How to convert Chinese AVI to DVD ISO with (permanent!) English subtitles?

[Saltine]

I came here for help as I've been trying for days, but I just don't understand how subtitles work!

I need help UNDERSTANDING how to get a Chinese movie to burn to a standard DVD that has the English subtitles working.

1. I have a 2-hour AVI in Chinese & Japanese which I want to give to a history teacher to play in her old DVD player.
2. I gave her the Chinese AVI and the English srt file, which plays fine for me on Windows with Media Player Classic.
3. She can't play it. She needs a DVD.

OK. So burning a DVD is easy right?
Nope.

Every time I try, no matter what I've tried, I get the DVD without subtitles!

I can give you the long gory story (I've been trying for days!) but the net result is I need help UNDERSTANDING how to get a Chinese movie to burn to a standard DVD that has the English subtitles working.

Obviously I do not know how subtitles work!
(Also, I think, this AVI "identifies" as English, based on what DVD Flick's GUI intimated, so that may be part of the problem.)

Windows XP, 32bit (old)

[Saltine]

To give you more information about the AVI file that I'm just trying to make a DVD of with subtitles burned in...

On 32-bit WinXP Pro SP3, the 2h15m Chinese-language 1.38GB avi (movie.avi) [along with the English subtitle file (movie.srt)] plays fine in MPC-HC 1.7.0.127, where the English subtitles show up in white text near the bottom of the video frame.

GSpot v2.70a says the video Codec is XVID, with Name "XviD ISO MPEG-4" and that the audo Codec is "Dolby AC3" at 48,000Hz, 192kb/s, 6ch(3/2 1).

DVDFlick 1.3.0.7 / v2 1.3.1.0 says the subtitles are in "SubRip" format, English.

[Saltine]

Here is what I tried using DVD Flick 1.3.0.7 / v2 1.3.1.0

DVD Flick DVD Flick loaded the avi (duration 2:15 hours) reporting:

• 1 audio track
• 1 subtitle

I set the following:

• Project settings: General: DVD 4.3GB (because I don't have a dual-layer DVD burner)
• Playback: Always enable first subtitle (because I always want the English subtitles to display!)
• Menu settings; Turned off autoplay menu (because there is only one title so there's no need for a menu)

Doubleclicking on the movie pops up "Properties of title 1"

• General: Target Aspect Ratio = Widescreen 16:9
• Chapters: Create chapters every 5 minutes
• Video Sources: movie.avi, 23.976FPS NTSC mpeg4 720x320 2:25:1 SAR 1:1 PAR
• Audio Tracks: Track language = said English; so I changed that to Chinese (ZH)
• Subtitle Tracks: movie.srt, Format: SubRip, Language: English

The result was that DVD FLick made a perfectly good VIDEO_TS but with no subtitles!
Clicking on the VIDEO_TS.IFO file brought up Media Player Classic, which played the movie just fine.

But there were no subtitles!

I am not sure, but I think maybe the problem is the avi "identifies" as English so the English subtitles aren't permanently added to the resulting video. Or I just don[t understand how to get subtitles to play in a DVD so that I can burn them in permanently.

Can you explain to me, using freeware, the best way to get English subtitles burned permanently into a Chinese language AVI file so that the resulting DVD has the English subtitles when it plays on a standard (old) DVD player?

[Psyko]

Hello here is easy tool for you to archive your goal.
https://www.videohelp.com/software/QtlMovie

The main goal of QtlMovie is the generation of DVD or iPad movie files from any video file or DVD. The unique feature of QtlMovie is the ability to correctly handle most types of subtitles: DVD, DVB, SRT, SSA/ASS, Teletext and burn them into the output video in one click.

[Saltine]

Hello here is easy tool for you to archive your goal.
https://www.videohelp.com/software/QtlMovie

The main goal of QtlMovie is the generation of DVD or iPad movie files from any video file or DVD. The unique feature of QtlMovie is the ability to correctly handle most types of subtitles: DVD, DVB, SRT, SSA/ASS, Teletext and burn them into the output video in one click.

Thanks for taking the time to help me Psyko. I appreciate that.
I will install and run QTlMovie, which, I hope, will generate the DVD with the English subtitles.

Since I don't know how subtitle srt files end up in the DVD, how does the program know when an AVI is in Chinese?
Is there something in the AVI that tells the DVD-building program what language the AVI is in?

[usually_quiet]

But there were no subtitles!

I am not sure, but I think maybe the problem is the avi "identifies" as English so the English subtitles aren't permanently added to the resulting video. Or I just don[t understand how to get subtitles to play in a DVD so that I can burn them in permanently.

Can you explain to me, using freeware, the best way to get English subtitles burned permanently into a Chinese language AVI file so that the resulting DVD has the English subtitles when it plays on a standard (old) DVD player?

DVD subtitles are not usually burned in. DVD subtitles are usually provided as a separate graphical stream and overlaid on the video during playback. DVD subtitles are either selectable or forced (always on). DVD converters can often only create DVDs with selectable subtitles, but there is a way to set the forced flag on subtitle stream after authoring, before burning the files and folders to DVD.

1. Download IFOEdit.
2. Open IFOEdit.
3. Click the "Open" button, and navigate to the VIDEO_TS folder containing your movie.
4. Select "VIDEO_TS.IFO" and click the "Open" button
3. Double-click on "VTS_1 SubPicture 1:English".
4. In the Subtitle/Subpicture Attributes window, change the "Coding caption" setting by selecting "forced caption" from the drop-down list.
5. Click the OK button.
6. Click the "Save" button. Note: Click "Yes" when IFOEdit asks "Do you want to save it as a .BUP as well?" A BUP file is a backup copy of an IFO, which a DVD player can use if the IFO becomes unreadable/corrupted for some reason
7. Click the "Open" button again
8. Select "VTS_01_1.IFO" and click the "Open" button
9. Double-click on "SubPicture 1:English".
10. In the Subtitle/Subpicture Attributes window, change the "Coding caption" setting by selecting "forced caption" from the drop-down list.
11. Click the OK button.
12. Click the "Save" button Note: Click "Yes" when IFOEdit asks "Do you want to save it as a .BUP as well?" A BUP file is a backup copy of an IFO, which a DVD player can use if the IFO becomes unreadable/corrupted for some reason.

The English subtitles should now be forced. (They were on by default when I created a test disk and played it on my DVD player.) I use AVStoDVD rather than DVDFlick.

P.S. Most DVD converters have default language settings but provide a way to manually set the audio and subtitle languages somewhere. They cannot figure out the language by examining the source files.

P.P.S. AVStoDVD allows manually setting the audio and subtitle languages and allows creating forced subtitles or burned-in subtitles.

[Psyko]

QTLmovie will do the job. Topic starter requested "Burn in" subtitles. Few clicks and you're done. I don't personally recommend to burn subtitles but it was asked

[usually_quiet]

QTLmovie will do the job. Topic starter requested that was "Burn in" subtitles. Few clicks and you're done. I don't personally recommend to burn subtitles but it was asked

If you read my P.P.S., AVStoDVD can also burn in subs, if someone wants to do that.

I find burned in subs to be obnoxious because I cannot turn them off if they hide some parts of the picture that I want to see more clearly, but apparently a lot of others prefer to provide subs that way.

[Saltine]

QTLmovie will do the job. Topic starter requested "Burn in" subtitles. Few clicks and you're done. I don't personally recommend to burn subtitles but it was asked

Yes. I had asked to "burn in" subtitles, although I'm not sure what that means but what "I" meant was that, given a Chinese-language AVI with an English srt file, I knew that the history teacher recipient would need the subtitles, so I wanted to "force" them or "burn them in" or whatever the terminology is for ensuring that they exist in the DVD results and that they always play when the DVD movie is playing.

As for QtlMovie, I installed it on WinXP SP3 but it complained right off the bat. It seems like it has some dependencies perhaps?

Error getting version for Growisofs: Process exceeds execution time limit
Error getting version for Mkisofs: Process exceeds execution time limit
Error getting version for DvdAuthor: Process exceeds execution time limit
Error getting version for FFprobe: Process exceeds execution time limit
Error getting version for FFmpeg: Process exceeds execution time limit.
Cannot create fonts.conf, no temporary directory defined, may be a problem to insert subtitles
C:\test\QtlMovie\wintools\ffmpeg.exe -nostdin -fflags +genpts -ss 0 -i C:\data\video\movie.avi -vn -map 0:1 -codec:a pcm_s16le -ar 44100 -ac 1 -f s16le -

I also tried the other suggested software, and will report momentarily on how that went.

[Saltine]

QTLmovie will do the job. Topic starter requested that was "Burn in" subtitles. Few clicks and you're done. I don't personally recommend to burn subtitles but it was asked

If you read my P.P.S., AVStoDVD can also burn in subs, if someone wants to do that.

I find burned in subs to be obnoxious because I cannot turn them off if they hide some parts of the picture that I want to see more clearly, but apparently a lot of others prefer to provide subs that way.

I thank you for your advice since this one historically-based movie is driving me crazy. I am making a Chinese-based movie into a movie for a History teacher, who I originally gave the AVI and SRT file but she can't play them on her DVD player. So I know she only speaks English (she wants to review it to see if it's a good movie for her class). So the subtitles will be required as the entire movie is in Chinese & Japanese (with scattered English).

I tried your suggestion of AVStoDVD and now I think I need to look at the IFO files with your suggested IFOEdit to see what happened.

AVStoDVD 2.8.3 looked real nice in that it shrinks to fit a single-layer 4.7GB DVD and it seems to handle subtitles, and outputs either to a DVD folder structure (VIDEO_TS) or to an ISO, all of which is what I want and need.

Here's what I did:

• I slid the avi into the GUI, and it automatically found the subtitle file.
• Then I set the DVD size to 4.7GB.
• I set the output to ISO UDF Image (they have 5 options)
• I turned off the DVD Menu (they seem to call that the "reset menu" option).
• I checked all the preferences (I left all most at the default).
• I then hit the "Start" button (it gives you a doublecheck chance to change anything if you want).
• (I had ImgBurn, but I did not set the ISO option as I wanted a VIDEO_TS file structure.)

2 hours and 5 minutes later, I had a VIDEO_TS (and empty AUDIO_TS, as always) folder.
Unfortunately, two things were very wrong with the results when I double-clicked on the IFO file which brought up the video in Media Player Classic.
1. The video had no subtitles (I need to figure out WHY there were no subtitles!)
2. The sound was so low as to be barely audible (this I can fix though, by amplifying when I do it again)

I will look at the results with the IFO Editor to see why there are no subtitles!

[Saltine]

But there were no subtitles!

DVD subtitles are not usually burned in. DVD subtitles are usually provided as a separate graphical stream and overlaid on the video during playback. DVD subtitles are either selectable or forced (always on). DVD converters can often only create DVDs with selectable subtitles, but there is a way to set the forced flag on subtitle stream after authoring, before burning the files and folders to DVD.

Thank you very much for your suggestions as I very much appreciate your help.

1. I downloaded and unzipped IFOEdit and put a shortcut to the executable in my start menu. (https://www.videohelp.com/software/IfoEdit)
2. I started IFOEdit from the start-menu shortcut.
3. At the bottom left, I hit the "Open" button, and I navigated to the VIDEO_TS folder containing the movie.
4. I selected the "VIDEO_TS.IFO" and I clicked the bottom-right "Open" button.
I clicked the bottom-right "Yes" button when up popped:
"The file "movie.srt" is not uppercase. Should I make it uppercase?
That gave me two windows, one above the other, with information in them.
3. I double-clicedk on the line "VTS_1 SubPicture 1:English" in the lower window (see picture below).
4. In the Subtitle/Subpicture Attributes window, there were four lines:

• Language Type = present
• Language = English
• Coding Mode = 2-bit rle
• Coding caption = caption/normal size char

I changed the "Coding caption" setting by selecting "forced caption" from the drop-down list.
5. I click the OK button, which made that little window go away.
6. At the bottom second-from-left, I clicked the "Save" button, which popped up a question:

• Do you want to save it asa a .BUP aswell?
• Attention: Existing file would be overwritten.

I clicked "No" to that question and then the window went away.
7. On the bottom left, I clicked the "Open" button again.
8. I selected the "VTS_01_1.IFO" and I clicked the "Open" button to bring it up into two windows.
9. I double-clicked on the line in the lower window saying "SubPicture 1:English".
Again a "Subpicture/Subtitle attributes" window popped
up with the four lines:

• Language Type = present
• Language = English
• Coding Mode = 2-bit rle
• Coding caption = caption/normal size cha

r
10. In the Subtitle/Subpicture Attributes window, I again changed the "Coding caption" setting by selecting "forced caption" from the drop-down list.
11. I clicked the OK button and that window went away.
12. At the bottom second-from-left, I clicked the "Save" button, which popped up a question:
Do you want to save it as a .BUP aswell? Attention: Existing file would be overwritten.
I clicked "No" to that question and then the window went away.
13. I closed the IFOEdit window.

To test whether the English subtitles were now forced, I doubleclicked on the
VIDEO_TS.IFO file in the VIDEO_TS directory previously created by AVStoDVD.

Unfortunately, the subtitles did NOT show up, so, I will debug further.
I thank you for your kind help, as I know nobody has to help me.
I do appreciate all your suggestions, as this IFOEdit tool seems to be able to control what happens, so I will try again on the DVDFlick-created VIDEO_TS folder next.


[Attachment 36273 - Click to enlarge]

[usually_quiet]

I initially tested with MPC-HC too. It does not appear to honor the forced subtitle flag. Play->Subtitles->Enable DVD Subtitles turned them on. VLC doesn't appear to honor the forced subtitle flag either, and I had to turn on subtitles manually. PowerDVD, PotPlayer and my old CRT TV's built-in DVD player automatically displayed the forced subtitles.

I'm not sure what to tell you about the audio volume. I have not had that problem yet.

[Edit]I forgot to tell you to click "Yes" when IFOEdit asks "Do you want to save it as a .BUP as well?" A BUP file is a backup copy of an IFO, which a DVD player can use if the IFO becomes unreadable/corrupted for some reason. I have corrected my instructions to explain this.

[manono]

Geez, have you even bothered to turn on the subtitles? Although they can easily be made 'Forced' even after the fact, ordinarily DVD subtitles won't just automatically play but have to be turned on. Did you do that in MPC-HC?

For mine (which may be old), I right-click the DVD video when playing (start the DVD playing by double-clicking the VIDEO_TS.IFO and not a VOB) and go Navigate->Subtitle Language->Enabled.

Same thing when played in a standalone DVD player to a television - use the Subtitle button on the remote control to turn on the subs. I just made a DVD with selectable on/off subs into forced subs using PGCEdit and they played automatically in MPC-HC. So, as near as I can tell it does honor the forced subtitle flag.

[usually_quiet]

Geez, have you even bothered to turn on the subtitles? Although they can easily be made 'Forced' even after the fact, ordinarily DVD subtitles won't just
automatically play but have to be turned on. Did you do that in MPC-HC?

For mine (which may be old), I right-click the DVD video when playing (start the DVD playing by double-clicking the VIDEO_TS.IFO and not a VOB) and go Navigate->Subtitle Language->Enabled.

Same thing when played in a standalone DVD player to a television - use the Subtitle button on the remote control to turn on the subs. I just made a DVD with selectable on/off subs into forced subs using PGCEdit and they played automatically in MPC-HC. So, as near as I can tell it does honor the forced subtitle flag.

I started playing the DVD files on my HDD a couple of different ways: first, by dragging the VIDEO_TS folder to MPC-HC, and then MPC-HC by right-clicking VIDEO_TS.IFO and Open With-> MPC-HC. In either case, with the version of MPC-HC that I have, the subtitle I flagged as "forced" was checked in MPC-HC's Play->Subtitle menu, but wouldn't play unless I clicked "Enabled". PowerDVD and PotPlayer displayed the forced subs without me doing anything more than opening VIDEO_TS.IFO.

I used PGCEdit to check the sub I had marked as forced with IFOEdit, and PGCEdit agrees that it is forced. My TV's DVD player displayed my forced sub even though I didn't press the Subtitle button on the remote.

Different versions of MPC-HC must not react the same way to forced subs.

[Saltine]

I initially tested with MPC-HC too. It does not appear to honor the forced subtitle flag. Play->Subtitles->Enable DVD Subtitles turned them on. VLC doesn't appear to honor the forced subtitle flag either, and I had to turn on subtitles manually. PowerDVD, PotPlayer and my old CRT TV's built-in DVD player automatically displayed the forced subtitles.

I'm not sure what to tell you about the audio volume. I have not had that problem yet.

[Edit]I forgot to tell you to click "Yes" when IFOEdit asks "Do you want to save it as a .BUP as well?" A BUP file is a backup copy of an IFO, which a DVD player can use if the IFO becomes unreadable/corrupted for some reason. I have corrected my instructions to explain this.

Thank you for updating your suggested steps, as they were helpful to me, and, with the additional clarifications, they will be helpful to many others who wish to FORCE SUBTITLES in a VIDEO_TS IFO file using IFOEdit.

I'm totally new to this concept of forcing subtitles, so I much appreciate the handholding assistance to get me over select hurdles.

For some reason, my version of Media Player Classic HC, version 1.7.0.127 (see picture below) does NOT seem to have the suggested "Play->Subtitles->Enable DVD Subtitles" menu available to me (it's grayed out as you can see in the screenshot below, at least when I doubleclick on the VIDEO_TS.IFO that was created by AVS2DVD (and the same thing happened with the VIDEO_TS.IFO created by DVDFlick). The only difference is that one says it has English audio while the other says the audio is Chinese.

I will update my Media Player Classic to see if that is the issue.

[theewizard]

there is an easy way
maybe not so elegant , but it will work
use VLC
let the file play at Normal size and aspect ratio do NOT enlarge/zoom
use the RECORD option
record the movie with the subtitles on the screen
this will be burned in, this will be part of the image
use this completed recording to make a DVD
or show her how to play this recording on her PC

[Saltine]

Geez, have you even bothered to turn on the subtitles? Although they can easily be made 'Forced' even after the fact, ordinarily DVD subtitles won't just automatically play but have to be turned on. Did you do that in MPC-HC?

For mine (which may be old), I right-click the DVD video when playing (start the DVD playing by double-clicking the VIDEO_TS.IFO and not a VOB) and go Navigate->Subtitle Language->Enabled.

Same thing when played in a standalone DVD player to a television - use the Subtitle button on the remote control to turn on the subs. I just made a DVD with selectable on/off subs into forced subs using PGCEdit and they played automatically in MPC-HC. So, as near as I can tell it does honor the forced subtitle flag.

I appreciate your help and I apologize for your frustration with my efforts.

I've never had to turn on subtitles before (most of the movies "I" watch are in English).
This Chinese-language AVI movie is not for me; it's for a History teacher - and it has a Chinese audio with English srt subtitles.
So I'm new to the whole forcing of subtitles thing but my only goal is to burn a DVD disc where EVERY DVD player it is shown in will show the English subtitles.

So, I'm only using Media Player Classic as a TEST vehicle.
The REAL test is whether subtitles show up in a final burned DVD disc played in a normal DVD player.

What is the BEST TEST VEHICLE for a VIDEO_TS folder to simulate what the final DVD will show (with respect to subtitles) in a standard DVD player?

BTW, when I run the very latest Media Player Classic HC, I get DIFFERENT results for the same menu (with respect to subtitle options) as shown below.

[Saltine]

Geez, have you even bothered to turn on the subtitles? Although they can easily be made 'Forced' even after the fact, ordinarily DVD subtitles won't just
automatically play but have to be turned on. Did you do that in MPC-HC?

For mine (which may be old), I right-click the DVD video when playing (start the DVD playing by double-clicking the VIDEO_TS.IFO and not a VOB) and go Navigate->Subtitle Language->Enabled.

Same thing when played in a standalone DVD player to a television - use the Subtitle button on the remote control to turn on the subs. I just made a DVD with selectable on/off subs into forced subs using PGCEdit and they played automatically in MPC-HC. So, as near as I can tell it does honor the forced subtitle flag.

I started playing the DVD files on my HDD a couple of different ways: first, by dragging the VIDEO_TS folder to MPC-HC, and then MPC-HC by right-clicking VIDEO_TS.IFO and Open With-> MPC-HC. In either case, with the version of MPC-HC that I have, the subtitle I flagged as "forced" was checked in MPC-HC's Play->Subtitle menu, but wouldn't play unless I clicked "Enabled". PowerDVD and PotPlayer displayed the forced subs without me doing anything more than opening VIDEO_TS.IFO.

I used PGCEdit to check the sub I had marked as forced with IFOEdit, and PGCEdit agrees that it is forced. My TV's DVD player displayed my forced sub even though I didn't press the Subtitle button on the remote.

Different versions of MPC-HC must not react the same way to forced subs.

I had a similar experience as you had, where definitely different versions of MPC-HC acted differently.

Anyway, MPC-HC isn't the important thing here; what's important is that I now know how to get MPC to DISPLAY subtitles, so I can tell whether they exist or not. That's what is important - and - with the new MPC version - both the AVStoDVD and DVDFlick output appear to have the English subtites in the VIDEO_TS folder VIDEO_TS.IFO file.

The ONLY other thing that is important is that when the VIDEO_TS folder is burned (as a DVD) to a DVD disc, that the subtitles show up when the History teacher puts the DVD disc into her standalone hardware DVD player.

The GOOD NEWS is that both the AVStoDVD and DVDFLick created VIDEO_TS.IFO clearly now have the subtitles in them.

Of the two, which would YOU choose to burn to a DVD disc?
1. AVStoDVD results
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Audio Track > English (Captions) AC3 48000 Hz 16 bits 6 channels
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Subtitle Track > [blank]Enable DVD subtitles, [checked] English (Forced)

1. DVDFlick results
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Audio Track > Chinese, AC3 48000 Hz 16 bits 6 channels
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Subtitle Track > [checked]Enable DVD subtitles, [checked] English (Forced)

Thanks for your advice.

[manono]

I said start the DVD by double-clicking on the VIDEO_TS.IFO followed by right-clicking the screen. Just for you I updated to the newest version of MPC-HC and turning on subs is now in the Subtitles section. Right-click the screen, hit 'Subtitles Track', and 'Enable DVD Subtitles'. If you have good subs it should work.

I just tested setting forced subs in PGCEdit and it works for this newest version of MPC-HC also. They don't say they're forced, though, but they play automatically. I don't guess you still need instructions on how to turn regular subs into forced subs.

I don't use either of those two programs to make DVDs, but of the two AvsToDVD is far and away the better program.

[usually_quiet]

Of the two, which would YOU choose to burn to a DVD disc?
1. AVStoDVD results
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Audio Track > English (Captions) AC3 48000 Hz 16 bits 6 channels
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Subtitle Track > [blank]Enable DVD subtitles, [checked] English (Forced)

1. DVDFlick results
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Audio Track > Chinese, AC3 48000 Hz 16 bits 6 channels
- MPC-HC(latest version): Play > Subtitle Track > [checked]Enable DVD subtitles, [checked] English (Forced)

Thanks for your advice.

You can use IFOEdit to correct the audio track language in the DVD made by AVStoDVD. Open VIDEO_TS.IFO. Double-click on the VTS_1 Audio 1. Use the drop down list to change language to Chinese. (Chinese is the second to the last choice in the list.) Click "OK". Click "Save". Answer "Yes" when IFOEdit asks if you want to save the BUP.

Open VTS_01_1.IFO. Double-click on the VTS_1 Audio 1. Double-click on Audio 1:English. Use the drop down list to change language to Chinese. (Chinese is the second to the last choice in the list.) Click "OK". Click "Save". Answer "Yes" when IFOEdit asks if you want to save the BUP.

If you still aren't satisfied and want burned-in subs, I'll try to write instructions for the settings you would use for AVStoDVD. Burned-in subs are not overlaid on the video and there is no turning them on or off. They are a permanent part of the picture.

[manono]

Yeah, but if he has any sense he won't want hard-coded or burned in subs. They are very difficult to compress, with the static subs over a moving background. And they'll leave mosquito noise all around the subs. If the subs absolutely have to play every time, forced subs is the way to go.

Has he even tested his DVDs by burning to disc (DVD-RW, preferably) to see if he sees subs without having to use the remote control? It looks to me like he's solved the problem.

[usually_quiet]

Yeah, but if he has any sense he won't want hard-coded or burned in subs. They are very difficult to compress, with the static subs over a moving background. And they'll leave mosquito noise all around the subs. If the subs absolutely have to play every time, forced subs is the way to go.

Has he even tested his DVDs by burning to disc (DVD-RW, preferably) to see if he sees subs without having to use the remote control? It looks to me like he's solved the problem.

My preference is forced subs as well, but Saltine still seem dissatisfied with that solution.

One nice thing about using forced subs instead of hard coded subs is that if someone finds an error in the forced subs (misspelled words, missing words, strange characters), fixing the problem takes less time because it isn't necessary to re-encode the video.

No, it doesn't seem like Saltine has burned a DVD yet, and that must happen at some point. You and I both know that just testing with software players is insufficient.

[Saltine]

I said start the DVD by double-clicking on the VIDEO_TS.IFO followed by right-clicking the screen.

I thank you for your patience and I reiterate that I (think I) UNDERSTOOD how to start the DVD in Media Player Classic.

In fact, I (think I) understand that there are MULTIPLE ways to start that DVD properly (such as doubleclicking on the VIDEO_TS.IFO or by sliding that IFO on top of MPC-HC or by opening the "DVD" in MPC-HC using "File > Open DVD", etc.; and I also understand there are a few ways to start MPC-HC improperly, such as clicking on an individual VOB (which I am never doing).

I do very much appreciate your admonishments though, because if I'm doing something wrong, I want to know, and others can benefit from reading this thread in the future, if they have the same issues of trying to force a subtitle in a hardware-played DVD.

Just for you I updated to the newest version of MPC-HC and turning on subs is now in the Subtitles section. Right-click the screen, hit 'Subtitles Track', and 'Enable DVD Subtitles'. If you have good subs it should work.

Thank you for expending the effort to reproduce and describe the new actions of the latest MPC-HC.
Using DVDFlick again, I was able to tell DVDFlick to set the audio to Chinese and using IFOedit, I was able to "force" the English subtitles to play in a hardware DVD player.

[Saltine]

I don't guess you still need instructions on how to turn regular subs into forced subs.

Heh heh ... thanks for offering to repeat the instructions, but I (should) only need instructions once!

If I have questions, I'll ask (and I see that Usually_Quiet already updated his instructions based on my confusion about the backup BUP file saving).

Here, for your use, is a screenshot showing what I'm doing with IFOEdit, based on the instructions for "forcing" the subtitles to play!
The screenshot shows that the captions from DVDFlick start off as "unspecified" and than after the IFOEdit, they go to "forced".

[Saltine]

I don't use either of those two programs to make DVDs, but of the two AvsToDVD is far and away the better program.

Thank you for explaining that AVStoDVD is the better program than DVDFlick for authoring a DVD with subtitles from an AVI file and an SRT file.

In my last two tests, I used DVDFlick because it can easily set the AUDIO to Chinese, but I will try to do the same with AVS2DVD since I just now read this and saw that you consider AVStoDVD by far the better authoring program for my purpose.

[Saltine]

You can use IFOEdit to correct the audio track language in the DVD made by AVStoDVD.

Thank you very much for this wonderful new information!
Up until now, I have been using DVDFlick to author the DVD because it was able to set the AUDIO to Chinese, whereas I couldn't see how to do that in the AVStoDVD graphical user interface.

If I can set the AUDIO to Chinese using IFOEdit, then that is fine.

BTW, in order to use IFOEdit, can I create an ISO image and still use IFOEdit on that ISO image?
Or, must I only create the VIDEO_TS DVD file structure, and then use IFOEdit only on the IFO files.
(I read the desription at https://www.videohelp.com/software/IfoEdit but it doesn't say whether IFOEdit can operate on ISO images, so that's why I ask.)

Open VIDEO_TS.IFO. Double-click on the VTS_1 Audio 1. Use the drop down list to change language to Chinese. (Chinese is the second to the last choice in the list.) Click "OK". Click "Save". Answer "Yes" when IFOEdit asks if you want to save the BUP.

Open VTS_01_1.IFO. Double-click on the VTS_1 Audio 1. Double-click on Audio 1:English. Use the drop down list to change language to Chinese. (Chinese is the second to the last choice in the list.) Click "OK". Click "Save". Answer "Yes" when IFOEdit asks if you want to save the BUP.

Thanks again, very much, for the detailed instructions. You are clearly experienced in helping others, as most people don't give as great an instruction set as you do. Kudos to you!

Since, so far, ImgBurn has burned three semi-functional coasters (using Costco "CMC MAG AM3" media and two different DVD-R burners!), I will do exactly as you say, after running AVStoDVD to create another VIDEO_TS hierarchy.

If you still aren't satisfied and want burned-in subs, I'll try to write instructions for the settings you would use for AVStoDVD. Burned-in subs are not overlaid on the video and there is no turning them on or off. They are a permanent part of the picture.

I agree with almost all of you that burned-in subs are substandard.
I prefer the subs to be forced.
You have shown me how to force them.

However, in the interest in making this thread useful to others, I did find two ways (at least) to burn in the subs into the AVI file, at least on Linux (but for now, I'm sticking with the Windows solutions).

On Debian-based systems...

$ sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
$ ffmpeg -i input.avi -vcodec libx264 -vf subtitles=input.srt -acodec copy output.avi
...
$ sudo apt-get install mencoder
$ mencoder input.avi -o output.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4 -sub input.srt -oac copy

[Saltine]

Yeah, but if he has any sense he won't want hard-coded or burned in subs. They are very difficult to compress, with the static subs over a moving background. And they'll leave mosquito noise all around the subs. If the subs absolutely have to play every time, forced subs is the way to go.

I fully agree with you.

My only reason for initially asking for burned-in subs was that I was ignorant of how to create forced subs.

Has he even tested his DVDs by burning to disc (DVD-RW, preferably) to see if he sees subs without having to use the remote control? It looks to me like he's solved the problem.

Actually, I have burned 3 coasters with ImgBurn already (Costco CMC MAG AM3 media). I'm burning at 1x, and I reboot the (old) WinXP SP3 machine before burning, and I don't do anything else while burning, but the verification ALWAYS comes up with a write error way later in the film, like on Chapter 23 or 24 out of 27 (I think it was VOB 3 or so).

I tried the existing DVD burner in the Dell laptop and an external Pioneer Model DVR-S706 standalone DVD-R burner that I bought way back in 2004 or 2005 as my very first DVD burner. It is generally reliable but I did notice that IMGBurn complained about the driver and I'm sure the firmware is old (I've updated firmware on routers but never on a DVD recorder).

Anyway, I didn't mention my burning problems because, unless they can be caused by bad TFO files from DVD Flick, I don't think that's the same issue as we are discussing here.

Suffice to say that the problem of forcing subtitles is solved because even the three coasters that I burned worked up until the later chapters, and the last two showed the subtitles easily without fidgeting with any remote buttons. I should add that I'm totally unfamiliar with DVD players because I haven't used them in years, but I had an old DVD player lying around, which is what I used to run the hardware test.

What I plan on doing, moving forward, is try a fourth creation, this time using AVStoDVD and then IFOedit to set both the audio language and the forced subtitles, and then I will burn (yet again) with IMGburn and use the Costco CMC MAG AM3 media (I don't have anything else handy). If necessary, I'll open a separate thread on why they all fail in the penultimate chapters.

[Saltine]

You and I both know that just testing with software players is insufficient.

I did NOT know that at the beginning of this thread; but I know it now!


Thanks for your help.

I will report back AFTER I make the fourth (and final, I hope) authoring with AVStoDVD and then edit the Audio to Chinese and the captions to English forced with IFOEdit.

Then I will try to burn the VIDEO-TS structure (as a UDF ISO9660 DVD!) to the Costco CMC MAG AM3 media using the Pioneer Model DVR-S706 standalone USB/Firewire burner at 1x write speed with a freshly rebooted WinXP laptop.

If I can find a firewire cable, I will try that since this old gaming laptop has a firewire port.
I will report back, but that will take a few hours, at least.

Meanwhile, one of my questions is whether IFOEdit can edit an ISO (so that I don't have to create the VIDEO_TS folder structure).

[usually_quiet]

You and I both know that just testing with software players is insufficient.

I did NOT know that at the beginning of this thread; but I know it now!


Thanks for your help.

I will report back AFTER I make the fourth (and final, I hope) authoring with AVStoDVD and then edit the Audio to Chinese and the captions to English forced with IFOEdit.

Then I will try to burn the VIDEO-TS structure (as a UDF ISO9660 DVD!) to the Costco CMC MAG AM3 media using the Pioneer DVE-R Model DVR-S706 standalone USB/Firewire burner at 1x write speed with a freshly rebooted WinXP laptop.

If I can find a firewire cable, I will try that since this old gaming laptop has a firewire port.
I will report back, but that will take a few hours, at least.

Meanwhile, one of my questions is whether IFOEdit can edit an ISO (so that I don't have to create the VIDEO_TS folder structure).

Yes, after burning the DVD, it is always better to test it with a stand-alone hardware DVD player, preferably more than one. CMC media isn't the best, but the best quality DVD media needs to be bought online. Most stores only carry second-rate DVD media.

You can correct the language and specify forced subs within AVStoDVD prior to authoring. AVStoDVD has excellent documentation in its help files. You might consider trying to find an answer there by opening the Search tab withing Help, and typing "forced subtitles" and "audio language" into the search box.

I don't believe IFOEdit can edit IFO files in an ISO. AVStoDVD uses ImgBurn to generate an ISO. You can export DVD files and folders and afterwards run ImgBurn to generate an ISO and burn your DVDs

[manono]

Your burn problems are probably due to the DVDR blanks you're using. While I've used plenty of the Costco ones, I have seen bad batches before where 10-15 in a row won't verify. You might dig down in the stack and try one near the bottom. Or, buy some decent Verbatims, ones such as these and these. They're as cheap as the Costco ones anyway. Some say the Verbatim Datalifes are even better, although they're a bit more expensive, but I've had very good luck with the Verbatims linked first. And I usually burn at 4x. I don't think 1X is necessary. But there are others here much more knowledgeable about such things.

The other possible reason for the bad burns is the poor quality of the burners you're using, but I know even less about that. I doubt it has anything to do with whether you used DVD Flick or AvsToDVD to create the DVDs.