New positions (esp. translators) needed for Spring 2011!

[Naomasa298]

Fellow anime lovers.

File Transfer Protocol Anime needs your help for the greater good of humanity.

As you may have already noticed, we are kind of stalled on our current projects.

You may think that it is a means deliberately created in order to make ungrateful leechers suffer, but it is not... for the moment.

Our translator for one of the shows, is currently unavailable due to school work, and thus, he is also unable to check the translation of our other translator.

If you feel that you are up to the task and actually "like" the projects, please contact us by using this link or by contacting either RJD22[FTP-Anime] , Naomasa298 or The|Apokolypse in the IRC channel #ftp-anime at the server irc.rizon.net.

Many people think that you need to be able to speak Japanese to join a fansub group. While translation is one of the most important parts of anime subbing, it's not the only part by any means. It's equally important that all the other jobs are done well to bring you a quality release.

The people involved in creating a sub are:
Leader (L): The one in charge. He/she makes sure everything is in place.
Translator (TL): The person who converts from moonspeak to Eng(r/l)ish. These people also have the final word on what projects and sub-projects they want to sub.
Translation Checker (TLC): The person who verifies that the TL has correctly understood moonspeak and helps to translates lines and words the TL couldn't get
Editor (ED): The person who converts from Engrish to English. He or she makes the script flow better and sound more natural. He or she also fixes grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. You need to speak and write good English to fulfil this position. Familiarity with Japanese is helpful but not required.
Typesetter: This person typesets signs - that is, positions and animates (where required) text on screen that translates anything that might be written down (notes, shop signs, newspaper headlines etc.). This is normally done using either Aegisub for basic signs or Adobe After Effects (AFX) for more advanced effects (for example, moving text). The typesetter is commonly also involved with styling (selecting fonts and colours for the subtitles).
Stylist: This isn't really big enough to be a role in its own right. The stylist selects fonts and colours for the main text. You need to have a good feel for the kind of font that is appropriate for any particular anime. For example, you don't use a big bold rounded sci-fi type font for a historical anime (except, perhaps, if it involves mechs).
Quality Control (QC)/Quality Assurance (QA): Different groups have different definitions of this role. In FTP-A, we have both QCs and QAs. The QC checks the script for anything the translators and editors missed, correcting punctuation etc. It is not the QC's job to necessarily make the script flow better. The QA checks this and also checks for timing errors, scenebleeds, encoding problems, karaoke problems and anything else that is wrong. You need to have a good eye for problems, good English and a thick skin for this position, but QA is what is responsible for the final quality of the episode.
Timer: This person sets the times at which lines appear. This is not as easy as it sounds - you have to decide when pauses are long enough to split lines into two, when to time background speech and make sure that the lines don't spill across scene changes, as well as make sure there is an adequate lead-in and lead-out so the lines don't disappear too quickly. Related to this, and more difficult is the karaoker timer (k-timer), who has to time the individual syllables of songs. This is difficult enough to be a job in its own right but it is often done by the...
Karaoker FXer: The person who actually makes the karaoke look cool. He or she animates the letters, makes them disappear, spin around, fade etc. I personally don't really understand how this is all done, it's a dark art to me
Encoder: This person takes the original raw source (which might be a DVD rip or a TV capture) and adds everything the people above did to turn it into what you see. He or she needs to understand when to use filters (to make sources that are sometimes poor look better) and what encoding standards to use. A fast PC is also needed, as encoding takes a long time and sometimes has to be done multiple times.

I may have missed people out, if I have, I apologise. We need people for all staff positions - the more staff we have, the more quality series we can bring to you, so if you think you have what it takes, get in touch! The subbing staff can be found on the irc channel (#ftp-anime@irc.rizon.no) and several can be contacted through the forum. Poke Apok, RJD (or me) if you are interested.



Thank you very much for your attention.

FTP-A Staff team.

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posted by the great A-Pok
So far, the only project we're doing is Gosick, with only one translator and a few editors, timers, qc'ers, etc. Spring is here, and we're in dire need of more translators, timers, and editors - the ones we mostly need than anything else - for this anime and whatever anime(s) we pick up this Spring. The more, the merrier...trust me, we need fucking more.

Contact A-Pok, rjd22, Meri, or Naomasa in either here, #ftp-anime on irc.rizon.net, or e-mail them if you want to join.


You could get free lolis...

[Naomasa298]

This is a response to a question asked about what an editor does.

Maybe the best thing is to provide some examples.

If the original script goes:
Jackie: "You not beat me need 100 yrs more traning"
Bruce: "You're skill is not so good as you say."
Jean-Claude: "maybe you should fight someone at the same level?"
Jet: "Go Bruce. i am your supporter"
Arnie: "Ill be back."

This should become something like:
Jackie: "You need another hundred years of training before you can beat me."
Bruce: "You're not as good as you think you are."
Jean-Claude: "How about picking on someone your own size?"
Jet: "Go Bruce! I'm on your side!"
Arnie: "I'll be back."

As you can see, the editor has to not only correct punctuation and spelling, but also reword the sentences where necessary to make it sound better in English, while also preserving the original meaning.

It is very important that the editor understands when to change and when not to change. The above examples are quite extreme (but I have seen worse) and need heavy editing but most scripts aren't anywhere near that bad and only need a light touch - that depends on the TL and TLC.

Having said that, we have three editors at the moment, it's one position which is oversubscribed - but that doesn't mean people shouldn't apply anyway, positions become vacant all the time.

[Naomasa298]

We are now looking for QCers as well. So if you:
a) Like watching anime
b) Are good at spotting mistakes and have a strong command of English
c) Think quality is important in a fansub
feel free to apply!

If you previously applied and I didn't get back to you, I apologise, please come back and apply again, I promise I will get to you.

[Meri]

I am now officially the new leader ot the fansub group
Post here if you want to join, just post what position and what skills you have

[TheWolf]

i'm interested in being an editor,meri.

Editor (ED): The person who converts from Engrish to English. He or she makes the script flow better and sound more natural. He or she also fixes grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. You need to speak and write good English to fulfil this position. Familiarity with Japanese is helpful but not required.

thanx for your consideration!!!
and congratulations on the promotion!!!

[Ilasir]

I'd be interested in joining.

I think the position I'd be best at would be editor (or qc), since mistakes in subs really tick me off, and I'm also an english buff and a linguistics major.

But, since it seems that other folks are possibly wanting to join as editors, I think I might also be good at timing, if you're recruiting for that position. I've never worked with an official fansub group before; the most I've done is fix up botched subtitles in torrents I've downloaded, or hardcode stuff to upload to veoh. But I know my way around aegisub and waveforms(thank you auditory phonetics), and I know enough Japanese to figure out where lines begin and end pretty well.


I can typeset okay in Aegisub, but I don't have AFX or much experience with it, so I don't know how useful I'd be in an official capacity.

[The|A-Pok]

So far we have

Fangroup
Leader(s) - Meri
Translators - ???
Translator Checkers - ???
Editors - tomdawes, Apok, Ilasor
Typesetter - Bun-chan
Stylist - Apok (trust me I have 9000 or so fonts)
QC - Bun-chan, Apok (most of the time), Ilasor
QA - ???
Timer - Bun-chan, Meri?, Ilasor
Karaoke - ???
Encoder - Apok, ???

Distros
Torrent - Devilmore
CC - Devilmore
File (Megaupload, Rapidshit, etc.) - Apok

any that I missed, or screwed up because ppl retired or got too lazy?

[Ilasir]

For the record, that's "Ilasir.


You can throw me up for a possible QA as well, because I notice every single little screen-bleed or artifact when I watch fansubs.

And that way, if you want to limit the number of editors or timers, or whatever, you'll already have an idea of where you can throw some of the extra folks.



I'm curious about the folks still listed as fansub staff in the forum leaders section. Is it just that no one's gotten around to cleaning that up yet?

[Meri]

Murako is still an editor
Other than that right now that should be about it

[rjd22]

I will be directing the lead (leading ) and helping where I can and find time for. Also there are still some not released subs for asura that we can release while we don't have a official TL. The are also some unreleased jigoku shoujo.

And I will TS, encode where needed. I can fill all positions except TL but I don't want to do them all