1. Technical Information

1. Font Type: Lambda Cap (.cap) in Shift-JIS, UTF-8, UTF-16
        Note: Byte Order Mark(BOM) must be used for UTF-8 and UTF-16
2. Font: MS Gothic, White
   SONY: FA Round Gothic TV, White
3. Minimum duration: 1 second
4. Maximum duration: 7 seconds
   • 29.97 frames/second (fps) - 210 frames
   • 23.98 frames/second (fps) - 168 frames
   • 25 frames/second (fps) - 175 frames
5. Reading speed (include spaces and punctuation) for:
   
   • Adult/Children's programs - 4 characters per second (cps)
6. Frame gap: 2 frames minimum (except asynchronous subtitles)
        Note: Frame gap should be 2 frames or at least 5 frames 
        All frame gaps of 3-4 frames should be reduced to 2 frames
7. Character limit: 16 characters per line (horizontal)
                             13 characters per line (vertical)
        Note: Full-width characters/spaces/punctuation = 1 character 
                  Half-width characters/spaces/punctuation = 0.5 characters
8. Maximum number of lines: Dialogue - 2 lines
                                              Forced Narratives - 3 lines
9. Client Specific G1 Settings:
   SONY: SST G1 Settings

2. Line Treatment / Positioning

1. Horizontal subtitles – Bottom Center-aligned and Left-justified.
2. Vertical subtitles – Top-aligned and Left/Right-justified.
3. Exceptions:
   • Forced Narratives can use different alignment/justification for placement or to mimic onscreen text formatting

3. Timing

1. Subtitles should be timed to audio (within 3 frames).
   • If extra time is needed for reading speeds, the out-time can be extended by 12 frames past end of audio.
2. If dialogue starts within 5 frames of a shot change, pull the in-time to the shot change.
3. There should always be a minimum of 2 frames between the out-time of an event and the shot change after it.
4. If dialogue ends within 3 frames or less of a shot change, pull the out-time to 2 frames before the shot change.
5. While the reading speed is 4 cps, this is not always possible, the following priority should be followed:
   1. Time to audio and extend by 12 frames past end of audio (if it doesn’t cause the event to cross a shot change and look awkward).
   2. Let the reading speed go up to 7 cps.
   3. Merge or split events to help with reading speeds.
   4. Truncate without losing the meaning of the audio.
   5. If, after you have tried all of the above, the reading speed is still exceeding 7 cps then the file can be submitted as is, but all the above must have been tried.

4. Asynchronous Subtitles Timing/Positioning

1. Are when dialogue and Forced Narratives occur simultaneously. Timing rules should still be followed for each.
2. Dialogue should be placed horizontally at the bottom.
3. Forced Narratives should be placed vertically either left or right.
4. If the onscreen text is in the lower third, then the dialogue should be placed vertically on the right and the Forced Narrative should be placed vertically on the left to avoid covering the onscreen text.

5. Truncation

1. Subtitles should convey the context of the audio as accurately as possible, but do not need to be a word for word translation. This article shows examples of basic syntactical changes - Fotios Karamitroglou: A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in Europe.
2. Omit superfluous and unnecessary information such as hesitation markers, repetitions, and redundancies (e.g. "You know", "you see" etc).

6. Dual Speakers

1. Do not use dual speakers subtitles, only one speaker per subtitle event.

7. Names

1. Do not translate proper names (e.g. John, Mary) unless requested, otherwise transliterate.
2. Only translate nicknames if they have a specific meaning or are well-known and have official Japanese equivalents. (e.g. Stinky Pete or )
3. Use local language translations for historical/mythical characters (e.g. Genghis Khan, Santa Claus).
4. Translate brand names to a generic term if the brand is unknown in Japanese and is relevant to context. (e.g. "EXAMPLE" for "Clorox")

8. Formality

Terms of address: Use formal or informal terms of address based on the relationship between characters and keep them consistent throughout (unless there is a change in the relationship). When in doubt, use formal terms.

9. Punctuation

1. Do not use (。) – Use full-width space (spaces do not apply towards character limit)
2. Do not use (、) – Use half-width space (spaces do not apply towards character limit)
3. (？) and (！) – Use full-width characters.
4. Exceptions:
   • Official translation of book, movie, film titles that contain punctuation (e.g. “Sex, Lies and Videotape”)
   • Listing numbers (“10, 9, 8”)

10. Bouten(傍点) & Ruby (ルビ)

1. Single line event with:
   1. Horizontal alignment – Bouten/Ruby above character.
   2. Vertical alignment – Bouten/Ruby on the right of character.
2. Double line event with bouten/Ruby on second line:
   • Horizontal event -Bouten/Ruby below character
   • Vertical event – Bouten/Ruby on the left of character

11. Italics

1.  Italicize:
   1. Forced Narratives
   2. Dialogue that is heard through electronic media, such as a phone, television, public announcement system or computer
   3. Unfamiliar foreign words and phrases (not commonly used)
   4. Song lyrics when sung, not quoted (provided rights have been granted)
   5. Voice-overs such as out-of-scene narrators or visible characters expressing unspoken thoughts
   6. Titles of books / periodicals / works of art / albums / movies / tv or radio shows / plays / ship names
   7. Genera and species' scientific names
2. Do not italicize:
   1. During B-roll footage in a documentary. Avoid going back and forth between italics when the speaker is on and off screen. If the speaker is on-camera for part of the scene do not italicize
   2. If the dialogue starts/ends out-of-scene, but the character is visible during the event (e.g. on a phone call between 2 people)
   3. For emphasis

12. Continuity

1. Use a long dash (―) for ongoing sentences split between two or more continuous subtitles.

Event 1:
トレーニングは―

2. Use a mid-line ellipsis to indicate a significant pause, dialogue trailing off or interruption.

Event 1:
最初はグー⋯

13. Forced Narratives / Narrative Subtitles

1. Only include plot-pertinent Forced Narratives.
2. Delete redundant Forced Narratives (e.g. identical to onscreen text/covered in dialogue/appears repeatedly in the video).
3. Ensure that Forced Narratives do not cover onscreen text by positioning vertically either left or right justified.
4. Never combine a Forced Narrative with dialogue in the same event.
5. Only translate a speaker’s title once, the first time the speaker appears in the documentary.

14. Foreign Dialogue

1. Foreign dialogue should only be subtitled if the viewer was meant to understand it per creative intent in the original version. Please check with Pixelogic to see if you are using a Subtitled or Subtitle-less version of the video.
2. Always verify spelling and grammar when using foreign words.
3. Foreign words should be enclosed in guillemets (山括弧) –〈  〉

21. Translator Credit

1. Do not include a translator credit.
   NETFLIX Include a translator credit.
   SONY Include a translator credit.
   ALULA Include a translator credit.
   NBCUNIVERSAL Include a translator credit.
2. If a client requests a translator credit and does not specify a format use one of the above prioritizing top to bottom.
3. Company names are not allowed as Translator Credit. Only the individual translator.
4. In the cases where the file is a reformat of an older subtitle file, there may be no translator credit required as it may not be present on the original file.

22. Language Tag

1. Do not translate the [LANGUAGE TAG - Do not Translate] event if present. This is an identifier in English for BD/DVD authors.

26. Client Style Guides

•  - Latest version
•  - Latest version - December 5, 2017 

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