I think I may be under a misconception. When calculating the CRC code, how many bits do you append to the original message? Is it the degree of the generator polynomial (e.g. x^3+1 you append three 0s) or is it the number of digits used to represent the generator polynomial (e.g. x^3+1 gives 1001 which gives four 0s)?
For example if you had the generator G(x)=x^4+x+2 and the message 10 000 101 would the numerator be 100 001 010 000 or 1 000 010 100 000?