Modern Fansub Techniques (3) :- Quality control, or QC, is one of the final stages of fansubbing. Many groups do what is called a "soft QC", then encode the episode, then do what is called a "hard QC." The goal of quality checking an episode is to catch any type setting, timing, editing, and, in the case of hard QC, encoding errors. Most groups have multiple Q Cers, each of whom compiles a report of errors in the episode and submits it, and any errors are then fixed. Quality checkers often are capable of doing other fansub jobs, or have some overall knowledge of the fansubbing process, as well as an eye for spotting various errors. The subtitles are then encoded using Virtual Dubor a similar program. There are several methods of subbing currently used."Hard" subtitles, orhard subs, are encoded into the footage, and thus become hard to remove from the video without losing video quality (this can be done with a Virtual Dub Filter)."Soft" subtitles, or soft subs, are subtitles applied at playback time from a subtitle datafile, either muxed directly into the video file (.mkv, .ogm, etc.), or in a separate file (.ssa, .srt, etc.). With the correct media playeror an auxiliary program, softsubs are superimposed on the footage and appear indistinguishable from hardsubs. Soft subs can also be rendered at higher resolutions, which can make for easier reading if the viewer is upscaling the file. Hard subs have traditionally been more popular than softsubs, due to a lack of player support and worries over plagiarism, but most fansub groups now release a softsub version of their releases. Since modern video media can contain multiple softsubs, some groups release fansubs with several translations into different languages, or differently styled subtitles to fit different preferences. Some groups have begun to release the opening and ending animations as separate files in order to reduce the size of each individual episode, though this introduces conflicts with player support, thus this method is not yet widespread.[ citation needed] In the case of hard subtitles a video editor (commonly Virtual Dub) uses an AVI Synth script to load the raw video file and the subtitle file (created by the translators) then the video software applies the subtitles on the video and captures video with the subtitles "burned" in. The resulting fansub is a computer video file. In the case of soft subs, the companion sub data can be supplied as a separate file; however the complete package often now comes in a suitable media container such as Matroska. It can be copied to CD or DVD media for physical distribution, but is most often distributed using online file-sharing protocols such as viral video, DDL, BitTorrent and by file-sharing bots on IRC. This distribution is usually handled by a distribution team, or "distro" team, composed of one or more individuals with a server or very high upload speed. This allows modern anime fans to download the finished product at little or no cost to themselves or to distributors, as the distro team usually uses servers that are not dedicated to fansub releases, or that are paid for through donations to their respective fansub group. [ citation needed]