| Many anime fans were drawn into fandom when they first saw a show on
a homemade fansub, a subtitled tape created by a person with a computer,
video switcher, VCR, script and titling program. A group of the leading
fan subbers appeared at an A-Kon panel on Saturday: (left to right) Chris
Terrell, Rodney Caston, David Hogan, Bobby "C-Ko" Beaver and Jonathan Lotman. |
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| The favored computer programs used to turn scripts into the fonts that
are overlaid on a video signal are Station Alpha for MS-DOS machines and
JACOSub for the Amiga, the fan subbers said. Some programs promise the
automate the subbing process, but Terrell prefers to make manual adjustments
to the timing of the subtitles. Caston noted that some fan subbers try
to convert anime auto tracks into .wav files and match the subtitles to
those files, but that causes problems when there's slight mistiming between
the computer track and the tape's soundtrack. |
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| What about the number of text lines on screen? Two lines is best because
that's how fast most people can read, but the fan subbers admitted they'll
go to three lines if the dialogue gets complicated. Beaver said he once
placed five lines of text on a screen, which almost blocked out all of
the animation. The most difficult shows as far as throwing lots of talk
at fan subbers are some shojo dramas and the last two episodes of the Neon
Genesis Evangelion TV series, they said. |
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| Fan subs grew with anime fandom, made by people who wanted to enjoy
the shows, couldn't understand Japanese and wanted to share their enjoyment
with others. Now, anime's rising popularity means fan subbers are having
a harder time finding shows to translate that haven't been picked up by
commercial distributors in the U.S. Hogan said fan subbers will have to
find new undiscovered shows to pursue. Terrell wondered if anime's commercial
success might mean there will be fewer fansubs in the future. However,
Hogan answered that "The profit motive will never replace the love of accuracy
for subtitlers." All of the panelists could name a commercial release they
felt was inferior to a fansub they had created. |
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