Format Preferences: Difference between revisions

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=Video=
=Video=
In selecting accepted formats for release, we go for the best quality possible, but we also try to accomodate lower-spec machines that might not be able to handle H.264 or HD content, and content that is compatible with DVD-burning. At the same time, in the interests of simplification, we are slowly cutting down on the number of formats we accept.
In selecting accepted formats for release, we go for the best quality possible, but we also try to accomodate lower-spec machines that might not be able to handle high-bitrate content.
 
 
 
==Video Groupings==
* <b>(Group A)</b> 1080p releases
* <b>(Group B)</b> 720p releases
* <b>(Group C)</b> SD (generally 1024x576 and below)
* <b>(Group D)</b> Staff-approved exceptions
** Groups A, B and C have 2 slots each, for the best available single-audio and multi-audio releases.
** If the best available release happens to be multi-audio, only one slot will be used.


==Video 'food-chain'==
<pre><-- increasing rank</pre>
* <b>(Group A)</b> H.264 Bluray 1080p or equivalent quality
** <b>(Group B1)</b> H.264 Fansub 720p and below
** <b>(Group B2)</b> H.264 Dual-Audio (R1 single-audio rips accepted in this slot if no Dual-Audio available)
*** <b>(Group C)</b> Xvid/DivX (H.264 DTV rips accepted if no Xvid release available)


'''Note:'''<br />
Dual-audio release always replaces single-audio release ''of comparable quality''.<br />
Releases using Crunchyroll subs [http://forums.bakabt.com/index.php?topic=20716.0 will be treated as R1 releases].


==Accepted releases==
==Accepted releases==
Except under special circumstances (see below), we will only accept at most 4 releases:
Each video group will hold no more than 2 releases, one per slot (single-audio/multi-audio).
* 1 release from '''Group A'''
Under certain circumstances listed below, we may grant some releases under video group D:
* 2 releases from '''Group B'''
 
** [Dual-Audio release] or [Single-Audio + R1-subtitles]
 
** [Fansub release]
* Very high bitrate content in Group B with no accepted releases in Group C
* 1 release from '''Group C'''
** A lower-bitrate option may be granted in Group D for lower-spec machines.
** Xvid (or if Xvid releases are not available, we may consider allowing second-best h264 SD releases here)
* A release with lower video quality, but has better subtitles than existing releases.
* Other notable exceptions, to be decided by staff.
** E.g. PSNR's HDTV release of GitS movie, which has video quite different from the filtered Blurays.
 
 
'''Note:''' Offers for a release might not be accepted if a better/preferred version is on the way.
'''Note:''' Offers for a release might not be accepted if a better/preferred version is on the way.


==Exceptions to Guidelines==
==Exceptions to Guidelines==
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====Exception 1====
====Exception 1====
HDTV/DVD rips are ''temporarily'' allowed if complete Bluray rips are more than a month away. These will be replaced once the Bluray release is uploaded (subject to Exception 2).
HDTV/DVD rips are ''temporarily'' allowed if complete Bluray rips are more than a month away. These will be replaced once the Bluray release is uploaded.


====Exception 2====
We may allow more than 1 entry in some of the Groupings, on a case-by-case basis. Instead of deleting "superceded" releases, we might keep them alongside the new offer if they have something that the higher-ranking offer does not, e.g.:
* better ''subjective'' video quality (Staff will decide based on comparison screenshots, video samples (if available), and/or user comments).
** Example: [http://www.BakaBT.com/torrent/144733/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(HDTV_720p_H264_DTS)_PSNR.html PSNR HDTV Ghost in the Shell] vs. [http://www.BakaBT.com/torrent/130601/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(Blu-Ray_720p_H264_DTS-ES)_THORA.html THORA Bluray Ghost in the Shell]
* additional English Audio track (if the newer offer is Japanese Audio only)
* other noteworthy points (to be discussed in [http://forums.BakaBT.com/index.php?board=4.0 Uploaders' Forum] or in torrent comments)


====Exception 3====
Special cases for older releases that do not fall under these guidelines (such as older, rarer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divx DivX]/[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogm OGM] releases) can be discussed in the [http://forums.BakaBT.com/index.php?board=4.0 Uploaders' Forum]. These rules do not apply in such cases.


====Exception 4====
==Other Guidelines==
'''(Applies to Group B only)'''
Re-muxing of audio and subtitle tracks from other groups is generally discouraged.
We will accept remuxes if the available releases all fail terribly in one or more aspects (video, audio, subtitling, etc). We will not approve releases with audio from one group and video from another, just because "the audio track from one is somewhat better than the other".
Keep group releases intact as far as possible.


In certain cases where a 720p Blu-ray release in Group B exceeds a certain size ''(~450MB per episode)'', a 'quality rip' with smaller filesize may be allowed alongside the Bluray rip.
* Example: Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro - [http://www.BakaBT.com/torrent/142901/Lupin_III_The_Castle_of_Cagliostro_(1979)_720p_Bluray_x264_THORA.html THORA 720p, 4.4GB]; [http://www.BakaBT.com/torrent/129339/Lupin_III_The_Castle_of_Cagliostro_a4e.html a4e Dual-Audio, 1.35GB]; [http://www.BakaBT.com/torrent/141062/Lupin_III_The_Castle_of_Cagliostro_h264_ritchan.html ritchan DVD-rip, 1.80GB]


==Other Guidelines==
Re-muxing of audio and subtitle tracks from other groups is generally discouraged. We will accept remuxes if the available releases all fail terribly in one or more aspects (video, audio, subtitling, etc). In other words, we will not approve releases with audio from one group and video from another, just because "the audio track from one is somewhat better than the other". Keep group releases intact as far as possible.


Self-muxing of subtitles and Avi files is also generally discouraged. Since Avi is a container by itself there is not much benefit gained from muxing it in a Mkv container.


Transcoding will have you put to death by a firing squad.


=Manga & Printed Material=
=Manga & Printed Material=

Revision as of 00:33, 25 May 2010

Format Preferences
This is how we want our stuff packaged

Our Torrent Content Upload Guidelines cover what content is allowed to be uploaded here. In this section, we describe in detail how we want this content to be packaged.

General Preferences

In general, we accept only:

Media:
Preferred:
Try not to Offer:
Reasons & Comments:
Video Codecs: Xvid, Divx, H.264/AVC
Containers: AVI, MKV, MP4
Subtitles: (Styled) softsubs
Codecs: WMV, RM, QT and Indeo, etc
Containers: MPG/MPEG, OGM, RM, FLV, QT, etc
Subtitles: hardsubs
Other containers are not preferred due to lack of support and acceptance for anime-viewing.
Codecs selected as a balance between compression efficiency and codec acceptance.
Softsubs are preferred for flexibility.
Audio Lossy: MP3
Lossless: FLAC
OGG, APE, TTA Formats with wide support & acceptance are preferred.
Open-source formats are preferred over proprietary ones.
Scans Images: PNG, JPG
Archives: ZIP, RAR
Images: GIF, BMP, TIFF
Archives: 7z, GZip
PNG and JPG preferred for good compression and quality.
GIF generally discouraged unless the scans are really poor.
Archives selected for widespread use and compatibility.
Refer to the offer-making walkthrough for more information on when to archive manga.
Novels Images: PNG, JPG
Documents: PDF
Images: GIF, BMP, TIFF
Documents: DOC, DOCX, WRI, RTF, TXT, etc.
Open standard format with wide support.

Preferences are further detailed below. Exceptions to these guidelines may apply (see below for details).

Video

In selecting accepted formats for release, we go for the best quality possible, but we also try to accomodate lower-spec machines that might not be able to handle high-bitrate content.


Video Groupings

  • (Group A) 1080p releases
  • (Group B) 720p releases
  • (Group C) SD (generally 1024x576 and below)
  • (Group D) Staff-approved exceptions
    • Groups A, B and C have 2 slots each, for the best available single-audio and multi-audio releases.
    • If the best available release happens to be multi-audio, only one slot will be used.


Accepted releases

Each video group will hold no more than 2 releases, one per slot (single-audio/multi-audio). Under certain circumstances listed below, we may grant some releases under video group D:


  • Very high bitrate content in Group B with no accepted releases in Group C
    • A lower-bitrate option may be granted in Group D for lower-spec machines.
  • A release with lower video quality, but has better subtitles than existing releases.
  • Other notable exceptions, to be decided by staff.
    • E.g. PSNR's HDTV release of GitS movie, which has video quite different from the filtered Blurays.


Note: Offers for a release might not be accepted if a better/preferred version is on the way.


Exceptions to Guidelines

The following exceptions apply:

Exception 1

HDTV/DVD rips are temporarily allowed if complete Bluray rips are more than a month away. These will be replaced once the Bluray release is uploaded.


Other Guidelines

Re-muxing of audio and subtitle tracks from other groups is generally discouraged. We will accept remuxes if the available releases all fail terribly in one or more aspects (video, audio, subtitling, etc). We will not approve releases with audio from one group and video from another, just because "the audio track from one is somewhat better than the other". Keep group releases intact as far as possible.



Manga & Printed Material

  • We allow up to 2 manga releases (best scanlation version and possibly an industry scan) for each manga series.
  • We only allow 1 release (best quality version) for artbooks and/or other printed material. Exceptions may apply on a case-by-case basis.

Soundtracks

We only allow 2 versions of any OST album/compilation:

  • 1 lossy release, in MP3 format
    • Best quality possible, i.e. 320kbps CBR, or v0 VBR
  • 1 lossless lossless release, in FLAC format
    • All other lossless formats should be converted to FLAC before uploading.
    • FLACs must be in one-file-per-track format.
  • For parent-child torrent groupings, lossless formats are preferred as parents over lossy formats, unless the lossy formats contain more albums or other torrent content.
  • When editing the torrent, lossless torrents should be set to Group B, and lossy should be set to Group C.

Other

If in doubt, remember our mantra: Quality over quantity

Do read the walkthrough to making a torrent offer if it is your first time making one.

Extra Files

Files with the following extensions should be added as extra files:

  • .nfo
  • .txt
  • .log
  • .sfv
  • .md5

The following files may be added as part of the main torrent (moderator's decisions will override these rules):

  • Translation notes (for certain anime series or manga)
  • Timed subtitles (.ass/.srt/,sub), in English only. Subtitle files for other languages should be attached as extra files if so desired.
  • Album cover scans (for soundtrack/single albums)

Where in doubt, ask in the Uploader's Forum.