Anime Subtitling Rates

[Kevin Steinbach]

Dear Honyakkers,

I am a beginning translator who is currently trying to answer that perennial question of newcomers, what to charge for my work.  I am especially wondering about current standard (average?) rates for anime subtitling jobs.  

I did some searching of the Honyaku archives and found several relevant threads, but each was slightly different from what I was looking for.  One mentioned that it is common to charge by minute of film, but what about when a script is available?  Is it common to charge, say, by line?  Another message mentions that rates for subtitling in the U.S. are commonly in the range of $100 to $125 for 15 minutes of runtime, but this message is from 2006; with the U.S. anime market in the shape it's in, is it still reasonable to expect rates such as this?  The problem here is that I simply have no frame of reference, so even comments like "charge what you think your time is worth" (which come up here and there) are of limited usefulness.

Can anyone provide some perspective (on- or off-list) on current standards?

thanks in advance,

Kevin Steinbach

[Sarah Alys]

Can you be more specific about what kind of work it is you'll be
charging for? You say anime subtitling--do you mean both translation &
subtitle timing? Will you be just timing, or providing finished DVD
subtitles? What you charge will be dependent on the exact nature of
the work you're turning in.

Alys @ every company requires something different

[Kevin Steinbach]

Sarah,

Thanks for your reply.

>Can you be more specific about what kind of work it is you'll be

charging for?

No specific job offer has been made yet, so details are somewhat sketchy, but the situation appears to be: a series (# of episodes unknown) for which both Japanese scripts and video are available.  I've been asked whether, in addition to translating, I am able to "time, typeset, and [do] QC."  I am willing to do these things, though it is not clear to me whether, if I were to say "no, I just translate," they would have other people to do them.  So I could end up charging for anything from just script translation to an entire process.

Kevin

[Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven]

-On [20090608 14:55], Kevin Steinbach (loth...@gmail.com) wrote:
>I've been asked whether, in addition to translating, I am able to "time,
>typeset, and [do] QC."

Asking you to do QC seems odd. I mean, you already do the translation. You
need someone to check on your translation, timing and typesetting.
Likewise with normal writing you don't proofread yourself.

--
Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven <asmodai(-at-)in-nomine.org> / asmodai
イェルーン ラウフロック ヴァン デル ウェルヴェン
http://www.in-nomine.org/ | http://www.rangaku.org/ | GPG: 2EAC625B
To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom...

[Jeremiah Bourque]

Kevin, if you have no other choice, put some mental space and time
between what you've done and when you look it over for additional
errors. I wouldn't recommend that process for the employer either but,
it's better than nothing.

I know a young translator who's worked in this area and the rates she
described were broadly similar to what you've mentioned, FYI.

Jeremiah Bourque

[Sarah Alys]

The QC thing is very odd. I recommend asking them exactly what they
mean by it. It's possible they assume you will contract out the timing
and therefore that person will do QC, but that still seems like an odd
way to ask you about it if so.

As for how to charge for this work, you need two different rates here:
a rate for your translation, and a rate for the timing/typesetting. If
they want you to do both, then you add the two, or if you feel like
giving them a package discount, that is up to you. But know exactly
how much you're willing to translate for and how much you're willing
to time for. Don't just have one amorphous rate; the two activities
are totally different, they require totally different skills, and they
are worth different things.

To answer your question about charging by line, it is not customary to
charge by line. Charge by minute of video.

Incidentally, it also makes me concerned when anyone (translator or
not) talks about "script translation" of anime. There is no such thing
as a script translation. You translate the audio and video, not the
script. The script is merely a reference for you, and at any given
point may or may not have anything to do with what is happening
onscreen. As someone who works in anime translation QC, it is very
obvious when someone relies too much on the script. Just my $0.02
worth of free advice...

Alys @ hope that helps

[Frode Aleksandersen]

On Jun 8, 3:30 pm, Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven <asmo...@in-
nomine.org> wrote:

> -On [20090608 14:55], Kevin Steinbach (lothem...@gmail.com) wrote:
>
> >I've been asked whether, in addition to translating, I am able to "time,
> >typeset, and [do] QC."
>
> Asking you to do QC seems odd. I mean, you already do the translation. You
> need someone to check on your translation, timing and typesetting.
> Likewise with normal writing you don't proofread yourself.
>

I think it was more a question of whether Kevin would be able to
provide a complete package, in the form of being able to do QC as
well. This can be read two ways: if Kevin can do QC for other
translations they provide; and/or if he has some kind of QC process
for his own work. Some people have spouses or friends do it, or even
another translator and charge accordingly. If you don't have any kind
of QC (some people don't), it needs to be mentioned so they can
provide their own.

>>Another message mentions that rates for subtitling in the U.S. are commonly in the
>>range of $100 to $125 for 15 minutes of runtime, but this message is from 2006

When I was just doing subtitle timing, I used to charge more than
that, to give you an idea. The market has changed somewhat as you
mention, but prices shouldn't have gone down that much. There is one
exception however - one company that focuses on streaming content is
offering extremely sub-standard rates, with the result that it's
simply not economically feasible for a professional translator to make
a living. As a result they're mostly contracting fansubbers, who for
the most part are happy to be paid at all for something they would
have done anyway.

/frode

[Kevin Steinbach]

First of all, thanks to everyone who's offered their comments and advice.  It's helped a lot in deciding how much to charge.  I would like to ask further:

<snip>

one company that focuses on streaming content is
offering extremely sub-standard rates, with the result that it's
simply not economically feasible for a professional translator to make
a living.

</snip>

As I mentioned earlier, I'm at the point where I'm trying to get a foothold in the professional market.  I have a good deal of practice, amateur, and volunteer experience, but not much that I can point to on a resume and say "Company X paid me to do this work."  So partly what I'm looking for right now is simple professional experience.

With that said, if I were to encounter a company such as Frode mentions, and decided to accept their sub-standard rates, would this be more likely to help or hurt me?  That is, would it be good that I had professional work to put on a resume, or would it only reflect poorly on me that I was willing to work for a company that is known to pay such low rates?

thanks again,

Kevin

[Sarah Alys]

Well, if you're doing something for only online streaming, your name
won't be in the credits anywhere, so you can put it on your resume,
but unless the client is willing to confirm it for you, you can't
actually prove that you've done it. You could get around this
partially by listing the title and then parenthesizing the name of the
translation house you did it for:

"Super Pretty Girl Tammy (for Translation House X)"

So I don't know how helpful it would be or not be. If I saw it on a
translator's resume, I honestly don't know how I'd react. Then again,
my company makes translators take a test, so I'd get to see what your
work was actually like, meaning I might not care one way or the other
and just judge you on your merits.

It might still be helpful to you to work under professional
conditions.

Alys @ can't tell you one way or the other