EPT
Eh, it's somewhat easier, but there are other limits. The sentences can be a lot more complicated, simply because text form allows for it. Plus, you might have to take small text bubbles into consideration and it can severely detract from the translation quality. I hate cutting things out, even when it's nothing of importance. Also, sometimes you have these really shitty raws (raws made from a cell phone camera T__T) and the author decided to include text intended to be read under a microscope. A deadly combo, does critical damage to translators.
Lol, bad scans really do complicate things a lot. I've been through my fair share of scans with horrible quality, and each time I wanted to pull my hair out. =_= And by "fair share" I mean only a couple of times.
Don't like dealing with that stuff so I avoid it. I also genuinely dislike translating manga because I can't hear any cute voices. >=( Also why I don't read manga much.I always thought they rip the DVDs and take the translation from somewhere else. Here, the DVD subtitles are pretty horrible, so you would certainly notice that. I never do that when I watch KAA's subs, so I guess it's fine. Or is it? Don't know how good the "professional quality" is. I do like TL notes and honorifics but those are more of an extra.
Professional translations--that is, subs translated by companies in DVDs--used to be quite hit or miss. Back in the day, many members of the fansubbing community absolutely abhorred the quality of the subtitles in DVDs. They tried too hard to "Westernize" things, so there were a lot of mistranslations, names were completely altered, and lots of jokes that were completely ridiculous because they tried to cater to Western audiences so they completely changed the joke.
You could understand why, though. The audience was Western, not Japanese, so they tried to appeal to them with Westernized dialogue. But it was often horrible. Nowadays, DVD subtitles are much better. They still try to cater to Western audiences, but there are indeed a lot less stuff "lost in translation." They don't alter lines completely nearly as much anymore, and I can enjoy them. Jokes are still completely changed, but it's understandable since most Westerners probably wouldn't understand Japanese culture enough to understand the original joke.
Different companies have different policies for translating their subs, so sometimes it would depend on the company as well. For instance, some shows may have Japanese honorifics intact. I don't know in detail what companies do what, so sorry I can't help you out there.
I'm not really a person who cares about video quality. It is nice but translation>video. Also, my internet sucks, so it takes forever to download something. Anyway, so that means you can't really trust THORA because they could take "bad" subs from time to time.
THORA tries to obtain the best possible subs for any given series. Sometimes they acquire subs from not-so-good groups (i.e. Ayako), but you usually have at least a couple to choose from, so you're fine relying on them. Just have to know which subs to pick. ^^
Another question: *click* This show has four sub-groups but all seem to be DVD rips. So that means their translation is the same, right? What is the purpose of different releases then? Well, the codec is different but still, only because of that? I don't really understand it and about a-S...they have two different subtitles, where does the second one come from? Is it a fan translation? Their website isn't helpful and I don't really have any knowledge about the groups, that's why I'm asking. I often have problems with picking a group for older anime because of that.
Yeah, if they're all from the same source then the translations should all be the same. Fansubbing/DVD ripping can be seen as a kind of competition: who can release the best product? On one hand it gives us the ability to choose for ourselves the product we prefer, but at the same time, a lot of series have too many groups working on them when there are tons of other projects that could use subbers. But groups only sub shows they are interested in, so it's understandable. Sometimes groups have polls and allow leechers to vote what show(s) should be subbed, which I think is nice.
About the two different subtitles, it could possibly be that a-S either translated it themselves or acquired the subtitles from a fansub or something. I've seen it occur from time to time, but it definitely is not the norm.
So the main problem is your second sentence, about how to portray a line. I guess it's best when the translator, the editor and the quality checker understand each other well, or at least when they have a similar style.
Yeah, understanding each other and learning how to work as a team in that respect is very important in producing quality subs. I have witnessed a lot of times where translators and editors argue over certain lines, or editors and quality checkers. At those times, it can lead to some bad drama. Pretty silly, but it happens.
When I first joined the internet, I was surprised at how many people can't write properly. Even in the best forum I know(which is way, way better than TL(quality-wise)) people make a lot of mistakes. I don't know but for some reason, I always seem to spot them. They are like a black hole in a field of flowers.
Unfortunately, not everyone cares enough on the internet to type properly. Shame, but what can you do? I don't mind as long as I can understand them and their personality is not as bad as their spelling/grammar. ^^;
