TOTALLY lost with Jubler

[Valerc]

It never ceases to surprise me when I find programs like Jubler, when you can't even make them work because of the tiny detail that it needs a totally special video player to work with, a certain MPlayer... and the thing is that to just being able to install such MPlayer, you need to become an experienced programmer, apparently. Which I am not, of course.

When these guys make a program are they thinking that they are creating it just for other programmers or for normal users?

I have visited and downloaded many different files from here: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html and similar parts of that site, and I don´t even know what those things are and much less, where they should be placed...

Of course that the automatic search of MPlayer doesn´t work...

It´s beyond me why among the thousands of words, technical references and all that, they can´t place a simple list of steps to install this thing... Crazy...

[Baldrick]

Try https://www.videohelp.com/download/mplayer-svn-34992.7z

Or use subtitle edit.

[Valerc]

Thanks, Baldrick!

This is really funny: I needed to change the name of the exe file, and it was recognized by the wizard. Again, I can´t imagine why they had named the exe file gmplayer.exe instead of the mplayer.exe that the wizard was searching.

This is what I mean about "crazy" software... Why on earth would they do that? Just by chance I had the idea of erasing the starting g on the exe file...

I just erased the g and then manually searched for the mplayer.exe file and it apparently recognized it. However, the video player has serious issues: it freezes and is totally pixelated, when my video quality is rather good with any other player.

I tried Subtitle Edit, but it really didn´t work for me because I couldn't make the hotkeys to work. I tried and tried, but they don´t work like I need them to. Only Subtitle Workshop does that for me. I customized it to use just ONE key to set the final time of a subtitle and the first time of the next one while the video keeps playing. If I can´t get a program to do that, I simply can´t work. That´s the main thing for me. Imagine what it´s like to go through 800 subtitles for a movie... And I couldn´t make Subtitle Edit to work that way. At all.

Actually, this was part of my search from a better subtitler than Subtitle Workshop, that is the best one for me up to now. It only needs a sound graph and the possibility to see the videos as scenes, to better adjust the subtitles withouth overlapping scenes.

That´s what I was looking for when I moved to Jubler, but it seems that there are serious video issues with it, like I said.

Hey, thanks again!!

[Hoser Rob]

Hmm. I've used mplayer a ton of times, in windows and linux (it usually comes with linux installations). Never had that much of a problem with it. My favorite video player (smplayer) is just a front end for it.

However, there have been a number of updates to mplayer recently, and some programs (like smplayer) don't work 100% with it yet. And jubler hasn't been updated in a year and a half.

So if you tried installing an older mplayer build from before the last jubler update it may work a lot better.

The reason I figure that's the case is that ubuntu came with mplayer with a minimal gui, and it works just absolutely fine as far as video quality goes. Better than vlc or any other ones I've tried, though with not nearly as many features as smplayer.

However, if jubler required mplayer I think it should have installed it along with itself. Mplayer is open source freeware. It's not like there are legal issues. That's what smplayer does in the windows version.

[Valerc]

Hey, Hoser Rob... Thanks for your insight. I tried with other videos and some play well and some don´t.
The whole search for the MPlayer was a total nightmare, and what I downloaded was the only thing I could recognize as a Windows. I don´t know where I would find other alternatives...

Anyways, it seems that Jubler doesn´t offer the possibility to see the video as a timeline, like Sony Vegas, for example. That´s what I was looking for, to improve the subtitle insertion according to one scene and the previous and next one.

Any idea if there is any free subtitle editor with that feature?

Thanks so much!

[Hoser Rob]

Actually I don't know much about sub editors at all. I just try subtitle sites. As far as I can tell the best ones, and safe, are opensubtitles.org (smplayer will search this for you and download and rename subs to match the file if available) and subscene.com.

I've never had anything in a foreign language with no subs that I wanted that badly to see that I ever tried anything else.

I'm not sure I'd expect a free subtitle editor to provide vegas type timeline, but it may exist. Doubt it though. If you look in the tools section on this site and any of them had that feature I imagine it'd be very prominently mentioned.

[Ai Haibara]

Thanks, Baldrick!

This is really funny: I needed to change the name of the exe file, and it was recognized by the wizard. Again, I can´t imagine why they had named the exe file gmplayer.exe instead of the mplayer.exe that the wizard was searching.

This is what I mean about "crazy" software... Why on earth would they do that? Just by chance I had the idea of erasing the starting g on the exe file...

mplayer, by itself (and by default), is a command-line player - no GUI. gmplayer is one of the versions with a built-in (and skinnable, if I remember correctly) GUI, hence the added 'g'. Of course, there are a ton of other GUIs for mplayer...

I can't remember, offhand, whether or not most mplayer binaries include mencoder within the mplayer binary/exe, though.

[Valerc]

LOL... You are recommending free subtitles to a translator, Rob... )))))) Translating and subtitling is my job. ))))))) Free subtitles are not used at a professional level, fortunately. I need to translate and make the subtitles from scratch, and that´s why I need the best subtitler I can find... It´s been quite a complicated task so far...

[Hoser Rob]

OK ... I get it.

I can certainly understand why free subs aren't used at a professional level. The last ones I downloaded were in english, but from what I can see someone ran Polish subs through a translation program.

It would have made more sense to just watch the video in French, which I don't understand very well.

[Valerc]

LMAO!! But that's what really happens with those subs. There's nothing funnier than having a good laugh reading automatic translations...

Translation is a serious business. Audiovisual translation is so full of subtleties and so many different tones are involved. There's so much to express and it's so difficult to do it in a right way going from one language to another. You are not just translating words, you are translating one culture into another.

And if you think that the average budget for a Hollywood movie is above 60-100 million dollars, is it really worth it to go cheap and destroy a film because you don´t want to pay a translator? You would be saving just a few hundreds from a 60M budget...
It doesn´t make sense to me at all...

[Hoser Rob]

Personally my theory, unfortunately, is that the DVD market is so flat right now they're not bothering to release a lot of European Asian etc. movies in proper versions for the English market anymore.

I read something 2 or 3 years ago about how the big studios had been heavily into the derivatives market for funding, and after the credit crunch they began cutting back film production quite a bit. And those cuts would be mostly concentrated in the lower end since they stand a better chance of making back their investment with blockbusters. Given the production cycle, that looks like exactly what's happened.

Unfortunately, given my (ahem) demographic, those Sundance type movies are mostly what I want to see.

[usually_quiet]

@Valerc If freeware isn't good enough, what is your budget? What is the target format for these subs? DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming video?

Womble EasySub is a paid program for creating DVD subs and .srt subtitles that is listed in the Tools section. I believe I have seen other paid tools elsewhere as well, although I think they cost much more.

[Valerc]

Rob... I agree with you, I really love independent movies and not so much the typical Hollywood productions. Well, I guess that some things will always remain sacred, fortunately. I doubt that the credit crunch will ever force the big studios to save subtitling money for the Cannes Festival movies, for example... ))

usually_quiet, many of those programs are still new to me. I am trying them right now. I really hope I will find alternatives.

However, there are some unbelievable discrepancies within those programs, that really drive me mad. For example, how is it possible that AutoGK will not accept mp3 audio? That means that I need to do an extra conversion just for AutoGK to accept the most common and worldwide used audio format... This has been really complicating my work lately... Any ideas how to solve it?

[usually_quiet]

usually_quiet, many of those programs are still new to me. I am trying them right now. I really hope I will find alternatives.

However, there are some unbelievable discrepancies within those programs, that really drive me mad. For example, how is it possible that AutoGK will not accept mp3 audio? That means that I need to do an extra conversion just for AutoGK to accept the most common and worldwide used audio format... This has been really complicating my work lately... Any ideas how to solve it?

You should find something else to use. AutoGK was last updated early in 2009, and the executable download for Gordian Knot itself dates from 2005! The fact that there have been no recent releases for either might explain why MP3 audio support is lacking.

You say that you are a professional, so get some recommendations for professional-quality tools and stop wasting your time with older freeware that you say can't do what you need it to do. We do have video professionals on this website and surely some of them know what you should be using instead. Start a new thread and ask for recommendations for tools that a professional would use to do whatever it is that you are doing.

[Edit]If you are making subs for personal use and must use free tools, then you need to understand that the people who write free software generally work on their projects in their spare time. They may not get enough donations for their efforts to keep the project going. Sometimes developers loose interest too, or are required to put their projects aside for reasons beyond their control.

[Valerc]

Well, I try to be a professional, and try to find subtitling jobs, which doesn't mean that I can pay $2000 for software.

I don't know how you do it, Mr Quiet, but for me, learning new things is something I do on a daily basis. So I will keep my research, if you don't mind. )))))) And by the way, Auto GK has been pretty good to me, except for that. I like it.

Hey, cheer up...

[manono]

For example, how is it possible that AutoGK will not accept mp3 audio? That means that I need to do an extra conversion just for AutoGK to accept the most common and worldwide used audio format... This has been really complicating my work lately... Any ideas how to solve it?

What does AutoGK have to do with subbing? And what do you mean that it doesn't accept MP3 audio? It creates MP3 audio for the movies it converts. And if you try and open an XviD AVI which already has MP3 audio, it accepts it without hesitation. So I don't understand. Maybe the MP3 audio is of such poor quality (an especially low sample rate or bitrate) that it's not supported? Yes, that might happen.

[Valerc]

Hey, manono...

I will explain how I have been using AutoGK as part of my subtitling process all this time... What I am trying to do is just to create some subtitled samples to upload to YouTube.
1) I download some videos I want to subtitle (I get them with Keepvid or from my temporary files)
2) Those videos are in mp4 or FLV, then I convert them to AVI with Avidemux or FLV converter if Avidemux gives me that warning about them having B-frames or smth like that.
3) Separately, I create the subtitles with SUbtitle Workshop and save to .srt
4) I load the AVI file and the srt file to AutoGK and create the final thing with permanent subtitles. And that´s exactly the step that has been giving me trouble with AutoGK. I can only do it if I didn´t forget to convert the audio to something else than mp3 while converting the FLV or MP4 to AVI... The audio has to be AAC or AC3, otherwise Auto GK will reject it and the process will be aborted...

[Valerc]

This is exactly what I was doing... https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/256625-How-to-add-permanent-subtitles-with-AutoGK-a...I-DivX-or-XviD

I learned it from Baldrick...

[manono]

But that's my point. AutoGK does accept AVIs with MP3 audio. Just make sure the sample rate is high enough (44,100 or 48,000) and the bitrate is high enough (128 or higher). If you're not sure what you're creating at the moment, run one of the unsuccessful AVIs through GSpot or MediaInfo. Post the jnformation here if you're not sure what it all means. And if you or your programs are just using the same sample rates and bitrates as the AAC audio from YouTube, then change it (increase it). Heck, I didn't even know that AutoGK accepted videos with AAC audio.

[Valerc]

OK, good suggestions... Here is my Auto GK log from one rejected AVI.

[02/08/2012 18:06:31] AutoGK 2.55
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] OS: Windows Vista (6.0.6000).2
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Job started.
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Input file: C:\Users\Valentina\Desktop\land.avi
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Input codec: Intel H.264
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Source duration: 2mn 31s 652ms
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Output file: C:\Users\Valentina\Desktop\land_agk.avi
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Output codec: XviD
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Audio 1: 160 Kbps MPEG-1/2 L3 2ch
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Subtitles: from external file: C:\Users\Valentina\Desktop\blog\4-ready2go\land srt.srt
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Format: AVI
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Target size: 17Mb
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Custom resolution settings: fixed width of 640 pixels
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Audio 1 settings: CBR MP3 with bitrate: 144Kbps
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Started encoding.
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Source resolution: 640x360
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Source fps: 23,976
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Output will contain 3636 frames
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Demuxing audio.
*************************************
EXCEPTION: Unsupported audio type.
*************************************
[02/08/2012 18:06:31] Job finished. Total time: 0 seconds
================================================== ==

[Valerc]

And here is the MediaInfo log for the same AVI file I posted above:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Valentina\Desktop\land.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 17.6 MiB
Duration : 2mn 31s
Overall bit rate : 973 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf52.94.0

Video
ID : 0
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : H264
Duration : 2mn 31s
Bit rate : 800 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.145
Stream size : 14.5 MiB (82%)
Writing library : x264 core 112 r1834 a51816a
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=800 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.41 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 2mn 31s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 160 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 2.89 MiB (16%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 24 ms (0.58 video frame)
Writing library : LAME3.98.4

[manono]

Interesting. Your MP3 audio seems to be perfectly good. Is there any reason you're reencoding the audio? You can have AutoGK just use the original audio unchanged. Is it because the source audio might be VBR and your subbing program doesn't like that? Anyway, I did a test and the main change I made was in the Advanced Settings where I had it pass-through the audio, rather than reencoding it. I have no idea why it says 'AC3/DTS/MPA only since it seems to easily pass MP3 audio. You might try that.

Are you really feeding H.264 video into AutoGK? Shouldn't you make it XviD or DivX?

[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] AutoGK 2.55
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Job started.
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Input file: E:\AutoGKtest\Ab Der Ho Gayi Wallah.avi
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Input codec: XviD
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Source duration: 3mn 51s 732ms
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Output file: E:\AutoGKtest\Ab Der Ho Gayi Wallah_agk.avi
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Output codec: XviD
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Audio 1: 129 Kbps VBR MP3 2ch
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Subtitles: from external file: E:\AutoGKtest\Ab Der Ho Gayi Wallah.srt
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Format: AVI
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Target quality: 75%
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Audio 1 settings: Original
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Started encoding.
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Source resolution: 640x480
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Source fps: 23.976
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Output will contain 5556 frames
[8/2/2012 12:07:15 PM] Demuxing audio.
[8/2/2012 12:07:17 PM] Preparing subtitles.
[8/2/2012 12:07:17 PM] Using VAQ in XviD
[8/2/2012 12:07:17 PM] Running single pass encoding.
.
.
.
[8/2/2012 12:08:24 PM] Duration was: 1 minute, 6 seconds
[8/2/2012 12:08:24 PM] Speed was: 82.98 fps.
[8/2/2012 12:08:24 PM] Job finished. Total time: 1 minute, 9 seconds

[Valerc]

manono, how do you configure it so it will pass through the audio?? Sounds like a great idea.

Is there any reason you're reencoding the audio? You can have AutoGK just use the original audio unchanged. Is it because the source audio might be VBR and your subbing program doesn't like that?

EXACTLY!! manono, I didn´t explain that part, but really I have 2 problems. Not just the problem with Auto GK. The problem is this: what Auto GK likes, Subtitle Workshop dislikes, and vice versa. So I need to do 2 conversions, one for SW with mp3 audio, and a new one for AutoGK with AAC or AC3 audio. Really not practical.

I also tried what you suggest in your image about the advanced settings for AutoGK. But the problem persists. Because that is for the output sound, and the probem is the input, not the output. The problem is the videos I try to convert. This codec thing is a never ending story, and I still can´t believe that I need to use 30 different little programs and that they are all mutually incompatible from the codecs and supported formats point of view..... ((( It´s literally exhausting... I have kept changing codecs and tried everything I could think of, but there doesn´t seem to be a stable solution.

[usually_quiet]

Well, I try to be a professional, and try to find subtitling jobs, which doesn't mean that I can pay $2000 for software.

That settles it, then. You are not yet a professional subtitler.

[Valerc]

Well, I am as professional as the rest of my fellow freelance subtitlers who also keep looking for jobs. That's what we do, you know...

Hey, Mr Quit, take a deep breath, enjoy the sunset... Sip your martini while you look at yourself in the mirror with your fiercest look. Come on... Was THAT your fiercest look? You are disappointing me, Quit... You seem a bit angry today, a bit stressed. Or maybe you are like that 24/7? I hope not, Quit! ))

[manono]

manono, how do you configure it so it will pass through the audio?? Sounds like a great idea.

I showed that in the included picture. Just tick 'Original'.

Have you considered trying a different subtitling program? For example, Aegisub opens both audio and video in a number of different formats to aid in subbing. Yes, it's hard sometimes to switch and then to learn a new program, but it's well respected and may be a little more 'tolerant' than what you're using now.

Or, if all you're using AutoGK for now is to add in the subs, can you do that yourself in VDub? You mentioned that AviDemux sometimes complains but since I have never used it, I can't comment.

The problem is the videos I try to convert. This codec thing is a never ending story

Right, that's what I think, too. I would never try and open anything with H.264 video or AAC audio in AutoGK as it's not designed for that. There are plenty of programs that will accept those as input, and add in subtitles as well. Maybe Freemake Video Converter which can take about any kind of video and give you back an XviD/MP3 AVI with burned in subs. Baldrick even wrote a guide:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/331848-How-to-easily-convert-everything-to-anything...d-in-subtitles

That settles it, then. You are not yet a professional subtitler.

That's a little harsh, I think. Yes, the real pros use super-expensive programs to create subs in formats useless to anyone not using those same programs. It's a closed fraternity and they aim to keep it that way. I've done a lot of subbing work myself and have always used freeware and create subs better than those I see on most retail DVDs. How is one supposed to get started as a professional (which I don't aim to do), if he can't afford all that (unnecessary) stuff?

Some of the subs the anime guys create (from freeware programs) are almost works of art.

[Valerc]

Hey, I think I will have to start looking for alternatives, like you say. By the way, I was looking at Aegisub, but I can´t change the hotkeys. That is VERY important for me. The good news is that it admits Mp4, which Subtitle Workshop didn´t. But if I can´t customize the hotkeys....

I am not familiar with VDub. I think that Aegisub has a lot of options, and I will have to start investigating it....

Yes, I am using Freemake video Converter too... It´s rather good. Thanks for the guide.

Thanks, manono.

[Valerc]

I tried the portable version and I uninstalled the 2.19 and installed the 2.18 version. Hotkeys are totally dead.

[manono]

By the way, I was looking at Aegisub, but I can´t change the hotkeys. That is VERY important for me. The good news is that it admits Mp4, which Subtitle Workshop didn´t. But if I can´t customize the hotkeys....

Me, I still use SubstationAlpha, which only opens a mono 8-bit audio file, and no video. And sometimes Aegisub. Maybe someone else will know of a subbing program you can use that meets your requirements. Good luck.

Oh, VirtualDub (VDub) is an AVI encoding program. I suggested it as a possible way to hard-code your subs. It's not a subtitling program.

[usually_quiet]

Well, I am as professional as the rest of my fellow freelance subtitlers who also keep looking for jobs. That's what we do, you know...

Hey, Mr Quit, take a deep breath, enjoy the sunset... Sip your martini while you look at yourself in the mirror with your fiercest look. Come on... Was THAT your fiercest look? You are disappointing me, Quit... You seem a bit angry today, a bit stressed. Or maybe you are like that 24/7? I hope not, Quit! ))

I think you need that drink more than I do. You seem a bit defensive, but you have reason to be I suppose...