ok, firstly, I would like to say it's a pleasure to meet you, tora-chan. It's not like me to avoid introducing myself after this long, especially if I am to be working with you in the future
I'm still not done with the first post of this thread (by a long shot), so I am planning on adding a little background bio on myself, and why I have chosen to do the things the way I have. But of course, I'll answer these questions as best as I can.
Also, I thought I mentioned that the preview page I listed was a very "
rough" draft, but I guess I didn't. So there are still plenty of things to be changed, and I as well am open to ideas and changing things.
And finally, on to the questions/suggestions/concerns:
I don't like how you radically changed some parts of the layout, like the shape of tables, the whole title part, the Leaf symbol, and all the writings that could be left like in the original version (ditto for the grey "NARUTO" one in the background), page numbers included. The reason is: why change them?
Answer:
Well, about a year or two ago, I started the
Naruto Databook II Scanlation Thread that I'm sure you've looked at. For this project, the magnificent TTXDRAGON created a databook page template that you simply 'plug' the RAW databook pages into. This template contained the character info boxes, the frames (borders), the "character file", the character name/kanji/romanji/country/rank box, as well as the ability graph. I'm sure it took him quite some time to put together. So, of course, I've just been using that same template.
The reason I
did not modify the template from the NDB2 style to the NDB3 style is mainly because the style of boxes and borders are negligent to the information they provide. Besides the fact that the difference in style does not really "change" anything, it is also true that some parts of the old style just look better than that of the new databook; the character info boxes are one example.
And lastly, I chose not to re-modify that template because a lot of work went into this existing template, and it never really went to go use. Adding to that, a wonderfully lady by the name of 'Yume' created the ability graph to add to this template. And although I did manage to do the first 40~ Pages or so in HQ of NDB2, it wasn't really publicly released.
Naruto Databook II - HQ Scanlation (Partial) - Direct Download
So I wanted to use this one again, since it's really never been used. However, if this is really of that much concern to the peeps, then I'll re-modify the template if they really want it. No one will even know the difference, though, once the whole databook is released. And we're not changing content/translations here, anyway.
First of all, I'd choose two different fonts for the character line ("No way.. blabla") and the catchphrases ("With the burning will... blabla"), because otherwise they look the same.
Secondly, and most importantly, I'd use a "normal" text-style font for the main text, because this is a guidebook and thus it's made to be read. WildWords is mainly used for balloons (which you did, and that is good). If you use it for the whole text it all looks like a big comic. I think we should differentiate it and make it look more like a real book.
Reply:
So, here's the deal. The last databook actually had the first 167 pages scanlated, but in LQ. I managed the whole project and saw every page that was scanlated or submitted. I've seen just about every typesetting and font choice one could have for the Naruto Databooks. And after all of that, I realized that simplicity really is the key. Although having a different font for every single part of the page may seem like a good idea, it rarely works out. The biggest problem with that is that it takes a tremendous amount of unnecessary time to typeset using abundant amounts of fonts.
After being a typesetter for all these years, I've come to notice a few things. Unfortunately, no one ever really appreciates the work of the typeset; instead, they really just wanna read the page as fast as possible and look at the artwork of the mangaka. So the artwork & translation are the only things that are really appreciated. Therefore, keeping the typesetting and fonts simple not only makes things faster, but it allows the thousands of leechers to read things as fast and easy as possible, as well. A lot of fancy fonts can be annoying in the eyes of the readers, and I'm sure we've all been victim to manga where we really wish they woulda picked a simpler font choice. Wild words has always been fail proof for the Naruto manga.
However, I will change the character line, and I'll also look into changing of wildwords for the main text, but I'm just not to excited about it
I do understand where you're coming from, though. I've got tens of thousands of fonts (maybe hundreds of thousands
), so I'll look to see if there is something more suitable for this cause.
By the way, you can remove "ndt" and just leave "*TN" if you want
Reply:
Cools, that'll definitely look better
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Oh yea, and here was the latest version I had of my preview page. We can keep messing around with it until we find exactly what's best. Then I can finally universalize it's aspects for the rest of the databook pages to keep it's consistency. That's what's required for a HQ scanlation; consistency. ^_^
024-025 - Uzumaki Naruto v2
