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preffered sub font

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nstgc:
There is currently another discussion going on about fansubs versus prosubs. One major issue seems to be the style of the font. So I figured I'd make a topic on the subject.

If I had to choose a single font style it would be as fallowed. My perfered font style is arial or any other stylized font, and bold. They tend to be easier to read. As for color, I like a dark solid blue (in the neighborhood of [00002c00]) and on the inside a pale transparent yellow (about [ffff80d0]). In both MPlayer and whatever CCCP uses the boarder is about a 4. Its easy to read and doesn't obstruct the video too much.

I like it when subbers change the color based on the hair color of the character speaking. It makes it much easier to tell who is talking (even in real life talking to real people in English I can have trouble distinguishing who is saying what). When they do I prefer the inside to be a transparent light gray ([d0d0d0d0]) and the outside border to match the hair as closely as possible.

I'd give an example, but I think that most subbers do a good enough job that its not worth changing. The last time I went to the trouble to change it was for the old rips of Card Captor.

My biggest problem with the DVD subs is that they are terribly blocky at which resolutions. Many of E-D's subs are like that as well except in an ugly gray color.

Sosseres:
I don't have my subtitle settings set up correctly right now due to a fresh re-install. So settings taken from memory. ^^

But once I get around to it again I'll have Gungush font, normal bold, with a green colour with black border. Border width around 4 or so and shadow around 3. The biggest problem I have is with font size, I tend to end up around 36-48 size in the directvobsub settings.

I also like the per character coding of subtitles. Sometimes it makes the subtitles hard to read though. :/

Chef:
I think it depends on whether the subs are hardcoded or soft. Softsubs have the additional concerns of compatibility with users and thus have to be fairly common. If we could all decide on an uncommon, but excellent font it would be possible to just add a download link to the font. The decision would have to be near unanimous though which I think is unlikely.

I don't know too much as I have only a small experience... I know that I've disliked subs that have this white on red scheme going on, especially when there's more red than white. I think the ideal is white on black, with a friendly, spacey style.

I think the best way to make a good argument for this is just to have comparison images and polls. One for fonts that basically everyone should have, and another for uncommon fonts that might be ideal for hardcoded subs. The latter is probably the more interesting of the two, since soft subs can be changed to whatever suits the viewer (albeit a tech savvy viewer).

bobjoe:

--- Quote from: Chef on April 07, 2010, 10:02:35 PM ---I think the best way to make a good argument for this is just to have comparison images and polls. One for fonts that basically everyone should have, and another for uncommon fonts that might be ideal for hardcoded subs. The latter is probably the more interesting of the two, since soft subs can be changed to whatever suits the viewer (albeit a tech savvy viewer).

--- End quote ---
For styled subs, the font is INCLUDED in the mkv file, so it doesn't matter what fonts the user has installed.

As for my opinion on the matter of preferred styling, I'll say I prefer:

* A wide, Serif font (I know most people say Sans-Serif is easier to read on a TV, but on a computer screen I prefer Serif)
* Solid white letters with thick colored borders
* NO transparency or drop shadows
* Colorcoding based on hair color (with the border being the part that changes color) is my favorite "extra" feature, but it's rarely done
* I also prefer EVERYTHING suftsubbed, because I render the subs at desktop resolution, and scaled hardsubbed text looks really ugly

Chef:
I only ever watched one anime that included the fonts (Death Note, but not from bakaBT), and for some reason they didn't install properly. I got squares all over the intro, and the torrent seemed to be really meticulously put together... with previews in seperate files and a bunch of weird junk (though I guess I could investigate more to see if it's not just really bad video hardcoded). I think for the sake of simplicity it's worth it not ask the user to install your random fonts. Still, my experience is isolated and it might just have been a rare case.

It's hard to think of a time when I'd want highly stylized subs though, just because I personally think they're distracting. Subs should be minimalist because they have nothing to do with the intentions of the anime. If you start making them funny colours, I might start associating characters with that colour... which can change the meaning of what's going on. Maybe the subber thinks a character is evil, so he gives him a dark looking colour... That doesn't give me a chance to decide for myself, and it's plot spoiling. It requires the subber to be very mature in their design desisions, which is something that might be rare in non-professionals.

Hardsubs are basically convinient for people like me who don't want to watch anime on their computer... I put it on my PMP instead (Cowon S9). Subtitle and MKV support is very uncommon on portable players, so I don't think Hardsubbing should be forgotten yet, as doing it myself takes forever and often requires troubleshooting.

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