How to add new subtitles to an existing DVD

[manono]

I'm sorry...which question didn't I answer? I was opening the VIDEO_TS folder with PowerDVD and playing through there, and then switching on subs.

That's one of the questions. So, PowerDVD shows subs that can be selected, but when you select them nothing shows up? And when you open the DVD in PGCEdit and double-click on the movie, the subs are listed in the new screen?

I don't know how the subs are incomplete. Do they show up in DVDSubEdit, or are they skipped entirely. I don't create subs the way this guide does, so I don't really know the problem.

[headless chicken]

So, PowerDVD shows subs that can be selected, but when you select them nothing shows up?

That is correct.

And when you open the DVD in PGCEdit and double-click on the movie, the subs are listed in the new screen?

I am not familiar with PGCEdit. Can you explain where I would click and the subs might be listed?

I don't know how the subs are incomplete. Do they show up in DVDSubEdit, or are they skipped entirely.

The lines in question are completely missing in DVDSubEdit

[manono]

Didn't you say this DVD was made from a VCD source? If so, perhaps the problem is related to that and maybe the subs are just too low to be seen (raise them in DVDSubEdit) or maybe something else causes it. I don't know for sure and perhaps someone else can help.

[headless chicken]

OK, so I recreated the sub file with SubtitleCreator and then remuxed the audio, video and new sub file with ReJig (since muxman does not work). I am trying to play the muxed output VIDEO_TS with PowerDVD but there are no menus (the first movie just starts playing) or chapters. FFwing closes the movie. Anyway, the subtiles are once again not visible.

I opened the full domain in DVDSubEdit and they are visible but the colors are all off. Please advise.

[manono]

...since muxman does not work

If Muxman doesn't work, then either you're doing something wrong or something's not DVD compliant. Check the Muxman log in the root of the 'C' drive. What kind of error message are you getting? Or what doesn't load?

[headless chicken]

...since muxman does not work

If Muxman doesn't work, then either you're doing something wrong or something's not DVD compliant. Check the Muxman log in the root of the 'C' drive. What kind of error message are you getting? Or what doesn't load?

Its noncompliant. I knew that when I was authoring the DVD with TMPGEnc Authoring works--something about GOP length being too long. Thats why I had no choice but to use ReJig. I think you were the one who suggested that, actually.

[headless chicken]

OK, so I recreated the sub file with SubtitleCreator and then remuxed the audio, video and new sub file with ReJig (since muxman does not work). I am trying to play the muxed output VIDEO_TS with PowerDVD but there are no menus (the first movie just starts playing) or chapters. FFwing closes the movie. Anyway, the subtiles are once again not visible.

I opened the full domain in DVDSubEdit and they are visible but the colors are all off. Please advise.

Screw it. None of these programs work they way they are intended to. I'll just use the subtitle rendering native to TMPGEnc Authoring Works even though the image quality is poor. At least I won't be wasting my time with these fruitless applications driving myself even crazier.

[sfalcon]

Hello there!

I have followed this "How to" to replace the audio (by another equalized track). I suceeded in doing it, but the chapters menu does'nt work at all. When I use the VOB BLANKER to prepare the whole DVD, it blanks all chapters so that when I try to go to any chapter the main menu always appears, instead. I noticed (using the PGC edit) that all the chapters (delivered by VOB BLANKER) have the same time (start and end).
Is there any way to work around this problem?
I tried to edit the start and end time in PGC EDIT, but it seems not to be able to do it.
Tks for any help you can give.

rgds
sfalcon

[manono]

Is there any way to work around this problem?

Yes, by loading the chapters into Muxman when reauthoring. Go File->Import Chapter and load the Celltimes.txt.

[sfalcon]

Is there any way to work around this problem?

Yes, by loading the chapters into Muxman when reauthoring. Go File->Import Chapter and load the Celltimes.txt.

Great help! Now it's the way I wanted it.
tks

[tmangia]

many thanks!
I've got an unwanted color for the subtitles, but I used DVDSubEdit and it worked!
However, the subtitles got no synchronization with the video. I don't know what I can do. Does this error have to do if the video is widescreen or letterbox?
If yes, how can I recognize if a video is 4:3 or 16:9? Also, how can I recognise if the subtitle was made for 4:3 or 16:9?

Any help, please?

thanks!

[manono]

Out of synch subs have nothing to do with whether or not the video is 4:3 or 16:9. Maybe the subs you have don't match the video - one for NTSC, the other for PAL, or vice-versa.

[tmangia]

so, is there a way for converting from one format to another?
I see that the begining of the movie (Tombs Of The Blind Dead, 1973) works well, but when I go to the middle/end of the movie, it all gets out of synch.
I've used Mediainfo and it says the movie is 8000kbps, 720*480 (16:9), 29.970fps, MPEG video (NTSC)

Now, I don't know how I can recognize the subtitle, if its ntsc or pal. It's a srt format.

Any programs that can fix it?

thanks!

[manono]

Your movie is NTSC. If the subs are from a PAL version of the movie then by the end of a 100 minute (one hour and 40 minutes) movie the PAL subs will be about 4 minutes earlier than NTSC subs, or the NTSC audio. There's always the chance that the subs come from a different cut, a different version, of the movie also. First I would check when the last sub is, when the last line of dialog is, and see how far they are apart from each other and check if that difference is about right for however long the movie is. Subs from PAL movies can easily be converted to NTSC, if that's the problem. One way is using SubtitleCreator in the Synchronize tab. Or, get a sub file made from the NTSC version of the movie.

[tmangia]

The movie is 01:31 hours long. The subtitles reaches 01:25 hours. So, a simple conversion could do that?
How can I adjust it with subtitlecreator??

thanks!

[manono]

So, a simple conversion could do that?

Maybe. You only said how long the movie is, and not when the last line of spoken dialog is. But, if you want to give it a try open the SRT in SubtitleCreator, go Synchronize->Convert Frame Rate, from 25 to 23.976, Apply, and finally File->Save SRT As, and give it a new name. You can also save it as VobSubs or as SUP.

[tmangia]

The last spoken word in the movie was said around 01:25:27, while the subtitles appear a little bit later.

I tried to convert the subtitle using subtitlecreator, but still continues with out of sync. So, I don't have any hopes if not synching manually. What do you think?

thank you

[manono]

The last spoken word in the movie was said around 01:25:27, while the subtitles appear a little bit later.

Then it's not a PAL subtiitle. How much later? If about 4-5 seconds then it's probably a drop-frame .vs non drop-frame( 29.97fps .vs 30fps) issue and be fixed in SubtitleCreator. If it's more, then the subs may have come from a different version of the movie. I would check at many different places in the movie. If they get steadily more and more out of synch, it can probably be fixed by 'stretching' the subs to match. If they're in synch and then somewhere they take a big jump out of synch there's probably 2 different versions of the movie involved. Subs can always be fixed, but sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth. You might be better off looking for subtitles that match your copy of the movie.

[tmangia]

the problem is that I see this movie doesn't have a national release in my country, I don't see its popularity here, even amongst horror fan movies. I've found only one subtitle so far. I didn't find any other.

the difference between the spoken word and the subtitle appearing, was about to 1-2 seconds.

[manono]

If it's off by the same amount all the way through, then set a delay equal to the amount it's off. If it slowly gets more and more off, then stretch the subtitle so the first one matches the first line of dialog and the last sub matches the last line of dialog. I use other programs for this and don't know whether SubtitleCreator can do it or not. I know Subtitle Workshop can do it but someone else will have to help.

[Chainsaw_1]

I demux the original DVD (it's a 16 :9 dvd ) and there are 4 languages (original on dvd) so i get 8 SUP files which im muxing back together in muxman (im also adding some more languages of course), but is it realy necessary to mux the SUP made for letterbox back to the DVD ? Is it possible to only use those who are made for Wide ?, the text only gets a little fatter doesn't it ? even if the video in the dvd is 16:9 both (which it says in muxman) ?

[manono]

Why not do it the way it was intended? But yes, you can use the 16:9 subs for both 16:9 and 4:3 playback. You just have to load the same one twice for each stream. Same amount of work. When being shown on a 4:3 TV set the text will be thinner. If using VobBlanker to get back the original menus, you'll have to make some changes in the subtitle section afterwards using PGCEdit (something you'll have to do anyway if adding in new languages). I recommend doing it as they are on the DVD originally.

[Chainsaw_1]

Why not do it the way it was intended? But yes, you can use the 16:9 subs for both 16:9 and 4:3 playback. You just have to load the same one twice for each stream. Same amount of work. When being shown on a 4:3 TV set the text will be thinner. If using VobBlanker to get back the original menus, you'll have to make some changes in the subtitle section afterwards using PGCEdit (something you'll have to do anyway if adding in new languages). I recommend doing it as they are on the DVD originally.

ok, i have to use those made for letterbox to get the text thickr then. I know i have to do some updates in PGC edit. I tested this both on ps3 and an old stand alone DVD player. It worked fine i also tested it when i configured the standalone player to play 4:3 pan scan, 4:3 Letter box and 16:9 also worked fine.

The reason for not doing it the way it was is because im adding 16 more subtitles, i cant mux over 23 streams, because then i get buffer underflow error. So i have to do it in a diffrent way.

[manono]

Oh, I see. Good reason.

[Chainsaw_1]

Oh, I see. Good reason.

Yes, i have to make some changes in the subtitle menu selection as well, i use PGC edit and then DVDremake so i will get it updated


Thanks for your help

[tokintmash]

I didn't read through the whole thread, sorry if it's been brought up, how can I keep existing menus, add subtitles and have them switched on by default?

I've got a DVD that contains a lecture that is divided in two parts. The menu is just for choosing part 1 or part 2. There is no subtitle choice. I want to keep it that way and simply have subs switched on by default.

[manono]

...how can I keep existing menus...

That's what the guide is about. Follow Baldrick's method 2.

...add subtitles...

That's what the guide is about. Follow Baldrick's method 2.

...and have them switched on by default?

Open the DVD in PGCEdit. Highlight one of the videos in the left window. In the right window, right-click on 'pre commands' and 'Add After'. Double-click on the new 'NOP' line and in the new 'PGCEdit - Command Editor' window go Alphabetically->Set STN, and turn on the subs (and the audio while you're at it) as in the 2nd pic.

[manono]

When done you should see something like the picture below. Repeat for your part 2 video, save and test.

[tokintmash]

Thank you!

[r0lZ]

Note that normally, your player should turn the subtitle on automatically if it has been correctly set in the player's setups.

The rules are:

1. You must have defined your preferred audio language and preferred subtitle language in the player setup.

2. The audio streams present on the DVD must not include the language you have defined as your preferred audio language (as otherwise the player should assume that you don't need the subtitles).

3. The DVD must NOT set the audio and subpic language using a SetSTN command. (In other words, there must be no SetSTN command executed before the movie is reached in the DVD. That means that when the movie is played, the subtitle should still be "Not set".)

4. Of course, the language codes of the audio and subtitle streams must have been correctly defined in the DVD. (Examine them with "Domain Stream Attributes" in PgcEdit.)

If these conditions are met, then the player should automatically select the audio stream that matches your preferred audio language, and turn off the subtitles. If there is no audio stream matching your preferred audio language, it should use the first audio stream (that is normally the original language of the movie, but that's not always the case), and turn on the subtitle stream matching your preferred subtitle language.

Some players (notably most software players and some cheap hardware players without a setup menu) do not follow these rules, so you may want to force a specific audio and/or subtitle stream with a SetSTN command, as explained above by manono.