User:DTM

Hello! I am DTM and I mainly help out with the image translation.

So, you're a translator?
Not really. The only language I really speak fluently is English, though I can comprehend spoken Vietnamese and a little bit of Spanish. I do edit some translations, though those are very limited.

Wait. What do you do then?
I'm glad you asked! As stated above, I mainly help out with image translation. Having Photoshop on my computer, I make templates for the images and provide them to those that can actually translate Japanese. I also take existing, established translations and make translated images from that. However, if no one has translated the text on the image, I have to leave placeholders for where the translated text would eventually appear.

Image Style
My philosophy for making translated images consist of two main points: Imitation and Distillation.

Imitation
When making the translated image, I try very hard to imitate the style of the original text and image. If the original font was sharp and blocky, I try to use a font that is sharp and blocky. Replicating the text properties (shadow, glow, color, size, outline, etc.) is also a priority and I try to make it as accurate as possible. The tables in the next section are examples of translated images that closely resemble the style of the originals.

Distillation
Also known as preventing duplication of content, if I can use a graphic from the original in the translation, I do not duplicate that graphic in the translated image. I leave the area blank. This is best described in this example: As you can see, the stage graphic has not been added to the translated image. Therefore, the patcher will simply use the original graphic present in the game. The same applies to text in the original that is already in English. This saves storage and prevent the duplication of content.

Do note that the "BGM" in the original has been replicated to the translation. This is due to the sprite boundaries enclosing both "BGM" and the Japanese text and the sprite within the boundaries being at least partially transparent, thus requiring the replacement of the entire area with a translation without a transparent space where the "BGM" is.

If the sprite within the boundaries was fully opaque, then I would just enter the necessary text by itself and thcrap will simply overly that text over the original sprite. As you can see, instead of duplicating the entire rectangle in the bottom left, I just simply have the English translation by itself. Note that in this example, the original Japanese will show alongside the translation in the rectangle. If it is desired that the Japanese be removed, you would have to place a background that barely covers the original text, which you can then place the translation on top of that.

How image patching works in thcrap is described here.

Inquiries
If you have any questions or comments, you can leave a message on my User Talk Page.