help with converting AVI to DVD with subtitles

[Pariah]

i've been using FFMPEGX for a little while now and i'm kind of stuck on what to do.

i'm trying to convert a single AVI file to DVD using the ffmpeg mpeg2 conversion process featured on the how to page. i drop the file to the source. heres the specs:
from: avi
video: mpeg4, yuv4204p, 512x288
audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 64 kb/s

target format:
to: dvd
video: ffmpeg mpeg2, 720x480, 4000 kbps, 23.976 fps, no crop
audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 448 kbps

i then load the subtitles using the filter tab and load a .sub file into the load subs area. at this point, everything is fine and the subs sync up perfectly with the video during preview. my problems start after i have encoded the file. the only thing that is produced is a single mpg file and no VIDEO_TS or AUDIO_TS folders to make a dvd with.

i guess my question is, what the hell am i doing wrong with this setup? i've followed all instructions to the letter and so far nothing has come of it. thanks for any and all help with this.

[Baldrick]

Moving you to our ffmpegx forum section.

[russkelp]

Use the tools menu under author and input your mpg file that you converted and your subtitle (if it was not hardsubbed in during your conversion) and hit the author button, which will create a folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder. If you need to create an image file to burn your DVD you can also do that with the img tab under tools. Check with DVD Player before burning to make sure the result is what you wanted.

[Pariah]

Use the tools menu under author and input your mpg file that you converted and your subtitle (if it was not hardsubbed in during your conversion) and hit the author button, which will create a folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder. If you need to create an image file to burn your DVD you can also do that with the img tab under tools. Check with DVD Player before burning to make sure the result is what you wanted.

sweet. i'll try that here in a bit because i still have 10% to go

[Case]

i then load the subtitles using the filter tab and load a .sub file into the load subs area.

You need to use a text based subtitle file to add, not the .sub from an image based VobSub pair (idx+sub).
You may have better luck finding a matching .srt file on one of the archives.

[Pariah]

[quote="Pariah"]

Use the tools menu under author and input your mpg file that you converted and your subtitle (if it was not hardsubbed in during your conversion) and hit the author button, which will create a folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder. If you need to create an image file to burn your DVD you can also do that with the img tab under tools. Check with DVD Player before burning to make sure the result is what you wanted.

tried this and it worked: to an extent. seems the video was extrmely choppy, partly due to a different framerate, but there weren't any subs encoded in the file. i'll try again and let you guys know if it works.

[Pariah]

doesn't work. video is still choppy using defaults and the sub files are not working even with an srt file. i guess its just not meant to be.

[Levina]

When you author a DVD with ffmpegX and include an .srt file, the resulting subtitles are soft and usually turned off when you play the video in DVD-player. Did you check that? Silly question maybe, but I've seen quite a few people not think of this, as they expect the subs to be hard.

[Pariah]

yeah, i checked that. it seems that the subs weren't even there because i couldn't select them to turn on or off.
i also re-encoded it later in the day, but it didn't work either.

[vincent_wtrs]

Maybe someone can help me. I had the EXACT same problem, I followed the instructions from the site to convert an avi file to a dvd, but only the mpg file and NO VIDEO_TS or AUDIO_TS folder was created. After having read this page, I tried to author the MPEG file, to create the VIDEO_TS folder, but the information in the progress bar says:

/Users/vincentwouters/Documents/my film.avi.ff.mpg.xml:3: parser error : xmlParseEntityRef: no name
Desktop/My film
^
ERR: Error in parsing XML

And so, the folder weren't created. Anyone has an idea? Thanx in advance

[Case]

Perhaps the mux/author tool trips over the space (and/or other 'special characters') in the file name? Try renaming your files by removing/replacing spaces. E.g. my_film.avi instead of my film.avi.

[floggens]

I've been trying to get subtitles to work on a transcoded Video_TS file, but they haven't been loading. I started with an DivX, and transcoded with ffmpegx to .mpg and Video_TS. I load the .srt file in the filters tab. The subtitles are not on the transcoded files though. When I preview in the filters tab they are there and I am able to edit them. I do get an error message when closing the mplayer regarding the subtitle file:

FIXME:Hardenabling SSE and SSE2 without detection
and then it shows the source and says doesn't look like font description, Cannot load font, Cannot load subtitles

If anyone could shed some light on this subtitle problem, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Case]

FIXME:Hardenabling SSE and SSE2 without detection

This is not an error and totally unrelated. Every Intel chip in a Mac has the SSE and SSE2 instruction sets (Intel introduced SSE2 in 2001 for the Pentium 4), so it is pretty safe for software to presume these useable and enable them without trying to detect them first.

[Case]

The subtitles are not on the transcoded files though.

If subtitles were included in the VIDEO_TS folder, they would be off by default. Use your remote or the subtitle button in the console in Apple DVD Player to view the subtitles.

and then it shows the source and says doesn't look like font description, Cannot load font, Cannot load subtitles

It could be helpful to be able to read the full text of that...