Before I start on my ranting, there are many of you out there who have no clue as to how the fansubbing scene runs, what each position means and does, and how do they all go at it together despite being from opposite ends of the world. Some of you may have a vague idea, while other think it’s some black magic at work. Therefore, for my 1st post on Ocha!, I will briefly explain on how fansubbing runs. Take note that there are various ways to look at each task, and the their workflow can be way different from what I post here, but generally, this is how it works. Firstly, I will explain what does each position mean and what exactly do they do.

Translator

The first and most important position of them all, in my opinion, is the translator. Without this position, a fansubbing project simply cannot start. What a translator does is pretty much straightforward, he or she translates the entire anime, and nothing else. This includes spoken dialogs, on screen dialogs, signs and other on screen text, opening and ending themes, and maybe sometimes even the staff credits for the anime. While most translations are done from Japanese to English, there has been a rise in Chinese to English subs the past few years. Time taken to translate depends on how proficient is your language and usually is one of the more time consuming tasks to do. Besides that, a Translator usually will provide notes for anything that he thinks the audience would not understand and require extra information.

Raw Provider

The 2nd most important job after translating would be providing raws. What are raws? Well they are anime episodes freshly ripped from Japanese TV. This used to be ranked as the most important last time because without the raw, how can everyone do the tasks assigned to them? Raw Providers, also known as cappers, will acquire digital sources of anime and distribute them to the rest of the staff and let them take care of the rest. However, as of late, high quality raws are becoming more easily available through file sharing, hence there is no more need for a Raw Provider unless a group really wants the best quality out of their raws. The term Raw Provider is now merely used for those who have really high download and upload speeds to get the raws through file sharing as fast as possible.

Timer

Probably the most tedious and boring job ever, a Timer does exactly what the name says, timing. Basically the entire spoken dialog is timed by the timer. Other parts such as signs and other onscreen text, as well the Opening and Ending theme, are usually roughly timed by a Timer, and then later sent to the Typesetter and/or Karaoke’er, respectively, to do the rest. He or she must make sure that every single sentence is timed perfectly to the character speaking it, and that when a scene changes, the previous text does not bleed in to the next scene. Patience is really required here, with some discipline if one wants to quickly finish timing an entire episode without getting distracted.

Typesetter

On the other hand, Typesetting is the most rewarding job in the world of fansubbing, provided you have the knowledge and creativity. What a Typesetter does is that he or she takes any sign translation and any on-screen text, and blend it in with the current scene in the anime, which includes timing it to when it appears and disappears. The Typesetter also takes the translated dialog and makes it easy on the eyes of the viewer, and good-looking at the same time by selecting the appropriate fonts and colors. Although it can be hard at first, once you get used to it and start producing all the cool effects, you will end up being real satisfied with the results, not to mention getting praised by your fellow group members.

Example of Typesetting in Aegisub

Translation-Checker

Also called a TLC in short, a Translation Checker checks the translation done by the translator. He or she then offers suggestions to make corrections, or any alternative ways of translation that could be used for the context. Although preferably a TLC’er should at least have the same level of Japanese as the Translator, usually as long as he or she has a certain degree of knowledge, then it is more than enough to be one.

Editor

An editor must have a good command of English, or the language you are translating to, and those who have some knowledge of Japanese would be considered a bonus. Editors must be able to edit the translations into proper English that is easy to understand and grammatically correct at the same time. Besides that, when offered any suggestions by the TLC’er, he or she must know which translation is suitable for the current dialog or scene.

Encoder

Unlike other positions, this requires someone with a really powerful PC. The more powerful, the better. A fast and stable internet connection would be required as well. This is because the encoder is the person that puts everything together in a package you call a video. Besides that, the encoder must also compress the video to the appropriate size for distribution, by achieving the best balance between quality and size based on the source. Furthermore, encoders do what you call muxing, which means features such as chapters, and language types, are all done by the encoder as well. Finally, the encoder also has to “touch up” the video, before uploading it to the group’s FTP. This so that the viewer gets the best viewing experience.

Encoding in Progress, together with Task Manager showing how intensive it is

Quality Checker

Before the episodes gets distributed, most groups do a quality check to ensure that there are no mistakes or error with the end result. A Quality Checker is usually assigned to do this, where the person must withstand multiple times of watching the same episode over and over again, pointing out any mistakes to the appropriate person so that they can fix it, till they are satisfied with it. Many groups do multiple levels of quality checking, such as before and after the encoding, although most just do it right after the encoding process. While quality checking is equally important as the rest, it is something that can be ignored if you are really confident in your member’s capabilities.

Distributor

Better known as the Distro, a Distributor distributes the anime through any medium possible. This includes the ever popular file sharing method such as torrents, or more conventional methods such as direct downloads. Some also provide streaming, or upload them to certain streaming sites, while others stick with the old school method of xdcc, which is a type of file transferring protocol using the IRC network. Of course the most important thing for a distro to have is plenty of space and a good, stable internet.

Karaoke’er

See all those fancy syllable-by-syllable effect during the opening and ending theme? That, is the job of a karaoke’er. I’m not really sure what the position is called though. A Karaoke’er must be able to time each syllable to the song as accurate as possible, followed by selecting a style and creating the animation effects that perfectly match the theme of the song. Karaoke is usually done through two methods, using the more conventional but more technical scripting language called Lua, or the more “professional” but probably more visual method by utilizing the Adobe After Effects software.

Karaoke in Aegisub, using Lua Scripting Language

AFX-er

A term that usually refers to typesetters that use Adobe After Effects to do their typesetting compared to those who simply use normal subtitles. Compared to a normal typesetter, they are capable to do advanced on screen effects with text, or logos that is too complicated to be created using normal subtitles, or to heavy to be rendered by the viewer’s PC.

Note: The above two positions are what I call optional positions, because while they add to the overall experience of viewing an anime, it is not a necessity to have them. They are also more challenging from a technical and creative point of view, and its quite difficult to get it perfect.

Workflow

The picture below shows the general workflow of fansubbing, although it may vary according to groups. The process of making Karaoke and/or AFX effects are part of the Typesetting process.

General Work Flow

Communication

The most prominent form of communication for fansubbing groups then and now has always been through the Internet Relay Chat network, better known as IRC. It is used not only for communication between group members but also as a platform to announce, discuss and distribute their releases. While IRC is used for communication, personal FTP servers are used to share files among members while fansubbing. Other forms of communications such as Instant Messaging and forums are also used, although to a lesser extent.

Software Involved

Most groups now are unified under one software made solely for the purpose of fansubbing, Aegisub. Simply put, this is the god of all subtitling software, with nearly everything you could ever want in it. It also has a pretty good amount of documentation for even newcomers to get involved into fansubbing overnight. Besides that, for typesetting, more professional looking effects are handled by creating the image in Adobe Photoshop, followed by applying all the special effects using Adobe After Effects. Meanwhile, encoders have a wide variety of programs available for use, but generally a combination of AviSynth, which is used to apply the special effects, subtitles and any fixes or enhancements to the video, and MeGUI, a multipurpose all-in-one GUI for various tasks related to encoding, is used to achieve the best and fastest result. Other software include FTP and IRC clients for communication and filesharing among members.

And with that, I end the 1st part of my Fansubbing post. For those who read, thanks for reading. For those who ended up TL;DR, I hope you could forgive me for this rather long post, as I just want to explain some things so that readers of my future posts would understand what I’m trying to rant about.

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