subtitling movies

[GavinRees@aol.com]

I would just like to raise  a few issues about Aaron's post on subtitling 
Japanese films.. 

It does seem a great idea, and I think I would be interested in taking part.

However, I would like to raise a few issues first. 

Firstly, what kind of picture quality are people willing to put up with, and 
how many people actually out there with access to the kind of equipment which 
could be used to produce decent subtitled versions? Video copies of 50 year 
old films often carry a fair amount of image degradation already. I dont know 
what happens between anime contributers at the moment, but I suspect that 
image degradation and colour shift in cartoons is less of an annoyance. An 
initial guess is that one would need to have at least two SHS capable video 
decks, and  a graphics key (CG) (approx,  $1000.) or alternatively a decent 
Non Linear Editing system. ($5000.) 	I dont know what happens between 
anime contributers at the moment, but I suspect that image degradation and 
colour shift in cartoons is less of an annoyance.

I currently use a DV based premier editing system (ie a cheap one) , and it 
would take an eternity to render all the subtitles necessary for a two hour 
film. The ideal solution would be probaby to use an MPEG2 or M-JPEG based 
editing system ($10,000 and up.) which would at least be able to render the 
subtitles in real time. What is more if the source video is copy protected 
then you need to buy an extra gizmo to strip out the anti-copying signel 
which is recorded on the tape.

Another hurdle for anybody wanting to take part might be not knowing which 
videos are out of copyright, which ones haven't previously been subtitled, 
and which ones other contributors would be interested in watching, and for 
that matter whether somebody else on the list has already started subtitling 
the same movie. Maybe we need to find some mechanism for pooling labour on 
this. Perhaps somebody in the consortium, who knows their way around the 
industry in Japan, might be interested in taking responsibility for compiling 
members wishlists, in exchange for which they wouldn't have to subtitle a 
version themselves. Obviously the micro-politics of that might be difficult, 
but without some form of coordination, I suspect that there is a danger of 
lots of time being wasted. 

Just some thoughts. 

All the best, 


Gavin Rees