Subtitles when converting from NTSC Film -> PAL

[DRP]

Subtitles are a new thing to me. I've never had to deal with them before - this is a first for me.

I've got this foreign film in NTSC Film (23.976) frame rate and the English subs that go with it. To watch it, I will need to convert it to 25fps PAL. How will doing this affect the subtitles? The subs must be time-stamped to appear at certain points in the movie so they correspond with the picture, but are they *time* stamped or referenced by the frame number?

If time-stamped, how can I convert them to allow for the speed up when I convert the video & audio to 25fps?

[FulciLives]

Subtitles are a new thing to me. I've never had to deal with them before - this is a first for me.

I've got this foreign film in NTSC Film (23.976) frame rate and the English subs that go with it. To watch it, I will need to convert it to 25fps PAL. How will doing this affect the subtitles? The subs must be time-stamped to appear at certain points in the movie so they correspond with the picture, but are they *time* stamped or referenced by the frame number?

If time-stamped, how can I convert them to allow for the speed up when I convert the video & audio to 25fps?

One option is to use VobSub to rip the subtitles and then use an AviSynth AVS script and load the subs so that they BURN INTO the image. This wll make the subs permenant of course but when you do the conversion they will be in perfect sync.

Here is an example AviSynth AVS script:

LoadPlugin("MPEG2DEC3.DLL")
LoadPlugin("VSFILTER.DLL")
mpeg2source("D:\DVD\VIDEO_TS\FILENAME.D2V")
VobSub("D:\DVD\VIDEO_TS\SUBS\FILENAME.SUB")
LanczosResize(720,576)
AssumeFPS(25.000, true)

Now for your own script just make sure you plug in the correct DRIVE and PATH info for your DLL files, your D2V file and your SUB files. I always RIP my subtitles to a seperate FOLDER as evident in my DRIVE and PATH info above. Also please note that VobSub makes two files one is FILENAME.IDX and the other is FILENAME.SUB and I used the .SUB file which I think is the correct file to use but it has been awhile since I've done subs so you might have to pick the IDX file ... I don't remember but it is one or the other for sure.

Anyways that is all there is to it. The above AviSynth script will burn the subs into the 23.976fps NTSC video and then it will be changed to PROGRESSIVE 25fps PAL format.

It's that simple

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Remember you will have to change the NTSC audio to sync with the new PAL video you are creating. This can be done using BeSweet and the BeSweet GUI and/or AC3Machine.

FINAL NOTE
This is for a Progressive NTSC DVD rip to PAL but can be done using an AVI source video as well. As long as your subs are in a format VobSub can read then all should be A-OK