So, I've decided to throw myself into the fray of the anime re-release market. I tend to rewatch a given anime every four to five years, and I generally like to view better-quality or at least
different versions for rewatches. OFten, this means R1 DVDs or rips thereof, and official subs or English dubs for shows I originally saw as TV-rip fansubs. But for many of the shows I watched 4-5 years ago, the old TV-rips are still the only version out there. To be honest, I don't mind that kind of quality. However, I know that people's hardware and standards have changed dramatically in the last five years, and these shows deserve a new lease on life.
So, like several other groups listed to the right, I'm taking existing translations via tedious OCR or shameless theft, and applying them to raws that offer better audio/video quality than the TV-rips. Original release groups will receive in-episode credit, unless requested otherwise. Original release group names can also be added to filenames at staff request.
But A/V technical quality isn't the only measure of a good fansub. My goal is to give viewers an overall experience better than what they got from the original releases. So what do you get from a ReDone-Subs release, anyway?
1) Fully softsubbed releases. Not because I hate hardsubs or anything, but because it's quicker and easier.
2) Subtitle styles designed to be readable on a 17" display at 1024x768 from 1.5m away. This means non-tiny subs in "boring" fonts, colors that don't blend into backgrounds, sufficient borders and shadows to separate text from image, and sufficient vertical and horizontal padding to be overscan-safe and ensure fast legibility.
3) Subtitles with every last line scrutinized for: translation accuracy; English correctness and flow; and timing -- attention will be paid to scene-timing and line-linking, with some intentional scene-bleeds to allow for more reading time. All episodes will be watched in full at least once by me before release.
4) Subtitles edited to fix awkward, over-literal lines. Excessive weeabooism, fansubber joking/trolling, and unnecessary translator's notes will be removed. Honorifics and name orders will remain as they were in the original releases. I aim for natural, flowing English with a fansub "flavor" to it. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ridiculously literal/faithful and 10 being highly liberal/localized, expect about a 7-7.5 from ReDone releases.
5) Relevant text translated and typeset to the best of my abilities and the limitations of the Advanced Substation (.ass) format. Certain complicated/moving text may receive simplified typesetting. Text judged irrelevant or redundant (e.g. something a character reads out loud) will not be typeset.
6) All openings and endings translated, with simple k-timing effects for romaji. No kanji, because it's needless screen clutter and processor strain for something that most viewers can't read anyway. Insert songs, where translated, will have English + no-effect romaji.
7) DVD-quality video and audio, or at least DVD-raw-quality. Sorry, no HDTV or Blu-Ray. Why? Mainly because my PC can't handle it too well. (See the specs listed at item 2.) But also because most newer HD anime is bound to get Blu-Ray releases from the original fansub groups, R1 companies, or encoding groups like Thora and Coalgirls.
8) Anime selection depends on my experience with the show and the availability of raws. DVD-uncensored ecchi scenes are always a plus, but are by no means a requirement. Really, I believe just about any show deserves a higher-quality release, even hentai. The next post will be a request thread.
9) Open dialogue and communication about release quality. I'm doing these releases to present the shows in the best possible way for the benefit of you, the viewer. After all, I saw these shows years ago, I'll rewatch them at least once prior to release, and then I probably won't touch them again for a long time. I solicit constructive non-trolling feedback on this blog or AniDB/MAL. I can't guarantee that I'll make every change suggested, but I will at least listen.
10) Slow and inconsistent distro thanks to a crappy home Internet connection. Sorry :(
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Tl;dr version:
Yet another anime remuxer in a mildly crowded field, with a little more translation checking and editing than the norm.
