Content:Files
AniDB stores information (metadata) about digital files that at some point in history has been released on the Internet. This information is an integral part of AniDB and for many users the most important reason for using AniDB. Note that AniDB does not, never has and never will, have any copies of these files. Read the general disclaimer for more information on this.
As a user you do of course not have to use any feature related to files; AniDB offers many features that are completely unrelated to them. There is also the concept of generic files: If you want to add an anime to your MyList, but watched it on TV, have it on DVD or just don't care about registering actual files, see Files:Generic files.
Metadata
Technical information
Information that is of technical character and in most cases indisputable after verified by Avdump. For track level information, see Content:Files:Video, Content:Files:Audio and Content:Files:Subtitle.
Type
The type of file. Possible values: video file, subtitle file, audio file, other.
Extension
Short name of the container format, see wikip. Possible values: avi, mkv, ogm, mp4, wmv, str, mpg, ssa, rm, sub, idx, rar, ass, smi, mov, zip, txt, swf, flv and ace. Deprecated values: rmvb, asf, mpeg.
Size
The actual size of the file in bytes.
Check/Hash sums
The hash sums are used for verification and identification purposes and includes CRC32, ED2K, MD5, SHA1 and TTH. Size+ED2K is the unique identifier used in AniDB.
Duration
The playback duration in hours:minutes:seconds.
Release information
Information related to the actual release of the file: group, release date, CRC status and version. If the origin of a file is unknown, i.e. no group, then none of these fields have any meaning and should therefore not be set.
Group
AniDB stores the name and short name of the group/person that produced and released a file. The short name is usually found as tags in file names, for example "[AonE]". Please note that not all groups registered in AniDB are listed with the tag they actually use, as AniDB can only have one distinctive tag for each group.
| Note | If a file is a joint release, like a file by e.g. ANBU-AonE, that joint group has its own group entry. The file should not be registered under either ANBU or AonE, but to the group that combines them both. |
| Note | Not all RAW groups are credited. See which RAW groups to credit. |
Release date
The date when the group released the file. Usually provided on the group's homepage or on some other release info site like Envirosphere or Baka Updates.
CRC status
Indicates whether the file entry in AniDB represents a perfect copy of the original file or not. You may request a change of the CRC Status if its not checked yet.
See also: Allowed Sources for official CRC
| Note | Not all groups provide CRC checksums for their files. This means that this status has no meaning and will have the value "not checked against official CRC". |
Read more about file verification if you are unfamiliar with this subject.
Version
Sometimes the group makes mistakes and wants to correct them by releasing a second (third, fourth...) version, usually called v2 (v3, v4, ...). This field is usually based on information in the file name (where no information normally means version 1).
Even if a group releases two files of the same episode it does not mean that the first has to be marked v1 and the second v2. There are other reasons to do something like that other than correcting mistakes like; different source (DTV/DVD), different sub languages, high and low quality versions, etc.
Other information
Other information that is set manually and in some cases disputable.
Censored
Mainly used for files with pornographic content.
Source
The original source of the content. Possible values are; unknown, camcorder, TV, DTV, HDTV, VHS, VCD, SVCD, LD, DVD, HKDVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, www.
Quality
This is a very arbitrary field. It depends completely on the eye of the beholder. You should not put too much meaning into it, but rather use it as a general pointer of quality. Possible values are; eyecancer, very low, low, med, high, very high.
Also see: Votes:Animegroups
Description
Additional useful information about the file. See Content:Filecomments.
Statistics
Registering new files
What is accepted?
Private files
The general rule is that file entries in AniDB are supposed to be useful for a larger group of users. Adding private files is therefore not allowed.
Corruption
An entry for a corrupted file may still be useful for others as long as it's likely that more people have the exact same corrupted file as you have. (For example if one source sent the corrupted version to many people.)
If - and only if - this is the case, you can add the file normally to AniDB, selecting CRC does not match official source and/or Quality: Corrupted if there are visible/audible errors in the file.
| Warning | If the corruption is based on some hard- or software-problem on your side, or if you manually edited the file, you should not add them to AniDB as they serve no purpose for other users. |
Don't worry - you can still list such files properly in your MyList. For example: You have a corrupted version of group X's release. Navigate to the corresponding episode where the regular, uncorrupted version of group X's release is listed and click on the "add file ()" icon. On the next page, you can select the "Type: corrupted version/invalid CRC" so that your MyList entries properly indicate which version you have.
If there's no CRC-valid version of group X added for the release you have, consider adding the episodes' generic files to your list instead.
Remuxed files
- They have to be wide-spread (see above); private files are not allowed.
- Do not mark them with the original group. Use no group or make your own group, adding the original group's name the subtitles/video are taken from to the file's description.
- Adding such files is generally frown upon unless some value was actually added in the remuxing process.
How to add
Since files in AniDB are tied with an actual episode, the place where you add files is at the far right of each episode entry. Click the "add file" icon that looks like this: 
, and it will take you to a new page where you can fill in the information about the file you want to add. For video files, the most important fields are: ED2K-link, CRC/CRC Status, Release group and Audio and Subtitle languages.
Alternatively you can use the mass add file page which is linked at the bottom of every anime page (massf).
Furthermore, it's strongly suggested (we basically demand it) to use avdump to parse the file before or after adding it to AniDB to get accurate metadata and to mark the file as verified (which causes some data of the file to stay locked and non-creq'able).
- The description is missing or severely incomplete.If you can, please help by explaining it.
Editing file entries
For editing see How to get started with creqing.
Removing file entries
If you added a bad entry you can also remove it as long as no one else has added it to his/her MyList. Otherwise, you have to issue a delete request.