Please excuse this rant…I just needed to get this rant off my chest.
I usually subtitle a lot during break (Winter and Summer) and sometimes during the school year, and I usually subtitle while watching dramas, usually the popular ones. While I am watching, I want to subtitle a bit or change the completely wrong subtitles, but the limitation on “designated subtitler” is really frustrating and discouraging and prevent me from doing so. I do not have much time but love to subtitle so try to sub while I can (which is usually when watching my dramas). In the past, just subtitling without needing permission was perfect for me, but now I have to go ask the channel manager for permission (which I do when I am looking to dedicate long-term), then wait for his or her response, and by that time, I am busy with other work or the subtitles are finished, and I cannot sub. I completely understand why Viki implemented such a policy, but I still find this policy discouraging as a part-time subber. I wish Viki could just let qualified contributors bypass the whole “designated subber” thing or something…please don’t hate on me T-T I know this rant is me mostly being selfish…but I really needed it off my chest!
I think it’s good when Viki does that because in my experience, most the sub aren’t good as like we see. If you don’t ask for permission from the Channel Manager that the subbers will sub whatever they want, but the sub aren’t right and not good. I don’t think it’s good for us to do that. We are all volunteers, so I think you should calm down, and ask for the permission and wait a little bit. You can do it when you have free time, and just take those dramas which you really love and do it little by little. I think it will be good for the sub and yourself too.
As a subber, I totally agree with zano, and I was extremely happy when Viki Community came up with that idea even for dramas that aren’t on air! That helped us subber A LOT.
I and most of my subber friends, had bad experience with users who did subtitles when they weren’t even part of the team, and let me tell you that that wasn’t pleaseant at all, cause most of the time we had to re-sub some prhases, and that was really frustrating.
You said you subtitle a lot during break, but there are lots of subber that do that everyday to be able to release and episode asap and allow viewers who watch it in certain language, and it’s not pleasant delay it because someone messed up subs and you have to edit them again.
If you were the one, would you be happy with that?
Try to put yourself in our shoes. It’s frustrating when your hard work go up in smoke. And that limitation has the duty to prevent that from happening.
Hi xNabi,
I am sorry that you are frustrated and I understand where you are coming from. I am also reluctant to be in a team unless if I can dedicate myself to the channel. Having said that, having a designated subbing team does help the team a lot in many ways. I’ve seen too many rogue or novice subbers messing up the hard work of other subbers either intentionally or by mistake. Many times, they don’t stop even when you ask nicely.
I’ve worked with you before and I know you can translate well. But trust me, not all QCs are actually “qualified.” Viki gives out QC status based on the number of subtitles so even those rogue subbers who overwrite good subs with wrong subs can easily become QCs.
And even before Viki implemented the Designated Subbers Only policy, we were supposed to ask permission and also post which part we are subbing in the team note so we don’t overwrite each other by mistake.
My suggestion is to ask all channel managers of all dramas you are interested in to join the team as a part time subber. Out of all, some will respond faster than others but at least you can start subbing on some of them. And since you are a part time subber, you can come only when you have time and not feel obligated to come every week.
Also xNabi, you shouldn’t be modifying the subtitles of others unless you have an agreement with your Channel Manager to edit the subtitles. I am sure you are probably good at what you do but like ajumma2 said, so often we see people “correcting” subtitles that were correct in the first place.
Hi, Wind. Like I mentioned in my original post, I completely understand Viki’s reasoning behind this restriction and agree it makes sense, though it may have its flaws. I just needed to complain my frustration somewhere. Thanks for your reply.
Hi, Klovers92. I agree it helped us subbers a lot when the Viki Community came up with this restriction, and I mentioned I understood the reasoning behind Viki’s action in my original post. I just needed to voice my opinion and frustration as well. When I can, I want to help sub outside of break too, but this restriction makes this difficult. Believe me, I have put myself in other subbers’ shoes, and I have had my own bad experiences with users who did not sub well. In the end, I am still frustrated though, hence this topic/rant. Thanks for your opinion.
Best,
Snowy
@ajumma2: Hello! Thank you for understanding me. Like I mentioned, I understand Viki’s reasoning and just needed to rant and get this issue off my chest. I understand I cannot do much about this restriction anyway, but it still is pretty discouraging. The QC point is a good point that I did not think of by the way.
More often than not, I did ask for permission, but I would sub for a few episodes or sometimes even one and would stop due to life callings. I just feel bad asking to be in a team. Also, some channel managers do not want part-time subbers, which is also discouraging. Anyway, thanks for reading through my rant and for sharing your thoughts and opinion. Happy Holidays!
Best,
Snowy
@LACruiser: Hello. I rarely edited subs that had grammatical/spelling mistakes or any other kind of mistake unless the subtitles were completely wrong and off. I thought in the latter case, it would be okay to edit them. I did not realize that I had to have an agreement with the channel manager, though. My mistake. I will keep that in mind in the future. Thank you for your reply.
Don’t feel bad about asking to be on a team. You can just say you just want to help a little during your winter/summer break or whenever you have time. Of course for a team it’s best that subbers can turn up every week/every other week so the subbing doesn’t take weeks but if there are enough subbers who turn up every week it doesn’t matter if there is also one who only turns up once every 3 weeks or so.
As a segger I sometimes don’t seg a kdrama for 2 weeks or something because it’s already done when I have time… no big deal.
I might add, sometimes rules and parameters for standardization on a project have been set up by the Chief Editor and shared with the editing and sometimes the subbing team. People not on the team may not know about these preferences and mistakenly not follow them.
I hope you, xNabi don’t become too discouraged. Many managers are happy to have help, even it it’s someone that can only contribute casually.
As always! Therefore, I am sure that we work together superbly. @xNabi If you decide to join us, you can be sure that we will evaluate each of your sentences!
@xNabi : I apologize to you! It seems the cases that I’m not perfect in English, so much that I’m able to make a mistake. So I wanted to say that I’m glad because of every sentences that you subtitling.
