I kind of dropped manga and anime for a while, except for Skip Beat. (I know. What a sin!) My new job really started to get stressful and I was just too tired to keep up, especially with a blog. One thing I did pick up is K-pop and K-dramas. I am seriously addicted. However, I am determined to revive my manga and anime addiction as well. I really miss it. It will take me a bit to catch up, but I'm sure I won't regret it. I have created a separate blog for my Korean obsessions called K-Pop / K-Drama Journal. Very creative, I know.
Anyway, I hope to be posting more here soon. Please look forward to it!
Showing posts with label Real Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real Life. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Sunday, December 12, 2010
How it works - Scanlations
The process of scanlating is a mystery to many people. I honestly had no idea how much work is involved in the process before I jumped in head first! So I've decided to write out how things go, at least from my experience. Leave a comment and tell me how you've seen it work differently. Try to follow along :)
1. The raw provider, a very kind, awesome, and generous person, buys the magazine or tankobon. They scan said item, usually destroying or at least severely damaging the book in the process. There are many ways to do this, with varying results. Better raws makes things easier for everyone. No raws means no scanlation. Period.
2. The raws are passed to the translator and the editors. The translator, well ... translates. Usually the translation is written in a specialized format, so it's easy to tell what text belongs where. This is a difficult job, not only because you have to know both languages, but you have to be familiar enough with each so that the correct meaning will come across.
3. Once the translation is complete, it is passed along to a proofreader, who looks for spelling/grammar errors as well as parts where it just doesn't sound like normal English. This process can be done in conjunction with the translator or completely separate.
3. As the chapter is translated/proofed, the editors begin the job of cleaning the chapter. I've heard it referred to as mopping as well. Cleaning the pages involves removing the text, making the black portions actually black (as opposed to dark gray), and removing the dirt from the page so the white parts are white.
3. The translation and the cleans are then passed on to the typesetters. The typesetters do simply that: set the type on the page. Now, before you go thinking that this is an easy job, remember that Japanese reads top to bottom and English reads left to right. (Well, most of the time.) This means that the bubbles are the wrong shape for English. There's also font changes and last of all ... sound effects. Some groups just put "sfx:...." notes on the sides, some replace the japanese sound effect with the english equivalent, and some completely ignore them.
4. Finally, the typeset pages go to Quality Check. The QC'ers look for errors of any kind: spelling, grammar, natural speech, cleaning mishaps, wrong font, etc. Problems are sent back to the appropriate team members, they are fixed, and everything goes back to QC again.
5. When everything has been okay'ed by QC, the chapter is released. Most groups have a website of some sort where you can directly download their scans. Eventually, someone will submit the chapter to an online reader and it'll snowball from there. If you want the highest quality scan always get it directly from the scanlation group. When you download a chapter, take a moment to leave a note of thanks. It takes a lot of time to do this stuff.
These roles and steps can be combined or split up between many people. Speed scans generally have more people involved. As for my personal experience, I've had two different set-ups.
On KWMS, there's our raw provider, a translator who also does QC, and then there's me. So I take care of proofreading, cleaning, and typesetting. It takes about an hour per page to get the cleaning and typesetting done. So with 30 pages, that's 30 hours!! Since we try to get it done in 4 days, that's over 7 hours of work per day ... in addition to my normal job as a teacher.
On Skip Beat, I'm one of two editors. Sometimes I clean half the chapter, sometimes I clean all of the chapter, and sometimes I don't clean at all. That's the wonderful part of being in a larger group: more flexibility. There's still just one translator, but there are generally two or more typesetters. We can get the chapter done relatively quickly, but it's still a lot of time for each of us.
So the next time you think of complaining that chapter X of manga Y is late, think about everything that goes into producing those pages for you. I actually started scanlating because I was tired of waiting for a chapter, but I have resolved to never complain again. We're lucky that so many people have put so many hours into the thousands of scanlations out there.
1. The raw provider, a very kind, awesome, and generous person, buys the magazine or tankobon. They scan said item, usually destroying or at least severely damaging the book in the process. There are many ways to do this, with varying results. Better raws makes things easier for everyone. No raws means no scanlation. Period.
2. The raws are passed to the translator and the editors. The translator, well ... translates. Usually the translation is written in a specialized format, so it's easy to tell what text belongs where. This is a difficult job, not only because you have to know both languages, but you have to be familiar enough with each so that the correct meaning will come across.
3. Once the translation is complete, it is passed along to a proofreader, who looks for spelling/grammar errors as well as parts where it just doesn't sound like normal English. This process can be done in conjunction with the translator or completely separate.
3. As the chapter is translated/proofed, the editors begin the job of cleaning the chapter. I've heard it referred to as mopping as well. Cleaning the pages involves removing the text, making the black portions actually black (as opposed to dark gray), and removing the dirt from the page so the white parts are white.
3. The translation and the cleans are then passed on to the typesetters. The typesetters do simply that: set the type on the page. Now, before you go thinking that this is an easy job, remember that Japanese reads top to bottom and English reads left to right. (Well, most of the time.) This means that the bubbles are the wrong shape for English. There's also font changes and last of all ... sound effects. Some groups just put "sfx:...." notes on the sides, some replace the japanese sound effect with the english equivalent, and some completely ignore them.
4. Finally, the typeset pages go to Quality Check. The QC'ers look for errors of any kind: spelling, grammar, natural speech, cleaning mishaps, wrong font, etc. Problems are sent back to the appropriate team members, they are fixed, and everything goes back to QC again.
5. When everything has been okay'ed by QC, the chapter is released. Most groups have a website of some sort where you can directly download their scans. Eventually, someone will submit the chapter to an online reader and it'll snowball from there. If you want the highest quality scan always get it directly from the scanlation group. When you download a chapter, take a moment to leave a note of thanks. It takes a lot of time to do this stuff.
These roles and steps can be combined or split up between many people. Speed scans generally have more people involved. As for my personal experience, I've had two different set-ups.
On KWMS, there's our raw provider, a translator who also does QC, and then there's me. So I take care of proofreading, cleaning, and typesetting. It takes about an hour per page to get the cleaning and typesetting done. So with 30 pages, that's 30 hours!! Since we try to get it done in 4 days, that's over 7 hours of work per day ... in addition to my normal job as a teacher.
On Skip Beat, I'm one of two editors. Sometimes I clean half the chapter, sometimes I clean all of the chapter, and sometimes I don't clean at all. That's the wonderful part of being in a larger group: more flexibility. There's still just one translator, but there are generally two or more typesetters. We can get the chapter done relatively quickly, but it's still a lot of time for each of us.
So the next time you think of complaining that chapter X of manga Y is late, think about everything that goes into producing those pages for you. I actually started scanlating because I was tired of waiting for a chapter, but I have resolved to never complain again. We're lucky that so many people have put so many hours into the thousands of scanlations out there.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Depressed by a Manga?
Bleach is just depressing right now. I have been keeping up with the manga, just not blogging about it. It's on chapter 424 right now. There are a few things bugging me and I just need to vent. If you haven't read up to the current chapter, be warned that the rest of this post will be full of spoilers for you.
First, the Deicide arc was freaking annoying. It took forever for anything to happen, and most of it was just Aizen leveling up. He turned into a freaking butterfly, for goodness sake. That wasn't exactly intimidating. The whole "yay we killed Aizen ... oh wait, we didn't" routine had gotten really old. I was looking forward to the guy finally kicking the bucket. But nooooo. I'm not allowed that satisfaction. Even Ichigo's final getsuga tenshou doesn't do it. No dying, just sealing. It's like playing an incredibly long and difficult video game, battling the final boss for ages, and then, just when he's down to 10 hp, someone comes along and says, "alright, we're done here". It makes the last 400 chapters seem like a futile endeavor.
That seal is not going to last for 20,000 years. Come on, people. Don't you remember that the guy hypnotized everyone in Soul Society? There's no way he's gonna stay locked up for that long. Besides ... why only 20,000 years?? Why not forever? Or even better ... figure out a way to kill him, dammit!
It just pisses me off that Ichigo loses his shinigami powers and doesn't even accomplish his goal. Well, I guess Karakura town is safe, but I don't see that as the final goal. As long as Aizen is alive, no one is safe. Even if he is sealed.
So now, Ichigo has no powers at all. Normal human teenager. Well, he's strong, but I don't see that as incredibly unusual. But he can't see any of the friends he made from Soul Society and he doesn't really have a purpose or any direction in life. Things continue on around him like they did before he got his powers. No one needs Ichigo.
Then there's the mountain of unanswered questions. Do Orihime and Chad still have their powers? What happened to the Visoreds? Ichigo would probably be able to see them since they're in gigais, right? I'm not gonna write them all out... suffice it to say that I'm not satisfied. It also doesn't help that I don't have any friends who keep up with Bleach, so I can't vent with them about all of this crap. (That would be why I'm writing this post.)
So when I start thinking about all of this, it brings my mood down. I had a particularly frustrating day today and ended up falling asleep in front of my computer. When I woke up from my involuntary nap, I started thinking about Bleach and got downright depressed. I'm sure that there are other factors involved here, including my incredibly high stress level as of late. I probably shouldn't be surprised that I'm affected so much by a manga. I'm always very affected by books and movies in general. Much more so when I find them engaging. Since I've spent so much time reading and watching Bleach, I guess it should be expected.
Still. It's just a manga. I should just get over it. Right?
First, the Deicide arc was freaking annoying. It took forever for anything to happen, and most of it was just Aizen leveling up. He turned into a freaking butterfly, for goodness sake. That wasn't exactly intimidating. The whole "yay we killed Aizen ... oh wait, we didn't" routine had gotten really old. I was looking forward to the guy finally kicking the bucket. But nooooo. I'm not allowed that satisfaction. Even Ichigo's final getsuga tenshou doesn't do it. No dying, just sealing. It's like playing an incredibly long and difficult video game, battling the final boss for ages, and then, just when he's down to 10 hp, someone comes along and says, "alright, we're done here". It makes the last 400 chapters seem like a futile endeavor.
That seal is not going to last for 20,000 years. Come on, people. Don't you remember that the guy hypnotized everyone in Soul Society? There's no way he's gonna stay locked up for that long. Besides ... why only 20,000 years?? Why not forever? Or even better ... figure out a way to kill him, dammit!
It just pisses me off that Ichigo loses his shinigami powers and doesn't even accomplish his goal. Well, I guess Karakura town is safe, but I don't see that as the final goal. As long as Aizen is alive, no one is safe. Even if he is sealed.
So now, Ichigo has no powers at all. Normal human teenager. Well, he's strong, but I don't see that as incredibly unusual. But he can't see any of the friends he made from Soul Society and he doesn't really have a purpose or any direction in life. Things continue on around him like they did before he got his powers. No one needs Ichigo.
Then there's the mountain of unanswered questions. Do Orihime and Chad still have their powers? What happened to the Visoreds? Ichigo would probably be able to see them since they're in gigais, right? I'm not gonna write them all out... suffice it to say that I'm not satisfied. It also doesn't help that I don't have any friends who keep up with Bleach, so I can't vent with them about all of this crap. (That would be why I'm writing this post.)
So when I start thinking about all of this, it brings my mood down. I had a particularly frustrating day today and ended up falling asleep in front of my computer. When I woke up from my involuntary nap, I started thinking about Bleach and got downright depressed. I'm sure that there are other factors involved here, including my incredibly high stress level as of late. I probably shouldn't be surprised that I'm affected so much by a manga. I'm always very affected by books and movies in general. Much more so when I find them engaging. Since I've spent so much time reading and watching Bleach, I guess it should be expected.
Still. It's just a manga. I should just get over it. Right?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wow - It's been a long time....
It looks like I skipped September entirely. Quite a change from posting nearly every day for months. Well, there's a good reason. All of my free time has been going toward cleaning. I'm working on Kaichou wa Maid-sama with CrazyKitty Scans, which we're trying to get out as fast as possible every month. Since I do everything except translation and QC, I pretty much lose two nights of sleep for each chapter.
We're also working on Faster Than a Kiss. It was apparently dropped by another group after chapter 32, so we've got chapters 33 through 38 to do so far. We're not worried about the schedule as much on that one, but our goal is to release a chapter every two weeks. If we stick to the schedule, chapter 33 should be out by Sunday! KWMS and FTAK are published in LaLa magazine, which is released on the 24th of each month.
My third project is Skip Beat! with Franky House. Luckily, I'm working with a great group on this one, including another cleaner and a typesetter. Last chapter I cleaned the whole thing, though. Kind of a rite of passage for joining the group it seems. :P Skip Beat is published in Hana to Yume, which is released on the 5th and 20th of each month, skipping every other 5th.
I'm insane. I have been keeping up on a few things, like the Kaichou wa Maid-sama anime (loved it!), Kuroshitsuji II (LOVED it!), and Bleach and Naruto mangas. I just haven't had the time or energy to write things up. When I finish Ch. 33 of FTAK and we're done with Skip Beat Ch. 164, I'm going to take some time to go back and write in here. I really enjoy having a record of what I've read and watched, even though I now have some friends to talk to about this stuff since I've joined the scanlation community. I swear to not abandon this blog!!!
We're also working on Faster Than a Kiss. It was apparently dropped by another group after chapter 32, so we've got chapters 33 through 38 to do so far. We're not worried about the schedule as much on that one, but our goal is to release a chapter every two weeks. If we stick to the schedule, chapter 33 should be out by Sunday! KWMS and FTAK are published in LaLa magazine, which is released on the 24th of each month.
My third project is Skip Beat! with Franky House. Luckily, I'm working with a great group on this one, including another cleaner and a typesetter. Last chapter I cleaned the whole thing, though. Kind of a rite of passage for joining the group it seems. :P Skip Beat is published in Hana to Yume, which is released on the 5th and 20th of each month, skipping every other 5th.
I'm insane. I have been keeping up on a few things, like the Kaichou wa Maid-sama anime (loved it!), Kuroshitsuji II (LOVED it!), and Bleach and Naruto mangas. I just haven't had the time or energy to write things up. When I finish Ch. 33 of FTAK and we're done with Skip Beat Ch. 164, I'm going to take some time to go back and write in here. I really enjoy having a record of what I've read and watched, even though I now have some friends to talk to about this stuff since I've joined the scanlation community. I swear to not abandon this blog!!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Behind again...
I'm about 9 days behind on my manga and anime. It's partially because of a fabulous trip to see my sister and her family in Dallas. I also spent some time working on the scanlation of chapter 161 of Skip Beat for Franky House. I hope they release it soon! I'll be catching up on my posts as soon as I can.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Scanlations - Cleaning and Typesetting
So I had so much fun doing KWMS Chapter 52 that I'm going to apply to be a cleaner/typesetter for Franky House. What is cleaning and typesetting, you say?
Cleaning is the process of taking the raws, or scanned pages of a manga, and cleaning it up so it is easy to read, sharp, and pretty. Many teams remove the Japanese sound effects as well, which can be very difficult since you have to reconstruct the art that was obscured by the sound effect text.
Typesetting seems like it should be really easy. You put text in the appropriate places on the page (in the speech bubbles, etc). There are many challenges, however. You have to make horizontally read English fit into vertically read Japanese bubbles. Then there's choosing the right font. Some typesetters use slightly different fonts for each character. This makes it easier to tell which person is talking.
I have no idea why I enjoy doing it so much. Maybe because it's something that's close to creating art without having to do the original drawing, since I suck at it so much. I enjoy the art a lot to begin with, too.
Here are some examples of what I've done so far. The original page is on the left and my finished version is on the right.
Cleaning is the process of taking the raws, or scanned pages of a manga, and cleaning it up so it is easy to read, sharp, and pretty. Many teams remove the Japanese sound effects as well, which can be very difficult since you have to reconstruct the art that was obscured by the sound effect text.
Typesetting seems like it should be really easy. You put text in the appropriate places on the page (in the speech bubbles, etc). There are many challenges, however. You have to make horizontally read English fit into vertically read Japanese bubbles. Then there's choosing the right font. Some typesetters use slightly different fonts for each character. This makes it easier to tell which person is talking.
I have no idea why I enjoy doing it so much. Maybe because it's something that's close to creating art without having to do the original drawing, since I suck at it so much. I enjoy the art a lot to begin with, too.
Here are some examples of what I've done so far. The original page is on the left and my finished version is on the right.
 |
| Ch. 52 - Kaichou wa Maid-sama |
 | ||
| Ch. 390 Title Page - Naruto To be used for Franky House test |
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Recent Purchases
If I like a manga, I am going to buy it. I believe that it is only right to give my money to the manga artists who entertain me. The art and stories are amazing. It's going to take me a while, but I'm gradually starting up a collection. I've had Trigun for a while. I buy Yotsuba&! as it is released. I bought 20 volumes of Skip Beat! at once and I will be adding volumes as they are released. The boxed set of Death Note is on it's way from Amazon.com right now.
Yesterday was my birthday, so I thought I'd treat myself to some manga. ^_^ I had a $30 gift certificate from my sister to Barnes & Noble, so I bought the Azumanga Daioh Omnibus and the first fvei volumes of Hana Kimi. I had such a hard time deciding what to buy!! I wish they had Ouran High School Host Club, but Hana Kimi was a good second option. I was seriously like a kid in a candy shop. I was debating which series to buy up until the last minute that the store was open.
It'll take a while, but I'm going to have an impressive manga collection.
Yesterday was my birthday, so I thought I'd treat myself to some manga. ^_^ I had a $30 gift certificate from my sister to Barnes & Noble, so I bought the Azumanga Daioh Omnibus and the first fvei volumes of Hana Kimi. I had such a hard time deciding what to buy!! I wish they had Ouran High School Host Club, but Hana Kimi was a good second option. I was seriously like a kid in a candy shop. I was debating which series to buy up until the last minute that the store was open.
It'll take a while, but I'm going to have an impressive manga collection.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Honorifics
If there's anything that chaps my hide about manga and anime translations, it's honorifics. Either they are left out completely or they are changed into some weird hybrid like Naruto-boy instead of Naruto-chan. If someone is going to take the time and effort to watch anime / read manga, they should know what the heck honorifics are and what they mean. If they don't, then leave a translators note. Honorifics, in one or two syllables, show the relationships between the characters.
For example, when Pain says Jiraya's name with the honorific -sensei, Naruto immediately knows that Pain was Jiraiya's student and thus intimately familiar with him. Tsuruga-san in Skip Beat is translated to Mr. Tsuruga, which is totally awkward. Don't get me started on familial honorifics.
For example, when Pain says Jiraya's name with the honorific -sensei, Naruto immediately knows that Pain was Jiraiya's student and thus intimately familiar with him. Tsuruga-san in Skip Beat is translated to Mr. Tsuruga, which is totally awkward. Don't get me started on familial honorifics.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Introduction
I ♥ anime and manga, but there really isn't anyone in my family or current circle of friends who share my enthusiasm. Thus I am creating this random blog. It doesn't really matter to me if anyone actually reads this; I just would like a place to "talk" about what I've read / seen. That's it.
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