How to add new subtitles to an existing DVD

[Baldrick]

This guide will explain how to add new subtitles to a an existing DVD without reconvert any video or audio and keep the original menus. I will eplain two methods, using the subtitle wizard or using each tool separate.

Tools:
SubtitleCreator
PgcDemux
Muxman
Vobblanker
Ifoedit

Preparation
If it's a commercial DVD then rip it to your HDD using DVDFab Decrypter first.
Install SubtitleCreator and Extract all other tools to a folder.


Method 1:
Using the Subtitle Creator Wizard, easiest but may not always work as it should.

Create or convert your srt subtitles to sup dvd format using Subtitle Creator
1. Open the srt subtitle file or create your own subtitles.
( Optional 2. Open the original dvd movie by open the VTS_01_01.IFO ( you need a mpeg2/dvd decoder ) and you can manually sync the movie. You can also adjust subtitle colors and more. )
3. File->Save sup as



Using the DVD AUthoring Wizard in Subtitle Creator
1. Select Tools - > DVD AUthoring, now you have to select the location to the Pgcdemux.exe, muxman.exe and vobblanker.
2. Select the VIDEO_TS from your original DVD.
3. Select output folder, you need a lot free hdd space.
4. Load the new sup that you created above and set langugae
5. Start



You should now have a new VIDEO_TS folder with vob, ifo and bups. Try play the VIDEO_TS folder with a software player like PowerDVD, WinDVD, MPC(open the VIDEO_TS.ifo file with MPC) and try select the subtitle track. Select the subtitle in the software player menu or on your remote control subtitle button because the menu might not work as it should.



Last burn the new VIDEO_TS with Nero Burning Rom or ImgBurn.

Done.



Method 2:
Using each tool separate if the Subtitle Creator wizard would not work as it should.

Demultiplex the audio and video from the DVD using PgcDemux
1. Select the VTS_01_01.IFO from your DVD
2. Select by VOB id and Domain Titles and select the main movie
3. Select Demux video streams, audio streams, subtitle streams and celltimes



Create or convert your srt subtitles to sup dvd format using Subtitle Creator
1. Open the srt or create your own subtitles.
( Optional 2. Open the original dvd movie by open the VTS_01_01.IFO ( you need a mpeg2/dvd decoder ) and you can manually sync the movie. You can also adjust subtitle colors and more. )
3. File->Save sup as



Author to a new DVD with Muxman
1. Select the m2v that you got from the Pgcdemux
2. Select the ac3 that you got from the Pgcdemux
3. Select the new sup that you got from the Subtitle Creator, set language
4. Select File->Import chapter and open the celltimes.txt you got from Pgcdemux
5. Output to a new folder



(Optional) Add back the original menus
1. Open the original DVD VIDEO_TS.IFO file
2. Select output folder
3. Select the main movie title, usually VTS_01 or the biggest file
4. Click replace and open the VTS_01_01.ifo from the Muxman output



Update ifo files
If you used Vobblanker to restore the original menus AND if your DVD didn't contain any subtitles or if you're increasing the total number of subtitle tracks you must also update the ifos. Read here for for a step by step guide how to update the ifo files with subtitle information.


You should now have a new VIDEO_TS folder with vob, ifo and bups. Try play the VIDEO_TS folder with a software player like PowerDVD, WinDVD, MPC(open the VIDEO_TS.ifo file with MPC) and try select the subtitle track. Select the subtitle in the software player menu or on your remote control subtitle button because the menu might not work as it should.



Last burn the new VIDEO_TS with Nero Burning Rom or ImgBurn.

Done.

[caesarmarcus]

Your Highness- The Reverend Baldric !

Excuse me my bold behaviour, addressing directly Your Majesty as only a newbie!

Good winds have blown me to Your doorstep, since I am begging for Your generous hand, from which all help may come.

Following Your irreplaceable tutorial I stuck in one point and it seems, I cannot find a way out from that maze.
The trunk I have stumbled against is PGCDemux tool.

I haven't NTFS but FAT 32 file system with XPSP2. In some time I will change the computer but now it must work with two systems on two partitions - WIN98SE and the above mentioned XP. There are some virtues to have such a division - recently SubtitleCreator has refused to work any more in XP (nothing helped and I didn't want to reinstall it with the loss of many programs,but I have installed in on WIN98 and here it works!

FAT as You know doesn't let create files of more than 4 GB and something. When I put PGCDemux to work in the way You kindly showed in the tutorial it tried to create one big VOB file but the system didn't let him to do this. I ended with a big VOB which tended to be bigger but the system stopped its futher creation. The only way I managed to cooperate with PGCDemux was by selecting its SINGLE CELL mode. As a result I got 14 cells, compared to 7 ones housed by the original DVD. I have muxed each VOB-cell with the appropriate audio track and sup subtitles, which I had prepared in Subtitle Workshop and Creator having synchronized them simultaneously.
Then, came the VobBlanker but this one refuses to work properly giving the output that ends with only one VOB - one scene. Here is my question:

-What ifos and bups(for futher interaction with VobBlanker) should remain in the "remuxed" folder since Muxman creates them each time it processes individual set of m2V,ac-3, and sup files - as I wrote above I have 14 sets of them.

-Should they come from the first or the the last set or maybe they are unnecessary. Each time Muxman completed its work I had to rename the main VOB -VTS_01_1,by exchanging its last digit by 2,3 and so on up to 14,not letting it to be overwritten next time by Muxman again to VTS_01_1. Ifos and bups were, of course,ovewritten.

-Maybe the best solution is to get rid of all the sets install XP with NTFS and follow another recipe but what if I don't like to repeat the whole long procedures and,beyond all,use the existing output files? I don't need any menus and chapters in this film,only my new subtitles

Any solution, Reverend Baldrick San ? Any mor data from me?

[xicoxicao]

Thanks for the guide. You're the man and Black Adder stinks.

I tried the method 1 a got no results and then tried method 2.

Playing the new files created with MuxMan in MPC worked wll enough. I could enable and disable subtitles and they played when they were enabled.

I then tried to put the original menus back in witn VobBlanker amd the resulting files no longer play as before. The subtitle language options, in the MPC Navigate Menu, is dimmed, and the subtitles don't show. I get the menus of the original though. By the way the original DVD didn't have subtitles

I did exactly as you suggested in the guide. Where am I going wrong?

Thanks for the help

[xicoxicao]

No need to bother Baldrick. I got it going with the help of another guide in this site. It said that I needed to edit the new IFO's I got after VobBlanker.

Perhaps you should update your guide with similar information so that other lame guys like me don't fall in the same trap.

Thanks anyway.

[Baldrick]

It worked in mpc for me without editing the ifos. What exactly did you do? It may help others with same problem and I can update the guide also.

caesarmarcus: Convert to NTFS...I don't know any other solution.

[xicoxicao]

I followed the advice in the following topic:

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic275603.html?highlight=subtitles%20dvd

From what I gathered the problem was that my original didn't have any subtitiles, and when I copied the VTS_01_0.IFO of the remuxed back to the original, which is I believe what is done with VobBlanker, although the subtitles were muxed in, the original VTS_TS.IFO had no way of telling they're there.

With IfoEdit you edit the VTS_TS.IFO of the original to tell it that there are subtitles now.

Of course, I may be a complete arse, who doesn´t understand this stuff, and got lucky. I'm very new to this anyway.

All the best.

[Baldrick]

Okey, the DVD I tested with had subtitles in other languagues. Will add something about it to the guide.

[manono]

If you are adding a subtitle for the first time, or if you're increasing the total number of subtitle tracks, then you have to "turn on" the new subs. If you're just replacing one sub with another so that the total number of subs stays the same, then you don't have to do anything. This is more easily accomplished through PGCEdit than with IFOEdit. I've explained the procedure a few times, but here it is with pics:

Open the DVD in PGCEdit:



Note the green reel of film I've outlined in red. We'll return to that later. Find the video with the new subs. Here I've highlighted it. Double-click on it and you'll be taken to a new PGC Editor screen:



In this example there are no subs at all. If adding subs where some already exist, then the new one won't be listed. Check under the "Sub-picture VOB's Decoding Streams" section and you'll see no subs listed. If there aren't any in the IFOs, even if they're in the VOBs, when you play the DVD you'll get no subs. Click on the first empty stream. In this example it's number zero, but in the case of a DVD where you're adding a new subtitle language it'll be the first empty number. After clicking on it, in the new subpic streams setup screen hit "Set":



This is for a 4:3 DVD. If 16:9, you might have to study how the other subs (if any) are done. If this is the first sub language added, and if you made only one sub in Muxman, Track 1: W20 LB20 (sometimes you might have 2, one for wide and one for letterbox), then both wide and letterbox stay at zero. If you muxed in 2 separate tracks , one for wide and the other for letterbox (in Muxman, Track 1: W20 LB21), then wide stays at zero and move the letterbox slider to one. If adding a new sub to a DVD that already has subs, then use the next available number (or the next 2 numbers if you made 2 different subtitle tracks for your 16:9 DVD) after the earlier already used ones for wide and letterbox. A 4:3 DVD has one subtitle track but a 16:9 DVD must have two, even if they're both the same. Yeah, it's a little confusing. Usually you'll use the same number for both, but I wanted to cover all the bases. Many retail 16:9 DVDs with subs have separate ones for the wide and letterbox tracks.

After setting the new sub, OK back to the main screen. Remember that red outlined green reel of film in the first pic? Hit it and it'll give you a message about fixing the number of subtitle streams. Answer "Yes" and in the new screen to which it sends you, you can set the language and type of subtitle if you wish:



Once you've done that, if you double-click on the video again you'll now see the new subs listed:



In the main screen save the DVD (File->Save DVD is one way) and test it out in PowerDVD before burning to disc. If you find the colors are off, change them in the CLUT (Color LookUp Table) which you reach by double-clicking on the video, taking note of the colors you have now, finding them in the CLUT (the 4x4 color block you'll see - they're usually in the top row), and changing them to the way you like. Get back to the main screen, save, and test it out.

If you find you've accidently messed something up, just replace the IFOs that PGCEdit saved for you in the PgcEdit_backup file when you first opened the DVD and start over again. This may look somewhat complicated at first, but once you've done it a couple of times, it'll take all of about 15 seconds.

Edited: for clarity (I hope).

[harryk]

Thanks so much, Baldrick, for this great guide, and manono for your excellent addendum.
They gave me the courage to try adding some subtitles, which I had been putting off.
I feel I am very close now; probably there's one small thing I'm overlooking.

My DVD
- is NTSC (from Japan)
- has no subtitles at all
I created English subtitles for it myself using Subtitle Workshop, then converted them to a .sup file in SubtitleCreator.

I followed the instructions for Method 2. But after using muxman, when I play the video in either MPC or WinDVD, I still do not see any subtitles.

If I am reading the instructions correctly, it would appear that if I do not do the optional VobBlanker step (to retain menus), then I do not need to do the optional IfoEdit step either. Did I understand that right?
(I will be happy enough without a menu if I can just get one set of permanent subtitles.)

Just in case, I did read manono's addendum on "turning on" subtitles. So I ran PgcEdit on the output folder from muxman (I presume that's what I want to run it on). But it already shows that it has a Sub-picture stream 0 with Wide(1) and Letterbox(0), which I presume was put there by muxman. (If I run PgcEdit on the original, there is none there.)

But when I play that same (re-muxed) folder, I get no subtitles, and where the players have a "Subtitle" menu or option, it is grayed out.

Any idea what I am missing? I would be very grateful for any help someone can offer. Thank you.

[manono]

If I am reading the instructions correctly, it would appear that if I do not do the optional VobBlanker step (to retain menus), then I do not need to do the optional IfoEdit step either. Did I understand that right?

Yes, that's correct. Did you check the muxman.log to make sure they were muxed in? It's in the root of the C drive. Unless you've used Muxman again since then, (thus overwriting it), if you open it and if something went wrong with the mux, there should be some sort of a message.

Next, let's make sure they're there, but not showing up for one reason or another (transparent, maybe, or too low to be seen). Open the VOBs in DVDSubEdit, all of them at once. Do you see them? Checking the SubPic/Transparency slider, is it all the way to the left, to "Clear"? Let's check their position. Does moving the "SubPic Vertical Position" slider bring them up into view?

If either of those things helps, then after changing one go into Edit and "Apply Last Modifications To All", before File->Save All Modifications.

While in there, you can also change the colors to whatever you like, unless using the PGCEdit method I outlined earlier.

If neither helped, make sure the SUP file you made is actually good. Open it in SubtitleCreator (Tools->Manipulate SUP or VobSub->Open Sub) and see if you can read the dialog, and the timings look OK.

[rayden54]

Awesome guide. I can't believe I missed it until now.

I'm having a slightly weird problem using method two. For some reason, VobBlanker keeps putting the last cell at beginning of the movie.

[manono]

That is weird.

After the Muxman step, when you play the DVD does it play OK?

What about after the VobBlanker step? Does it play the last cell first, and then play it again at the end where it's supposed to be? If so, can you process it a second time, this time blanking out that first cell? Or does it only play the last cell first, and not at the end later on?

If so, about all I can suggest is to, first, compare the source DVD in VobBlanker, with the reencoded one, paying special attention to where the cells might be different, and two, run a Trace in PGCEdit to find out what's going on with the original source DVD, as well as your reencoded one. If you find during the trace that the last cell is being commanded to play first, you can edit the commands to make it play where it's supposed to. That can be a bit tricky, though, if you haven't done anything like that before.

[rayden54]

Yes. The Muxman version is ok.

No. It only plays the cell once. At the beginning.

I've got DVDRemake Pro if that helps at all. It's giving me fits too though. After I do a bulk replace with it, nothing can find the subtitles, even though PGCedit says they're there.

[manono]

OK, try this. This will only work, though, if the movie is the only PGC in that particular VTS. If there's a logo, or some extra or something else, it won't work. Open the DVD in PGCEdit - the already VobBlanker processed DVD where that last cell plays first. Highlight the movie. Go File->Replace VTST Titles, and follow the instructions from there. You'll be asked to point to the Muxman muxed movie, say "Yes" to the first question, and OK a move of the current VOBs to backup (to protect yourself). I forget what happens after that as I haven't done this for awhile and didn't want to do anything to the DVD I was testing with. But the several times I did it before it worked great.

When done, the DVD and movie should play as they should. Depending on what was processed in VobBlanker earlier (reencoded extras, removed audio tracks, etc.), you might also be able to do this with the original unprocessed working DVD. And then, if necessary, after you get the reencoded movie the way you like, then process the other stuff that needs processing. Did that make any sense?

I can't help if you decide to do it via DVDRemake Pro. Lots of people swear by it, but I find it so counterintuitive as to be pretty much useless to me. I'm sure there are others that will be happy to step in.

[rayden54]

Er. It's kinda not the only movie. Or at least it's not exactly the only movie. Parts of it are repeated. Only one of them actually has a filesize though.

[manono]

Does this thing have ILVUs? Did VobBlanker warn you when you opened the DVD? Did you try and replace one of the PGCs that had a zero MB size?

You can only replace the one that has a real size. And if it has ILVUs, VobBlanker doesn't support DVDs with ILVUs, or angles. You'll have to strip out all but one before working with VobBlanker.

[harryk]

Excellent suggestions, manono.

But when I used DvdSubEdit on the VOBs, it does show the subtitles on top of each picture, albeit very low. Even when I tried moving them up to the middle of the picture, they still don't appear when I play the video in either
WinDVD or MPC.

It seems like some small thing (one bit in the file?) is missing to trigger their being used on playback. Or do I need to do something in the player?

Something that might be relevant: when I use WinDVD, it has a "Language" menu that has a 'Subtitle" control labeled "Disable", and the control is greyed out, so that I can't change it.

Any idea what I'm still missing? Thanks so much for your help.

Harry

[manono]

I don't have WinDVD installed, and have had problems in the past making them appear when using Media Player Classic as a DVD player. I always test in PowerDVD.

But the subs may not appear by default when just playing the DVD. Just as when playing the DVD in a standalone player you may have to turn them on in the Setup Menu or by using the remote control, so might you have to turn them on when using a software DVD player. Unless you add a menu command to force the subs to play by default:

http://download.videohelp.com/r0lZ/pgcedit/third_party/2cool/subtitles/subtitles_on_de...lt_pgcedit.htm

So, can you burn them to a DVD-RW (or maybe waste a DVDR) to test in your standalone? If they show up in DVDSubEdit, you definitely have subs, and they should show up. What happens when you open the DVD in PGCEdit and double-click the video? You can see them, as in my 5th and last picture farther up the thread, can't you? That's the one with the dark 0 0 0 0 where all the other subtitle streams have a greyed out "none".

[rayden54]

What's an ILVU? VobBlanker didn't warn me when I opened the DVD.

No. I didn't try to replace anything with 0 MB filesize.

I started completely over last night: re-ripped the DVD and everything. I think I may have gotten it to work, but I still have no idea what was wrong.

Edit: I've sort of got it to work. The cells in the right place, but now Nero Showtime is only showing 2 of the three audio tracks. MPC merges those two into one really quiet track but plays the third fine.

VLC is also the only player of the three which recognizes the existence of my new subtitle track, although it only sees 1 audio track. Nero recognized the subtitles until I synced them with DVDSubedit. I'll have to burn a test DVD to see what's really going on.

Thanks!

[manono]

What's an ILVU? VobBlanker didn't warn me when I opened the DVD.

Interleaving, as when there are multiple angles or seamless branching in the DVD. One example would be when you have both the theatrical version and the director's cut on the same DVD. VobBlanker doesn't support that kind, and all kinds of screwy things can happen if you force it to do the processing without first stripping out one of the angles. But it looks like that's not your problem. Good luck with your test burn. Sometimes you just have to test with your standalone player and TV set to see if everything is working.

[rayden54]

Darn. I've got a DVD with seamless branching (I think) that I was gonna try a PAL/NTSC conversion using VobBlanker and the pulldown method. Now, I guess I'll have to figure something else out.

I've switched back to my audio problem thread, by the way. Stupid DVD. They released separate web only audio commentaries that I'm trying to add as a third track. Then I've got to split them and fix the menus. Why must they be dual-layer DVDs?

[giannid]

Thanks Baldrick for the great guide. I had spent most of the day last week trying to substitute a subtitle for another on one of my DVDs but kept getting little but significant errors, then I found this guide.

First I updated the programs as a few of the ones I had were previous versions. I also noticed in PgcDemux, you selected "by VOB id", whereas I had previously selected "by PGC". So I selected "by VOB id" like you have in your example. I followed your guide and the DVD played great, no errors.

Thanks again for the guide!

[harryk]

manono, thank so much for your ideas. You were quite right. My problem seems to have been with Media Player Classic and WinDVD - either they have problems playing subtitles, or I was just unable to figure out how to turn on subtitles in those programs.

I'm sure that your recommendation of PowerDVD would have worked too. But before downloading that, I tried (just for fun) the standard Microsoft Windows Media Player. And to my surprise, it worked great. It just has a simple menu entry to turn subtitles on/off. Worked as soon as I tried it.

Now that I feel confident I've really got subtitles that work, I'm ready to go on to try to burn a DVD!

Thanks also to baldrick for this great guide - so much simpler than other ones I had looked at earlier. It's much appreciated.

Harry

[manono]

And to my surprise, it worked great.

I can imagine your elation when you finally saw the subs on which you had worked so hard suddenly appear for the first time when playing the DVD. I'm sure after burning to disc they'll show up on your TV set, too. Good going.

[top_cat]

And to my surprise, it worked great.

I can imagine your elation when you finally saw the subs on which you had worked so hard suddenly appear for the first time when playing the DVD. I'm sure after burning to disc they'll show up on your TV set, too. Good going.

Hi! This guide is very good. I used it to add a subtitle to a film, in my PC, POWERDVD played the new subtitle perfect, but when I put it on my standalone player, it freezes on the firts apperance of the new subtitle. The other subtitle is ok, but the new one freezes and the only way to have it back again is to tunr off the player on its outlet.
Are there anyone that can solve this?
Thank for any help.

[manono]

Bad news, eh? I don't make my subs using the methods outlined in this guide, so I don't know what the problem might be. What happens if you try them in a different DVD player, like over at a friend's house? Same thing? I've never heard of anything being wrong with the SUP files created by SubtitleCreator.

How about during the Muxman step? If for a 16:9 DVD, did you load each SUP file twice? Open one SUP file and click on Wide followed by LB. Then open the 2nd SUP file and click on Wide followed by LB. Did you do that? The guide is a little bit unclear on that part.

If that's not the problem, then I can suggest a different way of making subs for Muxman.

[HurriGame]

hye all. i know that this is not the right place to make this post but i didn`t knew where else to put it. so here are my problems .
1. there are some DVD menus that when you go with the mouse cursor over a text from the menu,that text changes his color.i`ll take an exemple so that it will be more easy for you tu understand my problem. let`s say my text is white and when i go with the cursor over it it turns into red . Good. After i make a .bmp of the menu part (whit vob blanker) that i want to edit and edit that part in photoshop by replacing one text whit another after i make the dvd whit vob blanker when i go over the edited text it`s showing what has been there before editing the .bmp ,in red colour. my question is how can i either delete ale those red colours from the texts or how can i also edit the red colour of the text that i edited in my .bmp . here is a picture for you to understand better what i`m saying.
the red colour that i said as an example is the purple colour from the photo.
and
2. how can i change the button of a menu . with what programs and how? for example at some dvd menus the buttons appear like an underline,a rectangle,a square ,etc. ... how can i put what i want there? ... here`s also a picture so you understant what i`m saying

pls reply.

[manono]

Hi-

when i go over the edited text it`s showing what has been there before editing the .bmp

how can i change the button of a menu . with what programs and how?

Both require the same thing; editing the underlying subpic. DVDSubEdit is probably the easiest way to do this, perhaps followed by a quick PGCEdit visit to adjust the button outlines (like if the text changed size, as when the "Romanian" in the first pic became bigger/wider than what was there before).

http://download.videohelp.com/DVDSubEdit/UserManual/helpfile.htm

Section 4 explains the process.

[tmihai20]

I have found a solution and I posted it HERE

[manono]

I think it is easier than demuxing the motion menu, modifying the video stream (it is rather difficult to edit m2v files obtained from demuxing).

I disagree with that. I edit motion M2Vs all the time. You can't do it (easily) for all of them, but there's a class of menu where it's not difficult at all, if you know a little AviSynth:



This is a menu from an Italian DVD that I edited to add in some English language text. Above the text, where that girl is, that's all moving video, scenes from the movie. The menu editing guide to which you linked doesn't explain how to do that, but by using the information contained in that guide, combined with some encoding and AviSynth knowledge, it's not at all difficult. I suppose you can do similar things using NLEs, but I prefer AviSynth's abilities in this regard.