General Guidelines for Anime Encoding (ZX version 1.3)

-NOTES
--Everything written here is merely suggestions and may be disregarded in the interest of quality. An op does however have to approve it.
--Submit samples of all oddities in your encodes to the OPs in #darkhold so they can try to find a solution and add it to the guide.

-CODEC
--Use DIVX 5.2.1 with one b-frame.
--Use h.263 quantization.
--NEVER use psychovisual, qpel or gmc.
--Always encode 4-pass or 1-pass quant 2 (reasonable sizes only) at the slow setting.

-RESOLUTION
--Try to only do horizontal resizing.
--Anamorphic encoding encouraged for anamorphic 16:9 movies.
--Mod 16 height and width required.

-SIZE RECOMMENDATIONS (reality makes this nice list impossible to follow)
--3x30min, each episode is 230MB
--2x45min, each episode is 350MB
--1x60min, 700MB 
--1x90min, 700MB, try this if its possible without reducing too much quality, else do a 2 cd rip.
--1x120min+ 1400MB

-AUDIO
--Use ogg vorbis for stereo and he-aac for 5.1 audio.
--Use 5.1 (new) channel mapping for 5.1 audio.
--Encode vorbis at quality 3 or higher, preferably 4.
--Use surround2 downmixing for 5.1 audio tracks and no drc when encoding to vorbis.

-SUBTITLES
--All subtitles should be muxed into the container.
--Do not hardsub, even if the dvd was japanese only.

-LANGUAGES
--Include both japanese and english tracks (audio and/or subs) if available.
--Try to preserve as many additional subtitle tracks as possible, especially those with titles and signs for the dub track.
--If the dvd came with the languages spanish/dutch/german please include them too.
--Remember to have someone proofread ALL subs.

-OGM (not recommended)
--Everything should be muxed into an ogm file even if its only dubbed with a complete info tag.
--Include title in the following format: Title = Title - Episode number - Episode name
--Use informative titles for audio and sub tracks.
--Include chapters if possible.

-Matroska
--Everything should be muxed into an mkv file even if its only dubbed with a complete info tag.
--Include title in the following format: Title = Title - Episode number - Episode name
--Variable framerate allowed.
--Set the japanese audio and english sub track as default.
--Use informative titles for audio and sub tracks.
--Include chapters if possible.

-FILENAME
--The filename for series should have the following mask: zx.series.episode.(season.)codec.ogm (zx.cowboybebop.01.divx5.ogm) 
--The filename for movies should have the following mask: zx.movie.(partX.)codec.ogm (zx.spriggan.divx5.ogm) 
--If the anime has an ova or tv series you should add this in the filename: zx.series.(tv/ova.)episode.codec.ogm
--No special characters allowed.

-FINAL CHECK
--Rips are first analyzed by an OP to see if its done right.
--Its wise to encode a chapter/sample first and show it to an Op. This way you know how to do it right before encoding the whole episode/movie.

-FINAL RELEASE
--Include a sfv file (eg. use flashsfv www.flashfxp.com).
--Include a nfo file (scroll down for the template).

-REDOING OLD RIPS
--Only redo them if you can encode them with higher quality.
--Ask permission of an OP first.

-NFO 
--Use this template for your nfo's.
--Do not use tabs.
--This file should be a plain dos txt, do not use any other format.
--Use NotePad if you aren't certain in which program you want to edit it with.

-----------------------------------------------------------BEGIN NFO TEMPLATE------------------------------------------------

             -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
            «           Zhentarim DivX Presents           »
             -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

                           Title : 
                        AnimeNFO : 
                           Parts : 
                           Genre : 
                    Release Date : (date the last part was released of a series, format: day-month-year)
                  Feature Length : 
                            Size : 

                           Audio : (Japanese 5.1 HE-AAC, English 2.0 vorbis quality 4)
                       Subtitles : (English)
                       Translator: (if applicable)
                Video Frame Rate : (23.976 or 29.97 or 23.976/29.97 VFR)
                Video Resolution : 
                     Video Codec : (Divx 5.1.1)
                          Source : (R1 DVD)
                          Ripper : 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

How to use mkv and ogm files:
  If you haven't set up your system for Matroska, Ogm and DivX5 playback, check 
  our FAQ on this URL:

    http://zhentarim.net/zx/playbackfaq.php

Encoding Notes:

Credits: Come visit our web page at http://zhentarim.net/

BUY it!  If you like this, please support the creators of this anime
  by purchasing it.

-------------------------------------------------------------END NFO TEMPLATE------------------------------------------------