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  1. Member
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    Following its recommendation in this forum, I installed XViD4PSP and have used it to successfully add basic subtitles to several files.

    Now I'd like to try something a little more stylish. I can edit an SRT sub file to add italics and bold (and also different colours I believe, though I haven't tried that yet) but is there a way to control exactly how the subs will appear when embedded? Is there a menu somewhere in XViD4PSP to set the font, the size, the line length and perhaps the overall colour? If there is, I haven't found it yet.

    Many thanks for any help.
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  2. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    Nope, not in xvid4psp.

    Buy you can use https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Aegisub to add colors etc and then save as an ass/ssa subtitle file. Then use it in xvid4psp 5.
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    Ah, thanks. So the size and appearance in XViD4PSP are fixed? I'll look at Aegisub. I'm also investigating some other options as mentioned here, including using VirtualDubMod with its TextSub filter.
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  4. Originally Posted by Bert Coules View Post
    So the size and appearance in XViD4PSP are fixed?
    The size and appearance of SRT subtitles are fixed. Some programs might allow you to make changes but why bother when you can use SSA or ASS subs and set them up just as you like?
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    Yes, I've been experimenting today with SSA subs: you're right, it's obviously a better way to do things. I've tried both hard- and soft-coded and with the latter I still have a way to go as far as the actual formatting is concerned - there are relevant commands in both the subtitle editor and the burning program I'm using, and I'm not sure yet just how they work in conjunction with each other - but I think I'm getting there.
    Last edited by Bert Coules; 7th Apr 2014 at 19:08.
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    I might have spoken too soon. With separate subtitle and MP4 video files, I'm finding that both with SSA and ASS subs (created and formatted in Subtitle Edit) the fomatting commands (italic, bold, colour) are not being preserved when the files are burned to DVD. When my test file is saved as SSA, each individual title appears in plain white and prefaced with a corrupted version of the opening formatting tag; when I save it as ASS, the text lines appear correctly but again just in plain white. I'm using DVDStyler to burn the discs; perhaps I should try a different program.
    Last edited by Bert Coules; 7th Apr 2014 at 21:31.
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  7. Stop saying 'burning program'. A burning program burns data to discs. That's all. DVDStyler is primarily an authoring program, one that also has encoding abilities. Since I don't use it, I can't say how it does or does not make subs.
    When my test file is saved as SSA, each individual title appears in plain white and prefaced with a corrupted version of the opening formatting tag; when I save it as ASS, the text lines appear correctly but again just in plain white.
    This is when the subs are played where? In the final DVD? Change the colors. Is that your only problem, the colors? Oh, the other styles too. Sorry, maybe someone else can help. But what does XviD4PSP have to do with DVDStyler? Where does it fit into the picture? I thought you were using XviD4PSP to 'burn' or 'hardcode' the subs into a video?
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    My apologies for using the wrong term. I have tried both hardcoding subs and keeping them separate and therefore switchable. On balance, I've decided that I prefer the latter, in which case, as you say, XviD4PSP doesn't enter the picture (and I'm sorry if the change of approach confused you). This is what I've been doing:

    1. Downloading an MP4 file with separate SRT subs.

    2. Editing the sub file in Subtitle Edit to correct the text and the timing, and adding formatting commands for italics, bold and colours.

    3. Previewing the MP4/sub combination in Subtitle Edit to check the formatting, which appears correctly.

    4. Saving the sub file as SSA (or, experimentally, as ASS).

    5. Using DVD Styler to author a final DVD, using the MP4 file and the new sub file.

    Whether the DVD is played in a standalone DVD player or on a PC the result is the same: the subtitle formatting is ignored and what I get is plain white text, either reproduced correctly (if I've used an ASS file) or corrupted (if I used SSA). Have I made things clearer?
    Last edited by Bert Coules; 8th Apr 2014 at 06:31.
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  9. The colors are minor and can be easily fixed afterwards either in DVDSubEdit or in PGCEdit. The styles problem is more serious. If DVDStyler is incapable of giving you italics when you want them, maybe it's time to use a different program. SSA files converted to SST subs using MaestroSBT for use in Muxman will keep the italics. But you may not be too keen on learning all that when any program that accepts SSA subs as input should also be able to keep the italics.
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    Thanks for the reply. As you say, I'm not keen on the idea of learning more conversion processes, so I'll investigate other authoring programs which accept SSA. Curious though, that DVDStyler does allow them to be input if it doesn't then follow the formatting.
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    Well, this is interesting. I just tried a different authoring prog: DVD Flick. It accepted the SSA sub file, but when I played back the burned DVD, the subs were once again in plain white with no italics or bold (though unlike DVDStyler the text wasn't preceded by a mangled version of the formatting tag).

    Perhaps this suggests that the problem might lie with the creation of the subs file rather than the later authoring process.
    Last edited by Bert Coules; 8th Apr 2014 at 12:41.
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  12. That's possible I suppose. I don't use SubtitleEdit to make SSA subs, but the original SSA program, Substation Alpha. You might try opening your SSA subs in that and then resaving them and maybe (?) something will change to allow you to get decent subs out of your authoring program. Or maybe SubStation Alpha will throw an error. Or maybe using it won't make a bit of difference.
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  13. Member
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    Thanks for the suggestion. Since my last post I've tried creating a new SSA file in a different program, Subtitle Workshop. The result (in both DVD Styler and DVD Flick) was unchanged: white text, no formatting. I'll keep experimenting, and I'll look at Substation Alpha.
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  14. Member
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    I know what is happening: I should have realised it ages ago. It's nothing to do with the subtitle files themselves, or which program is used to generate them.

    Both DVDStyler and DVDFlick have their own (fairly well hidden) basic subtitle formatting options, and these options over-ride any commands in the subtitle file you load into the program. Without knowing it, I had both programs set to present subs in white plain text, so that's what I've been getting.

    I've looked in both programs for a way to bypass the built-in sub formatting but if there is one I've not found it yet. It's possible that I might have to look again at hard-coding the subs after all, though there seem to be a few limitations there, too.
    Last edited by Bert Coules; 9th Apr 2014 at 19:20.
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