Note: most of this was adapted from my post at an earlier blog
Watch dramas online:
Download:
For downloading, there are two options as far as subtitles go: hardsubs or softsubs
1)Hardsubs and softsubs:
soft subs – soft subs are simply subtitles which come as a separate file and aren’t directly attached to the video file, so you need to download them separately- they’re usually titled/in the form of “.srt”
hard subs – subtitles which come with the video and don’t have to be downloaded separately – ie if you see “episodes 1-10 hardsubbed” in means that the episodes are already subbed and all you have to is download the videos
Hardsubs are nicer in general as you only have to download one file, but they take much longer to come out and most people end up using softsubs for the most part as episodes get released with softsubs by fansubbing groups much much faster than with hardsubs. The good thing about soft subs, however, is that they’re very small files; they usually download in seconds. Figuring out how to sync them with your video file/make sure they show up on your screen can get a bit trickier, but it’s really not that hard…
2.) Players:
-If you’re on a PC, Media Player Classic is your friend. I still miss it *sniff* (I have a Mac now) as it wasn’t just good for playing subs but also played virtually everything and anything I wanted it too. But anyway, it worked perfectly for me for all my drama needs; it’s very much like Windows Media Player only with more options and capabilities.
-If you’re on a Mac, MPC won’t work, but you can always default to VLC, which is pretty much the universal media player and will work on both Macs and PCs.
-For both these players, as long as you have the right settings all you have to do is put the softsub files and the video files in the same folder on your computer, and then rename them to the same thing. Before you freak out, all that this means is that if you have a video file which is “My Girl_Ental_3.avi” and a softsub file which is “My Girl Minfansubs 3.srt” just rename them to “My Girl 3.avi” and “My Girl 3.srt” – the file extensions avi and srt should automatically stay the same when you rename the file. The video player, with luck, will then automatically sync the subs to the episode when you open the video file. With luck, you already have the right settings in VLC/MPC, so all you have to do is try it.
-If it turns out you don’t, however, you’ll have to do some other things.
MPC: With MPC, you might want to download Vobsubs – I honestly can’t remember if MPC required it or not but I do remember I had it downloaded when I was using MPC on my PC so there’s a chance that it does. I’ll look into more extensive fixes/guides later but for now this will have to do
VLC: Try this instead-
1. Go to the file menu: select “Open file”
2. Input the media file
3. then check the box that says “load subtitle file”
4. Click on the settings button next to the box you just checked
5. Browse through your files for the .srt (soft subs) you want to load and select them.
6.click “okay”
7. play
credit to dreamtooloud over at Livejournal
Finally,
Where to Download:
Subs:
-Softsubs to sync with the RAWs (right-click to download): D-addicts.com
-Alternate sub source: I’ve only actually used this once, but Kloofynet hoards over 11,000 subtitles for Asian & Bollywood movies (only the subs however– they don’t offer any actual dramas/movies for download, you have to get those from another source and then sync)
RAWs(unsubbed videos):
Aja-aja.com used to be everyone’s main source, but then they threw the last in a series of hissy-drama-queen fits about people re-posting the videos to other sites without credit(ridiculous as the Aja-aja staff contributes no talent and gives no added value to the videos at all, simply uploads them, so they have no right to be so uptight about this, particularly since almost all other sites, including fansub groups which go to all the effort of actually subbing the videos, are much more relaxed about this) and closed off to all but paying users. There were a few sites I used after Aja-aja closed down but I am not sure about current ones (updated in 2013).
Hardsubbed(note-most of these sites require registration in order to gain access):
AmpedAsia forums (note: you must register and make 15 posts before gaining access to the media section
These are just a sample of what’s out there, the sites which put up the work which the fansub groups do. Almost all fansub groups however also put it up on their own site. Here is a more or less complete list of Fansub Groups so far.
Then there’s the Fansub Maps(link is to the K-drama ones, all the others are lifted to the left), which contains the airing schedule of current dramas and which fansub group has signed up for it.
Finally, here are a few of my favorite websites/the ones I’ve found the most helpful:
B.O.N. (Band of Nuts) Fansubs(Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese)
SARS Fansubs(Korean and Japanese)
Eternal Fansubs (Taiwanese and Chinese)
Timelessub(Taiwanese and Japanese)
SUBlimes(Taiwanese dramas only)
SE3ST0R F4NSUB5 (Taiwanese dramas only)
Billasub(Taiwanese dramas – warning they are very very slowww)
Intangible Fs(Taiwanese dramas only)
Himara KAORU(Japanese dramas only)
Kioku Fansubs(Japanese dramas only)
GiriGiri(Japanese)
JORsubs(Japanese)
Enjoy!
See also: Dramabeans’ post on where to watch dramas
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Tagged: alternative to aja-aja.com, best sites to download dramas, difference between hardsubs and softsubs, how to play srt files, how to watch asian dramas, how to watch korean dramas, korean drama RAWS, Korean dramas, misc and tagged alternative to aja-aja, srt files, what is srt, where to download asian dramas, where to download drama RAWs, where to download korean dramas, where to watch asian dramas
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