Subbing Guide
After being asked by budding subbers many times over the years, I finally decided to make a detailed post about my subbing process. I didn't want to copy/paste tutorials for each part, so I linked to the ones I learned from where relevant.
Click to jump:
- Project Selection
- Raw Selection
- Translation
- Editing
- Timing
- Typesetting
- Karaoke
- QC
- Encoding
- Uploading
- Posting
Project Selection
In the past, I mostly asked En-chan if she'd be willing to translate things for me, and if she said yes, that's what we'd do. I tried to pick things that other people wouldn't already be subbing--that's why we've subbed so little Arashi, despite both of us loving them. However, if it's something I wanted to sub regardless and the translator was willing, then I wouldn't care if it had already been subbed before. En currently doesn't download anything, so now we only sub things that she can watch from her own copy. (I have the feeling I had more to say on this topic when I first started this tutorial many, many years ago.)
Raw Selection
The "raw" video is the video without subtitles. A good raw is clear, has a nice resolution, and has a clear and in-sync audio. I currently only know how to encode .avi files with my method, but I can make subs for .mp4 files if someone else is doing the encoding. Sometimes .mpg files work out, and other formats can usually be converted to .avi before encoding.
I don't like to use anything larger than 1280x720, so I will usually resize super HQ videos to save space. I will do the same if bitrates seem too high. It's a good idea to know where your raw comes from, so you know what the uploader's feelings on their files being used to make subs are.
Translation
Enshinge usually translates for me, and after years of working together, we've adjusted to each other pretty well. I let her know that capitalizing her sentences really helps me out, and I've stopped asking her every time I want to change something in her translation. If you're lucky, you'll find your own En-chan. :)
Translating for a subber and translating for yourself go pretty differently. En-chan writes up her translations in Notepad as a .txt file. Use a colon to denote the speaker and # to denote a note for the subber. (A note to be included in the subs should be treated as a speaker.) If you have your settings done right, you should be able to use keyboard shortcuts to pause/play the video while typing in Notepad, which cuts down on having to switch between the two. An example of a translation script:
y: Yep, and so it's started! The Hohoemi Date!
m: Yup!
t: Here it is!
y: This is something people who bought our album get to watch.
h: Only them.
t: It's bonus footage!
b: Thank you very much.
y: That's how it is. It was these two this time, who get to do it as punishment.
b: They went on a date.
y: They went on a date, and the rest of you made Hohoemi Plans.
h: Yes.
y: Came up with all kinds of things.
y: So how was it, you two?
m: Mm? H-how... how was it?
s: What's with this shyness here!
h: So you got closer to each other?
# mm, dunno what hina actually says there 8|a
En-chan also provides me with a legend at the beginning of each file she sends me, so I know who the letters stand for.
When I'm translating for my own subs, I find that it's easiest to either very quickly time a blank script and then type the translation in afterward, or time each line and translate it before moving on to the next. I would not go the same route as I do with En-chan because I have the advantage of using my subtitling program from the start. Which version works best for you depends on your configuration and which version of which subtitling program you're using.
Teams and new or sub-fluent translators sometimes use spot translators to check their work and help them when they cannot figure out a line.
Editing
The first thing I do once I open the translation in my subbing software is to edit it. I make fewer mistakes if I go through each line and edit it initially, but sometimes it's too boring, so I just hope I catch everything while timing and running QC. However, once you get to know your translators' work, you can run a few find/replace for common mistakes they make--or just to have the language in your preference, in the case that it's not technically wrong.
When I edit or QC for other people, I make it clear that I am only proficient in American English and I will be changing the dialect to my own. I cannot edit according to other regions' rules because I don't know them, and mixing dialects is not a good thing to do.
Timing
I use Aegisub to create subtitles. I first learned how to time with Subtitle Workshop, but that's best for fast and dirty softsubs (subtitles in a separate file that you play together with the video, usually .srt and lacking much typesetting). Here's where I'm going to cheat: Aegisub has an extensive online manual that is also available under help > contents if you open the program. (Old version here, in case they aren't done updating certain tutorials.) Now, there is a lot of information there, much of which you won't need. It's a good idea to read through "Timing subtitles to audio." To keep yourself from getting overloaded, learn how to time first, and hold off on typesetting.
Definitely time from the audio and not the video. For some reason, the developers like the spectrum analyzer view better, but it's harder for me to tell voices and sounds apart that way, so I recommend toggling that OFF. There are several hotkeys that you must use here once you get a grip on things or else you'll take a long, long time to get any work done. You won't need all of them (nor could you easily remember that many!) but a few are essential.
Typesetting
Basic typesetting is done through Styles. Click on the pink S to open the Styles Manager and make your styles. You can always add more in the middle of the project as needed. Set your basic fonts, colors, sizes, bolding/italicizing/underlining/strikethrough, margins, alignment, border size, and shadow offset. You don't want the subs to be too distracting or hard to read, but the subs are yours, so do what you find asthetically pleasing. Check the manual for details. Once you have styles made, you can select all the lines by actor and change them to the corresponding style. I used to do this by hand in Notepad with a find/replace, but that's the long way.
Beyond the basic styling, you can change the typesetting of individual lines by adding tags to them. I used to do more typesetting for the on-screen text, but I found that the work felt unnecessary when people were speaking the same words or the screen was getting cluttered, so I toned everything down. You can use many different effects to make the text look naturally occurring if that's what you want. Take a look at this list of tags to see what kind of effects are possible.
Karaoke
Once you've timed the lines, there is a karaoke mode to time each individual syllable (check the manual for know-how). I used to make my own effects, which I really don't have the energy to explain beyond read the manual, but I've found that in many cases, I'd rather use a coding artist's work that they've freely shared with the public and credit them than sweat over a project for days, trying to figure out where my coding went wrong. If you do write your own, it can be gratifying. You can also take a good template and personalize it. For instance, there is a vector drawing tool you can use to generate the code to make a filled shape. Once you have that, you can add it to the karaoke to make the shape used fit the lyrics or whatever you want. Got a song about mandarin oranges? Make a silly orange blob for the effects. ;D
QC
Quality Check is the last step before the subs are joined with the video. It's extra editing, plus checking the timing and typesetting work. Basically, I watch the video in Aegisub and pause when I find mistakes. This step, when done on a team, requires an experienced subber with native-level ability in the translation language.
Encoding
I use this method, since it was popular when I first started (ugh, I feel old). I use VirtualDubMod to encode. I use XviD as a video codec and Lame MP3 as an audio codec, if it needs compressing--most times the audio can be left alone. I use Vobsub/VSFilter for the subs, as described. The guide linked is old, so don't worry about version numbers and just use the newest one in each case. You can find links to download these programs legally and for free on that website.
I usually use two passes in encoding and I try to keep the frames per second about the same, unless they are unusually high and I don't want to deal with uploading a huge video. Beware that lowering the bitrate too far will make your video fuzzy. It's easy to cut out parts you don't want or resize the video. I don't know an awful lot about encoding, so it has given me a lot of trouble over the years.
Uploading
Choosing uploading sites is a pain in the butt these days. If you want free hosting, your files are generally going to go inactive and get deleted. Ask around the community or google to compare hosting sites.
Posting
I made a community to separate my own blog from the subs and so people could follow the community without giving me access to their own journals. It can be hard to find the balance between advertising your projects to people who want to see them and spamming communities when you're getting started. Once people know who you are, and if there's a good index running at the time, you shouldn't have to advertise every project.
*Note: You are welcome to ask me for help (send me a message on tumblr or comment on this LJ post). If you need troubleshooting, however, there are forums full of much more qualified people than I that you could ask, and I may direct you to them if I can't help you myself.
Click to jump:
- Project Selection
- Raw Selection
- Translation
- Editing
- Timing
- Typesetting
- Karaoke
- QC
- Encoding
- Uploading
- Posting
Project Selection
In the past, I mostly asked En-chan if she'd be willing to translate things for me, and if she said yes, that's what we'd do. I tried to pick things that other people wouldn't already be subbing--that's why we've subbed so little Arashi, despite both of us loving them. However, if it's something I wanted to sub regardless and the translator was willing, then I wouldn't care if it had already been subbed before. En currently doesn't download anything, so now we only sub things that she can watch from her own copy. (I have the feeling I had more to say on this topic when I first started this tutorial many, many years ago.)
Raw Selection
The "raw" video is the video without subtitles. A good raw is clear, has a nice resolution, and has a clear and in-sync audio. I currently only know how to encode .avi files with my method, but I can make subs for .mp4 files if someone else is doing the encoding. Sometimes .mpg files work out, and other formats can usually be converted to .avi before encoding.
I don't like to use anything larger than 1280x720, so I will usually resize super HQ videos to save space. I will do the same if bitrates seem too high. It's a good idea to know where your raw comes from, so you know what the uploader's feelings on their files being used to make subs are.
Translation
Enshinge usually translates for me, and after years of working together, we've adjusted to each other pretty well. I let her know that capitalizing her sentences really helps me out, and I've stopped asking her every time I want to change something in her translation. If you're lucky, you'll find your own En-chan. :)
Translating for a subber and translating for yourself go pretty differently. En-chan writes up her translations in Notepad as a .txt file. Use a colon to denote the speaker and # to denote a note for the subber. (A note to be included in the subs should be treated as a speaker.) If you have your settings done right, you should be able to use keyboard shortcuts to pause/play the video while typing in Notepad, which cuts down on having to switch between the two. An example of a translation script:
y: Yep, and so it's started! The Hohoemi Date!
m: Yup!
t: Here it is!
y: This is something people who bought our album get to watch.
h: Only them.
t: It's bonus footage!
b: Thank you very much.
y: That's how it is. It was these two this time, who get to do it as punishment.
b: They went on a date.
y: They went on a date, and the rest of you made Hohoemi Plans.
h: Yes.
y: Came up with all kinds of things.
y: So how was it, you two?
m: Mm? H-how... how was it?
s: What's with this shyness here!
h: So you got closer to each other?
# mm, dunno what hina actually says there 8|a
En-chan also provides me with a legend at the beginning of each file she sends me, so I know who the letters stand for.
When I'm translating for my own subs, I find that it's easiest to either very quickly time a blank script and then type the translation in afterward, or time each line and translate it before moving on to the next. I would not go the same route as I do with En-chan because I have the advantage of using my subtitling program from the start. Which version works best for you depends on your configuration and which version of which subtitling program you're using.
Teams and new or sub-fluent translators sometimes use spot translators to check their work and help them when they cannot figure out a line.
Editing
The first thing I do once I open the translation in my subbing software is to edit it. I make fewer mistakes if I go through each line and edit it initially, but sometimes it's too boring, so I just hope I catch everything while timing and running QC. However, once you get to know your translators' work, you can run a few find/replace for common mistakes they make--or just to have the language in your preference, in the case that it's not technically wrong.
When I edit or QC for other people, I make it clear that I am only proficient in American English and I will be changing the dialect to my own. I cannot edit according to other regions' rules because I don't know them, and mixing dialects is not a good thing to do.
Timing
I use Aegisub to create subtitles. I first learned how to time with Subtitle Workshop, but that's best for fast and dirty softsubs (subtitles in a separate file that you play together with the video, usually .srt and lacking much typesetting). Here's where I'm going to cheat: Aegisub has an extensive online manual that is also available under help > contents if you open the program. (Old version here, in case they aren't done updating certain tutorials.) Now, there is a lot of information there, much of which you won't need. It's a good idea to read through "Timing subtitles to audio." To keep yourself from getting overloaded, learn how to time first, and hold off on typesetting.
Definitely time from the audio and not the video. For some reason, the developers like the spectrum analyzer view better, but it's harder for me to tell voices and sounds apart that way, so I recommend toggling that OFF. There are several hotkeys that you must use here once you get a grip on things or else you'll take a long, long time to get any work done. You won't need all of them (nor could you easily remember that many!) but a few are essential.
Typesetting
Basic typesetting is done through Styles. Click on the pink S to open the Styles Manager and make your styles. You can always add more in the middle of the project as needed. Set your basic fonts, colors, sizes, bolding/italicizing/underlining/strikethrough, margins, alignment, border size, and shadow offset. You don't want the subs to be too distracting or hard to read, but the subs are yours, so do what you find asthetically pleasing. Check the manual for details. Once you have styles made, you can select all the lines by actor and change them to the corresponding style. I used to do this by hand in Notepad with a find/replace, but that's the long way.
Beyond the basic styling, you can change the typesetting of individual lines by adding tags to them. I used to do more typesetting for the on-screen text, but I found that the work felt unnecessary when people were speaking the same words or the screen was getting cluttered, so I toned everything down. You can use many different effects to make the text look naturally occurring if that's what you want. Take a look at this list of tags to see what kind of effects are possible.
Karaoke
Once you've timed the lines, there is a karaoke mode to time each individual syllable (check the manual for know-how). I used to make my own effects, which I really don't have the energy to explain beyond read the manual, but I've found that in many cases, I'd rather use a coding artist's work that they've freely shared with the public and credit them than sweat over a project for days, trying to figure out where my coding went wrong. If you do write your own, it can be gratifying. You can also take a good template and personalize it. For instance, there is a vector drawing tool you can use to generate the code to make a filled shape. Once you have that, you can add it to the karaoke to make the shape used fit the lyrics or whatever you want. Got a song about mandarin oranges? Make a silly orange blob for the effects. ;D
QC
Quality Check is the last step before the subs are joined with the video. It's extra editing, plus checking the timing and typesetting work. Basically, I watch the video in Aegisub and pause when I find mistakes. This step, when done on a team, requires an experienced subber with native-level ability in the translation language.
Encoding
I use this method, since it was popular when I first started (ugh, I feel old). I use VirtualDubMod to encode. I use XviD as a video codec and Lame MP3 as an audio codec, if it needs compressing--most times the audio can be left alone. I use Vobsub/VSFilter for the subs, as described. The guide linked is old, so don't worry about version numbers and just use the newest one in each case. You can find links to download these programs legally and for free on that website.
I usually use two passes in encoding and I try to keep the frames per second about the same, unless they are unusually high and I don't want to deal with uploading a huge video. Beware that lowering the bitrate too far will make your video fuzzy. It's easy to cut out parts you don't want or resize the video. I don't know an awful lot about encoding, so it has given me a lot of trouble over the years.
Uploading
Choosing uploading sites is a pain in the butt these days. If you want free hosting, your files are generally going to go inactive and get deleted. Ask around the community or google to compare hosting sites.
Posting
I made a community to separate my own blog from the subs and so people could follow the community without giving me access to their own journals. It can be hard to find the balance between advertising your projects to people who want to see them and spamming communities when you're getting started. Once people know who you are, and if there's a good index running at the time, you shouldn't have to advertise every project.
*Note: You are welcome to ask me for help (send me a message on tumblr or comment on this LJ post). If you need troubleshooting, however, there are forums full of much more qualified people than I that you could ask, and I may direct you to them if I can't help you myself.