From: dododge@wam.umd.edu (David O. Dodge)
Subject: Re: Why I don't want anime pushed to the mainstream
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 08:25:35 GMT

In article <DVC.92Jul20152708@eagle.ATT.COM> dvc@eagle.hr.att.com (David Van Cleef) writes:
>>>>>> In article <1992Jul20.162028.28985@cbnewsl.cb.att.com>, conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Conty 1/2) writes:
>
>Conty> In article <1992Jul20.072518.7598@wam.umd.edu>, dododge@wam.umd.edu (David O. Dodge) writes:
>>
>> Not as much of a pipe dream as you might think. Consider this:
>> 
>>    analog tracks:   dubbed English soundtrack
>>    digital tracks:  original Japanese soundtrack
>>    closed captions: English subtitles
>> 
>> It's possible, but I don't think anyone's tried it yet...
>
>Conty> It has been done, more or less.  The AKIRA LD has the English and
>Conty> Japanese tracks.  It would be trivial to add CC encoding to it (if
>Conty> Criterion hasn't done it already).

I thought of this release when I wrote the above, but Criterion
to my knowledge has never used CC on a disc. When asked about it they
say it's too expensive and would raise the price beyond what the market
could bear.

If they do CC Akira it will be a welcome first.

>Conty> BTW, I believe all new sets coming out these days are required to have
>Conty> CC decoding circuitry (which is cheap enough to put in every set).
>Conty> In a few years, CC decoding will be a de-facto feature in TVs.

Which should make subtitle-captions a very viable practice.

>Conty> (Of course, your method REQUIRES a laserdisc to work.)
>
>It requires a laserdisk player with digital audio capabilities, which
>not all LDPs have.

Well, not all older models have digitial audio, but it's pretty much a
standard feature on even the cheapest newer players (there may be a
few exceptions).

>From what I've been told, Criterion's version of Akira will be
>japanese-analog and english-digital.
>
>This is the exact opposite of the way it should be (The way David Dodge
>proposes.)

Criterion is including the Japanese sountrack as an "extra" rather than
a standard. Supposedly it may not even be in stereo (i.e. music isolated
on one channel). Their policy is generally that the digital tracks are
where to put the principal soundtrack and the analog ones are then used
for things like audio commentary and such. Other companies are also
adoptiong this practice (e.g. MGM/UA). I don't expect this practice
to change.

>If I hadn't bought the new player, the Criterion disk will be
>of no use to me when it comes out, as I already have the japanese LD.
>
>Companies involved in translation should be aware of such things, and
>on a bilingual disk, place the language of the target audience on the
>ANALOG track.

Here we disagree. I would rather the target soundtrack be on the digital
tracks. The difference in quality between the analog and digital IS
noticable.

>BTW, the rule requiring manditory CC decoders in new TV sets is only going
>to apply to sets over a certain screen size (>13"?).

Yes, that is the case (13" sounds like the right figure). Still, there
wlll be a massive installed base of CC decoders after 3-4 years.

                                        -Dave Dodge/dododge@wam.umd.edu