Precisely. When there are multiple fansub groups competing to produce the highest quality release, including subtitles, translator notes, video encoding and MKV metadata, subtitle timing and placement, the bar gets set higher for official licensed distributions.
Some fansub groups go so far as to provide signage overlays that move and scale as the scene itself moves. It's so subtle sometimes that I only notice it after the fact.
One idea I had was for there to be a way for fansub groups to distribute their translations in such a way as to layer on top of a licensed distribution. So you'd get the DVD/BlueRay for a particular Anime, and then layer on top of it your favorite fansub group's translations and translator notes, and somehow they'd line up.
This would require the licensed distribution to provide the original audio track and scene timing to match the original version, of course. US pricing and in some cases even US availability are another issue.
> So you'd get the DVD/BlueRay for a particular Anime, and then layer on top of it your favorite fansub group's translations and translator notes, and somehow they'd line up.
That's a really cool idea.
But how does this represent an improvement over what's available now via torrent? I can't help but be skeptical about a plan that involves riding on top of a DVD that's already priced out of the market by the studios.
How about just an improvement over the subbing tools? Many of them are simply immature software. Can you fan-source it? Make it collaborative, interactive? Link it with Japanese lessons or a native speaker somehow?
There are whole conference centers filling up on a regular basis with teenagers who, out of love for this aesthetic, have taught themselves to sew. There has got to be a business model there for someone!
Right now it's being won by the guy who lugs cardboard boxes of $40 t-shirts from state to state in his van.
Some fansub groups go so far as to provide signage overlays that move and scale as the scene itself moves. It's so subtle sometimes that I only notice it after the fact.
One idea I had was for there to be a way for fansub groups to distribute their translations in such a way as to layer on top of a licensed distribution. So you'd get the DVD/BlueRay for a particular Anime, and then layer on top of it your favorite fansub group's translations and translator notes, and somehow they'd line up.
This would require the licensed distribution to provide the original audio track and scene timing to match the original version, of course. US pricing and in some cases even US availability are another issue.