This is the Ayako fansub procedure that we used since late 2011, when TBA-chan took over the control of the group. Our standard procedure is:
Translation -> Timing/typeset* -> Editing* -> QC
*swappable
Further Descriptions
Translation: Translation is the key of the project; you can say it's 80% of the workload. Since this is extremely important, we only allow translators of considerable skills to start a project without approval. These translators should satisfy at least the following criteria:
1)
a) A translator with understandable English and almost native Japanese. Allowed to start any projects, but must engage the help of a senior editor (who usually has a basic grasp of Japanese).
or
b) A translator with decent English and Japanese - allowed to start easy projects; only allowed to start difficult projects with the help of a better translation checker.
(Obviously, translators who excel at both languages are allowed to start projects without the above restrictions)
2) Highly independent and motivated, able to do research on his own.
3) Has a lot of common sense.
Currently only 2 translators fit in this category. The rest need to negotiate a viable workflow to guarantee the quality, or use another name.
We invite our translators to release their scripts. And we may release our translators' scripts for one reason or another.
Editors: Editors are to compensate for what the translator is lacking. They must be native English speakers, and preferablely be able to hear some Japanese. Japanese knowledge is needed for rephrasing of sentences. If the translator's English is really good, the requirement of his corresponding editors will be lowered.
Timing and typeset should be done at the same time. The current typesetter does minimum typeset only. He dislikes typesets that blend in the text into the videos and does only simple typeset. While typeset blending results in typesets that do not distract the viewers from watching the subs, it also alters the original video.
Encoding: The current encoder prefer sencoding from .ts if it's available. Otherwise, he would use any raw source. If the raw is of low quality, we may release the mux with the original source.
In an ideal world, fansub groups just submit their subtitles to official site and link people to the official site. In the real world, this won't be happening.
Quality control: Start from November of 2011, all of our releases are QCed before release. QCers must also be the main staff of the project (translator, editor or timer/typesetter). You will not find any typo easily.
Pre-release: Sometimes when we can't reach an agreement in fansub process. The earlier releases will be marked as v0. In the case of Jewelpet sunshine, v0 is usually edited+QCed. V1 is the version with Ichigo69's edit pass.
