Ramen Dubs - FAQ

We're a group of people who enjoy anime and acting, so we decided to combine interests and dub anime for fun. This is a collection of common questions we receive. If you're curious about something, look this page over before contacting us, please.

Production Related
Q: How do you fandub anime?
A: Well, it's a pretty long process, but it basically goes like so:
-We find a scene that we like.
-The ADR scripter writes the script.
-The voice actors record lines.
-The mixer adds the lines to the video along with the music and sound effects.

Q: How do you get rid of all the voices and leave all the music and sound effects in?
A: We don't. Our team has a mixer who recreates the entire audio track from scratch including music, sound effects, and the new voices.

Q: What programs do you use to do this?
A: Audacity, Windows Movie Maker, VirtualDub, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere.

Q: What sort of mic do you use?
A: It depends on the actor, as we all use our own mics. Some of us use pro quality mics. The rest use USB.

Q: Where do you get your anime clips?
A: There are a lot of sources, but if you're looking for anime, try searching for the anime you want and "raw torrent." Most places don't offer direct downloads, so you'll have to torrent it. If you don't know what a torrent is, you can search for that too.


Scripting
Q: Why don't the lines in the script or lyrics match what I saw in the sub?
A: There are three reasons for this. The first is that the script needs to be written to match the amount of lip flaps a character has so it appears they are talking naturally. Second, sometimes a joke in Japanese just doesn't translate well to English, so we rewrite the script to tell a similar joke (in subs, a translator's note usually explains the joke, but in dubs the dialogue needs to flow on its own). The third reason is that not all fansubs are necessarily accurate.

Q: Why do you leave some of the Japanese names and words in tact and translate others?
A: We do our very best to stick to the original intent of the script. Suffixes like "san" and "chan" make more sense as those (especially if the story is set in Japan). But sometimes the joke behind a name is lost if we don't translate it, since the meaning of the name is part of the joke. Therefore, we choose to translate or leave in tact on a case by case basis.

Q: May I use your lyrics for my own dub?
A: Sure, just credit YT user ramendubs and link back to us (http://ramendubs.awardspace.com) in your video description. When you're done, drop us a note. We'd love to hear you.


Voices
Q: Will you do voices for me?
A: Sorry, we don't even have much time to voice our own clips. ^_^;;

Q: Do you want to do a dub together?
A: Once again, we can't really devote our time to doing dubs other than our own.

Q: Will you please audition for me?
A: Please see above. ^_^;;

Q: Who voices [character here]?
A: A member of our cast. We prefer viewers to appreciate the completed project rather than paying attention to who the actors are.

Q: You sound like [pro voice actor name here]. Are you?
A: Nope.

Q: You sound like [person on YouTube]. Are you?
A: Nope.

Q: Are you looking for more voices/do you ever hold auditions?
A: We do not plan to seek out any new cast members for our group. We initially built our group as a way to do something together, and these fandubs are just the product of that.


Requests
Q: Will you dub [series] or [scene]?
A: We're open to suggestions. We can't guarantee anything, though. We also try to limit our dubbing to unlicensed anime (or anime that was unlicensed back when we first dubbed it), so you're much more likely to get a yes answer if you pick a series that isn't licensed for a dub.

Q: Will you dub a full episode and/or series?
A: No. We do fandubs as a hobby, and they are not meant to be a substitute for actually buying the real anime series when it's released. You can always request scenes from unlicensed anime if you want to see more, but a full episode dub is highly unlikely, and we will never do a full series dub.

Q: When is your next clip coming out?
A: No clue. This is only a hobby for us, so our releases are contingent on real life issues.

Q: What are you dubbing next?
A: No clue. We try to stagger our releases so that we don't release a lot of the same series at once.


Concerning Comments
As much as we love hearing from you, comments will be deleted if they fall under the following categories:
-Spam (e.g. "POST THIS IN 10 OTHER VIDEOS OR YOUR MOM WILL DIE!!!")
-Flaming of English dubs (e.g. "Sorry, it will just never sound right in English.")
-Flaming of the series (e.g. "Hahaha, this show is FAIL.")
-Non-constructive criticism (e.g. "Hikaru's voice sucked.")

Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Examples of constructive criticism include "I think Hikaru sounded too old," "Hikaru's accent sounds forced," or "Hikaru's VA needs to go lower." Comments such as "Hikaru's voice should be better," will be deleted.

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