I want to be able to burn these films to DVD, with their subtitles.

[KKPHM]

Hello. I'm a relative newbie to video, and I need some help. I stumbled across this forum in my Google searches. Let me apologize also in advance, for being painfully ignorant, and extend a great big thanks to anyone who can help.

Here's my story:

I have more background in audio than video, probably because I'm a big music nerd. I'm something of an audiophile, so quality is important to me, specifically preserving the original quality. Through my research I understand some basics of digital audio (sample rate, bit-depth, etc.). I understand that mp3 is a lossy compression scheme. I like to rip my music using Exact Audio Copy, in order to extract audio with near perfect fidelity, and then encode to FLAC, a lossless compression scheme, or alternatively to mp3 using LAME at the highest possible settings and a low-pass filter.

My understanding of video is quite a bit more rudimentary. After spending countless hours Googling video questions and software to suit my purposes, I've found that the technical specifications for video, codecs, compression, etc. is way over my head.

My quest began because I was searching out some very rare underground films that I just couldn't get my hands on, either because they were out of print, were never released on DVD, or DVD releases were expensive hard to find imports that wouldn't play on my existing Region 1 DVD player anyway. So I sought out these films on the internet. Using a plug-in for Firefox called DownloadHelper I was able to find hard sought-after streaming video, while other content I was able to find for straight download. DownloadHelper allowed me to convert to MPEG-2 NTSC DVD video, with the settings set for the highest quality (I think). However, all these films are foreign (I only speak English). Some of these films had the English subtitles embedded in them. A few did NOT. So I found subtitle files online for download. Now I can watch these films on my computer using Windows Media Player, with subtitles viewable. Terrific! So what's the problem?

I want to be able to burn these films to DVD, with their subtitles. I'm working with Roxio's MyDVD program, which is a pretty bare-bones program. There doesn't appear to be any way to include a subtitles track when burning a DVD video using this software. So I did some investigating as to how I could remedy this situation.

I found (through forums like this one) that I could embed those subtitle files into the video, by using VirtualDub and a Subtitler filter. I used the DivXLand Media Subtitler program to convert .srt subs into .ssa subs. I successfully spit out a new .avi file with the subtitles embedded, but the aspect ratio appeared to be wrong - meaning that the picture was "squished" too thin. I tried playing around with the setting under Compression in VirtualDub, changing the settings for the Xvid codec, to no avail. I also realize that permanently embedding these subtitles using this method necessitated re-compressing the video, meaning a potential loss in quality (I think).

My questions are as follows:
How can I embed subtitles (using VirtualDub or any other method) into a new video file of the film, with the LEAST amount of quality lost due to re-compression? I was using the Xvid codec under Compression settings in VD, but there appear to be a dizzying array of codecs to try, and frankly I had little idea what the settings were for Xvid when I played around with it. Bear in mind, the end result needs to be in a format that I can burn to a DVD playable in a standard DVD player.

AND

How can I preserve the original "size" (aspect ratio?) of the original video when embedding subtitles in the fashion described above?

Some further details that might be of use:
I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 on an Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.09 GHz with 1.98 GB of RAM and ~140 GB harddrive. At my disposal is the K-Lite Codec MEGA Pack, which includes FFDSHOW, AC3filter, Media Player Classic, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is waaaayyyy over my head. Also VirtualDub, VirtualDubMod, Subtitler filter, DivXLand Media Subtitler. Finally Roxio MyDVD to create and burn DVD videos playable in a standalone DVD player.

Thoughts? Ideas? My goals are quality, and results! Please remember that the technical side of video is still pretty alien to me. Thanks!

[guns1inger]

A simpler and better quality option would be to ditch Roxio completely (and while you are uninstalling software, get rid of K-lite as well), then use AVStoDVD to do your conversions for you. It can read a range of subtitle formats and and author you a disc with soft subs. Or you can use it to encode your video and audio to elementary streams, and author them in something that can handle external subs, such as GUIForDVDAuthor or DVD Styler.

[Supreme2k]

Lost newbie?

Here ya go:

[Noahtuck]

get rid of K-lite as well),

But wait....

These guys seem to think it fixes things!!

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/317923-Media-Player-Classic-Upgrade

[AlanHK]

get rid of K-lite as well),

But wait....

These guys seem to think it fixes things!!

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/317923-Media-Player-Classic-Upgrade

"Seem to think"?

I've actually been using K-Lite for a few years.
Maybe if you have some facts that show why it is a bad idea you could share them.

[creamyhorror]

get rid of K-lite as well),

But wait....

These guys seem to think it fixes things!!

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/317923-Media-Player-Classic-Upgrade

Why don't you take it to the original thread and instead of taking potshots here?

[guns1inger]

Unfortunately only anecdotes, so take them as you will, but when I see a machine with video or audio playback issues, the common factor in most cases is that a codec pack has been recently installed. In some cases they can be uninstalled and the problem goes away. In enough cases to make it painful, the problem remains after the uninstall because the codec pack does not clean up nicely, and the machine needs major work to get it back up and running.

I am willing to concede that this may be confirmation bias on my part, and that these are not power users (but then, most computer users are not power users).

However I will not use a codec pack, will not recommend the use of codec packs, and will recommend against the use of codec packs if asked.

[KKPHM]

Soooo... back to the topic at hand. Thank you guns1inger for the suggestion. I have uninstalled all that other software, and cleaned the registry. I've installed AVStoDVD but... I really have no idea how to use it. I'm tooling around with it, but I can't seem to find a guide online for using the program, and the Help file is really no help at all.

Can anyone direct me to a good online resource for step by step how to use AVStoDVD?

*edit: for the best possible quality. (I'm trying to use an .mkv file with a separate subtitles file as well, seem to be having difficulty loading these files into the program.)

[AlanHK]

Unfortunately only anecdotes, so take them as you will, but when I see a machine with video or audio playback issues, the common factor in most cases is that a codec pack has been recently installed. In some cases they can be uninstalled and the problem goes away. In enough cases to make it painful, the problem remains after the uninstall because the codec pack does not clean up nicely, and the machine needs major work to get it back up and running.

I am willing to concede that this may be confirmation bias on my part, and that these are not power users (but then, most computer users are not power users).

However I will not use a codec pack, will not recommend the use of codec packs, and will recommend against the use of codec packs if asked.

There are dozens of different codec packs.
To simply label the whole category as "bad" because some have caused problems isn't really a fair assessment.

To find and install necessary codecs indivually is even more likely to trip up the non-power user. Most don't even know where to start.


My advice is use one reputable pack, like K-lite or CCCP, and use it to only install the minimal codecs you need. You can always add others if and when you need them.
I can't see how that can produce a worse result than installing the codecs individually. All it does it make them easier to manage.

[redwudz]

KKPHM, we do insist on clear titles to allow other members to find subjects from searches. I'll change your title this time. Please read our rules.

Moderator redwudz

Since your desired output is a DVD, the main thing is to re-encode as little quality loss as possible. Every re-encode will degrade quality. You can sometimes keep the quality the same, but to do that you usually have to increase the bitrate, and the filesize. A single layer DVD has about 4.37GB space. A dual layer DVD has about 7.95GB space. To burn as a DVD, your file can't exceed those sizes. You might want to take a look at 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page. That will give you more info on the DVD format, specification and structure.

How you do all that is up to you. There are plenty of freeware programs that can re-encode and others that can author (Convert) to the DVD format. Or you can use payware programs. I think you will find that most times, several different programs need to be used. But keep reading. The answers are here.

Just my opinion, but I would say to stay away from codec packs also.

And welcome to our forums.

[_MrC_]

Can anyone direct me to a good online resource for step by step how to use AVStoDVD?

Its own Help section. Just have patience and read it. If you do not understand something, ask here.



Bye

[KKPHM]

Its own Help section. Just have patience and read it. If you do not understand something, ask here.



Bye

Hey _MrC_ ,

Yup. You were right. After taking a more in-depth look at the help file in AVStoDVD, I was able to find some useful tidbits that helped me to get the program working right. Before I was unable to mux or burn or preview, turns out I didn't have FFDshow configured correctly. Sorry!

So, I was able to successfully burn my first DVD with AVStoDVD! Thanks!

But there is one thing I still can't figure out, despite looking over the help file. Since you can automatically separate your video into chapters (which I did successfully), is there a way to display these chapters as you would "scene selection" in the DVD menu? I couldn't figure that out in the program. Is this possible? If so, could you point me in the right direction?

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions!

[guns1inger]

@AlanHK - K-Lite is the one I most often see, because it is the one most often suggested on the video pirate sites as the solution to all playback problems.

[AlanHK]

@AlanHK - K-Lite is the one I most often see, because it is the one most often suggested on the video pirate sites as the solution to all playback problems.

Okay, but I actually use it myself.

I still haven't heard any specific issues. Every time this comes up I just hear "Codec packs are bad; for idiots and losers (and now 'pirates')".

Actually the most useful feature of K-Lite I use is uninstalling or reconfiguring codecs.

Of course, like any system configuration tool, which is what it is, you can hose your operating sytem if you don't pay attention.

[_MrC_]

But there is one thing I still can't figure out, despite looking over the help file. Since you can automatically separate your video into chapters (which I did successfully), is there a way to display these chapters as you would "scene selection" in the DVD menu? I couldn't figure that out in the program. Is this possible? If so, could you point me in the right direction?

That feature is not available. But do not give up hope and give a look to next releases.



Bye

[KKPHM]

Just wanted to say a big Thanks! to everyone who responded. It's been a big help. Thanks again!