Why should i use software for upload?

[Landi166]

Hi os
i have read in some posts that i should use software for uploading subs.
what is the advantage of that?
and what software should i use,
and since i posted this do you have any more tips for new translators and uploaders like me?

thanks! i appreciate your work :)

[scooby007]

Hi,

You don't have to use a program, it's just better for other users to do so. When you upload a subtitle using a program, the program attaches a hash to that subtitle upon the upload. The hash indicates that the subtitle is a match for that particular video file. If some other user has the same video file as you did, then their program will recognize the hash and download the subtitle (you uploaded) automatically to play with their video file.

[Landi166]

thanks for your reply Scooby007
i understand now, but i think i will upload from the browser, seems more easy..
adding the release name to the movie should be enough i guess :)

[srtpal]

It does not seem to quite work. I uploaded Slovak subtitles for a movie (I actually had to listen to the soundtrack and type it all by hand because the DVD had no subtitles). Then I used SubDownloader to upload the hashes, and that worked just fine.

I then translated the subs to English and uploaded them by hand. Used SubDownloader again, but this time it did not seem to work because the hash information is not displayed for the English version, even though it is correctly displayed for the original Slovak version.

That is very strange.

[eduo]

It does not seem to quite work. I uploaded Slovak subtitles for a movie (I actually had to listen to the soundtrack and type it all by hand because the DVD had no subtitles). Then I used SubDownloader to upload the hashes, and that worked just fine.

I then translated the subs to English and uploaded them by hand. Used SubDownloader again, but this time it did not seem to work because the hash information is not displayed for the English version, even though it is correctly displayed for the original Slovak version.

That is very strange.

If possible it always preferrable to upload subtitles through an uploader as it's easier and faster than the browser and adds the benefit of linking the sub to the hash and adds the release name as well.

OS doesn't always report when there's been an error on the sub or if it's a duplicate so the sub doesn't show afterwards and means hashed subtitles may be deleted by admins because they're duplicates of non-hashed subtitles (same as reuploading a sub in a bad-encoding back in UTF-8, it would look as a duplicate to an admin even though it's a better, more compatible, subtitle).

When you use a program to upload subs you should upload them from the program, not on the web and later the hashes, as this is what causes confusion and duplicates.

A good program should make it easy to upload subtitles massively. I won't recommend any specific one as I only use the one I created, SolEol, but the point is to be able to drag all the subs and have them uploaded in one go.

[srtpal]

Except, I do not trust the uploader to give me credit for my work. I take my subs very seriously and spend a long time preparing them and would be quite annoyed if I did not get credit for my work. So I always upload on the web first and add the hashes later with SubDownloader. Besides, SubDownloader does not ask for the imdb ID, so what’s the point using it to upload first when it would not tell OS what movie the subtitles are for?

And the web says to use it even if the subs have been uploaded on the web.

[eduo]

Except, I do not trust the uploader to give me credit for my work. I take my subs very seriously and spend a long time preparing them and would be quite annoyed if I did not get credit for my work. So I always upload on the web first and add the hashes later with SubDownloader. Besides, SubDownloader does not ask for the imdb ID, so what’s the point using it to upload first when it would not tell OS what movie the subtitles are for?

And the web says to use it even if the subs have been uploaded on the web.

I didn't say you should use SubDownloader, I don't use it (I use SolEol).

I just said that by uploading the hashes you're also uploading the subtitles, so you do both in one go. No benefit in uploading via the web if you're hashing anyway, since you're doing extra steps, not less steps.

As for requiring IMDB: The API requires IMDB in hashed subtitles uploaded. If you're not being asked for an IMDB then either the subtitle is already uploaded and it has an IMDB so it only stores the hash or the movie hash already has an IMDB and the subtitle doesn't require it then. I included a functionality to search by IMDB in SolEol and the only time I have ever used it in the past three years is when I encoded a movie myself and there was no way the hash could exist already in the DB.

As for credit to your work: If you're signing the subtitles then the credit is in them. If the credit is removed from the subtitle then the hash is different and for all intents and purposes it's a different file and you'll be credited for your upload. Nobody could upload before you, as you say you create them. I'm not sure I see what the problem is here but I admittedly have a non-standard view on subtitle credits (and I clarify I've been doing subtitles, professionally and in my free time, for over 20 years).

Again, I'm not dissing your work or implying anything else than you might not understand how the API works and why doing both web upload and hash upload is doing double the work, which I wouldn't have commented on if it hadn't been hinted (not by you) that using the web is easier (it just seems to be).

You are, of course, free to upload the same file as many times as you like. I was trying to share the actual way the API and hashes work when uploading subtitles. I know there's some confusion and misinformation on its inner workings and since I'm a bit more intimate with it than I ever hoped I'd be, I have a more holistic way of how the whole thing works.

[srtpal]

By credit I meant the web site saying Uploaded by srtpal. I rarely sign my subs. I don’t feel it is right to put my name on subtitles I produced by using SubRip, so I only sign those I have either created from scratch (as I did with Soľ nad zlato since the DVD contained no subtitles) or if I have translated them from one language to another.

[eduo]

By credit I meant the web site saying Uploaded by srtpal. I rarely sign my subs. I don’t feel it is right to put my name on subtitles I produced by using SubRip, so I only sign those I have either created from scratch (as I did with Soľ nad zlato since the DVD contained no subtitles) or if I have translated them from one language to another.

Understood.

Uploading those via API would show your name in the same way. For example, I have never uploaded subtitles via the web with my account, yet the ones I have uploaded via API show as uploaded by me:

http://www.opensubtitles.org/en/search/ ... rt-7/asc-0

There's a "bug" where if a sub is uploaded anonymously then the hasher will get the "credit", but that's unrelated.

[srtpal]

I see your subs list many video files each. Does your software send all those hashes at the same time, or do you have to send them separately?

[eduo]

I see your subs list many video files each. Does your software send all those hashes at the same time, or do you have to send them separately?

I only upload the video linked to the hash I know it works for. This is the only difference with a sub uploaded from the web: That it's already got at least one hash linked to it.

After that, other users may upload additional hashes for different versions of the same video. Ideally it will always be the same video but some users are careless (and some players, like BSPlayer, are too aggressive) so sometimes they may link hashes from incorrect movies against it. Both OSS and the programs have some controls built-in to minimize the impact of these.

So, to your answer, I normally link against one or two videos (two when I download in one format but convert to another and reshare).

[srtpal]

I see. I have downloaded the Windows version of your software but could not figure out how to link a video to subtitles with it. If I drag a subtitle file over the drop area, it correctly lists the subtitles and lets me choose the language. But if I drag a video over it, nothing happens. And again, it does not ask me for the imdb ID and such.

What am I missing?

[srtpal]

Interestingly enough, the hashes have now appeared for all of those subtitles of mine that I had submitted them for. So perhaps it was only a matter of time, and everything is working as originally expected. I’m happy.