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How do you choose from the different versions?
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How do you choose your fansubbing group for a series?
I download all versions available and choose after skipping trough them
16%
 16%  [ 2 ]
I pick the group which I like the best (based on previous work)
41%
 41%  [ 5 ]
I ask friends what they think
8%
 8%  [ 1 ]
I get the first one that gets posted/I can find
33%
 33%  [ 4 ]
Total Votes : 12

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Onakra



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 89
Location: Geldrop, Netherlands

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2002 7:26 am    Post subject: How do you choose from the different versions? Reply with quote

Let's see if this board can get popular... Smile

Lately most episodes/series have gotten at least 2 groups subbing it. Like the subject says; how do you choose? Let's try a small poll, because those usually get more response then just a text message. Thanks to xo for such a feature rich board!

What are your criteria for choosing; quality of video, quality of subtitles, size, other?

I usually get all the versions available if it's a new show and decide after I skip trough the ep. For me one of the most important things is the quality of the ep, but subtitles are important to me as well. A small subbing error in an episode can decide if I want to keep that version or not. For instance the translation for 'mizuumi' in AKF's version of Fruits Basket 16 was 'river', while it is 'lake'. That alone was a reason for me to delete it. (2 more groups are subbing it at the moment anyway, so there where plenty of options.)

Once I decide on a group I usually try to stick with that group for the entire series, but keep downloading the other versions just in case a group decides to drop the project. Hard work, collecting anime...

I'm quite curious to the reactions on this subject.


Onakra
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xo
Site Admin


Joined: 09 Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2002 9:43 am    Post subject: Practice and theory Reply with quote

In theory, I would choose the one with the best translations. I'm not so concerned about quality, as long as it's decent- it wasn't too long ago that most fansubs seemed to be ~100MB Divx.

The format is also a consideration - Divx over MPG over RM over ASF for the most part.

Now, in practice, I rarely get a chance to spec an episode in order to make the choice based on the above. Just not enough time (I tend to watch anime in blocks after I've got the whole series). So what ends up being the case is that I get whatever is posted first.

If two are simultaneously posted, then I use factors such as reputation (very nebulous- I'm hoping this forum will help guide me there), file size (I try to get which ever is bigger), and consistency (stick to the group I've already got episodes from).

Now that I've written it out - what a complex decision tree!

-xo
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Tobias Rieper



Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 41
Location: Berlin, Germany

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2002 10:19 am    Post subject: What's first, comes first... Reply with quote

Well, I download the first one, I get. The quality of the translation I can't judge, since I don't understand japanese good enough.

When I download 2 versions of the same EP, it's mostly accidential. Even then I don't pick one, but burn both to CD.

If there are different versions available (Like with Fruit Basket), I choose quality based. I prefer HQ DivX. LQ is often too crappy, but those SHQ monsters are just overkill. If I can choose between soft and hardsubs, I prefer hardsubs.

However, there are some exeptions to the "first comes first" rule:

- getting consistent sets:
I already had all Evangelion EPs in different formats. But I downloaded Orqys Rips to get a set of the same type. Dito with Kare Kano. I already had some EPs, but I downloaded them too.

- getting good quality:
The last EPs of Angelic Layer were posted in LQ first. I downloaded them (hell, I love this series). But now, that the better AC versions are showing up one by one, I'm getting them too.


T.Rieper
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Jiss



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 36
Location: Somewhere cold

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2002 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a policy unless I really don't care about the series (which is rare only OT and a few others), I tend to download whoever posts/releases first, but since this tends to be a 'poor' release I then pick up eps from my 'preferred' fansub group.

Generally while I will get a better quality graphic/sound release I'm more worried about the state of the translation. I know little Japanese and it scares me when I can tell poor translations or sentance structures. Groups nowadays seem to hurry too much for the 'first post'. I don't want to miss the episodes though which is why I still get the first one.

If I have time one thing I like to do to compare is to look at the opening episode song lyrics. If they aren't there then you have lazy subbers Cool but even for 'good' groups you'll see a difference yet this is essentially just song lyrics and should be relatively simple. Otherwise, I rely on past performance of the groups and what my friends think.
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user



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 72

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2002 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I usually grab the encode from whichever group releases it first, but
if I find later that another (preferred) group is also doing the series,
I may switch over. I'd prefer a good translation job over better video
quality or "0-day" release.
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Neuralblastoma



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 109
Location: Ottawa Ontario Canada

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2002 9:04 pm    Post subject: Whatever's available first Reply with quote

I just download whatever is posted first. If I notice <insert title here> on IRC first I might just grab it there.

As long as the picture and sound are good and the subtitles are legible that's enough for me. I only get picky(very picky) with stuff I pay for i.e. DVD's, CD's etc.

So if more than one group is doing a series I'm collecting, I'll likely end up with a mix.
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xo
Site Admin


Joined: 09 Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2002 2:04 am    Post subject: Practice and theory Reply with quote

xo wrote:

In theory, I would choose the one with the best translations


Having read through some of the follow-ups, I wanted to elaborate on what I meant by the above. I don't speak Japanese (unfortunate!) so I can't really discern translation quality per se. I think a better word for what I meant is "the best writing". Hopefully, it's a good translation too, but having subtitles that are have proper spelling and grammer, and also "good English" are key. By "good English", I mean that it makes sense - there's an attempt to translate idiomatically rather than literally. Maybe purists would decry this, but anything that distracts me to the point where my focus shifts to the subtitles generally makes me frown like so: Mad
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user



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 72

PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2002 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately, I seem to constantly find tiny spelling and/or grammatical errors in many of the translations. Stuff like using "it's" instead of its to indicate possessive, etc. Yeah, I'm being nitpicky, but for me it's a bit distracting.
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xo
Site Admin


Joined: 09 Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2002 11:39 pm    Post subject: Practice and theory Reply with quote

xo wrote:

...but having subtitles that are have proper spelling and grammer,


Hah, of course any post bitching about grammar is fated to have a grammar flaw.

-xo
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oblio



Joined: 20 Feb 2002
Posts: 106
Location: Detroix, MI

PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2002 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This actually interests me since I'm the multi-subbing thing tends to get on my nerves (I know, I know, I don't help).

The quick answer is that I pull whatever comes first, and then follow up if I see an NLA, HQA, or AP release (exception being X, where I prefer the slightly smaller AI releases).

I try to provide as much info in my posts as possible to help people make this kind of decision, but I'm very dissappointed to see 640x480 res encodes recently. I have yet to see one that has an adaquate bitrate to keep those macroblocks smooth, and frankly, when watching 512x480 full screen, the hardware blending makes then thuroughly watchable.

One of the things I have noticed about the stuff being posted is that NONE of it sucks. I remember getting 3rd gen tapes in the early 90s with translations that would make me gouge my eyes. The only time I've seen stuff that bad was those Koutetsu Tenchi Kurumi's that SWong posted a year or so ago (HK rips).

A beautiful solution to this would be if more people used softsubs (but I can see where subbing groups may want to prevent that).

Anyway this is beginning to look like rambling.

ciao,
ob
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earthdark



Joined: 21 Feb 2002
Posts: 73

PostPosted: Thu Feb 21, 2002 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What happened to the "I watch stuff raw cause I can't stand horrible Englsih" poll option? :P

But yea, I usually watch whatever comes out first cause I usually delete the ep after to save space as some of the fansubs out are getting ridicously large.

(Wow, surprised you even remember SWong..)
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oblio



Joined: 20 Feb 2002
Posts: 106
Location: Detroix, MI

PostPosted: Thu Feb 21, 2002 11:04 am    Post subject: SWong Reply with quote

heh... I was leeching about 6-12 months before he took off. I think I started the FTP thing a few months before he left. Melchior is a poor netcop replacement (no offense)- he lacks the surliness that I had come to appreciate. ^_^
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Jiss



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 36
Location: Somewhere cold

PostPosted: Thu Feb 21, 2002 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hehe, showing my age now but all of use 'oldies' remember SWong, hell I remember you when you were still founder of ampeg and I was a poor leech Razz

I hope he's doing well in HK now (pretty sure that's where he went), I can remember him going and have vague memories of perhaps him turning up once but that was during a bad spell when I left ampeg due to certain people so I was probably being delusional as usual (anime does that to me!)

I almost miss those times of SWong yelling at newbies for breaking the FAQ and the more regulated posts, none of these multiple posts (that's thankfully replaced the first post obsession that was even worse!). I even miss RM files as I mentioned to a friend recently since I have to underburn all my cd's nowadays thanks to an uncaring fansubber attitude (okay, admittedly not their key concern but still irritating when three eps don't fit to a 74min cd).

(now waiting patiently for Inc to completely out-do me with memories before my pitiful years)
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Onakra



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 89
Location: Geldrop, Netherlands

PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 2:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's already been a year that SWong has gone? Boy, does time fly...

I was surprised to see a message by Severin today. It seems like only yesterday that he was posting those Berserk RMs every 6 months or so.

And NetGear? The one with the first (?) fully automated posting and reposting system, is he still around? He posted all the 3 Slayers series quite a few times. After that he posted the miniFAQ regularly for a while, but I haven't really seen much of him lately.

Those days full series reposts where only occasional every few months instead of every few weeks... Confused

(I wonder how many of 'those' long term people are still around.)


Onakra
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earthdark



Joined: 21 Feb 2002
Posts: 73

PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

SWong aka Gaspode regulars IRC now, he uses the nick KawaiiX - he might be in HK but he still downloads and burns more anime than I do.

I can't remember when I firsted lurked in aba/abma, maybe sometime around when those Esca RMs were first being posted?
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