Update: The BDMV has been put on torrent, and I am downloading right now. It will take a week or so, as it is 173 GBs lol.
Like Kanon, I will release Clannad in 3 sizes: 1080p, 720p and 480p. The plan is:
1080p: h264 + FLAC 5.1 (~1 GB)
720p: h264 + AAC 5.1 (~400 MB)
480p: XviD + MP3 2.0 (~300 MB)
Ordered chapters: None. (Download Coalgirls if you want OC)
Softsubbed karaoke. (Identical to Kanon karaoke)
Tuesday 27th April 2010 
1:12 AM 
Ooh, small addition:
I’d be great if you DIDN’T use ordered chapters. Many players do not support them, and I have yet to find a player on Linux that does. I don’t know about other people, but I use linux as my main OS (safety/stability for several TB worth of data, better filesystem).
720p oughta be either AAC or Vorbis. <.<
>just throw in an NCOP/ED softsubbed as separate file there they can turn on/off the sub
ditto & AAC or vorbis for 720p
2-channel Vorbis (with aoTuV) or 2-channel AAC (with Nero) for the 720p.
5.1 FLAC for the 1080p.
Use softsub karaokes, don’t wreck the video with hardsubbed stuff. Also, typesetting should be done in the ASS subtitle stream.
Please don’t change the styling/fonts of the SS-Eclipse subs, they are the best.
Fonts won’t be changed, you’ll notice I kept the fonts in Kanon.
Good karaoke:
#1 – is easily legible – That means no crazy fonts that force me to devote my entire attention to the script in a futile effort to figure out what it says. It also means no weird positioning.
#2 – does not unduly draw attention to itself – That means no dancing or evaporating text, no clouds, no sparkles.
In short, karaoke ought to be simple. In addition, being able to turn it off is potentially desirable. Therefore, simple, softsubbed karaoke is the only good option.
Short version: Do what you did in Kanon.
Softsubbed karaoke w/ ordered chapters would be best. The only reason I didn’t download your kanon release is because coalgirls has ordered chapters, which means their episodes are ~300mb smaller each with the same video quality.
Actually, you’ll find that my 1080p Kanon has a higher bitrate than Coalgirls, regardless of ordered chapters, as I used a higher bitrate.
Simple karaoke like in Kanon would be the best in my opinion^^ it doesn’t really matter to me wether it is softsubbed or not, because I won’t turn them off anyway =) just keep it simple, not too flashy efects etc. little bit is okay but not too much^^
“Fonts won’t be changed, you’ll notice I kept the fonts in Kanon.”
You did, but you changed the styling. Font size, outline, shadow, and margins all got changed.
Yes well it needed more padding. SS-E did not give it enough padding.
I love how so many people think that by using hard subbed karaoke, it will look horrible because of the massive effects on the screen which will then in turn distract from the video. News Flash!! Not all hard subbed karaoke is like that, there are some hard subbed karaoke that looks splendid on the video and actually compliments the opening/ending. And it is only attainable by hard subbing. Soft subbed is just bland compared to hard subbed and sometimes is even more distracting cause it is just one constant sentence/phrase of words in one color and is actually blocking the video.
If anyone has watched any of Eclipses releases, their hard subbed karaoke looks great, it is not distracting to the video at all. Or if anyone has ever watched Kiddy Girl-and from anbu, their ED2 karaoke is amazing, it fits so well with the ED that its scary. Or Thora’s 5 cm per second ending song hard subbed karaoke was simple but also really matched the video.
I am not saying I do not appreciate soft subbed karaoke for what it is. I like mazui’s or coalgirl’s and doki’s Kanon soft subbed. But I am sure that doki will give the hard subbed karaoke justice if they choose to do so. They seem to really enjoy CLANNAD by saying things like “it deserves the massive filesize”. If you see their passion for loving such a great series, then there is no need to be afraid of the “flying rainbow hearts and stars” karaoke. Doki already has a good reputation, they DEFINITELY will not murder the anime series with bad hard subbed karaoke.
I’m sure soft subbed karaoke fans do not hate hardsubbed karaoke, its just that they want to have the option of turning it on and off, and are afraid of hard subbed karaoke with stuff like flying rainbows, hearts and stars. There will probably be a NCED AND NCOP where if one chooses can opt to watch it raw. It is a win, win situation!
>>if I am to use FLAC, it will be that filesize.
GOT FOR FLAC!! Lossless is much better and Clannad deserves THE BEST!
As for karaoke, I vote for softsubbed, I like it that way. 🙂
IMO:
Go all out for 1080p x264 w/FLAC.
HD 720p h264 w/ 384kbps AAC
SD 480p XviD w/mp3
Most ppl can’t notice the difference between FLAC and 384 AAC.
As for Karaoke, I’ll second Phillip that hardsubbed gives the best experience all around. And ordered chapters would definitely be a bonus to help filesizes, specially for 1080p.
Super pro tip: Never hardsub anything on Blu-Ray.
Put it HD 720p <3 ill be happy with that 😉 put it in Megaupload=D
U guys should probably make a poll for having either softsub or hardsub Karaoke.
No poll! With a poll, you cannot hear our reasons for choosing a side.
Yeah, sure, you can make hardsubbed karaoke look more “flashy” than softsubbed karaoke as you’ll have a lot more options. I don’t like softsubbed karaoke cause of how it looks (it often does look better though since minimalism and simplicity >> jumping text and pixie dust). I like softsubbed karaoke since that means I can remux all the files myself and get rid of anything that even resembles karaoke, which I always do if it’s something that I’m going to archive. Like I said earlier; I hate karaoke with a passion, I can’t figure out why it should be there in the first place to be honest but maybe that’s just me. ^^;
Anyhow, I’d say:
1) 1080p fully softsubbed h.264 mkv, FLAC
2) 720p fully softsubbed h.264 mkv, FLAC or high bitrate AAC
3) 480p fully hardsubbed XviD avi, Mp3 (for those with hardware players I guess)
Oh, and should you decide to go with ordered chapters, make sure you don’t do the same mistake on Clannad ~After Story~ episode 17 as CoalGirls did on Kanon episodes 10 and 24, or Toradora! episode 21. (Note that I’m not badmouthing CoalGirls, I really appreciate their work, I just wish she/they hadn’t used ordered chapters for episodes such as those mentioned as it screws up the lead-ins)
In the end I’m thankful for whatever you decide to do, this was just me stating my personal opinion. Keep up the good work, it’s much appreciated! =)
Please stick with the simple, soft-subbed karaoke like you did in Kanon. It doesn’t require a whole lot of processing power to play (my 2-year old MBP handles it well), and it allows the viewer to disable it if desired.
I already have the R1 DVDs for this and Kanon. I’m archiving your 1080p releases for their superior video and audio quality. Putting hard-subbed karaoke in there would detract from my enjoyment.
Meatrose is right for warning you about ordered chapters on Clannad. The segue into the ED in that one episode of After Story could present a major problem. I don’t remember if season 1 had any similar segues, so be careful.
For 720p:
– NOT Flac
– Ordered chapters
– 345MB per episode instead of 600MB <.<
Nope, season one doesn’t have any of those, it’s only the ED for Clannad ~After Story~ episode 17. Sure, Tomoyo-hen and Kyou-hen both have unique “EDs” but since those are not really EDs at all, as the episodes are still running but with an insert song playing in the background, I don’t think anyone would get the idea to use ordered chapters for those. ^^
Not that I’m expecting ordered chapters at all, I just wanted to say that IF you decide to use ordered chapters make sure to only use it for the OP when you do Clannad ~After Story~ episode 17. =)
I personally like everything soft-subbed, the karaoke for kanon was perfect for me, :]
Actually, I don’t even think AS Episode 17 is a problem, since the music doesn’t lead in from the episode, it only plays after the ED begins. I GUESS the problem is if the animation syncs. I don’t know if there’s a lag time on switching over from the episode to the ED. With Kanon, it was because the music would lead in from the episode itself right?
Soft subs please. With them you have the choice to turn them off and additionally, you are not limited to the original video resolution. Those hardsubs will really look ugly in the next few years due to scaling to higher than 1080p. just check some hardsubbed dvd rips and see what I mean.