<p>I'm not sure about the whole scope of hardsub usage, but here is at least one widely used case:</p>

<p>There are tons of sites where people can watch anime online. And most of these sites are using really primitive embedded video players, which are usually not capable of any manipulation with subtitles, like switching between subtitles of different languages, or even enabling/disabling subtitles. So, the only viable method to include subtitles in such cases is hardsub.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T14:58:58.227Z
2016-07-12T15:46:54.983Z
2016-07-12T15:46:54.983Z
lentinant
<p>Why do fansubbers merge video and subtitle into one file?</p>

<p>Sometimes its an mkv file and I can just extract the sub.</p>

<p>On some sites they hardcode it into the video frames as image overlay.</p>

<p>This is so silly. Why not just have the one video file which several languages or translation versions (corrections) can <strong>share</strong>, instead of re-encode and re-upload? And if someone wants a sub they can download <strong>just</strong> the sub. Distributing subs must also be easier because the subtitle files are smaller, so no wasted <strong>bandwidth</strong>, and it might not even be <strong>illegal</strong> to share just the sub. Plenty of reasons!</p>

<p>Do they have some reason which I do not realize?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T13:27:23.260Z
Actually, hardsubbing has been frowned upon in fansubbing community for many years now. It is the official distributors (like Funimation) who hardsub their releases. And note "HorribleSubs" is not subbing group. They just rip streaming sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Euphoric
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T13:28:14.173Z
in regards to your note. yes subbing is apart of anime but this is different to fan subbing
Memor-X
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T13:35:15.423Z
also the sharing of subtitles files on the net can be just as illegal as sharing anime on the net without the neccersary linceses because subtitles can be considered the script which [as discussed here](http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/q/2670/1587) is also copyrighted content
Memor-X
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T13:36:41.500Z
@ Euphoric: Oh. So if something is "hardsubbed by HorribleSubs", then it was just stolen by them and it was Crunchyroll or Funimation who hardsubbed it?
foobar
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T13:37:02.650Z
@foobar Exactly.
Euphoric
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T14:24:24.263Z
You can ask this in the chat channel. http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/6697/maid-cafe-. I vote this question to be closed.
絢瀬絵里
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T14:47:44.650Z
I actually don't agree that this question should be closed. The point of the "Requesting illegal materials" close reason was to get rid of questions like "Where can I find fansubs of XX series?", which this question is not asking. This is about a practice in the production of fansubs, and talking about that practice is neither illegal nor copyrighted, nor does it constitute asking for links to illegal or copyrighted materials—particularly as it doesn't even mention a specific series.
Torisuda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T17:19:14.017Z
@Torisuda: My issue with this specifically is the intent of the question.  I don't disagree with you in that discussing how subtitles are produced/engineered/used is illegal or can lead to copyright issues, but where I draw the line here is that the question's nature is asking whether or not the subs can be bundled external to a single video file.  Further, it's not really a question; it's more or less posing a suggestion to the fansub community at large, which isn't a topic I believe we want to support here.
Makoto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-12T21:12:35.980Z
@Makoto I agree with you that it's borderline as a question; to me it reads more as a complaint or a rant, so I would have been more on board with closing it as primarily opinion-based, but closing it as requesting illegal or copyrighted materials makes no sense to me. It might be worth doing a meta about this question, at the very least to solidify the idea that anything at all related to fansubs is off-topic, but I honestly don't care enough to argue about it and I won't seek a reopen vote.
Torisuda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-13T05:05:46.017Z
@Torisuda i read it more as a complaint/rant requesting that fansubbers not hardsub which lead me to the close reason. this question could be saved by asking about why places like Crunchyroll, AnimeLab, Funimation, etc. hardsub but to my limited understanding Crunchyroll doesn't and to make this question ask about those would require a total rework of the question by the OP since when they talk about funsubs and "some sites" they aren't referring to any legal ones
Memor-X
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-13T05:10:49.053Z
and for the record i have no problem with fansubs of unlicensed series, my problem is when a site does not remove a fansub from their site when the series becomes licensed or they just replace the fansub with the official sub. for the most part *most* people who download anime don't due their due service and buy the DVDs/BluRay so i can't hardly expect *most* people who watch the fansub over the official sub to buy the DVDs/BluRay strait from Japan to pay their dues
Memor-X
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-13T05:18:22.527Z
@Memor-X My argument against that close reason was that asking why fansubbers do hardsubs is not actually asking for links to fansubs, therefore in my eyes it is not requesting illegal or copyrighted material. To me, asking about fansub production is not requesting illegal or copyrighted materials. There are legitimate reasons to close this, I just didn't think the chosen reason was one of them. As I said, though, I really don't care about this question enough to argue about it; it's closed and I'm done with it.
Torisuda
<anime-production>
Why do fansubbers merge video and subtitle into one file?
# Why do fansubbers merge video and subtitle into one file?
Posted by: username_0 on 2016-07-12
Why do fansubbers merge video and subtitle into one file?

Sometimes its an mkv file and I can just extract the sub.

On some sites they hardcode it into the video frames as image overlay.

This is so silly. Why not just have the one video file which several languages or translation versions (corrections) can **share**, instead of re-encode and re-upload? And if someone wants a sub they can download **just** the sub. Distributing subs must also be easier because the subtitle files are smaller, so no wasted **bandwidth**, and it might not even be **illegal** to share just the sub. Plenty of reasons!

Do they have some reason which I do not realize?
**Tags:** anime-production
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Actually, hardsubbing has been frowned upon in fansubbing community for many years now. It is the official distributors (like Funimation) who hardsub their releases. And note "HorribleSubs" is not subbing group. They just rip streaming sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation.  
> **username_2**: in regards to your note. yes subbing is apart of anime but this is different to fan subbing  
> **username_2**: also the sharing of subtitles files on the net can be just as illegal as sharing anime on the net without the neccersary linceses because subtitles can be considered the script which [as discussed here](http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/q/2670/1587) is also copyrighted content  
> **username_0**: @ Euphoric: Oh. So if something is "hardsubbed by HorribleSubs", then it was just stolen by them and it was Crunchyroll or Funimation who hardsubbed it?  
> **username_1**: @foobar Exactly.  
> **username_3**: You can ask this in the chat channel. http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/6697/maid-cafe-. I vote this question to be closed.  
> **username_4**: I actually don't agree that this question should be closed. The point of the "Requesting illegal materials" close reason was to get rid of questions like "Where can I find fansubs of XX series?", which this question is not asking. This is about a practice in the production of fansubs, and talking about that practice is neither illegal nor copyrighted, nor does it constitute asking for links to illegal or copyrighted materials—particularly as it doesn't even mention a specific series.  
> **username_5**: @Torisuda: My issue with this specifically is the intent of the question.  I don't disagree with you in that discussing how subtitles are produced/engineered/used is illegal or can lead to copyright issues, but where I draw the line here is that the question's nature is asking whether or not the subs can be bundled external to a single video file.  Further, it's not really a question; it's more or less posing a suggestion to the fansub community at large, which isn't a topic I believe we want to support here.  
> **username_4**: @Makoto I agree with you that it's borderline as a question; to me it reads more as a complaint or a rant, so I would have been more on board with closing it as primarily opinion-based, but closing it as requesting illegal or copyrighted materials makes no sense to me. It might be worth doing a meta about this question, at the very least to solidify the idea that anything at all related to fansubs is off-topic, but I honestly don't care enough to argue about it and I won't seek a reopen vote.  
> **username_2**: @Torisuda i read it more as a complaint/rant requesting that fansubbers not hardsub which lead me to the close reason. this question could be saved by asking about why places like Crunchyroll, AnimeLab, Funimation, etc. hardsub but to my limited understanding Crunchyroll doesn't and to make this question ask about those would require a total rework of the question by the OP since when they talk about funsubs and "some sites" they aren't referring to any legal ones  
> **username_2**: and for the record i have no problem with fansubs of unlicensed series, my problem is when a site does not remove a fansub from their site when the series becomes licensed or they just replace the fansub with the official sub. for the most part *most* people who download anime don't due their due service and buy the DVDs/BluRay so i can't hardly expect *most* people who watch the fansub over the official sub to buy the DVDs/BluRay strait from Japan to pay their dues  
> **username_4**: @Memor-X My argument against that close reason was that asking why fansubbers do hardsubs is not actually asking for links to fansubs, therefore in my eyes it is not requesting illegal or copyrighted material. To me, asking about fansub production is not requesting illegal or copyrighted materials. There are legitimate reasons to close this, I just didn't think the chosen reason was one of them. As I said, though, I really don't care about this question enough to argue about it; it's closed and I'm done with it.  
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_6 on 2016-07-12. Score: 2
I'm not sure about the whole scope of hardsub usage, but here is at least one widely used case:

There are tons of sites where people can watch anime online. And most of these sites are using really primitive embedded video players, which are usually not capable of any manipulation with subtitles, like switching between subtitles of different languages, or even enabling/disabling subtitles. So, the only viable method to include subtitles in such cases is hardsub.
---
