VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 2
1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 30 of 53
Thread
  1. Hi

    I have been reading and unsuccessfully trying ALL the different methods to add subtitles to an MPEG file, and itīs been impossible. Those programs simply donīt work for me. Also, itīs absolutely crazy that you will need to install 3 or 4 different programs and install some parts of them into Windows/System 32 folder. Thatīs NOT a good thing. Good software doesnīt work like that. The best solutions are the simplest and neatest ones. Always.

    Is there a straightforward, simple and single program to add my text subtitles (.srt or any necessary format) into a video? I donīt want a DVD with chapters and menus. Just a simple video mpg or avi, with subtitles.

    Those programs are not good!!

    Avisynth
    VirtualDub
    VobSub
    VSFilter

    Like I said, I downloaded ALL of them and tried to make the puzzle work, but itīs impossible for me? What crazy person had hte idea to use 4 different softwares like that and install them into different directories to make such a simple task as add a subtitle to a video?
    Quote Quote  
  2. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    Those programs are not good!!

    Avisynth
    VirtualDub
    VobSub
    VSFilter
    They don't work for you, maybe. They work well for thousands of others.

    Try AutoGK for converting to XviD AVI and follow Baldrick's guide for adding in the subs:

    https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/256625-How-to-add-permanent-subtitles-with-AutoGK-a...I-DivX-or-XviD

    Of course, it'll use those same programs you so despise, but 'behind-the-scenes', so-to-speak.
    Quote Quote  
  3. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Sweden
    Search Comp PM
    You could also use the simple freemake video converter. load your video. click on no subtitles to load a srt,ssa,ass subs. click to mpeg or to avi. encode.

    But you can't adjust any subtitle settings. And be sure to disable any adware toolbars when you install freemake products.
    Quote Quote  
  4. Hi manono...

    Thanks so much for your reply. I despise the method. I have been reading the guides and you need to be installing .dlls into different subfolders of system 32 and you need to install 3 different programs and stuff. Thatīs an awful thing to do, really.
    I canīt believe nobody has still invented a real single program for this.

    Is it necessary to convert my MPG file into AVI? What for?

    Thanks
    Quote Quote  
  5. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    Is it necessary to convert my MPG file into AVI? What for?
    Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    Just a simple video mpg or avi, with subtitles.
    Did you forget what you originally asked for?

    Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    I despise the method. I have been reading the guides and you need to be installing .dlls into different subfolders of system 32 and you need to install 3 different programs and stuff. Thatīs an awful thing to do, really.
    Don't be silly. Why reinvent the wheel when you can take advantage of the good work done by others and use them together in your own integrated program? They're all installed by AutoGK without any pain or effort on your part. Apparently you didn't understand what you read about it.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Exactly... Why use a square wheel if everybody knows that round wheels are the best? Why using 4 programs instead of just one? Nevermind... OK, I tried AutoGordianKnot and it worked, but it also changed the video appearance. It looks compressed (taller images) and also it is pixelated in some random parts. What can I do to have a subtitled video with the same quality than the original ?

    Thanks!
    Quote Quote  
  7. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    What can I do to have a subtitled video with the same quality than the original ?
    You can't, since it's being reencoded from a lossy codec into another lossy codec. And maybe you used some setting to make it too small. Please post the log AutoGK created for you. As for it being the wrong aspect ratio, more information is needed there also. That can be corrected in the Hidden Options of AutoGK if you know the source DAR.

    And if you would really prefer another MPG, you might try Baldrick's suggestion.
    Quote Quote  
  8. Hey, thanks so much, monono... Something else, it seems to automatically convert it from my original mpeg to .avi. Is that the only way? Itīs just a video I want to upload to YouTube, but quality is important. Also, I noticed that it has added some kind of effects to the subtitles, some shadow. How to keep it without shadows?

    Hereīs the log:


    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] AutoGK 2.55
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] OS: Windows Vista (6.0.6000).2
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Job started.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Input file: C:\Users\Alem\Desktop\blog\film1.mpg
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Output file: C:\Users\Alem\Desktop\blog\film1.avi
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Output codec: XviD
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Audio 1: Audio Stream 0 MPEG
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Subtitles: none
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Format: AVI
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Target quality: 97%
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Custom resolution settings: fixed width of 320 pixels
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Audio 1 settings: Auto
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Started encoding.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Demuxing and indexing.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Processing file: C:\Users\Valentina\Desktop\blog\180 SOUTH (Version definitiva).mpg
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Source resolution: 320x240
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Found PAL source.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Source aspect ratio: 1:1
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Output will contain 11551 frames
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Using VAQ in XviD
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Running single pass encoding.
    [20/06/2012 19:12:51] Duration was: 4 minutes 33 seconds
    [20/06/2012 19:12:51] Speed was: 42,21 fps.
    [20/06/2012 19:12:51] Job finished. Total time: 4 minutes 42 seconds
    Quote Quote  
  9. Hey, thanks so much, monono... Something else, it seems to automatically convert it from my original mpeg to .avi. Is that the only way? Itīs just a video I want to upload to YouTube, but quality is important. Also, I noticed that it has added some kind of effects to the subtitles, some shadow. How to keep it without shadows?

    Hereīs the log:


    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] AutoGK 2.55
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] OS: Windows Vista (6.0.6000).2
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Job started.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Input file: C:\Users\Alem\Desktop\blog\film1.mpg
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Output file: C:\Users\Alem\Desktop\blog\film1.avi
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Output codec: XviD
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Audio 1: Audio Stream 0 MPEG
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Subtitles: none
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Format: AVI
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Target quality: 97%
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Custom resolution settings: fixed width of 320 pixels
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Audio 1 settings: Auto
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Started encoding.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:09] Demuxing and indexing.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Processing file: C:\Users\Alem\Desktop\blog\film1.mpg
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Source resolution: 320x240
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Found PAL source.
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Source aspect ratio: 1:1
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Output will contain 11551 frames
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Using VAQ in XviD
    [20/06/2012 19:08:17] Running single pass encoding.
    [20/06/2012 19:12:51] Duration was: 4 minutes 33 seconds
    [20/06/2012 19:12:51] Speed was: 42,21 fps.
    [20/06/2012 19:12:51] Job finished. Total time: 4 minutes 42 seconds
    Quote Quote  
  10. Something else... I also have Sony Vegas. Would it be good to try this that I need to do?
    Quote Quote  
  11. Thanks for the log. It says the source aspect ratio is 320x240 , and its DAR is 1:1. So, you should have gotten an AVI out of it also at 320x240, and it should play exactly as does the original one. If it doesn't, then something's wrong with the player you're using to play the original MPG, I would guess. You can open the original MPG in VDubMod and compare it with the AVI and see if round things are round in both (sun, moon, a ball or wheel, clock, etc.)

    Also, at 97% you created an AVI with a very high quality as compared to the source, which is crap, being of such a low resolution. Maybe by 'pixelated' you're referring to the 'blockiness' sometimes seen in AVIs in dark places or solid colored areas, such as skies. My guess is the same things are in the source, but maybe not so obvious.

    Yes, AutoGK only makes AVIs. If you want an MPG or something else, use the one Baldrick mentioned, or some other program.

    You know, don't you, that you don't have to burn the subs into the video if you want to upload to YouTube and have it show subs. Just add SRT subtitles later on after uploading and then they can be selectable so people that don't want them don't have to see them. Something like this maybe:

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNSIj4GW6tM

    Hit the grey 'CC' button so it turns red to see the subs. YouTube accepts subs in SRT format. If your source is SRT subs and you're burning them in, you have no choice as to how they'll look in the video. Convert them to SSA subs and then you have a choice of styles (font, size, colors, outline, etc.)

    Also, you can upload the source MPG to YouTube. It doesn't have to be converted to anything else.
    Quote Quote  
  12. Thanks again, manono...

    I need the subtitles to be seen always. Thatīs the most important part. They HAVE to be visible always.

    I just had the impression that the image was a bit compressed, with taller figures. Maybe itīs just my impression. What about the 97% quality? Are you suggesting I should use a lower quality?

    About the file being an AVI or an MPEG, itīs not really important for me. What matters is that the quality wonīt be affected.

    So, any tweaks I can use in this program to make the result better? What about the visual effect appearing in the subtitles? How to get rid of it?

    Thanks!
    Quote Quote  
  13. If the MPG is 320x420 with an 1:1 aspect ratio and the AVI is the same, then they should both play the same - with the same aspect ratio.

    Many people (including myself) would say a 97% quality is overkill, but it should give you a quality very close to that of the source.

    The advantage of AutoGK is that it makes it easy for beginners to get good results without knowing too much. And for that same reason there are very few tweaks you can make to change or improve the output. Otherwise, to really tweak the results you do it all manually using the programs you mentioned at the beginning - the ones you hate.

    As I mentioned there's no way to change the appearance of the subs using AutoGK, if the subs are SRT. If you convert them to SSA , SSA subs have lots of ways their appearance can be changed, as I mentioned before. SSA subs are accepted by AutoGK and will keep whatever styles you've set for them.
    Quote Quote  
  14. You probably don't want to hear this, since you're looking for simple solutions, but 320x240 means youtube re-encodes it with h.263 (not h.264) and a very low bitrate - this means low visual quality. It also means worse audio quality and reduced sampling as well .

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs

    This is a case where upscaling will benefit the final appearance and audio on youtube (also subs will be more legible)
    Quote Quote  
  15. Originally Posted by poisondeathray View Post
    You probably don't want to hear this, since you're looking for simple solutions, but 320x240 means youtube re-encodes it with h.263 (not h.264) and a very low bitrate - this means low visual quality. It also means worse audio quality and reduced sampling as well .

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs

    This is a case where upscaling will benefit the final appearance and audio on youtube (also subs will be more legible)

    Now I am worried!! You mean that YouTube will even worsen my videos? The problem is that my originals are 320 x 240, and the quality is fine for what I need. I just donīt want less quality than that. Any other solution? I was thinking to use YouTube because I want to show those videos in a blog, and as long as I know, I first need to upload the videos to some place...
    Quote Quote  
  16. Yes youtube re-encodes everything, and quality always gets worse . (Upscaling is a method used to "trick" youtube into using higher bitrates)

    Also mpeg2 isn't a streaming format (you can't embed in a blog for example) , so it has to be re-encoded anyway .

    Any time you re-encode using a lossy format you lose quality

    The problem is if you embed subs, you re-encode, then youtube re-encodes - so you lose 2 rounds of quality

    You can minimize that loss by using a host that doesn't re-encode , but there aren't many free ones. blip.tv used to let you do it if you wrap the video in .flv (not sure if this still works)
    Quote Quote  
  17. Sooo... It seems that I need to go 10 steps backwards, or sort of...

    Whatīs the best way to keep quality and have fixed subtitles (not optional subtitles, like the CC YouTube button) I need the subtitled videos for a blog, like I said... Anything I can do with Sony Vegas?
    Quote Quote  
  18. Originally Posted by manono View Post
    If the MPG is 320x420 with an 1:1 aspect ratio and the AVI is the same, then they should both play the same - with the same aspect ratio.

    Many people (including myself) would say a 97% quality is overkill, but it should give you a quality very close to that of the source.

    The advantage of AutoGK is that it makes it easy for beginners to get good results without knowing too much. And for that same reason there are very few tweaks you can make to change or improve the output. Otherwise, to really tweak the results you do it all manually using the programs you mentioned at the beginning - the ones you hate.

    As I mentioned there's no way to change the appearance of the subs using AutoGK, if the subs are SRT. If you convert them to SSA , SSA subs have lots of ways their appearance can be changed, as I mentioned before. SSA subs are accepted by AutoGK and will keep whatever styles you've set for them.

    The quality seems to be acceptable after all, except for the subtitles, which have an added shadow. I tried your idea about SSA format but itīs not working. The resulting video has no subtitles at all.

    Something else: an extra problem is that some subtitles position is wrong, at random. There are a couple of subtitles which are situated almost in the middle of the screen! Crazy. I have reviewed the .srt file and thereīs nothing wrong there.

    Now poisondeathray is saying that if I use 320 x 240 Youtube is going to destroy my video quality even more...
    Quote Quote  
  19. Is youtube still going to be the content delivery provider ?

    But maybe it's "good enough" for your blog purposes? Did you try uploading the output to youtube and viewing it?

    A better way is to use proper upscaling (through avisynth - don't complain, it's free, or something like video enhancer), and vsfilter using ASS subs . With ASS subs you have control over everything

    Sony vegas is no benefit here (it's only useful if you are video editing), and it doesn't upscale very well


    Now poisondeathray is saying that if I use 320 x 240 Youtube is going to destroy my video quality even more...
    That's not what I said... What I'm saying is Youtube will reduce quality regardless of what you do. This is unavoidable

    If you upscale properly, you can end up with not as much quality loss because Youtube will use better encoding methods and higher bitrate . Moreover, subs will be more legible if you upscale, then hardsub
    Last edited by poisondeathray; 20th Jun 2012 at 20:14.
    Quote Quote  
  20. I donīt know if youtube is the best place to upload. Itīs basically the most well known. I will later try to upload and see what happens.

    And I will also try the other option you gave me: blip.tv. But I prefer them to be located at Youtube, definitely.

    And I donīt know what upscale means... HOw do you do what you describe here: "upscaling (through avisynth - don't complain, it's free, or something like video enhancer), and vsfilter using ASS subs." ??
    Quote Quote  
  21. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post


    And I donīt know what upscale means... HOw do you do what you describe here: "upscaling (through avisynth - don't complain, it's free, or something like video enhancer), and vsfilter using ASS subs." ??

    I would try small test on youtube as is first - see if quality is acceptable and subs are legible.





    Upscale means resizing to higher resolution +/- other post processing like antialiasing . For example 640x480.

    320x240 videos only get about 250kb/s video bitrate and h.263, but 480p videos get about 1000kb/s and h.264/avc

    It might take a few hours to learn the basics of how to use avisynth, and it can be difficult for people new to it
    Quote Quote  
  22. Yes, but... If my original source is 320x240 I canīt upscale it without getting a totally pixelated video. Right?

    If I transform it into a 640x480 video, that will be very ugly!
    Quote Quote  
  23. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    Yes, but... If my original source is 320x240 I canīt upscale it without getting a totally pixelated video. Right?

    It depends on the source quality, and the encoding format/settings.

    If there was pixellation in the original, then you would use a deblocking filter before you upscale and encode

    If you use high enough bitrate and good enough compression, and source was good, then there won't be pixellation in the export (but what youtube does to it is another matter)


    The point about youtube is even if there is no pixellation in the video you upload, h.263 (not h.264) at 250kb/s likely will cause pixellation on the youtube video . h.263 is bottom of the barrel, bad compression format
    Quote Quote  
  24. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    The quality seems to be acceptable after all, except for the subtitles, which have an added shadow. I tried your idea about SSA format but itīs not working. The resulting video has no subtitles at all.
    How did you convert your SRT subs to SSA? I use Subtitle Resynch which is included in the VobSub package. Then you can open them in SubStation Alpha and set the styles you want. ASS subs are also good, and you use Aegisub on them, except if using AutoGK it doesn't accept them.

    Now poisondeathray is saying that if I use 320 x 240 Youtube is going to destroy my video quality even more...
    The quality will be lowered anyway, but just more as a 240p video (320x240) than if you upscale it to 640x480, for example. Then you'll be able to view it as a 480p video which uses better encoding settings. To do that in AutoGK go into the Advanced Settings and set a fixed width of 640.
    Quote Quote  
  25. Originally Posted by manono View Post
    Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    The quality seems to be acceptable after all, except for the subtitles, which have an added shadow. I tried your idea about SSA format but itīs not working. The resulting video has no subtitles at all.
    How did you convert your SRT subs to SSA? I use Subtitle Resynch which is included in the VobSub package. Then you can open them in SubStation Alpha and set the styles you want. ASS subs are also good, and you use Aegisub on them, except if using AutoGK it doesn't accept them.

    Now poisondeathray is saying that if I use 320 x 240 Youtube is going to destroy my video quality even more...
    The quality will be lowered anyway, but just more as a 240p video (320x240) than if you upscale it to 640x480, for example. Then you'll be able to view it as a 480p video which uses better encoding settings. To do that in AutoGK go into the Advanced Settings and set a fixed width of 640.
    To convert the subtitles to SSA I opened my srt file in Subtitle Workshop and saved it as SSA. Just that.

    OK, it seems that I will have to try to upscale!!
    Quote Quote  
  26. Originally Posted by poisondeathray View Post
    Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    Yes, but... If my original source is 320x240 I canīt upscale it without getting a totally pixelated video. Right?

    It depends on the source quality, and the encoding format/settings.

    If there was pixellation in the original, then you would use a deblocking filter before you upscale and encode

    If you use high enough bitrate and good enough compression, and source was good, then there won't be pixellation in the export (but what youtube does to it is another matter)


    The point about youtube is even if there is no pixellation in the video you upload, h.263 (not h.264) at 250kb/s likely will cause pixellation on the youtube video . h.263 is bottom of the barrel, bad compression format
    Thereīs no pixellation in the original video, apparently. But I have no idea how to do that upscale, with the compression and bitrate details... No idea.
    Quote Quote  
  27. OK.... I tried my 320x240 video on YouTube, and the quality is not really affected. Thereīs the 2 lateral black spaces, though, obviously. ANd also the loading time seems longer than for bigger videos.

    Also, like I said yesterday, the Auto Gordian Knot has done something to the image, and everything looks laterally compressed, "thinner" and "taller".

    Sooo... What steps should I take to upscale before uploading to Youtube?

    Thanks so much!
    Last edited by Valerc; 21st Jun 2012 at 14:31.
    Quote Quote  
  28. Are you sure you want to upscale? You seem reluctant to use those programs in the 1st post . It might take you a few hours to learn the basics and do some reading . If the current youtube video is "good enough" maybe you should leave it as that?

    Start here
    http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/First_script
    http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Getting_started


    The short summary is you need to create an .avs script . Index your file with DGIndex, create an avs script, use NNEDI3 to upscale, plus some sharpening (e.g. LSFMod) . Each one is a plugin that you need load or place in the avisynth plugins directory

    An example script for video only might look something like this (you would adjust the parameters like sharpen strength):

    Code:
    MPEG2Source("PATH\file.d2v")
    nnedi3_rpow2(qual=2,nsize=0,rfactor=2,cshift="spline36resize") 
    LSFMod(strength=80)
    TextSub("subs.ass")
    You can either encode audio separately or include it in the script. You can use the original audio for example, multiplex it then upload to youtube

    I don't expect you to understand any of this until you start reading some basics




    For the aspect ratio issues with autogk, can you post a small sample of the source video (cut it with mpg2cut2)
    Quote Quote  
  29. Well, I am never reluctant to learn useful things. I just hate when things are impractical and not optimized. My idea of practical is having one program and not 4 to do one thing. Just that... ))

    It sounds complicated. What programs do I exactly need to do it in total?
    Quote Quote  
  30. Originally Posted by Valerc View Post
    Well, I am never reluctant to learn useful things. I just hate when things are impractical and not optimized. My idea of practical is having one program and not 4 to do one thing. Just that... ))

    It sounds complicated. What programs do I exactly need to do it in total?

    Yes it is confusing if you're new to it. I remember how difficult it was learning it too. I avoided learning it for years - it was too scary. But once you get the basics, it's actually very simple - this type of filtering is very simple compared to the complex scripts

    avisynth and dgindex are the only programs. Only avisynth needs installation, dgindex is standalone application. The others are plugins nnedi3, vsfilter, lsfmod (which relies on 4 other filters listed on the info page)

    http://web.missouri.edu/~kes25c/nnedi_v1.3.zip
    http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/LSFmod
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!