Pirated movie release types

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With regard to "warez groups (organized piracy groups)", a movie is usually released in several formats and different versions as to the fact that the primary sources used by a group for a particular movie may vary. Pirated movies are primarily released by these organized groups referred to as "scene" groups or "warez groups". These groups first release of a movie is usually lower quality (due to a lack of sources), and is eventually replaced with better quality releases as better sources are available.

[edit] Background

Cam releases were the early attempts at movie piracy which are implemented by taping the on-screen projection of a movie in a cinema. This enabled groups to pirate movies which were in their theatrical period (not released for personal entertainment). But due to the fact that these releases often suffered distinctly low quality, alternative methods were sought.

A prime example was the EViL release of American Pie.^[1] This is notable for three reasons:

1. It was released in an uncensored workprint format. The later theatrical release was cut down by several minutes and had scenes reworked to avoid nudity to pass MPAA guidelines.
2. It was released nearly two months prior to its release in theaters (CNN Headline News reported on its early release).
3. It was listed by the movie company as one of the reasons it released an Unrated DVD edition.

In October 1999 DeCSS was released. This program allowed anyone to remove the CSS encryption on a DVD. Although its authors claimed that this software was meant only for playback purposes, it also meant that one could decode the content perfectly for ripping; combined with the "DivX ;-) 3.11 Alpha" codec released shortly after, the new codec increased video quality from near VHS to almost DVD quality when encoding from a DVD source.

The early DivX releases were mostly internal for group use, but once the codec spread, it became accepted as a standard and quickly became the most widely used format for scene. With help from associates who either worked for a movie theater, movie production company, or video rental company, groups were supplied with massive amounts of material, and new releases began appearing at a very fast pace. When a new release of DivX came out (Version 4.0), the codec went commercial, and the need for a free codec XviD emerged. Today, XviD has replaced DivX almost entirely. Although DivX codec has evolved from version 4 to 6.4 during this time, it is considered obsolete due the commercial nature of the codec.

[edit] Release formats

Here is a table of pirated movie release types along with respective sources,ranging from the lowest quality to the highest. Some sample images are provided for visual comparison. Scene rules define in which format and way each release type is to be packaged and distributed.

Type	Label	Rarity	Image
Cam	"CAM"	Very Common	A Night at the Roxbury
A copy made in a cinema using a camcorder, possibly mounted on a tripod. The sound source is the camera microphone. Cam rips can quickly appear online after the first preview or première of the film. The quality ranges from terrible to very good, depending on the group of persons performing the recording and the resolution of the camera used. The main disadvantage of this is the sound quality. The microphone does not only record the sound from the movie, but also the background sound in the cinema. The camera can also record movements of the audience in the theater, like when someone stands up in front of the screen.
Workprint	"WP" "WORKPRINT"	Rare	American Pie
A copy made from an unfinished version of a film produced by the studio. Typically a workprint has missing effects and overlays, and may not be identical to its theatrical release. Some workprints have a time index marker running in a corner or on the top edge; some may also include a watermark. A workprint might be an uncut version, and missing some material that would appear in the final movie. Note that the index timer is below the frame in the image.
Telesync	"TS" "TELESYNC"	Common	Chicken Little
Contrary to popular belief, the video quality of a TS is not necessarily better than a cam. The term Telesync doesn't indicate better video quality but better audio quality. The CAM source is then synchronized with a secondary audio recording, either done with a professional microphone in an empty cinema (even though by Scene Rules this would be nuked since the audio is not direct, they are hard to tell the difference), fed directly from the cinema's sound system, or captured from an FM radio transmission intended for hearing-impaired customers. Often, a "Cam" is mislabeled as a telesync.
R5	"R5"	Rare, but growing	Borat
The R5 Line is a retail DVD from region 5. Region 5 consists of Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia. R5 releases differ from normal releases in that they are a direct Telecine transfer of the film without any of the image processing. They take the information from the DVD disc and synch it to an English version of the film, usually a previously released version.
Screener	"SCR" "SCREENER" "DVDSCR" "DVD-SCREENER" "VHS-SCREENER"	Common	She's All That
These are early DVD or VHS releases of the theatrical version of a film, typically sent to movie reviewers, Academy members, and executives for review purposes. A screener normally has a message overlaid on its picture, with wording similar to: "The film you are watching is a promotional copy, if you purchased this film at a retail store please contact 1-800-NO-COPIES to report it." Apart from this, some movie studios release their screeners with a number of scenes of varying duration shown in black-and-white. Aside from this message, and the occasional B&W scenes, screeners are normally of only slightly lower quality than a retail DVD-Rip, due to the smaller investment in DVD mastering for the limited run. Note: Screeners make a small exception here, since the content may differ from a retail version, it can be considered as lower quality than a DVD-Rip (even if the screener in question was sourced from a DVD).
Telecine	"TC" "TELECINE"	Common, but losing popularity due to R5	Æon Flux
A copy captured from a film print using a machine that transfers the movie from its analog reel to digital format. These were rare because telecine machines for making these prints were very costly and very large, however, recently they have become much more common. Telecine has basically the same quality as DVD, since the technique is same as digitizing the actual film to DVD. However, the result is inferior since the source material is usually a lower quality copy reel. Telecine machines usually cause a slight left-right jitter in the picture and have inferior color levels compared to DVD. Note the piece of lint in frame above; this is a common occurrence during digital film transfer, particularly when not done in a clean room environment.
DVD Rip	"DVD-Rip"	Very Common	Shogun TV Miniseries
A final retail version of a film, typically released before it is available outside its originating region. Often after one "release group" releases a high-quality DVD-Rip, the "race" to release that film will stop. Because of their high quality, DVD-Rips generally replace any earlier copies that may already have been circulating.
DVDR	"DVDR image"	Very Common
A final retail version of a film in DVD format. Usually a complete copy from the original DVD. If the original DVD is released in the DVD-9 format, extras might be removed and/or the video re-encoded to make the image fit the more common and less expensive (for burning) DVD-5 format. DVDR releases often follow DVD-Rips after a few hours.
HDTV or DS Rip	"TVRip" "DSR" "PDTV" "HDTV"	Extremely Common	Lost encode from HDTV source Starship Troopers from HDTV 1080i/p rip
TVRip is a capture source from an analog capture card (coaxial/composite/s-video connection) Digital stream rip (DSR) is a rip that is captured from a non HD digital source like satellite. HDTV or PDTV rips often come from Over-the-Air transmissions. With an HDTV source, the quality can sometimes even surpass DVD. Movies in this format are starting to grow in popularity. Analog, DSR, and PDTV sources are often re-encoded to 512x384 if fullscreen, 624x352 if widescreen. HDTV sources are re-encoded to multiple resolutions such as 624x352, 960x528, 1280x720 (720p) at various file sizes for pirated releases.