[False Dawn]

Originally Posted by Crovax

Well bobber, timing is indeed the easiest thing to do. It requires far less judgement calls than most other positions, and the tools for it are quite far developed and straightforward. This doesn't take away that timing is crucial.

OK, I didn't speak out when this was first raised, but I think a lot of people are taking timing a little too lightly. While I agree that it is probably the "easiest" thing to do, that certainly doesn't make it "easy" - and it doesn't suggest that there aren't judgement calls to be made. I'd say that to be a "good" timer, there are usually a whole load of things you have to make decisions over (and if you're a crazy alpha timer like me, that opens up a whole new can of worms, trust me ). Everything from the amount of lead-in and lead-out you want on the lines, to how to stop lines flashing, or whether in some circumstances, you want them to flash (rare, but it can happen) - and then there are the times when two or more people talk at the same time...

A timer should literally be making a decision every time there's a scene bleed.

Basic timing is easy, yes. Making the decisions, not so. Though, you do have to invest time into making those decisions, which is probably why there are fewer timers around than other jobs - because making these decisions and the repetitiveness of timing isn't exactly the most fun you can have subbing.

And it does take a good hour or more per ep, especially if you take scene-timing seriously.

Personally, I'd be quite worried if any job in a sub takes UNDER an hour. I'd suggest that anyone who takes less than an hour on any job (other than perhaps translation checks if you have a particularly good translator) has probably done a bad job on what they were doing. I suppose it's possible that some people work really fast, but considering an episode is roughly 25 minutes long, that gives you little time to do actual work on it.

P.S. I noticed some groups seem to positively 'look down' on people who use Aegisub. Saying stuff that it's for people without skills who only *think* they can sub. Not sure if many groups share that conviction or why, but if you meet such a group, do not despair. Most groups I know are just fine with aegisub.

Are there groups like that? Wow. That's like saying "I'm going to wash all my clothes by hand because washing machines just make it easy so that anyone can do it." I'd steer away from groups who scorn you for using Aegisub.


Anyway, my general advice would actually be to not necessarily look at the Help Wanted posts, but to look at some of the bigger groups who actively recruit and taking some of their tests. The big groups have some pretty experienced timers who will give you feedback (if they're not too overworked ) and you can also watch how they time things too. That's the way I learned and it's served me well so far

Something else you can do is to specifically watch the timing in a release you like and see what you like about it. Compare them to other releases, either of different series or if you're really anal, the same episode subbed by a different group. HEALTH WARNING~ this will ultimately spoil your appreciation of some subs that don't match up to your growing "standard" of good timing. You'll start noticing scene bleeds all over the place where you didn't before and it may start bugging you if a subgroup does it consistently.

With anything though, how good a timer you become will depend on the amount of time you invest into learning the skills and suchlike.