13 replies to this topic

[Caek]

Do you prefer when scanlations are released one by one (as soon as they are available) or in bulk?

 

I'd also love to know what preferences people have when reading comics here. Do you read several chapters of a story in one sitting, or do you like to browse around a bit? How many chapters? How long are they / what genre?

 

Thanks in advance,

~ Caek

[cmertb]

One by one.

[Caek]

Thanks for the information, cmertb.

 

I'm curious as to how much text is in the comics you read as well, since I figure that series with less reading are a lot faster to read through.

~ Caek

[Yan Q]

I'm personally month likely to read if it's updated fairly regularly but chapter per chapter. If it's released in bulk I tend to put it under follows so I don't lose it, but then forget about the series until it's updated again. Two or three chapters isn't a big deal, but five or six makes me lazy. Most of the series I'm following (that are regularly updated) have little/casual text. But if there's a lot of text/things to think about I think it would be better uploaded in bulk so readers don't forget what happened in the previous chapter.

[Michalv]

One by one. At least to kill my curiosity of what happens in the next chapter.

[Okonoyamiyaki]

For me it would depend on the series. I'm a fan of marathoning (I'll often even go back and read a favorite series all at once,) but if it's a series that's currently being serialized in a magazine, I'd prefer not to wait if I don't have to. Like having to wait for monthly titles already can be painful.
Weeklies I wouldn't mind saving 1 to 3 of at once because like, honestly they're already really short releases and by the time I get into it, it's over.

For older things that are being scanslated with the tankouban though, bulk...ier releases (a couple chapters) is kind of nice. I agree that more than a few chapters  at once though can be kind of daunting and may mean that it gets moved to a backburner. Like more than 4 or 5 at once is like, "Oh I guess I'll do this after I read the shorter releases..."
I follow several...Uh... Hundred (?Too Many. Not Sure) current series so even if I read everyday, huge bulk releases might mean I get distracted or wander away in the middle.
I kind of like the idea of 2-3 chapters the most. Enough to get into it and excited but not so many I'm like "Gyaugh I have other things to read."

Either way as long as it doesn't just sit there for more than a few months without updates, I'm pretty happy. After 4 or 5 months, I end up not really being able to remember what was going on so even if there's a bulk release of like, a zillion chapters, it's a pain since I'll have to go back and remind myself. That's kind of demotivational at that point.

As far as text goes, I read both really long-winded wordy ones and really simple mostly fighting grunty ones. If it's interesting it doesn't really matter. For the ones without much text though, because they go so fast, I find one chapter releases kind of underwhelming and forgettable. I've found I'll often have to re-read a past chapter for context - especially the weekly JUMP type series. Contrarily, if it's a really wordy one and there's a huge bulk release, it might be harder to get through it in one sitting so it might sit on a side tab for a few weeks. 
 

[Caek]

Thanks for the responses, you guys!

 

@Okonoyamiyaki

Your post was really detailed, and pointed out things I never really thought about before! I'll definitely use it as a reference for what projects to prioritize in the future.

 

To keep things moving (and mostly to satisfy my own curiosity), what are your thoughts on cleaning in scanlation? Does it have to be perfect, good enough, or neglected in favor of faster releases? How about on removing watermarks from online raws?

 

~ Caek

[Okonoyamiyaki]

Hmmmmmm I'm not too fussed about cleaning as long as it's not specifically bad. Like I don't mind it when sound effects aren't done (although I tend to translate them all when I do my own translations.) 
When it comes to outside bubble-text (non sound effects) it's best if it can look as close to the original as possible. That's hard on the redrawers, but otherwise it can end up being kind of distracting and when it's like a pivotal plot moment that can ruin the atmosphere. If redrawing is hanging up a release for weeks though, it doesn't need to be the most perfect ever. In the end, this is fan work and I don't think anyone would get really upset about it.

Watermarks I'm not too sure about, but if they're in the way, yeah.

Ah, along these lines though, I do have preferences for typesetting. I cannot stand vertical typesetting in English, it's almost impossible to read. Like, if it's absolutely necessary, turn it sideways (like you'd see on the spine of a book or movie) if you must. Otherwise just keep make it as thin as possible. Reading vertically in English is the biggest pain the the ass.
This mostly happens to like, battle cries and names of special moves but UGH.

Also gratuitous splicing of words, like when it doesn't fit and the typesetter does something like:
"I'm go-
ing to
save
the wor-
ld !!!"

No. Pick a smaller font or break it up better. D8

"I'm
going
to save
the
world
!!!"

Is just fine.

There is no excuse for that. Super gets in the way when reading. Like, it's unavoidable sometimes for legitimately long words but about 90% of the time it can be fixed if the perimeters are changed a bit.
Also not huge on lots of different font changes based on a typesetter's interpretation of the script when there wasn't a change in the original. Like, "I feel this person is probably speaking softly so I'll go with a curly font" is kind of forcing their interpretation on the reader. If it's something that's chosen to reflect the original manga's font change, it's awesome but I've seen a few where it was sort of more artistic interpretation. As it is, we already have the manga painted over slightly with the translator's brush no matter how objective we try to stay.

Edited by Okonoyamiyaki, 20 December 2015 - 07:16 AM.

[VawX]

If you ask this question in a manga forum, most likely you'll find the answer will be "One by one" 
People who get into manga so much so that he even open the forum and post in it usually not a casual reader and most of them read everyday, so reading one chapter every time it's possible maybe the best outcome for them (including myself) 

 

Though for very short chapters, uploading in a batch of 2-3 chapters might be nice

 

For quality of the scanlation, I guess many people will seek speed rather than quality. 

 

I personally seek speed, but I do wait for better scanlation for certain manga, usually not because of the manga but I do tend to wait for the usual scanlator to do the manga if I know they already done their job very nicely for these specific manga

 

For instance, for Jump release, I'll wait for mangastream, for to-love ru I'll wait for CXC, so I have to say, I will only wait for better scanlation if the scanlator is already fond in my heart.

 

Watermarks in online raw in my opinion should not be removed to respect whoever uploaded the raw (or anything like that)

 

 mmm...

[Caek]

Haven't checked this thread in a while, but I did read Okonoyamiyaki's post a while ago, and have used it to improve my typesetting. Thanks!

 

@VawX

Thanks for your input! I generally have the same thoughts (being a speedreader of manga myself) on wanting speedy releases.

 

Here are three more questions I have:

• Original raw quality vs. Compressed images
• What rules should be followed between scanlators?
• Do scanlators have a responsibility to communicate with readers?

My own personal stance on number two is generally, "fastest / most consistent translator wins." For instance, if a series has been updated on a regular (weekly/daily) basis by a group for quite some time, it's safe to say that that group should be deferred to, even if another group comes along that translates at twice the rate.

 

I don't think that quite holds for monthly / infrequent releases, but it could vary by genre and style of the work. Thoughts? (Don't forget the other questions.)

[shelly]

I like reading in bulk, but having the manga released one chapter at a time lets me know its still being worked on even if I don't read it right away and instead let a few chapters pile up first.

Really, it depends on the manga. If each chapter is kind of satisfying to read on its own, I will read it right away. But if its not, I'll wait for 3+ chapters before I read it.

 

[...] I cannot stand vertical typesetting in English, it's almost impossible to read. Like, if it's absolutely necessary, turn it sideways (like you'd see on the spine of a book or movie) if you must. Otherwise just keep make it as thin as possible. Reading vertically in English is the biggest pain the the ass.
This mostly happens to like, battle cries and names of special moves but UGH. [...]

 

I can't stand that either, its horrible.

 

"Do scanlators have a responsibility to communicate with readers?"

I don't think its their responsibility, but I'd like to say, as a reader, it's really reeaally welcomed.

Some of the manga (and novels) I read regularly have long waits between new chapters, if 3 months go by and there are no new chapters, and no explanation, I start wondering if someone died, or they decided to drop it without a word. (If the manga is usually released weekly and 2 or 3 weeks go by, I start worrying. It all depends on the usual release rate)

I get stressed out and worried, and if that goes on long enough I'll go to the scanlators site and try to ask what happened. And I'm sure no scanlator wants a bunch of people asking "What happened!?" is all sorts of ways (some less than polite) all at the same time.

But when a scanlator leaves a note at the manga page, or on a page of the latest manga chapter saying "Hey, releases will be delayed for awhile." I can wait a lot longer without worrying. And really, it doesn't take more than a quick line or two, so not much effort is needed.

So, rather than a responsibility, I think communication with the readers is just better for both readers and scanlators.

Edited by shelly, 28 February 2016 - 05:11 AM.

[raveysas]

• Do you prefer when scanlations are released one by one (as soon as they are available) or in bulk?

It depends on the manga. Preferably bulk releases for dystopian and fantasy series wherein you have to strictly remember the context for every chapter, otherwise I'm fine with one by one release, except for those running in weekly magazines or consist of less than 25 pages.

• What preferences people have when reading comics here. Do you read several chapters of a story in one sitting, or do you like to browse around a bit? How many chapters? How long are they?

​Definitely several chapters in one sitting. I love to binge-read manga from my to-read list so when I'm absolutely free, I complete 50-80 chapters a day.

• I'm curious as to how much text is in the comics you read as well, since I figure that series with less reading are a lot faster to read through.

I'm pretty used to reading image and text-heavy manga. Not sure if you're asking about preference but I generally don't care how much text is in the pages. Although I have to admit sometimes I tend to only skim through certain speech bubbles if they get unnecessarily detailed for me. For instance, in-depth explanation about medical terms, a political topic, or a supernatural power.

• What are your thoughts on cleaning in scanlation? Does it have to be perfect, good enough, or neglected in favor of faster releases? How about on removing watermarks from online raws?

As a cleaner/redrawer myself, I prefer to see scans in medium to high quality. Unfortunately, even though we uphold quality over quantity, most readers will always choose faster releases regardless of the quality. Regarding the watermarks, it depends on the website where you got the raws from if they from a Chinese scanlation or Japanese raw hosting site.

• Original raw quality vs. Compressed images

Scans must only be compressed to a certain extent. In my opinion, a height of 1500-1800px is the recommendable size to save memory space and at the same time retain the original quality.

• What rules should be followed between scanlators?

​Mutual respect. Don't do anything to other groups what you don't want others to do to your group.

• Do scanlators have a responsibility to communicate with readers?

​If the occasion requires. It's not a necessity, but the readers must be made aware of important announcements such as dropping a manga as a project or going on hiatus.

[Kusunoki]

• Do you prefer when scanlations are released one by one (as soon as they are available) or in bulk?

One by one, or 2-3 chapters released together. I agree that too many chapters at once is a bit daunting.

• What preferences people have when reading comics here. Do you read several chapters of a story in one sitting, or do you like to browse around a bit? How many chapters? How long are they?

​I do love marathoning comics - I went through all 200+ chapters of Haikyuu!! in 4 days (with sleep, and not in a single sitting of course). But I also enjoy reading manga chapter by chapter whenever they're updated.

• I'm curious as to how much text is in the comics you read as well, since I figure that series with less reading are a lot faster to read through.

Most of what I read aren't particularly text-heavy, but I don't really mind reading walls of texts either.

• What are your thoughts on cleaning in scanlation? Does it have to be perfect, good enough, or neglected in favor of faster releases? How about on removing watermarks from online raws?

I'm a scanlator myself, and I'm all for quality. I'd leave the huge SFX untranslated, but I make sure we tackle all the small texts, easy SFX, and even the texts on stuff like signs, posters and phone screens. I'm also very meticulous about the typesetting. A badly centred text bubble bothers me to no end, but that's probably just me and my stupid OCD. But in any case, I'd say effective use of fonts, careful cleaning and good grammar beat speedy but shabby releases any day. [I swear all these alliterations are unintentional] It would be nice if readers could appreciate the efforts we put into giving them the best read experience we can.

• Original raw quality vs. Compressed images

I second what raveysas said ^

• What rules should be followed between scanlators?

​I also second what raveysas said ^. I'm actually the kind that's rather possessive over what I work on, and it's pretty hurtful when someone takes what I've been doing right out of my hands, especially when I know I'm good at my job. I don't know about other groups, but it is my group's policy to never work on something that has been updated within the past three months, which is a pretty reasonable rule, I think, for others to follow as well - at least for series that aren't currently being serialised. There are so many series out there that deserve more love, why insist on wasting everyone's effort on doing the same thing?

And for international groups that do relay translation from English scans, it should be common practice to ask for the original group's permission AND to keep their credits page intact in their own release.

• Do scanlators have a responsibility to communicate with readers?

I won't say it's a responsibility per se, but as a reader, I do like knowing what's going on behind the scenes of the scanlation process; and as a scanlator, I also enjoy exchanging comments and sharing extra information with readers.

[Caek]

@raveysas @Kusunoki

Great to hear some input from some contributors. It's been over 9 months since I started this thread - lots of iteration over time has definitely helped me to improve / refine my scanlating process. I think I'll need to post some new questions to help me get even better, heh. The hard part is gonna be coming up with them.

 

Anyway, when I translate a series from the very beginning, I get really invested into it. There's always doubt and ambiguity involved when you translate a series, and I think what causes problems sometimes is that people don't realize that they aren't reading the original story. They're listening to me telling a story that someone else wrote in my own words, subject to the tinted lens of my own head-canon. (e.g. - Yue Hu and Lin Mi are the total OTP of Fairy Captivity, hands down. Shi-Jie and Shi-Xiong should totally go out sometime and date, amirite?)

 

So... I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I really want people to understand a bit more the process of what goes into a chapter, for me at least - I always enjoy a good chat about scanlation. It's what I've spent hours and hours doing over the past ten months.