Create a divx container with multiple AC3 audio and subtitle

[bahrkarl]

This is just an overview of the programs and processes used to create a single divx file for Divx Certified players. It allows you to create up to 8 audio streams and 8 subtitle tracks, selectable with your remote. Note that these files have been tested and confirmed on an LG LRA-536 DVD Recorder and a Panasonic S49 DVD Player.

This guide assumes you have VOB files with AC3 audio and subtitles.


Reason:

Well, there doesn't seem to be a program that can combine everything easily to create a single video file for playing on your home DVD player (by this I mean Divx Certified players). The problem has always been with subtitles. Trying to convert them manually is a pain, especially with the special characters (The four languages I use are English, French, Russian and German). Using the new Divx Create Bundle is good except that the audio is converted to MP3 (no surround for you!) and the quality is limited to a few non-editable profiles. The key was using Fuse to combine the two main programs (Dr Divx and Divx Creator).


Tools (chosen for ease of use):

DVD Decrypter (or some program to get the VOB files)
Dr Divx (for converting the main video)
Divx Create Bundle (for creating the subtitles)
DVD2AVI (for extracting the audio streams)
VirtualDubMod (for combining the audio streams and video)
Fuse (for creating the final divx file with subtitles)

Note that the resulting files will have a .divx extension, unless you opt to have no subtitles, in which case it will be an AVI file. For actual details on using the programs, please look at specific guides (and there are many good ones) for each one.


Step 1) DVD Decrypter:

Extract your movie/video to the hard drive, if you have not already done so. I use IFO mode (each title is individual), as Dr Divx sometimes has problems with FILE mode.


Step 2) Dr Divx:

Be aware that you do not need to apply the "Divx6 for Dr Divx" hack/patch unless you prefer to use that codec. I myself am quite happy with the Divx5 that comes with Dr Divx.

Encode your movie to an AVI file with Dr Divx and your favorite settings. Personally, I use 1400kbps one-pass and original AC3 audio. All other settings I keep on default. You can save a profile if you want with your settings. The divx file you just created can be used by itself, if all you want is video and one audio stream, with no subtitles.


Step 3) DVD2AVI:

If you want multiple audio, then you need to extract the audio streams from the VOB files. Use DVD2AVI to open the VOBs and save the project; This will extract ALL audio streams at once.


Step 4) VirtualDubMod:

If you need multiple audio, then you now have to add the extra streams to the video you created with Dr Divx. In VirtualDubMod, open the video file, set the video to "Direct Stream Output" and add the streams you want to the "Streams List" (i.e. the audio from DVD2AVI you extracted). You may have to listen to the streams to find the one you want, as the names are sometimes a bit confusing.

Save the final file as AVI. If you don't need subtitles, you are finished.
This file is NOT a .divx file, however, and should be tested for compatability. One way to create .divx file with multiple audio is to encode the video multiple times with a different audio stream, and then Fuse them together at the end (see the steps below). I've never tried this myself - it's only an idea and is not guaranteed to work. It may look something like this:

"Fuse -v video.avi -a audio2.avi -a audio3.avi -o final_output.divx


Step 5) Divx Create Bundle

Launch the Divx Creator and add your original VOB files. Deselect all the audio (you won't need it) and select the subtitles you want. Change the profile to "Handheld" as this encodes the fastest and we don't need the video portion. The resulting file be a .divx file with your subtitles embedded. The good thing about this is that all special characters are retained, and you don't have to do any processing yourself!


Step 6) Fuse

Now the fun part. Gather all your audio/video pieces in one folder and at the command line, Fuse them together. The command should look something like this (no quotes):

"Fuse -v video_from_drdivx_or_vdub.avi -s subtitles.divx -o final_output.divx"



Well. I hope that's as clear as mud. Again, I can't guarantee that this will all work perfectly for every situation, but I personally have success joining a DrDivx video file with AC3 audio to a subtitle file from Divx Creator. Using these methods, it takes me approximately 2hrs to encode a 2hr movie (15min for DVD Decrypter, 60min for DrDivx, 30min for Divx Creator, and the rest for other extracting/fusing, etc)

If you have other methods/programs that work (or work better), good for you! You can post them as you please.


Addendum: This whole process may be a moot point as word is the next version of Dr Divx is on it's way, and will support all kinds of good stuff.

[qknet]

When I try "IFO mode", I could convert DVD to divx format with Divx Convertor (subtitles and audio streams selectable).

With "FILE mode" the subtitles did not show up in Divx Convertor.

[kurbads]

I also was able to load subtitles only after choosing IFO mode -> enable stream processing. Then I selected video stream, subtitle streams no audio streams and decrypted it to one 5GB VOB file. DivX converter encoded a 3 hour movie in handheld quality in 5 min. but it took about an hour to encode 3 subtitle streams. The tricky part was to discover the "View List" button on "Drop files here" screen.