How does anime get subbed?
0
Hey
I've been wondering about the process someone has to go through to sub an episode of anime. I'm gonna start taking Japanese classes this spring semester next year and subbing anime sounds like a cool way for me to help with my studies but I'm in the dark as to what tools are necessary and the process that an episode goes through. If someone could explain it in terms that aren't totally technical or point me to a site that does explain it well I would really appreciate it. Maybe some day I'll even be good enough to sub for FAKKU. I wanna learn hiragana/katakana too but I think its more important right now to grasp the spoken language first. I know terms like raw, encoding, timing but I only have vague ideas what they mean as well.
I've been wondering about the process someone has to go through to sub an episode of anime. I'm gonna start taking Japanese classes this spring semester next year and subbing anime sounds like a cool way for me to help with my studies but I'm in the dark as to what tools are necessary and the process that an episode goes through. If someone could explain it in terms that aren't totally technical or point me to a site that does explain it well I would really appreciate it. Maybe some day I'll even be good enough to sub for FAKKU. I wanna learn hiragana/katakana too but I think its more important right now to grasp the spoken language first. I know terms like raw, encoding, timing but I only have vague ideas what they mean as well.
0
From my knowledge, you need a few things, a good program to input your subs, a raw provider, translator, typesetter, timer, editor, distributor.
I don't really know the details, but basically translator gets the raw and translate the text in a separate file? the typesetter inputs those subs into the video, your timer correctly times the subs, editor checks for errors, and your distributors hosts your file for distribution.
It's something similar to that
I don't really know the details, but basically translator gets the raw and translate the text in a separate file? the typesetter inputs those subs into the video, your timer correctly times the subs, editor checks for errors, and your distributors hosts your file for distribution.
It's something similar to that
0
You need multiple people to sub anime? Is it really so involved that one person can't do an entire episode themselves?
0
jbx10afreedom wrote...
You need multiple people to sub anime? Is it really so involved that one person can't do an entire episode themselves?Unless you want to spend 6-8 hours per day for 5 days+. (depending on how skilled you are) I suggest you get some help. Timing can be a murder if your show has OP/ED or fast moving text.
4
Sindalf
Used to do stuff
Enjoy your wall of text.
Each group does things differently but this is how my group does it. Things can be done differently but I find this to be the most effective method.
First we get the raw from someone in japan. You need someone to cap the exact video and audio stream from japan. You can do that with this. http://www.friio.com/ It costs about $330 usd atm. Person muxes the raws into a .ts file and ship it off to the encoder. Cappers must live in japan and have decent tv reception. Also they can use what are known as cron scripts. Using linux on their capping box they can program the box to automatically cap and upload tv shows without them ever being home. This is very very helpful to the groups that use them.
Encoder will then create what is called the work raw. This is a low quality version of your final raw which will be used later for release. Details of how to encode are not something I know too much of. I do know it requires alot of scripting in things such as aviscript and megui. A basic script would like this.
There is more to it than just that but that is pretty much the basics. If the japanese tv broadcast had closed captions the encoder can rip those in order to get a faster translation out of the translator. In most cases these two above steps are skipped as most groups do not have a raw capper and can not work with a .ts raw file without waiting a few days for one to show up on japanese p2p programs such as share or perfect dark.
Next is translation. Unless you are fluent in japanese you should not be translating. That is my opinion personally but for the most part you should be at a skill where you can watch a raw and understand everything perfectly without having to rewatch anything. Translator normally is allowed as much time as needed by most groups as long as it does not take a drastically long time. Next would be translation checking but that is becoming a rare job as the standards for translators are getting higher and higher every year. The translation checker should always be of equal skill or higher than the skill of the translator. These are the people who are the best of the best but too overworked or too lazy to translate.
Next in most cases would be editing. Editors must be fluent in the language you are translating to. They must be the biggest grammar nazis ever. For the most part they do not only check terms, spelling, grammar, but also adjust some words in a line in order to make it flow better. I would not call them a second translator but more like someone who tosses them suggestions. The editors I work with always ask the translator before changing a line in order to ensure that it is accurate.
Next would be timing, which is my position. Timing is done with a program called aegisub http://www.aegisub.net/ This program is very easy to learn and use. Because of this timing is often an entry level position in subbing anime. Timing is hard to be fully taught by someone as most people never get it right on their first try. It is something you learn over time. For the most part you load the video and audio into the program. You will see what I call waves. Green waves which represent the audio. You left click where you want to start and right click where you want to end then hit G for save. You do that till you are done. Timers must also know to add a bit of lead in or out which is the process of adding a bit more time to the line so that it does not flash and it more readable. Remember that sometimes you can find one or two japanese words translated into a full English sentence. This gives the viewer more time to read it. Connecting lines is also important as it stops lines from flashing on and off screen. There is also something called snap to scene where you will see a purple line on your audio waves if the video is loaded. By ending your line there the subs will go away with the video scene itself. This is helps makes the subs less transparent to the viewer as the timing should not be something the viewer notices.
Next would be typesetting. Typsetting is where the artists should go. They create the signs in the show and make them so they look as if they are a part of the original japanese video. Someone should never make their typesetting look fancy. You want it to blend into the video while being readable. This is done as well in aegisub and can be done in photoshop and other programs such as adobe after effects. Aegisub is still the preferred method of typesetting as it allows the subs to be softsubbed(will get to that later) For the most part a typsetter has to understand the .ass tags (.ass is the file for Advanced substation alpha) http://aegisub.cellosoft.com/docs/ASS_Tags Instead of me explaining it all I suggest you read that.
Once that is all done you are ready to quality check. Quality Checkers should have both the skills of a timer and an editor. They look over a the script for both timing and editing errors. They make suggestions for script changes based on what they see. If something is wrong they note it down or change it. Pretty much just a second set of eyes to look over what was already done.
Next is encoding once more. Not that you have finished up everything you can start the encoding process. Encoding is for the most part taking the .ts file which is 2GB+ in most cases and turning the file size into something something small. As noted above you make it like a work raw except there are a few other steps involved such as lossless encode (25GB, Yes you heard me) and filtering. I do not know much about those two sorry. The encoder must decide the video and audio type of compression. H264 (sometimes referred to as x264 since that is the program used to compress it) is the current trend for higher quality videos. Xvid is what is used for low quality videos and slower pcs. Xvid is outdated at the moment and is not used by some groups anymore. After they choose the audio type. I know of four audio types atm that are used in most cases. MP3, AAC, AC-3, FLAC. AAC is the popular use for high quality videos as it gives a higher quality than mp3 while mp3 is used for avi. AC-3 and flac are used in dvd/bluray releases. Another thing to quickly go over is hardsubbing and softsubbing. Hardsubbing is using a script to put the subs on the video. They can not be removed as they are part of the video. Softsubs are external sub files. They are part of a mkv file. These subs can be turned off or removed. Softsubbing is the general trend at the moment as it is faster and most users do not like hardsubbing. There are three file types for the final format generally used. AVI, MP4, MKV. AVI is used for low quality releases because it does not support AAC audio and x264 (it can use x264 by hacking it, Groups like dattebayo do this). In most cases people use xvid and mp3 for avi. AVI is liked by some viewers because it can be burnt to dvd. AVI does not support softsubs. MP4 is like AVI+1. It can handle everything avi can including aac and x264. This is rarely used for reasons unknown to me. MP4 releases do not support softsubs. Last there is MKV. MKV is like a box. For the most part you open this box and put in it MP4 video and whatever audio type you want. You can also insert .ass scripts. This will allow softsubs which can be turned off and on and saves you hours of encoding for hardsubs.
Once everything else is done you would distro. Distro is often done by 100mbit+ servers that have incredibly high bandwidth. No one wants to download a torrent that has a slow speed. I suggest ovh for buying servers as they give the best speed and bandwidth for the price. http://www.ovh.co.uk/products/dedicated_offers.xml For the torrents, Torrent trackers such as the one hosted at http://www.nyaatorrents.org/ are used in most cases. Some groups decide to use their own as they can manage everything then such as uptime and pulling releases if need be. This is by far the easiest fansub job and a pretty good one to do if you have the money.
Congratulations you are done. inb4version2
Extra things you can do: You can also do extra things such as karaoke effects. Karaoke is done in adobe after effects or aegisub. Aegisub is what most groups use but many do not even do karaoke effects anymore as they require hardsubbing since they slow down peoples pcs too much. Basic karaoke is done by timing each syllable individually. After that comes the effect which I do not know how is created. I do know they are generated from some template as the ones I have seen are big 12k+ lines.
This all can take 5hrs depending on your group. Some groups can get them all done in 3hrs if you have good enough staff and do everything at same time. Googledocs is now becoming popular as now editors and translators can work all at the same time. Timers can copy paste lines in aegisub and work with the translators. This is very helpful incase someone has to ask the translator a question.
Another thing I should note is where groups store files. They normally store files on what is called a ftp server. Just a server that stores files. Problem is you have to pay for it. Scripts, videos, .ts raws, All can be stored here.
I hope you enjoyed my wall of text. I know I like to ramble on a bit so if something did not make sense just ask.
Subbing can be done by just one person. Tadashi used to do it alone before he ragequit due to stress. He was really good too. It is preferred that someone have a group.
Remember speed is important and so is quality. Try to be fast but do not skip on quality.
Edit for things I forgot to include and I am not looking in that big wall of text.
Encoders use what are called filters to adjust certain aspects of the video. These can vary from sharpening to denoising to deinterlacing. Encoders also can determine the video quality by the x264 settings they use and filters. They should out put a good quality video but that can sometimes take time to encode and very select filters. It is because of this I only let in Quad or i7 encoders.
Translators- Fansubbing is not for learning. You should not be doing it unless you are fluent in english and japanese. Although some of the best translators I have dealt with were still learning japanese. You should atleast be able to watch a raw without any problems. No one wants a bad translation.
Note: Don't fansub for fame. It is just dumb.
Each group does things differently but this is how my group does it. Things can be done differently but I find this to be the most effective method.
First we get the raw from someone in japan. You need someone to cap the exact video and audio stream from japan. You can do that with this. http://www.friio.com/ It costs about $330 usd atm. Person muxes the raws into a .ts file and ship it off to the encoder. Cappers must live in japan and have decent tv reception. Also they can use what are known as cron scripts. Using linux on their capping box they can program the box to automatically cap and upload tv shows without them ever being home. This is very very helpful to the groups that use them.
Encoder will then create what is called the work raw. This is a low quality version of your final raw which will be used later for release. Details of how to encode are not something I know too much of. I do know it requires alot of scripting in things such as aviscript and megui. A basic script would like this.
Spoiler:
There is more to it than just that but that is pretty much the basics. If the japanese tv broadcast had closed captions the encoder can rip those in order to get a faster translation out of the translator. In most cases these two above steps are skipped as most groups do not have a raw capper and can not work with a .ts raw file without waiting a few days for one to show up on japanese p2p programs such as share or perfect dark.
Next is translation. Unless you are fluent in japanese you should not be translating. That is my opinion personally but for the most part you should be at a skill where you can watch a raw and understand everything perfectly without having to rewatch anything. Translator normally is allowed as much time as needed by most groups as long as it does not take a drastically long time. Next would be translation checking but that is becoming a rare job as the standards for translators are getting higher and higher every year. The translation checker should always be of equal skill or higher than the skill of the translator. These are the people who are the best of the best but too overworked or too lazy to translate.
Next in most cases would be editing. Editors must be fluent in the language you are translating to. They must be the biggest grammar nazis ever. For the most part they do not only check terms, spelling, grammar, but also adjust some words in a line in order to make it flow better. I would not call them a second translator but more like someone who tosses them suggestions. The editors I work with always ask the translator before changing a line in order to ensure that it is accurate.
Next would be timing, which is my position. Timing is done with a program called aegisub http://www.aegisub.net/ This program is very easy to learn and use. Because of this timing is often an entry level position in subbing anime. Timing is hard to be fully taught by someone as most people never get it right on their first try. It is something you learn over time. For the most part you load the video and audio into the program. You will see what I call waves. Green waves which represent the audio. You left click where you want to start and right click where you want to end then hit G for save. You do that till you are done. Timers must also know to add a bit of lead in or out which is the process of adding a bit more time to the line so that it does not flash and it more readable. Remember that sometimes you can find one or two japanese words translated into a full English sentence. This gives the viewer more time to read it. Connecting lines is also important as it stops lines from flashing on and off screen. There is also something called snap to scene where you will see a purple line on your audio waves if the video is loaded. By ending your line there the subs will go away with the video scene itself. This is helps makes the subs less transparent to the viewer as the timing should not be something the viewer notices.
Next would be typesetting. Typsetting is where the artists should go. They create the signs in the show and make them so they look as if they are a part of the original japanese video. Someone should never make their typesetting look fancy. You want it to blend into the video while being readable. This is done as well in aegisub and can be done in photoshop and other programs such as adobe after effects. Aegisub is still the preferred method of typesetting as it allows the subs to be softsubbed(will get to that later) For the most part a typsetter has to understand the .ass tags (.ass is the file for Advanced substation alpha) http://aegisub.cellosoft.com/docs/ASS_Tags Instead of me explaining it all I suggest you read that.
Once that is all done you are ready to quality check. Quality Checkers should have both the skills of a timer and an editor. They look over a the script for both timing and editing errors. They make suggestions for script changes based on what they see. If something is wrong they note it down or change it. Pretty much just a second set of eyes to look over what was already done.
Next is encoding once more. Not that you have finished up everything you can start the encoding process. Encoding is for the most part taking the .ts file which is 2GB+ in most cases and turning the file size into something something small. As noted above you make it like a work raw except there are a few other steps involved such as lossless encode (25GB, Yes you heard me) and filtering. I do not know much about those two sorry. The encoder must decide the video and audio type of compression. H264 (sometimes referred to as x264 since that is the program used to compress it) is the current trend for higher quality videos. Xvid is what is used for low quality videos and slower pcs. Xvid is outdated at the moment and is not used by some groups anymore. After they choose the audio type. I know of four audio types atm that are used in most cases. MP3, AAC, AC-3, FLAC. AAC is the popular use for high quality videos as it gives a higher quality than mp3 while mp3 is used for avi. AC-3 and flac are used in dvd/bluray releases. Another thing to quickly go over is hardsubbing and softsubbing. Hardsubbing is using a script to put the subs on the video. They can not be removed as they are part of the video. Softsubs are external sub files. They are part of a mkv file. These subs can be turned off or removed. Softsubbing is the general trend at the moment as it is faster and most users do not like hardsubbing. There are three file types for the final format generally used. AVI, MP4, MKV. AVI is used for low quality releases because it does not support AAC audio and x264 (it can use x264 by hacking it, Groups like dattebayo do this). In most cases people use xvid and mp3 for avi. AVI is liked by some viewers because it can be burnt to dvd. AVI does not support softsubs. MP4 is like AVI+1. It can handle everything avi can including aac and x264. This is rarely used for reasons unknown to me. MP4 releases do not support softsubs. Last there is MKV. MKV is like a box. For the most part you open this box and put in it MP4 video and whatever audio type you want. You can also insert .ass scripts. This will allow softsubs which can be turned off and on and saves you hours of encoding for hardsubs.
Once everything else is done you would distro. Distro is often done by 100mbit+ servers that have incredibly high bandwidth. No one wants to download a torrent that has a slow speed. I suggest ovh for buying servers as they give the best speed and bandwidth for the price. http://www.ovh.co.uk/products/dedicated_offers.xml For the torrents, Torrent trackers such as the one hosted at http://www.nyaatorrents.org/ are used in most cases. Some groups decide to use their own as they can manage everything then such as uptime and pulling releases if need be. This is by far the easiest fansub job and a pretty good one to do if you have the money.
Congratulations you are done. inb4version2
Extra things you can do: You can also do extra things such as karaoke effects. Karaoke is done in adobe after effects or aegisub. Aegisub is what most groups use but many do not even do karaoke effects anymore as they require hardsubbing since they slow down peoples pcs too much. Basic karaoke is done by timing each syllable individually. After that comes the effect which I do not know how is created. I do know they are generated from some template as the ones I have seen are big 12k+ lines.
This all can take 5hrs depending on your group. Some groups can get them all done in 3hrs if you have good enough staff and do everything at same time. Googledocs is now becoming popular as now editors and translators can work all at the same time. Timers can copy paste lines in aegisub and work with the translators. This is very helpful incase someone has to ask the translator a question.
Another thing I should note is where groups store files. They normally store files on what is called a ftp server. Just a server that stores files. Problem is you have to pay for it. Scripts, videos, .ts raws, All can be stored here.
I hope you enjoyed my wall of text. I know I like to ramble on a bit so if something did not make sense just ask.
Subbing can be done by just one person. Tadashi used to do it alone before he ragequit due to stress. He was really good too. It is preferred that someone have a group.
Remember speed is important and so is quality. Try to be fast but do not skip on quality.
Edit for things I forgot to include and I am not looking in that big wall of text.
Encoders use what are called filters to adjust certain aspects of the video. These can vary from sharpening to denoising to deinterlacing. Encoders also can determine the video quality by the x264 settings they use and filters. They should out put a good quality video but that can sometimes take time to encode and very select filters. It is because of this I only let in Quad or i7 encoders.
Translators- Fansubbing is not for learning. You should not be doing it unless you are fluent in english and japanese. Although some of the best translators I have dealt with were still learning japanese. You should atleast be able to watch a raw without any problems. No one wants a bad translation.
Note: Don't fansub for fame. It is just dumb.
0
Thanks a lot Sindalf, I had no idea that such work went into subbing anime. If I do get to a point in my japanese studies where I can watch a raw without problems I will probably translate for a group in the future. I appreciate the time you took writing that massive wall of text
1
Sindalf
Used to do stuff
jbx10afreedom wrote...
Thanks a lot Sindalf, I had no idea that such work went into subbing anime. If I do get to a point in my japanese studies where I can watch a raw without problems I will probably translate for a group in the future. I appreciate the time you took writing that massive wall of textNow I can just link that wall of text next time somebody asks.
0
Very informative!
Question: Do the translators, editors and QC guys work with instant messengers or some live chat? I assume many of them a geographically dispersed, so how do they bring about the co-ordination?
Question: Do the translators, editors and QC guys work with instant messengers or some live chat? I assume many of them a geographically dispersed, so how do they bring about the co-ordination?
0
Sindalf
Used to do stuff
gurumao2 wrote...
Very informative!Question: Do the translators, editors and QC guys work with instant messengers or some live chat? I assume many of them a geographically dispersed, so how do they bring about the co-ordination?
Most groups work via irc channels. Most fansub chans are located on irc.rizon.net. Same server fakku irc is located on. Groups that use instant messengers fail.
0
Sindalf wrote...
gurumao2 wrote...
Very informative!Question: Do the translators, editors and QC guys work with instant messengers or some live chat? I assume many of them a geographically dispersed, so how do they bring about the co-ordination?
Most groups work via irc channels. Most fansub chans are located on irc.rizon.net. Same server fakku irc is located on. Groups that use instant messengers fail.
Naruhodo.
0
I second that, a lot of people think that subbing anime is just translating the words and that it doesn't really take long at all. Making this a sticky would really help in getting people to understand the arduous process and amount of time people who sub anime put into it.
0
Sindalf
Used to do stuff
jbx10afreedom wrote...
I second that, a lot of people think that subbing anime is just translating the words and that it doesn't really take long at all. Making this a sticky would really help in getting people to understand the arduous process and amount of time people who sub anime put into it.Translating so to say is never just translating words. A direct literal translation from J > E never turns out right. It would be confusing and it would not make sense. This is why different groups have different translations. Translation needs to flow so every so often something might change or lose a little bit of meaning but the overall general meaning is still the same.
0
I don't know much but my father subs korean drama and anime for my family often. It usually takes him 2 days per ep.?
0
Sindalf
Used to do stuff
NoeLLis wrote...
I don't know much but my father subs korean drama and anime for my family often. It usually takes him 2 days per ep.?Depends on your skill. Someone can do it all in 5hours if they know what they are doing.