I.T. FREAK

Back in the good old days, I used to play around with the computer a lot. I would download a bunch of programs and test them out. Eventually, I'll find one that I'm satisfied with and the one that would give me the least problems.

And then, my appreciation for KPOP started. Man did my world explode.

I remember back in those days, not many videos were subbed. Even if they were, they were usually soft-subbed. As I started liking groups that were lesser known (read- non-idols), the more I wanted to learn about their music and maybe watch them on some shows if I'm lucky enough.

Unfortunately, those stuff were scarce. So I thought I'll just start subbing with raw videos and translations for my own benefit. I never released my work because I was always using someone else's translations. Of course, I would always credit them in my videos.

But the process of learning how the subbing process worked, and to actually do them myself, was tiring and a lot of work. A lot of stuff went wrong (like the codec not being recognised, audio not being in sync etc) but for some reason I just continued with it.

Maybe it was because I had nothing else better to do. Maybe it was because I always wanted to complete something I started.

Eventually I got the hang of timing, type setting, qc-ing and encoding. But I was always a perfectionist when it came to my work, so I would watch the video, find mistakes and encode everything again. I think for a drama (~1hr 10min) it would take me 3.5 hours to complete the subbing process (if I didn't have to do the timing myself). And that's without me having to do translations.

If I did have to time, then it would probably take me 5-15+ hours (depending on length of video). Thankfully I never really challenged myself to do a drama. Plus I didn't really need to since all subbing groups release their subtitles already timed (duh! :P)

Anyway, I started subbing again. I'm currently watching a Chinese drama (Jade Palace Lock Heart - I LOVE YOU 8TH PRINCE!!). My TV can play the subtitles without any problems, but the thing is, Chinese dramas for some reason tend to have their own subtitles encoded in the video. It's broadcasted that way so there's not way I can get rid of them.

Now, imagine reading white-coloured English subtitles ontop of white-coloured Chinese subititles. Such bliss isn't it?

So yeah, my sister and I eventually got fed up so I decided to start hard-subbing them. It's been so long that I was scared I wouldn't be able do it right. Now, I would like to share some images and terms... hahaha :D

- TERMS -

soft-subs: videos with the subtitles separate (ie. a subtitle file like SRT, ASS etc)
hard-subs: videos with the subtitles encoded on them


subbing: the process of encoding subtitles onto the video
raw video: the video by itself, no subtitles
timing: timing when someone speaks, line for line


type setting:set subtitle style (font, size, colour, alignment etc)
quality control: checking whether everything was right and accurate as possible
encoding: putting everything together - video and subtitles