Content:Files

Files are probably the most important part of AniDB's structure. They are what gets added to users mylists in order to mark episodes watched.

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).

Now, there are a few different kinds of files that can be added to the different episodes for anime, but all files have a few fields that apply to them:

All files, except generics, can also have relations to other files and/or episodes:

File relations: File<->File | File<->Ep

And we also have specific fields that only apply to video files, audio files and subtitle files:

Audio files: Track type | Audio Language | Audio Codec | Audio Bitrate | Channels

Subtitle files: Subtitle type | Subtitle Language | Subtitle Flags

Note: for alot of these fields you can use avdump to analyze the video file. It can tell you most of the things you need to know.

And the last two sections in this article are about if something is/has gone wrong:

Your version is corrupted... | Removing bad entries

Input fields

Also see How to get started with creqing.

Add/edit views

The description is missing or severely incomplete.

If you can, please help by explaining it.

ED2K Sum / Link

In this field you need to enter either a complete ed2k-link, or just an ed2k sum.

You can use various tools to get this, the ones we recommend are:

AniDB O'Matic (Windows/Linux (through Wine read here))
WebAOM (Windows/Linux/OS X/Anything that runs Java)
Avdump (Windows)

These can also get you the other hash-sums that ought to be filled out.

Note:

This is actually the only required field if you provide an ed2k-link.

Size

This field is for how many bytes the file is.

Note:

This field is required unless you provided an ed2k-link in the ED2K field.

Type

Video file

A file with at least video, but normally with audio and subtitles too. This is what you want 99% of the time and hence the default.

Subtitle file

A file containing only subs; srt, ssa, sub, idx, ass, smi, txt. Usually having a relation to one or more video files.

Audio file

A file containing only audio. Hardly used at all; you will probably never need this.

Other

An archive file containing one or more of the other types over; for example subtitles (although such files may be registered as Subtitle file too), sets of files or part of files. Hardly used, but slightly more common than Audio file.

Extension

Set which extension the file has. If you supplied an ed2k-link in the ed2k sum field, this is not necessary. The extension will be taken from the ed2k-link.

Other checksums

AniDB supports storage of CRC32, MD5, SHA1 and TTH checksums as well. It is not recommended to add these manually, though. You should rather autocreq.

CRC status

Most groups release files with corresponding CRC32 checksums; in the filename, in a sfv file or on their web page. If the calculated CRC32 sum of the physical copy in your possession matches the sum provided by the group then set the status to matches the official CRC. Otherwise, set it to does NOT match the official CRC. It is not possible to use these states if no CRC sum is registered in AniDB.

If no sum is provided by the group or if you can't bother to compare, then set it to not compared to the official CRC.

Note: If the file is a no group file, do not set crc correct status! Most raw files come from share or winny hence no official crc is known!

Allowed sources for official CRC:

Official sfv (good source)
CRC listing on official page/IRC topic (good source)
CRC tag in filename (not a good source, but works... kinda)
Envirosphere & Baka-Updates (3rd hand info, but kinda works.)

Version

Sometimes, the group makes mistakes and wants to correct them by releasing a second (third, fourth...) version, usually called "v2" ("v3", "v4", ...). If there is no such tag in the filename, it's normally "version 1".

Note: For standardization purpose if the source changes the versions gets set back to v1.

Example: a group releases a file with source dtv. Later they release the same thing again from dvd. Both is to be considered v1!

Release date

The date the group published the file. Have a look at the group's homepage or other release info pages like Envirosphere or Baka Updates.

Released by

Normally, the files are "tagged", meaning that the filename contains a string like "[AonE]" which you can look for in the according shortname dropdown-menu. Please note that not all groups on AniDB are listed under the tag they actually use, as AniDB can only have one distinctive tag for each group. So make sure the group's full name matches as well.

When you add a new file from a group that already have some files added for this anime, you can save yourself from going through the extra step of searching for the group again and again by using the by relation list, that contains only groups that already have at least one file added for this anime.
Otherwise, you have to search for the group.

If the group isn't listed, you have to add it first.

Note: If a file is a joint release, like a file by e.g. ANBU-AonE, that joint group has its own group entry, so you should not add the file to either ANBU or AonE, but to the group that combines them both.

Note: If the file is a RAW, you should check which RAW groups to credit.

Comments

File comments should only be made for important info, and always conforming to the standardized forms for file comments if applicable. Do not enter your personal opinions of the release or some other nonsense. Use the anime-group-comments for that.

Acceptable files

Your version is corrupted

Fileentries on AniDB are supposed to be useful for a larger group of users: One of them adds the entry and many others can use it (by adding it to their list).

Adding wide-spread corrupted files

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, marking it as "CRC invalid" and/or "Quality: Corrupted" if there are visible/audible errors in the file.

Adding "personal" corrupted files

If your specific (corrupted) version of the file isn't listed on AniDB, for example because of some hard- or software-problem on your side or because you manually edited the files, 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.

You want to add remuxed files?

They has 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 such files is generally frown upon unless some value was actually added in the remuxing process.

Removing bad 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.