Adding subtitles in Ulead dvd workshop 2 - i got it!

[tkamin]

Hi!
after asking in this forum several times and getting no response, i finally succeeded in solving my problem. I was trying to add subtitles that i got off the net to a dvd project in the dvd workshop but it kept changing the subtitles timings so they got out of sync. after playing around with the subtitles file i made with subtitle workshop i found out that it saves the frame rate inside the file in the ulead format and that causes the program to "try" and sync it to your frame rate... well, just changed the frame rate value in the text subtitles file - and i got me a great movie with subtitles!!

just wanted to let everybody know how it works...

Tzvika

[p_l]

I had the same problem converting srt subtitles to the txt format Ulead DVD Workshop takes, using Subtitle Workshop. They were out of sync until I was careful to match the subtitle framerate (in Subtitle Workshop) to the framerate of the file, in my case 29.97. Check your file's framerate, using VirtualDub or something, and then use the same framerate when you convert in Subtitle Workshop.

I was then able to import the subs into Ulead DVD Workshop, and they synced up fine.

By the way, below shows why you have to convert them. If you try to import (1.) srt subs directly into DWS, the timecodes end up in the same section along with the text (2.), and it doesn't work. Fortunately, Subtitle Workshop converts them fine into the txt format DWS requires. Just pay attention to that framerate!

[IMpactHorse]

You know, I'm working with the same tools but my results were a bit nerve wrecking... I couldn't synch my DVD Studio Pro subs (converted in Subtitle Workshop) to my DVD Workshop title. I have checked the frame rate in all settings - they are all the same 29.97, but i got it 2!!!
just don't ask me how, but it worked when I used 25 fps for output in Subtitle workshop... go figure...

[canadateck]

just don't ask me how, but it worked when I used 25 fps for output in Subtitle workshop... go figure...

LOL..Dont you hate that..when you have a probelm you try so many things.Then when you do get it to work, you cant seen to remember the exact steps..lol

[p_l]

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Luis314]

There is also a limitation in Subtitle Workshop about how it converts subtitles to Ulead DVD Workshop 2. This limitation only shows up when converting non-english subtitles, that is, with any non-ASCII 7 bit characters.
I was converting spanish subtitles and DVD Workshop kept converting all accents to "?", for example:

Cañón --> Ca??n

The problem is that Subtitle Workshop converts to plain ASCII, whereas DVD Workshop can handle extended 16-bit ASCII. So an additional conversion step is required. I have created a small Java program to convert from plain to extended ASCII, here is the code:

- - - - - -

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.charset.*;

public class SubFix {

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
System.out.println("Converting:");
System.out.println(" Input : "+args[0]);
System.out.println(" Output : "+args[1]);
new SubFix().doIt(args[0],args[1]);
System.out.println("Conversion done");
}

public void doIt(String src, String dst) throws IOException {
InputStream in=new FileInputStream(src);
FileOutputStream fos=new FileOutputStream(dst);
OutputStreamWriter out=new OutputStreamWriter(fos,Charset.forName("UTF-16LE"));
int i;

fos.write(0xFF);
fos.write(0xFE);
do {
i=in.read();
if (i>=0) {
out.write(i);
}
} while (i>=0);
in.close();
out.close();
}

}

- - - - - -

(Sorry, trailing spaces are trimmed but the code will still compile).

Regards,
Luis.

[Luis314]

There is also a limitation in Subtitle Workshop about how it converts subtitles to Ulead DVD Workshop 2. This limitation only shows up when converting non-english subtitles, that is, with any non-ASCII 7 bit characters.

Ah, by the way! (and answering to myself), I now remember there was a bigger limitation that happened to my pure English subtitles:

When converting subtitles with multi-line entries, such as:

hello|how are you?
(as used in SRT format to separate lines)

The import process would skip the separation and destroy the first character of the second line (or something like that), so the result would be:

helloow are you?

The 8 to 16-bit conversion is then required even for Enghlish subtitles.


...And in case you are interested, there is yet another problem, in this case on the DVD Workshop side: if you change the font size or alignment after loading a converted subtitle file, the nice extended characters (á, ñ, ¿, ç, etc.) go back to '?'. This can only be solved by manually editing the converted file, in order to set the desired font size and alignment.

Regards,
Luis.

[p_l]

Wow, nice work, Luís. ¡Gracias!********

[malisamson]

Hmm nice one
but how is it that I open that program with java?