An Arashi Fan’s Guide to the World of Fansubbing

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

Have you ever wondered about what exactly goes into a fansub? Or how subbers and subbing teams go about producing their videos? I’m in the tl;dr mode today, so here you go!

An Arashi Fan’s Guide to the World of Fansubbing

Subbing (“sub” being the abbreviation of “subtitles”) is the process of attaching English subtitles onto a foreign television program, or in this case Japanese programs featuring Arashi. Traditional fansubs were produced using analog video editing equipment, but the subbing process was completely digitalized in recent years with the advent of technology.

The main processes in fansubbing are as follows:

1) Raw acquisition

2) Translating

3) Timing

4) Typesetting

5) Spotting

6) Encoding

Part 1: Acquiring a Raw

A raw is basically an unsubbed video. Raw acquisition in the past years have been made easy thanks to the work of LJ communities like DSS, ANJ and KnH, who in turn got their videos from Chinese websites like Weibo. (Just don’t ask me how the Weibo users got their videos.)

However, videos downloaded from Weibo typically range in the Gigabytes, as they come in the form of .TS files. Raw-providing LJ communities will then convert the file into smaller versions whilst retaining high video quality. They are truly indispensable to subbing communities because nothing would begin without them.

Part 2: Translating

This is my favorite part of the subbing process and basically where I started out as a subber, before branching off into other jobs. A translator takes the words spoken in Japanese and rewrites them into English. It sounds easy, but here’s an illustration of how a human translator would do it, versus Google Translate.

(Please note that all translators will do things a little differently, I’m just sharing my perspective. Japanese is my third language while English is my first, and our brains process language a little differently based on what our first language is.)

From Arashi ni Shiyagare, New Year SP

A human translator considers the context of the sentence which he/she is translating. For example, Nino says “Sou desu ne!” twice. Instead of writing, “That’s right!” twice to indicate his agreement, I chose to write it as “I would think so!” It’s the same number of words, but creates greater variety within the sentence and denotes a greater sense of agreement.

Another example would be Matchy’s use of the word “Golden Time”. Golden Time is a Japlish term, and would be more appropriately translated to into “Primetime” rather than having the English words copied over into the translation.

The conversation above lasted about 20 seconds, took me about 2 minutes to mentally translate it, then another 3 minutes to type it out as I'm listening to the speech. (I’m slow, I know.) And that’s not accounting for the time I spent on sentences that I have to replay over and over in order to catch a word I’m unfamiliar with, conducting background research or just trying to figure out the context of the situation.

A translation script for a 45 minute variety show (minus commercials) could have around 10,000 words. By the time I’ve finished the script I would have watched the show about 5 times.

Part 3: Timing

Timing, to me, is the most tedious part of the subbing process because it requires a lot of patience and precision, as well as some basic knowledge of Japanese. Experienced timers will be able to help spot missing sentences and sometimes do the favor of transcribing the missing Japanese speech. I use the program Aegisub for my timing and typesetting jobs.

I learnt all my timing skills from Youtube so I’ll just leave you with a beginner’s tutorial on timing. It’s pretty easy to pick up!

Part 4: Typesetting

Typesetting is all about beautifying the video. Communities which provide hardsubs often do so because they have typesetters who use special fonts for their videos which cannot be seen in another person’s computer. Japanese variety shows also have a tendency to use lots of captions themselves, so English subbing teams often have typesetters who will help in creating captions that complement or cover the existing Japanese captions.

Before:

After:

twosen is one of the most meticulous typesetters I know. Do check out her comments here on the intricacies of typesetting.

Part 5: Spotting

The spotting process can also be termed as the editing process. Basically, a translator will look over the video to see if the English lines have been timed according to the actual Japanese speech, check for missing sentences/words, and edit grammar or inaccurate translations.

Part 6: Encoding

Encoding is taking the subtitle file, which is currently separate from the video file, and sticking them together with all the lovely fonts and captions. It’s where the technical expertise of a subbing team comes into play, because competent encoders will get files down to tiny sizes, whilst retaining high video quality. It’s not as easy as just running a video through a program, there can be a lot of trouble shooting to do and it can be frustrating at times. I personally have very little experience in encoding, so that’s why you always see the same file types (.avi) coming from me, I know nuts about converting other file types.

THAT'S IT. (I think.)


And there you have it! It’s not a comprehensive guide, and I left out Karaoke Timing (a can of worms that I have yet to open because I HATE to time), but hopefully you have a better picture of what goes into a subbed video now. It’s not uncommon for a single subber to spend hours on just one episode of an Arashi show.

“Why do people spend so much for their time making fansubs?” you might ask, “Are you guys so hungry for the adulation that comes from the people who view your subs?

I can’t speak for other subbers; while I certainly don’t mind people appreciating my work, a large part behind my motivation to sub lies in a desire to master the navigation between two languages and make a contribution to fandom. Maybe the whole idea of mastery sounds like an ego trip to you, but the ability to level up a certain skill can be very, very satisfying.

Comments

[risa-kim.livejournal.com]

I actually agreed with you that of course, you need to convey the message of the videos clearly to the audience~

Wow~~ I can't say I'm confident enough to do it~ But I'll try my best:

櫻井：さあ、よろしく、どうぞ！さあさあ、もう週明けるとバレンタインになるんだね！
Sakurai: Welcome, Thanks for coming! Well, in another week it will be Valentine's day, isn't it?
ニノ：なるほど！
Nino: Yes!
櫻井：２月の１１日ですからね！来週はもうバレンタイン！やっぱさ、バレンタインって男の子的にはちょっとソワソワするもんなの？
Sakurai: Because today is February 11th, next week is Valentine's day! After all, for Valentine, won't it make boys feel a little nervous?
ニノ：ドラマやってると、やっぱ、僕はちょっとドキドキしますよ。
Nino: When I'm filming a drama, it makes me a little uneasy.
櫻井：と言いますと？
Sakurai: meaning?
ニノ：現場で、その女優さんが行事的にやってくれるんじゃないですか？
Nino: In the filming site, all the actresses give the chocolate as an obligatory event.
櫻井：目を見張る義理チョコでもあります！
Sakurai: They have Just-for-the-show compulsory chocolate.

Wow... That's actually pretty complicated... I seriously need to double check the japanese dictionary and english dictionary~ It seems pretty easy in my head.. Now that I've done it.. I respect you guys the subbers... a LOT....

Please correct me If I'm wronggggg~~~~ Thx so muchhhh

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind the constructive criticism, this is how I would have done it.

櫻井：さあ、よろしく、どうぞ！さあさあ、もう週明けるとバレンタインになるんだね！
Sakurai: Welcome, Thanks for coming! Well, in another week it will be Valentine's day, isn't it?

S: Well, we ask for your favor! Say, isn't the beginning of next week Valentine's Day?

[明ける: the start of]

ニノ：なるほど！
Nino: Yes!

N: I see!

櫻井：２月の１１日ですからね！来週はもうバレンタイン！やっぱさ、バレンタインって男の子的にはちょっとソワソワするもんなの？
Sakurai: Because today is February 11th, next week is Valentine's day! After all, for Valentine, won't it make boys feel a little nervous?

S: Right, since it's February the 11th today! I'm sure Valentine's Day would have guys on tenterhooks, wouldn't it?


ニノ：ドラマやってると、やっぱ、僕はちょっとドキドキしますよ。
Nino: When I'm filming a drama, it makes me a little uneasy.

Nino: When I'm filming a drama, it does make me a little excited.

[Added the "does" to reflect the やっぱ [after all], and I'd choose to use the word "excited" instead of "uneasy", because "uneasy" tends to have a negative connotation, whereas "excited" conveys the ドキドキ, happy feeling.]

櫻井：と言いますと？
Sakurai: meaning?

S: Meaning?

ニノ：現場で、その女優さんが行事的にやってくれるんじゃないですか？
Nino: In the filming site, all the actresses give the chocolate as an obligatory event.

N: At the studio, don't actresses give out chocolates as part of an obligatory event?

[Added the question mark to the sentence.]

櫻井：目を見張る義理チョコではあります！
Sakurai: They have Just-for-the-show compulsory chocolate.

S: There are the Astonishing Obligatory Chocolates!

[目を見張る: I interpreted this as astonishing, and apparently Wikipedia calls Girichoco "Obligation Chocolate".]

To be very honest, I am not confident of the translation I have made here myself. I try to double check across different dictionaries, use the Japanese thesaurus and what not. Wikipedia is an indispensable tool.

That being said, I think you should definitely give it a shot. Start with small clips and see if experienced translators can help you spot. That's how people learn.

[risa-kim.livejournal.com]

No, I don't mind at all~~ I thank you for giving me such good criticism~~ ^^

I learn new vocabs, and how to interpret more from your comment~~ *kiss&hugs*

I will try~~ ^^ Say, you've been very kind to check that translation, in the future, if I stumble some difficulties or need guidance, can I bother you with that? *If you have time, ofc*

Thx so muchh~~~

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

I still owe you your Aiba translation... orz

I can't promise to check very long scripts, but something like a 5 minute clip sounds about right. Alternatively, look out for the CMs. Hitachi CMs are pretty short and fun, you can start with those.

[risa-kim.livejournal.com]

take your time with that~~ ^^ I'm not in a hurry~~

I will start with CMs then~~ yes~~ Hitachi one are fun!! thx so much for your advise here~~ senpaii~

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

Aah, the interview that you pointed out to me was more difficult than I thought! But very insightful, considering that it came from Potato. XDD

Look forward to it! I'm 70% done and will post it sometime tomorrow.

[risa-kim.livejournal.com]

really? is it difficult because of the vocab?

Yay~~ I'll stay tune tomorrow~~ *woohoo~*

Btdubs, do u have some recommendation for Japanese-english and Japanese dictionary software? I'm dying to install one in my laptop.. Thxxx~~

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

I don't use any software. These are the sites which I frequent:

Weblio: http://ejje.weblio.jp/
This is probably the best English-Japanese, Japanese-English dictionary out there available for free. It gives the English translations across different dictionaries.

WWWJDIC: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C
This is really good if you want a quick search, but it's not very accurate sometimes. I also like that it can search in romaji. I use this to check Kanji characters which I don't know.

Weblio thesaurus: http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/
I use this thesaurus when I can't be sure of the Japanese-English translation, and try to find an equivalent Japanese word which best suits the translation purpose.

[risa-kim.livejournal.com]

Thankyouhh~~ I totally love youuu~~ *more kisses n hugss*