This group is not a speed-subbing group

It's been a while since I've done a fansubbing post, and now seems to be a good time, considering I've got an encode going on right now.

One of the things I want to dispel is that Licca Fansubs is not a speed-subbing group.  We only look like one.  Let me explain why I assert this.

The first thing to consider is that all the series we have worked on so far have already been aired (a lot of them many years ago).  We do not work on a series until we have obtained all the raws, or we are capable of easily obtaining all the raws.  Modern speed-subbers are at the mercy of the broadcasting schedule back in Japan and how fast they can get a transport stream transferred.  We already have the raws; the speed-subbers have to wait X amount of time to download the TS.

The second thing to consider is that this group works on a small number of projects.  Many speed-subbers stagger their staff so they can work on lots of projects.

The third thing to consider is our workflow.  Since we already have the raws, our workflow actually is split into two:

1. The encoding workflow.  As part of my encoding process, I always make a lossless master with an appropriate amount of filtering/preprocessing needed.  This usually takes several hours.  I usually will do this while the episode in question is translated.  Once the episode is ready for its final encode, I can then use the lossless master and the script and quickly have an encoded version ready for distribution.
2. The "everything else" workflow.  Translation/timing/other needed tasks are done here.

For A Little Princess Sara, we usually will require about a total of 10 hours before the episode is released, and that is with both workflows synchronized.  Translation and timing take up most of our time (approximately 6 hours).  The editing and typesetting/styling takes about 2 hours.  I always do a pre-encode check, which takes about an hour.  Then, I encode using the lossless master, which takes about an hour (since I often will need to tweak the filters after doing the pre-encode check).

Several people have compared this group to the Technogirls. For those who you not know who they are, they are a VHS subbing group that was prominent in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  Their specialty was in shoujo anime, and they were the first group (to my knowledge) that has been able to fully sub a WMT series.  If you look at their site, they have an explanation of how long they take to do their work.  If you account for the fact that their equipment and the method of subbing was different than the digisubbing methods of today, you'll find that they actually were an extremely efficient group.