S T U D I O D R A D I O D U R A N S

8 HOURS

Content is available in China, with Chinese subtitles within 8 hours of being broadcast almost

anywhere in the world.

This is how it works.

8 HOURS

An informal network of ~90 English-Chinese translators motivated by a desire to enjoy TV shows and movies in their own language, improve their translation skills, and beat competing teams to deliver their favourite content to a mass Chinese audience. !

It is crowd sourced translation, with Chinese characteristics.

HOW IT WORKS8 HOURS

HOW IT WORKS8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

Translation lead + 4 translators start Chinese translation, splitting workload between them

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

Translation lead + 4 translators start Chinese translation, splitting workload between them

Draft translation ready. Lead translator starts quality review, checking for tone, idioms and slang

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

Translation lead + 4 translators start Chinese translation, splitting workload between them

Draft translation ready. Lead translator starts quality review, checking for tone, idioms and slang

QA review completed. Chinese translation file uploaded to translation sharing site - shooter.cn

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

Translation lead + 4 translators start Chinese translation, splitting workload between them

Draft translation ready. Lead translator starts quality review, checking for tone, idioms and slang

QA review completed. Chinese translation file uploaded to translation sharing site - shooter.cn

Tech savvy fans download translation file and insert into the US video file

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

Translation lead + 4 translators start Chinese translation, splitting workload between them

Draft translation ready. Lead translator starts quality review, checking for tone, idioms and slang

QA review completed. Chinese translation file uploaded to translation sharing site - shooter.cn

Tech savvy fans download translation file and insert into the US video file

Integrated into video and released as “official” torrents in various formats

8 HOURS

22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00

Broadcast ends

Video file uploaded by US team and downloaded in China

English subtitles completed by US team, subtitle file sent to China team

English subtitles synchronised to video by Chinese team

Translation lead + 4 translators start Chinese translation, splitting workload between them

Draft translation ready. Lead translator starts quality review, checking for tone, idioms and slang

QA review completed. Chinese translation file uploaded to translation sharing site - shooter.cn

Tech savvy fans download translation file and insert into the US video file

Integrated into video and released as “official” torrents in various formats

Unofficial versions appear – using the same source file, but hacked to include advertising – by the subtitle thief team 盗幕组 sold to DVD vendors

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8 HOURS

QUESTION EVERYTHING

The extent to which content is ‘popular’ is framed by both the availability of that content, the potential audience’s awareness of its availability, and its desirability. Around 70% of shows that are translated are still currently being broadcast, the remaining have ended their run.!

DEFINE “POPULAR”8 HOURS

As with the torrent scene it is possible to obtain more obscure content, but takes longer to track down, download the original source and pull together a crew to that is sufficiently motivated to translate.!

The most popular shows attract the strongest pool of translation talent – less popular shows and those with longer recording times and more dialog will naturally take longer. 8 hours is the benchmark.!

DEFINE “OBSCURE”8 HOURS

Most Chinese shows are broadcast with subtitles in standard “Chinese characters to support the hundreds of dialects spoken across China. Translating shows is one way to enjoy, spread their passion, come together as a community and learn English.

DEMAND8 HOURS

中文”. 汉语

Some shows such as Prison Break are broadcast on state run CCTV years after they’ve been available for download. The official broadcast includes a locally sensitive translation – replacing words e.g. ‘horny’, ‘homo’, ‘sex’, .etc with subtler alternatives.

AUTHENTICITY8 HOURS

Self-censorship comes into affect for politically sensitive material that would draw the attention of the authorities, although with a few exceptions it is anyway debatable whether this content would meet the criteria of being ‘popular’, certainly compared to local alternatives.

WHAT ISN’T TRANSLATED8 HOURS

Many people’s motivation to jump the Great Firewall (GFW) through proxies or subscribing to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is driven by the consumption of porn. !

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter also lie behind the GFW but are niche compared to their local, vibrant Chinese equivilents.

THE GREAT FIREWALL8 HOURS

In our informal survey of 150 students from 8 Shanghai universities ~19% used proxies, and only ~3% used VPN’s. Not everyone who crosses the GFW to access banned social networks, don’t actively participate, to do so would leave personal trace.

GWF? WTF!8 HOURS

HOW MUCH TRANSLATION IS REQUIRED8 HOURS

900 – 1000 linesa movie

!

500 – 600 linesa single TV episode contains

!

200 – 300 linestranslated by a single team member

8 HOURS

MOTIVATIONS

“At first, it’s all because my enthusiasm in US TV dramas and also American culture. Then with the growth of my team and other teams, I started to

feel the sense of responsibility and had the aim to beat other teams.”

MOTIVATIONS8 HOURS

“If four major subtitle sites are working on the same show, we need to be the fastest and win the

most viewers - that’s how we hold our reputation”

!

MOTIVATIONS8 HOURS

“If four major subtitle sites are working on the same show, we need to be the fastest and win the

most viewers - that’s how we hold our reputation”

MOTIVATIONS8 HOURS

8 HOURS

ON THE STREETS

Once a TV series final episode is broadcast – a third party copies the whole translated series and copies onto 3 or 4 DVDs for sale at ~5 RMB (60 Euro cents/80 US cents) per DVD.!

Subtitles are further hacked to insert advertising.!

DIGITAL TO TANGIBLE8 HOURS

8 HOURS

S T U D I O D R A D I O D U R A N S