For us to better understand fansubs, let’s examine how a typical fansub is created, from start to finish. Jama, co-leader of fansub group AnimeYoshi, shares with us how they are fansubbing “The Sacred Blacksmith”, an anime which was broadcast in Japan.
(This is part of an article I did for my magazine journalism class last year…full article will be up soon. Due to privacy issues, I am using the online handles of those I have interviewed.)
Step One: Raw
The process begins with getting a “raw”, the recorded video file of the anime. Someone in Japan records the anime and shares it on the internet. The raw is usually shared on Japanese peer-to-peer programs.
Step Two: Translation
The translation process sometimes begins before the fansubbing team gets the raw as more animation studios use web streaming to broadcast anime which translators can use.
Jama: “Karaoke is special. Usually the translators first work on the song translations so the person responsible for creating the karaokes can start working on it.”
Step Three: Translation Checking
Another translator checks the translation and fixes errors.
Step Four: Editing
The editor(s) fix grammar and spelling errors in the script while trying to make the lines easy to follow without sacrificing any information.
Jama: “Some editors dramatically simplify the translation to make it “flow” better. People might even think they’re good but they will just introduce translating errors or missing information that way.”
Step Five: Timing
The process of making the subtitles appear at the same time the person talks.
Jama: “Keep in mind that the editor just read the script. She didn’t listen to the sound and might have missed some errors she would’ve otherwise caught if watched the episode too.”
Step Six: Script Quality Check / Typesetting
The quality checkers watch the subtitles together with the raws, noting down errors. These error reports are sent to the editor and timer, who fixes the errors. At the same time, the typesetter translates any Japanese signs in the video and adds the English translation next to it.
Jama: “Thankfully, Sacred Blacksmith is an anime that plays in mediaeval times, there’s not much to typeset.”
Step Seven: Release Candidates (RC)
The video encoder takes all the scripts, fonts and the video itself and encodes it. The encoder will apply filters to the video in order to reach maximum quality for a certain file size.
Jama: “Thanks to those filters he can also fix some of the original raw’s flaws, like noise or banding.”
Step Eight: RC quality check
Once the first release candidate is uploaded by the encoder, the quality checkers once again check not just the script, but the encoding, typesetting, karaoke and other stuff as well.
Step Nine: Apply Reports
Any errors found will be checked and corrected. Steps eight and nine will repeat till no major errors are found.
Final Step: Release
Jama: “Once all the QCers are good with it, the episode can be released!”
Tags: fansubs