I’ve seen a lot of the same questions asked around here over and over again, so I’m just going to take a few minutes to answer a few of them.
Q) Will you sub ________________?
A) Most likely, no. We already decided what shows we’re doing next season. We probably have more resources than you, too, so we’ve looked at every possible show. Maybe if you want to talk cash, we can negotiate some sort of deal, but… 😉
Q) Where is episode __ of _____________?
A) In progress. Keep in mind that we have lives. We’re real people who go to work and school, and some of us even try to have friends and relationships. This is something we do in our free time. Not to mention, it’s insulting to ask people who are doing this for free to hurry up. We do keep track of the projects we’re working on, so it’s unlikely we’ll forget something completely. Chances are the staff for that project are busy or having technical problems or something of that sort.
Q) What is moe?
A) Go watch Lucky Star.
Q) Why is my font size huge (or) why doesn’t my MKV show subtitles?
A) Make sure you’re using a supported codec pack. We suggest CCCP combined with Media Player Classic. The one thing you must never do is use VLC. If you are using anything other than CCCP with Media Player Classic, we will NOT help you with playback. If you are on an OS other than Windows, we recommend Mplayer. Just as long as it’s not VLC.
Q) Why do you sub shows when other groups are already doing them?
A) Look, there are a billion fansub groups and only a limited number of series. We’ll sub what we think looks good regardless of who else is subbing it.
Q) Where’s my XviD?
A) Dunno m8. This has always kind of been an extra service. Starting next season we’re not going to provide XviDs on all our shows, though. Instead, certain shows will replace the XviD with a hardsubbed 704×400 MP4. Basically, you still get the compatibility that XviD lovers cry about, but you get the improved quality of H.264. And if you can’t play SD H.264, especially hardsubbed, I think you need to get a computer that wasn’t built in 1999.
Q) But XviD is smaller than H.264
A) No it’s not. It’s smaller because the resolution is smaller than the HD H.264 files. When you have an XviD and an H.264 video at the same resolution, the H.264 version will either be smaller and the same quality, or the same size and higher quality.
Q) So you’re not doing XviD on any show next season?
A) We never said that. It will be left in the hands of the encoder as to how they wish to encode their series. As of now, we have 1 series that will have an XviD, 1 that won’t, and 1 that is undecided.
Q) What do you guys do in your free time besides fansub?
A) We furiously wank it to Cardcaptor Sakura movies
Was hoping for some Penguin Musume Heart DVDs…
“$60 to $80 a DVD? you’re getting ripped off. Hell, i’ve paid HALF of that for original subbed content for an ENTIRE series. You need to find another supplier.”
You must remember that there are no alternatives for chihiro unless they want to wait 1-2 years for the series to be released in america. In japan, DVD prices are extremely high. This is because the Japanese anime studios rely on the DVD sales as a main source of income, which allows them to continue working. Also, the Japanese do not often release complete boxsets.
What has already been said, the Japanese DVDs video and audio quality is much higher than that of the american counterparts.
Shipping also has to be put into this equation, its not cheap to ship stuff over from america, which also adds to the cost.
XviD!!!
oh mr encoder of XviD, if your going to drop making XviD.. atleast teach me how to encode it myself..
thanks 🙂
chihiro = rocks
you guys are awesome!!!! seriously! <33333
Soichiro Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
1) Because it’s becoming outdated, the same way DVDs are. Now everyone has a PS2/3 or Xbox 360 which can play H.264, and DVDs are being replaced with blurays. We’re just trying to keep up with the future.
2) Because it has terrible support for softsubs, among other things. Basically, it doesn’t play stuff the way it’s intended to because it uses its own built-in codecs instead of the proper ones from whatever codec pack you (might) have installed, and those codecs like to mess stuff up.
3) No, most of us are from Europe or America, actually.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
1.it didnt know that my ps3 could play h264! Ill try it out, the replacement for xvid is it compatible with dvd player and ps3?
2. ok
3.rly? how do guys translate then? no actually where did you learn it from? I also want to learn Japanese 🙂
I’m still grateful & thankful to the many series subbed by Chihiro. I like you guy’s work. Thank you very much.
I know we’re not supposed to ask about upcoming projects and such, but I was just wondering if one of your secret projects was going to be the Sekirei OVA that just came out?
Playstation 3 HD-trailers usualy come with
video codec: AVC 9.1
Audio coded: AAC 125kbps
Ps3:s online manual has some sort of list that may help the encoders.
http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html
Probably most standalone mp4 cabeable players support similar files.
As for Psp, I highly doubt chihiro encoders will provide the files as they need quite a bit tweaking and the system cant really handle any high resolution media (not to mention HD quality would be pretty much a waste when considering the actual resolution of the screen where even low quality mp4:s can look pretty good. Check out the Psp video 9 program for windows, as its very easy to use decoder. Other option is to use the Psp – Ps3 streaming which is really nice if your in area with wlan.
“1) Because it’s becoming outdated, the same way DVDs are. Now everyone has a PS2/3 or Xbox 360 which can play H.264, and DVDs are being replaced with blurays. We’re just trying to keep up with the future.”
Sorry to say but this is pretty poor excuse, as avi and Xvid work well with many devices (probably even some portable devices/computers ) and older computers. Its basicly format that works well with pretty much anything. However if decoder doesnt want to waste his time doing the conversion you cant really blame him/her.
Oddly there are no or not many fansub decoder groups I doubt that most of the fansubbers would really mind, or are in any position to complain somebody else decoding their files to hardsubbed avi files. This is very odd as its way more easier to decode something than fansub+decode something o.O you only need a decent computer and internet connection to upload the torrent and then group of seeders.
Glad I am not the only one to furiously wank it to Cardcaptor Sakura movies 😉
Thank you for all you do 🙂
@Viper7 & Soichiro
“1) Because it’s becoming outdated, the same way DVDs are. Now everyone has a PS2/3 or Xbox 360 which can play H.264, and DVDs are being replaced with blurays. We’re just trying to keep up with the future.”
I agree with you Viper7, it is a weak argument but I only agree with you on that. I do agree with Soichiro that DVDs are becoming outdated; however, all physical entertainment media is beginning to reach its limits. Because physical entertainment media includes a higher packaging price that if you provided a digital version with limited product packaging, businesses will begin to see a higher profit. Next generation formats will most likely not include physical media or it will be a hybrid which we see now with several hardware. Also, since broadband connections are increasing in speed and availability while digital TV will begin to crowd the airwaves, hard drive capacity is increasing steadily and becoming affordable, and televisions like LCD, LEDs, and OLEDs will pave way to higher definition standards. While software has to be developed to incoporate all this technology, it will soon lead to a smart TV system or a service that will be provided by current satellite and cable companies.
“Avi and Xvid work well with many devices (probably even some portable devices/computers ) and older computers. Its basicly format that works well with pretty much anything.”
Avi and Xvid will be a technology that will end up in the dark cold hollows of some servers in Siberia; It’s a technology that will end up being weak with next gen video resolutions. Computer systems don’t last forever and some day you will need to upgrade or be forced to upgrade. I do agree with you that it plays well with old computers since I do play avi, mkv, mp4, and ogg on my 4 year old laptop. I recently purchased a new laptop and video playback is sooo beautiful that my eyes began to cry.
@ *everyone* who complains
Don’t stress on the little details and do what you can to make your video experience personal.
LOL! yea, a lot of people should learn patience unless ofcourse you’re donating a TON of cash…
And it IS funny how some people cry about there being a Xvid release if you don’t like it then don’t get it, besides the H.264 release comes first anyway…….. (that way of thinking is so NAZI) XDD And the encoder always has the final word on that.
(must……….. stay……….. on………. topic……….) XDDD
> that way of thinking is so NAZI
Or maybe because it’s faster to release the H.264 first, since all you have to do is mux the script when it’s finished? I do love softsubs, you know.
A) In progress. Keep in mind that we have lives. <=fuckfail, it’s lifes. Get yourself a decent editor please.
Main Entry:
1life
Pronunciation:
\?l?f\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural lives
Etymology:
Middle English lif, from Old English l?f; akin to Old English libban to live — more at live
Date:
before 12th century
Please, fuckfail, stop embarrassing yourself. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life
Please not drop very xvid. I’m student so I don’t have any money to upgrade my old computer.
“Avi and Xvid will be a technology that will end up in the dark cold hollows of some servers in Siberia; It’s a technology that will end up being weak with next gen video resolutions. Computer systems don’t last forever and some day you will need to upgrade or be forced to upgrade. I do agree with you that it plays well with old computers since I do play avi, mkv, mp4, and ogg on my 4 year old laptop. I recently purchased a new laptop and video playback is sooo beautiful that my eyes began to cry.
@ *everyone* who complains
Don’t stress on the little details and do what you can to make your video experience personal.”
Not just old computers, Xvid and Avi are supported by vide ammount of differend dvd players. The image quality of avi/xvid isnt the best but they are enough for most of the ppl.
Blu-ray is gaining popularity, but dvd is still widely the most popular format, the sitsuation is pretty similar to the xvid/avi vs mp4/mkv format war.
But I dont really blame if a decoder doesnt want to support more than format. It takes time to re-encode stuff and share 3 differend formats. This time could be used to other things.
I too like higher resolution anime and other films but I prefer Mp4 format for that. Simply because I can watch it trough my Ps3 wich will most likely upscale it nicely to Hd-ready resolution. The PC that I have currently connected to my HD-tv is a bit too old for hd mkv or mp4 files. Newer pc is in completely differend room so I usualy prefer Mp4 or xvid.
But gotta admit, after seeing my first blu-ray film on my 32″ hd-ready tv, my jaw literaly hit the floor o.o (they look even better than most of the Mkv:s claiming to be hd :P)
Drop Xvid support all together and I’ll mail you guys a cake.
Screw the losers holding back technology.
“Drop Xvid support all together and I’ll mail you guys a cake.
Screw the losers holding back technology.”
Pretty childish comment considering that supporting even mkv is holding back technology as its only a non-standard competitor for the mp4 format. Both are good but in the end we would only need one.
really poor and selfish argument considering having more options is always a plus except for maybe the encoder himself.
> Pretty childish comment considering that supporting even mkv is holding back technology as its only a non-standard competitor for the mp4 format. Both are good but in the end we would only need one.
Oh, in that case I’ll make HD and SD MKVs, since we only need one format. MKV is infinitely better because it has much better softsub support, ordered chapter support, supports more audio and subtitle tracks, etc. Just because it’s “non-standard” doesn’t make it worse. It’s the industry’s fault if they don’t want to make the advanced features of MKV standard. The people developing MP4 are the ones holding back technology.
And then you go on to say “more options is always a plus”. Isn’t this kind of hypocritical? You say we only need one format, but then say we should have more than one. Make up your mind.
Omg??? You wank it to Cardcaptor Sakura movies too??
Did I say we only need a one format? I said it would be best for the technological advancement to use one format that every1 supports. By the 1 format argument I only countered the “we are holding back technology.
Neather did I say its any worse than mp4, it might even be better if it gets the support. However now its very uncombatible wich is definetly a downside.
As for myself I have really had no problems with Mp4:s subs, 1080p video and surround audio.
Dunno what blu-ray movies use(mpeg4-AVC?) but the chapter selecting is not a broblem there eather. These upsides for mkv:s seem to be more focused on fansubbers themselves?
Mkv is open source isnt it? ofcourse ppl can tweak and improve it the ways they want, but as for mp4 if it gets altered too much it could cause incombatability with older players that cant use these more advance features.
but this whole “holding back technology” argument is pretty lame to begin with, developers (open source or not) will always be developing new more efficent ways to show audio and media. Developers and ppl just choose which they will support.
Soichiro is right, just because MKV is not a standard doesn’t make it bad. The difference between MKV and MP4 is that MKV’s source code is licensed under the GNU L-GPL meaning that it can use various other audio formats. MP4 is a standard that is set and formed by the ISO so it is dependent by other audio formats that the ISO develops or standardizes. If MKV becomes standardized by the ISO then it will have limited development.
VLCPlayer 0.9.x works fine with your mkv’s now…
“Both are good but in the end we would only need one.”
hmm guess my sentece here wasnt detailed/clear enough.
but my oppinnion about decoding is pretty clear.
Mkv is a great format/container for many modern day computers, but it doesnt hurt to have alternatives for standalone players and older computers.
More the options = more the ppl who can enjoy your fansubs 🙂
but to be realistic here, theres no time, money, server space or interest to support every freaking format out there so lets just let the encoders decode the files to the formats they want to support. Its not a big problem to re-encode mkv or mp4 to avi even with older computers.
users who re-encode the fansubs to other formats should also try to share their re-encodes instead of whining for fansubbers or their encoders to do it. Or help others to share the re-encode.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if someone did Chihiro-XviD releases like whoever does the gg-XviD ones. I personally don’t feel like supporting an outdated codec, but if other people feel strongly enough to keep supporting it, then that’s fine with me. Just make it clear that it’s not an official release (which is as simple as changing the tag from [Chihiro] to [Chihiro-XviD]) and you can do whatever you want.
I think I, and many along with me, want the xvid, not because our computers can’t play them but rather because they can be played (as is) on certain standalone dvd players. (Which, considering that I work about 10 hours a day in front of a computer and would rather watch my anime on my TV is pretty nice.)
But I think those of us who are sensible understand that this is a service you’re providing out of the kindness of your hearts (and because you’re trying to corrupt us with the loli, you bastards! ^_~), so we can’t really make demands.
So we thank you for your hard work instead.
Oh, and we just knew you guys were wanking to CCS. Tell us something we don’t know. ^_^ Heh.
Though I DO MIND VERY MUCH when someone makes an XviD of a show we’re already doing an XviD on.
>Though I DO MIND VERY MUCH when someone makes an XviD of a show we’re already doing an XviD on.
I assume you mean re-encoding yours to an XviD when you released an official XviD? Wow, what a waste of time and processor power on their end…
-=JUST MY OPINION HERE=-
Even though I can play .ogm and .mkv, I still go for the XviD when it’s available. My reasons are thus:
1) Compatibility with my main PC. I work with a lot of audio on there and have codecs installed for that and (unfortunately) when I tried CCCP, it messed those up. Plus, watching anime on there is kind of risky since the rest of my family likes to make fun of it; so this reason is pretty much null anyway.
2) file size. Yeah, lower quality, but I don’t really care because, let’s be honest: Is your memory Hi-Def.? I doubt it. What you remember about the series is probably more along the lines of what the story was about and the characters’ personalities. It’s not like I’m going to be re-drawing the entire thing frame by frame in the future. And if I do share it with someone, I doubt they’re going to complain since it’s right there and ready for them- they don’t have to go to the trouble of finding it, wait for it to download, and then find out they wasted their bandwidth if they don’t like it. They’d probably just say it wasn’t interesting to the and return the DVD.
There’s some other things I’d like to say, but I don’t have time right now, so i’ll just post more later.
>I assume you mean re-encoding yours to an XviD when you released an official XviD? Wow, what a waste of time and processor power on their end…
Yes, because people are too retarded and impatient to wait 30 minutes for us to release our own Xvid. Stuff like that doesn’t make us happy. -_-;
And as far as your argument goes, first of all tell your family to fuck off. And I’ve already countered the file size argument. XVID isn’t smaller filesize. LOWER RESOLUTION is lower filesize. At the same resolution, MKV will be SMALLER than XVID. I don’t know why it’s impossible for anyone to understand this no matter how many times I say it. And some series do benefit from high def. Casshern Sins, for example, was very artistic, and watching in SD probably wouldn’t give you the full experience. Not to mention, people have an easier time watching when they can focus on a clear image rather than a blurry one.
I am not really contributing to the “smaller file size” or “compatibility” arguments because 1: I have 2 TB of hard drive space in my PC and a 2 TB backup external drive, so I will probably never run out of room, and 2: my PC kicks ass in the hardware department so I can run full HD files and codec packs and have no issues.
Here’s where my input comes in: I have a 26″ widescreen 1080p screen for my PC (and PS3) and to me XviD encoded files just don’t look right when blown up that big. (now I have not tried moving them to my PS3 and watching them upscaled yet because I don’t see the point when I have both the PC and the PS3 hooked up to the same screen, plus I can get the h264 releases first anyway)
I would rather have my anime nice and smooth textured, detailed the way the artists meant it to be, without losing any of the beauty. To me watching a fuzzy less-detailed anime is like watching a LucasFilm THX movie cropped to 4:3 with iPod headphones on. Its just missing something.
“fuckfail Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
A) In progress. Keep in mind that we have lives. I think you need to get a computer that wasn’t built in 1999.
HEY! That’s my seedbox you’re talking about! It may slow up a tad when multitasking, but it’s never let me down yet. And it’s quiet as a mouse! (Which enables me to seed 24/7)
Myself, I didn’t even realize anyone was actually using .mp4 for distribution, I’d only seen it used by people with iPods.
I suppose, for those who demand it, I could do a little research and learn how to convert the .mkv’s to XviD and post them here. (Although, it would depend on whether or not I intend to *watch* the show, since I insist on seeding at least 1:1 for everything I download, and you release a lot of stuff pretty quickly, whereas I have a fairly limited outgoing bandwidth.[I think our ISP is messing with us- speed tests say we have something like 2-3mbps outgoing, but with torrents the max I can do is 40kbps which all-but halts web browsing])
ANYway, I’m pretty far off topic so I’ll just say this and then shut up:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK! Especially for sticking with Maraia-sama 4th!
P.S.: Soichiro, don’t get me wrong, I understand the quality is less; thus causing the reduction in file size. I’m just not as picky about image quality as I am about translation quality. Since I’m getting everything for free anyway, I’ll watch anything with at least 640×480 res. and English subs. I also consider storage size on DVDs. If I can fit the whole series/season on one disc with the XviD encode, but the HD would take two, I prefer to just use one. However, if it’d take 2 discs either way, I’ll go with the higher quality.
Damn. I’m rambling again…ok-
I PROMISE,
~THE END~
“fuckfail Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
A) In progress. Keep in mind that we have lives. <=fuckfail, it’s lifes. Get yourself a decent editor please.”
L O L ! 😀
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h274/gothmuscirocks/SayonaraZetsubouSensei-04_0007.png
I only WISH I could believe you were trolling, but alas, I fear you are being utterly serious!
Cut off goddamnit!
Good Night!
The reason I download xvids is for the smaller filesize. If another codec allows you to provide even smaller filesizes without losing quality (or even if you do lose some quality… I want small files!) then that’s great.
I find it incomprehensible why some fansub groups will release 500MB+ episodes at some ridiculous resolution. If people wanted that kind of res, they should buy the BD or something. Legal-grey-area internet downloads should be small and sweet. 🙂
@bob: no they shouldn’t, they should be as HQ as possible.
“I find it incomprehensible why some fansub groups will release 500MB+ episodes at some ridiculous resolution. If people wanted that kind of res, they should buy the BD or something. Legal-grey-area internet downloads should be small and sweet. ”
There are plenty of unlicensed Anime without blu-ray release. Most fansub groups only fan sub series that are unlicensed. Of course you can order blu-ray anime releases from japan but
1. They lack English subtitles (why do you think fan subs exists in the first place
2. Not every1 has a blu-ray player
3. Blu-rays are region locked.
Back on our previous subject Viper, I have a widescreen monitor, but the 1280×960 resolution featured in HD files comes in really, REALLY choppy on my computer. It’s not that it lags or anything, but it just doesn’t come in like the standard definition files do.
Its not really so uncommon that computer might not be fast enough to run high quality hd files.
Just thinking about 720p (1280×720 at 25fps or so) trailers on my Ps3 that take up to 300mb for only few minutes of video. Thinking about similar quality for anime episode its no wonder that older computers might have troubles. But a full-hd episode and even some of the newerones will be troubled.
Dunno how easy its to convert mkv to mp4, but I doubt its any harder as its pretty similar container than mkv. I have converted many avi:s to Mp4:s for my psp which have all played well so doing that opertaion backwards probably wont cause any more problems than mkv and if its hardsubbed you dont even need to extract the subtitles from the file.
If you can play xvid with resolution 704×400 then Mp4/Mkv 704×400 should play pretty well too (if not better).
wheres the edit button when you need one 😛
I meant mp4 to avi/xvid not mkv to mp4
“wheres the edit button”
lol, I know! could’ve saved me from triple posting up there! On average, it take me 3 times to get my post to look and sound the way I want it to. :/ (I have this problem of forgetting/skipping over a word at the worst times and it totally changes my meaning!)
Chihiro encoders that are thinking about Mp4 encoding might take a look at this guide too.
It has some things that might help making the files Ps3 and X360 compatible.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=51728
LOL look lucky star
maybe you could display statistic of noob questions 😉
thanks for maria-sama 🙂
“Turns out, they are, ALMOST. The only issue is that by default x264 sets the level of the AVC encode to 5.1, even if the settings don’t need it to be that high, and the PS3 only plays things that are 4.1 or lower.”
Newer versions of x264 (note that this post is from 2007) autodetect the AVC level, which usually ends up as 3.1 for SD and 4.1 for HD, so there shouldn’t be a problem.
yeah and its bossible that post 1.90 firmware updates (they are already talking about firmware 2.70) have added support for higher AVC level among other things.