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  1. Member
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    Hey I'm looking for the best dvd authoring software that will give me the best quality and allow me to add subtitles with out the jagged lines. I don't care about the time frame it takes I wont the best of the best.

    I'm using ConvertXToDVD 5 which does its job but lacks in quality Also the subtitles are a bit off quality wise.


    Also this software seems to rock called AVStoDVD but I'm having issues converting certain titles with subs, I recently updated the program and reset the preferences and things seem to be working better. It's doing a 2nd pass on both titles at the moment and I'll get back to you guys on the results.

    I download a bunch of Korean tittles from this guy named MAJESTiC And his encode look wonderful with hard coded subs and everything even has a little shadow below the subs, and the quality is wonderful.


    Any Ideals you guys?
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  2. Originally Posted by mikayd View Post
    I wont the best of the best.
    Here you go: https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Sonic-Scenarist
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  3. Just some info, best DVD authoring tools don't necessarily do it all, meaning encode video, audio, subs and create DVD structure. There are tools out there for creating video (m2v), audio (AC3) and subs (srt, sup, bmp ) that are super good and do that one thing and they do it good. DVD authoring tool just imports streams and creates DVD's, multiplexing those streams and creating DVD structure. Or they do it all, creating those streams behind your back , kind of, but that is for user convenience, like avstodvd
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  4. Member steptoe's Avatar
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    In AVStoDVD, try extracting the subs first by choosing to demux the selected subtitles to where your video source is. Then add it as an external sub title. I did this with X-Men 5 First Class to just show hard coded subs in the German speaking parts. Letting AvstoDVD try on its own failed everytime with the subs only showing if selected manually by turning subtitles on in the standalone player of software player.

    Once I had extracted the subs, then added them as an external subtitle during encoding, it worked perfectly (as suggested to the author of AVStoDVD in relation to a subtitle issues asked by another user in his forum)
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    Originally Posted by mikayd View Post
    Hey I'm looking for the best dvd authoring software that will give me the best quality and allow me to add subtitles with out the jagged lines. I don't care about the time frame it takes I wont the best of the best.

    I'm using ConvertXToDVD 5 which does its job but lacks in quality Also the subtitles are a bit off quality wise.


    Also this software seems to rock called AVStoDVD but I'm having issues converting certain titles with subs, I recently updated the program and reset the preferences and things seem to be working better. It's doing a 2nd pass on both titles at the moment and I'll get back to you guys on the results.

    I download a bunch of Korean tittles from this guy named MAJESTiC And his encode look wonderful with hard coded subs and everything even has a little shadow below the subs, and the quality is wonderful.

    Any Ideals you guys?
    You can't have perfectly smooth subtitles like the ones you are after on a DVD except by hard-coding them.

    Regular DVD subtitles will be jagged by comparison because of the limitations on subtitles imposed by the DVD specification. The sub-picture format used for DVD subtitles restricts subtitles to one color for the text itself, one color for the background, one color for the text outline, and one color for anti-aliasing.
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  6. Originally Posted by smrpix View Post
    Originally Posted by mikayd View Post
    I wont the best of the best.
    Here you go: https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Sonic-Scenarist
    Agreed but the price tag is prohibitive.
    TMPG Authoring Works has always been my goto program.

    TMPGEnc Authoring Works
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    I'll second that, as great value for the money, and it handles many formats: TMPGenc Authouring Works 5.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 19th Mar 2014 at 10:50.
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  8. That's all very fine and well, but he asked for the best authoring software, and _Al_ set him straight about that. For best results you create the assets (M2V, Audio, Subtitles) yourself and then add them into the authoring program. The all-in-one programs, while they can help someone not very knowledgeable about making DVDs, are not the way to create the best looking subtitles which is, apparently, his main problem (once he stops using ConvertX).

    And usually_quiet's comment notwithstanding, I can create subs as good or better than those found on retail DVDs and hardcoding subs is not the way to go, if mikayd is holding up someone calling himself MAJESTIC as an example of what he wants to accomplish. Unless they were originally ASS subs with all kinds of fancy colors and fonts. Then you might not have much choice if you insist on keeping all that crap.
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    Originally Posted by manono View Post
    And usually_quiet's comment notwithstanding, I can create subs as good or better than those found on retail DVDs and hardcoding subs is not the way to go, if mikayd is holding up someone calling himself MAJESTIC as an example of what he wants to accomplish. Unless they were originally ASS subs with all kinds of fancy colors and fonts. Then you might not have much choice if you insist on keeping all that crap.
    DVD subtitles can look better or worse depending on the choice of font, font size, and subtitle software, but the sort of anti-aliasing needed make them look good for every font or legible font size is simply not available.
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    Hey Thanks for the help.

    steptoe - thanks for the refresh of how things work.

    transporterfan - I don't know how I feel out of touch with Tmpgenc but I thank you for sending me in the right direction.

    usually_quiet - That's exactly what I needed to know when it comes to my subs and the dvd player. I don't sale dvds but there is a certain quality I'm used to and I expect everything I touch to be of that same quality.

    _Al_ - Again thanks for shedding light on the separation aspect of things. I'll just stop being lazy and go that extra mile.

    smrpix - I don't have that type of money but thanks anyway.

    sanlyn - I'll give it a go.
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  11. Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    DVD subtitles can look better or worse depending on the choice of font, font size, and subtitle software, but the sort of anti-aliasing needed make them look good for every font or legible font size is simply not available.
    Would you agree that, under most circumstances, it's still better to create selectable subs using decent anti-aliased fonts, as opposed to burning them into the video? Although SSA subs allow for the use of shadow outlines, something mikayd specifically mentioned, MaestroSBT doesn't seem to honor it. I've never thought shadows all that important, only that the subs be clean and easily readable.
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    Originally Posted by manono View Post
    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    DVD subtitles can look better or worse depending on the choice of font, font size, and subtitle software, but the sort of anti-aliasing needed make them look good for every font or legible font size is simply not available.
    Would you agree that, under most circumstances, it's still better to create selectable subs using decent anti-aliased fonts, as opposed to burning them into the video? Although SSA subs allow for the use of shadow outlines, something mikayd specifically mentioned, MaestroSBT doesn't seem to honor it. I've never thought shadows all that important, only that the subs be clean and easily readable.
    I prefer selectable subtitles. Even if they were not the best quality possible for DVD subtitles, I'd still prefer them over hardcoded, but not everyone feels the same way.
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  13. Member ricardouk's Avatar
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    convert video with avs2dvd, output to elementary streams.
    convert edit subs with SubtitleCreator.
    Author with DvdLab, fully functional demo available, tweak the subs if needed: http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/Helppro/subtitles.htm
    if still not satisfied with how subs look after, you can always tweak them further after the authoring with DVDsubEdit without reauthoring everything again

    hope it helps
    I love it when a plan comes together!
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    How do people like DVD lab pro? I am thinking of making the jump to that. I would love to learn how to use Scenarist, but it looks daunting.

    Are there any dvd authoring programs that allow subs to overlap, meaning that if I would want to have two separate subs appear on the screen at roughly the same time: for example, film credits and spoken language.


    Thanks!
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  15. Member ricardouk's Avatar
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    I found DVDlab very easy to understand and use, the online manual is extremely detailed, menus, motion menus, subtitles, animated menus etc etc. All i needed was the manual and a lot of dvds.

    Film credits are usually hardcoded so no problem with overlapping.

    if you dont need menus and all the "fancy" stuff you can just use muxman.
    I love it when a plan comes together!
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    Originally Posted by ricardouk View Post
    I found DVDlab very easy to understand and use, the online manual is extremely detailed, menus, motion menus, subtitles, animated menus etc etc. All i needed was the manual and a lot of dvds.

    Film credits are usually hardcoded so no problem with overlapping.

    if you dont need menus and all the "fancy" stuff you can just use muxman.


    Most of the time, I work with foreign language films. I like to translate the film credits too.
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    I have been playing around with scenarist for 3/4 days. It is impressive, but it's a bit of a mess in its layout and design. Not exactly user friendly. I have been able to author a movie with menus. Scenarist has come up with the most painful and annoying ways to do simple things, but it delivers a nice result. I ordered muxman pro, and, if that works I will let people know. I have also been testing DVD lab pro. It's not bad, but I'm not blown away.
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  18. DVD Lab Pro will let you import custom made subpictures in bmp format and background too, just like Scenarist does, not using DVD Lab's graphical gui at all, you just load it and change properties on the right, in menu window.
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    DVD lab pro is cool, but the sub options were a bit limited. It also has this funny thing where it won't recognize effects on photoshop subpictures. I found a workaround, but it was so annoying. That turned me off right away.
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  20. Originally Posted by hizzy7 View Post
    DVD lab pro is cool, but the sub options were a bit limited. It also has this funny thing where it won't recognize effects on photoshop subpictures. I found a workaround, but it was so annoying. That turned me off right away.
    For menus use bmp, export it from D1/DV project in Photoshop, so it is not resized or offset in DVD Lab Pro.

    As for subtitles I checked the help file, it supports *.sub;*.srt;*.ssa;*.son;*.sst . You create subtitles outside of DVD Lab Pro with software that does it better, not that it cannot create subtitles but you say it is not enough for you. I think I tried once to create subtitles within DVD Lab Pro and then I was stuck , kind of, because I was not able to get them out. I think I wanted to have also srt for mp4. So again good subtitler outside that authoring software is best solution anyway. That is what you'd had to do with Scenarist also.
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  21. Member ricardouk's Avatar
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    For menus i tried Dvd Menu Studio
    http://www.mediachance.com/dvdmenu/index.html

    Tried the fully functional demo at the time and it worked really good for good looking menus, lots of options not just the menus.... but once i learned dvdlab pro i just used paint.net and imported it to dvdlab or just used dvdlab on its own.

    About the photoshop subpictures, can you elaborate on that? someone might be able to help you or vice versa ...thats the whole point of this forum..."receive and give back".
    I love it when a plan comes together!
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  22. Originally Posted by ricardouk View Post
    About the photoshop subpictures, can you elaborate on that? someone might be able to help you or vice versa ...thats the whole point of this forum..."receive and give back".
    Not sure now. Is that question aimed towards me (want some explanation about creating subpictures in Photoshop) or towards hizzy9 and his problem with subs?
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  23. Member ricardouk's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by _Al_ View Post
    Is that question aimed towards me (want some explanation about creating subpictures in Photoshop) or towards hizzy9 and his problem with subs?
    no, it was for hizzy because he said:
    It also has this funny thing where it won't recognize effects on photoshop subpictures
    I love it when a plan comes together!
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