to good to be true ))
(( it probably is and id just move on to tha next site ))

Anoder problem you may find on anonymous ftp is that tha files or folders are not dere. 2 reasons for that is dey were eider deleted or just moved. If dey were moved this could be a problem most people uploadin’ to anonymous ftp, made a huge maze of locked folders to hide deir files and that makes for an endless task tryin’ to find de files unless you have an application that can spider de ftp and has de capability to get through locked folders. To have a list of every file on de ftp I dont know of any public application i can recommend with that capability. But dey do exist. This app can get through locked folders and may help. It seems like a crap program, but de best i could find on google in about 5 min worth of searchin’ is:

PubView.zip - www.jtpfxp.net has nfo about dir lockin’ & breakin’ dirs

Ill go over some basic instructions on downloadin’ from Anonymous and NonAnonymous Sites, or maybe i should say sites that allow more than one connection per IP and ones that dont.

We will start with anonymous or multiple thread capable FTP

Once you have de ftp open and you see de files you want. Just drag and drop them into de Global Queue tab on de transfers window and den just push de start button. We should have de In Speed at bottom right status bar. If its not goin’ fast enough, you can adjust de amount of connections/threads you have runnin’. Keep addin’ threads until your bandwidth is maxed or until your total In Speed doesnt get any faster. Anoder thin’ you may wanna keep in mind is that you can connect to more than one ftp downloadin’ CD1 from one site and CD2 from de oder etc. for a combined speed.

Now we go onto NonAnonymous Sitez

You cant use Global Queue because you cant have multiple threads, so just right click de file or folder you want and select Download > Direct > Select Folder. Most of dese sites will be slow and could take hours maybe days to get into, so what i do is just open every sin’le result in NAPALM at de same time. I figure that i have a better chance waitin’ on 10 sites rader than 1. So when you have them all open just close out de ones that have de errors mentioned above, den you can walk away and check every so often to see if you have gotten in one yet. This is where de keepalive option helps out and of course if you happen to get into more than one at a time
just go for tha combined speed method if it is goin’ slow.

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.