I came up with a nifty new thing for people trying to create super-Internationalized versions. Disc-based formats are limited to 32 subtitle tracks, and it’s pretty easy to blow past that if you’re using Project Threepio. What I’ve done up until now is highlight certain subtitles in the README that an author should prioritize for broadest global reach, while maintaining best quality. The problem is, some of our top-quality subtitles, such as Icelandic, get booted off the list simply due to small audience size.

So future versions of the README will have the same list as before, but you will be able to filter the list based on the region you’re targeting (I’m using Blu-ray/DVD regions because disc authors would be familiar with them, not because I want any discs to be region-locked). i.e. You select Blu-ray Region A, and you can now squeeze in Navajo. Select region C and you can safely include Cantonese. Blu-ray Region B and DVD Region 2 still both run past 32 languages, so the author will still need to use some discretion or create sub-regions, but it’s a more manageable amount. Or you can still view the complete unfiltered list and do with it what you will.

Admittedly, this means that the concept of a single super-Internationalized version may be a little pie-in-the-sky, but in the meantime, it will be easier to create three or four regional versions that collectively cover everyone.

EDIT: To save trouble, I created two sub-regions within Region B/2, splitting Europe into Western/Northern and Central/Eastern/Southeast. They have some language crossover, with English, German, Italian, Russian, Polish and Turkish appearing in both groups. So now if you like this arrangement, you can filter languages appropriate for a release targeted to a Western or Central European release. You can also still filter to the complete Region B/2 and make your own subset.