Infusion Fansubbing Newbie Guide

Introduction

This document aims to satisfy the curiosity of those who wish to know more about the art of digital fansubbing. It can also be a good hint for fresh groups who want to know a bit of how established groups work. Please note that no fansubbing process is likely to be exactly like another.

1. Raw acquisition

The first step is getting the audio/video of the episode or movie you want to fansub. This is usually done through "ripping" it off a DVD, VHS or TV source. DVD source has the best quality; TV-rips are most common for anime still on air in Japan.

So either buy the Japanese DVDs, or look around online for some nice fellow to supply a raw (unsubbed) video file with the anime needed. Remember to choose well among the different versions of a TV-rip that might exist, since the final product will very much depend on what source is used. Bigger is usually better.

2. Translation (TL)

The second step is for the translator to watch the anime a few times, get a feel of what the studio is trying to say with it, and then translate the dialogue and signs into understandable English. If you're subbing a series that has a few episodes out already, force the translator to watch several episodes before starting his translation. It may be important for a deeper understanding of the context. If the anime has an official website, have the translator read through it, so he can make sure he uses the official names for the characters and places used. The translated dialogue is given to the next person in the form of a text file, with character names and timestamp included. To make the typesetter's job easier, use some marks to indicate the lines are thoughts, radio-conversation or such. For thoughts, which in typesetting are set in italics, we use: (This is a line.)

3. Rough Timing (RT)

The third step is for a timer to insert the lines of dialogue into a script (using Sub Station Alpha) by listening to the audio and choosing where lines begin and end. Don't forget to add enough time to make sure the viewer is able to read the entire subtitled line before it disappears.

4. Edit

The fourth step is editing of the script. I suggest the editor watches the anime before getting to work, so they get an idea of what it should be like. This is easily done by first getting the raw, then installing VobSub, renaming the script to match the video file, and when you play the video, VobSub will automatically put the subtitles on the screen at the same time. If your raw is called "Ippo 50.avi", name your script "Ippo 50.ssa" and place it in the same directory.

After watching, the editor goes through the script, line by line, rewriting the dialogue to make it coherent; fitting to the character's style; splitting long lines (never more than two lines at the same time!); and generally making the English more intelligible. Since the translators aren't always experts at English, this makes editing a very important step. Programs used to edit scripts are text-editors like Notepad, Wordpad or specialized editors like TextPad, EditPlus and UltraEdit. In order to make the final product as good as possible, it is recommended to have up to three different editors go through the script before passing it on to the next step.

5. Fine Timing (FT)

The fifth step is for a timer to make sure subtitles are removed during scene changes, and that lines are shown long enough for the viewer to read. Split lines might also need to be retimed. FT picks up where RT left off, and fixes esthetic flaws to make the subtitles more attractively timed.

6. Translation check (TL check)

The sixth step is important if the editors don't understand Japanese themselves. In some cases, the translation they edit can be cryptic, and they improvise to create a line that makes sense. Since these interpretations aren't necessarily correct, it's good to have the translator watch the episode with the editing done, so he can notify the editors if something is misunderstood. If that's the case, a new round of editing is required.

7. Typesetting (TS)

After the script has been finalized, the typesetter sets to work with choosing what fonts should be used for dialogue lines, thought lines, radio communication, phone conversation, out-of-picture lines, etc. It is common to use different styles (bold, italics, different colours) to separate the different kinds of lines, making it easier for the viewer to know who says what. The typesetter also devises the signs used when explaining written Japanese characters on the screen (school signs, newspaper headlines, street names), and by using "style override commands" these can magically be made to move around the screen, following the animation. Since this is done by hand, using a text-editor, this can be quite time consuming. Most importantly is the use of readable fonts of a size that one doesn't need microscopes to see. Don't pick the coolest font; pick the coolest font you can easily read!

8. Quality Control (QC)

Once the script is ready to be encoded, the QC:er gets to watch through the anime along with subtitles in order to see if everything is alright. QC:ers note down typoes, spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and other faults they can find. The changes are made to the script, which after this point is FINAL. If the script has to be changed after this point, your process is flawed.

9. Encoding

After the script has become truly FINAL, it is time to have the encoder make a video file with the subtitles applied, and any changes in file size deemed necessary (for easy storage). Various filters can also be used at this point, to polish up the video or audio to be as nice as possible. The encoder should choose a file size that compromises between size and quality. No one wants to spend a week downloading your episode, however fancy it looks. The ideal size for an episode is 175MB, letting four episodes fit on one CD. Make sure the encoder looks through the produced video afterwards, to see if there have been any encoding artifacts or audio errors.

10. Distribution (distro)

Once the final product has been created and checked to be ready for the viewers, it's sent to the person in charge of distro. He sends the file around to a gang of high-bandwidthed people to spread around at a given timepoint, to ease the distribution. It's also common to use BitTorrent for this, as it requires less dedicated distributors.

11. Release

Finally there's the release step. This is where the distributors start serving the file for viewers to download, and someone in the group notifies various fansub websites of the CRC and bytesize of the release, to let more people know of its existence.

Additional steps

If you want your release to be extra shiny, you can karaoke the songs of the intro/outro (also known as OP/ED). This is done by using Sub Station Alpha to time each syllable by itself, letting it fill up as the word is being sung. The karaoke timer listens to the audio and uses the special "karaoke mode" in SSA to adjust the timing properly. It's good practice to include both the Japanese symbols and the romaji in karaoke.

–Infusion Fansubbing team

April 18th, 2003

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