DVD Screenshots Without Subtitles

[ladykathryn]

I watch a lot of subtitled DVDs. I need a DVD playing software that will take screenshots, but not have the subtitles show up on the saved images. I've tried VLC, PowerDVD, and GOM Player, with no luck. They all save screenshots with the subtitles on them. I read through the sticky post about screenshots, but none of the posts addressed this issue. I need to be able to take screenshots as I watch, so turning off the subtitles to take each screenshot is not an option.

Does anyone know of a program that will do what I need? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[jimdagys]

I tried vlc and Media Player Classic Home Cinema and also the Windows Print Screen. All had the subtitles. Here is a test DVD (27mb) with subtitles (have to be enabled) if anybody else wants to try and find a method to screenshot capture without the subtitles with the subtitles enabled.
https://files.videohelp.com/u/61125/testdvd.zip

[hello_hello]

So far, I haven't been able to convince MPC-HC to save the subtitles with the picture. I've tried two different renderers and an external subtitle filter, but only the "picture" is saved. If I use PrintScreen to capture the image I get the subtitles too, but not when saving an image with Alt+I. Maybe it's an XP thing.

On the other hand though.... Alt+I saves the image using the picture resolution, not the picture aspect ratio, so a DVD will always save as 720x480 or 720x576. If that's not satisfactory you could try MPC-BE. I don't use it myself but I believe it saves images with the same aspect ratio as they appear on the screen. Or you could batch resize the images when you're done saving them.

[DB83]

^^ Didn't XP handle the video acceleration/overlay different to more current OS's such as Win7 . Could explain why it's working for you and not us mere mortals.

But snap-shot within the player will always capture the SAR. No way around that methinks.

My 'Heath Robinson' solution with VLC is to run two copies of the video in two instances of the player - one showing the subs and one not showing them. Have the one not showing them as the active window and hit the appropriate hot-key when you need a snap-shot.

[roma_turok]

Install madVR
In MPC-HC option go to: Playback -> Output
in DirectShow Video change to madVR, save option
close MPC-HC and open
Now screenshots save without subtitles, with F5 key shortcut

[davejavu]

With MPC-HC using the Alt-I buuilt in image saver it wouldn't initially save the subtitles. I tried switching to a different renderer, the Overlay Mixer and then the Sync Renderer, but that didn't work. I then tried saving as a BMP to see if that made a difference and hey presto image with subtitles. I then switched back to my normal EVR (Custom Preset) renderer to make sure it still worked and it did, then tried saving to the default JPG and it still worked as image with subtitles. No idea why it suddenly started working.

I should point out that the images still didn't have the correct aspect ratio but that can be changed easily enough in an image editor.

Using the ususal Alt-PrtScr with the video player active i get the image and subtitles in the correct aspect ratio, albeit with the program windows as well.

[manono]

Using MPC-HC I have to turn on the subs. With them on I take pictures (File->Save Image) with subs, with them off I take pictures with no subs.

To choose one or the other I right-click the screen and then Subtitle Track->Enable DVD subtitles (on or off). I have no idea why "turning off the subtitles to take each screenshot is not an option."

[hello_hello]

^^ Didn't XP handle the video acceleration/overlay different to more current OS's such as Win7 . Could explain why it's working for you and not us mere mortals.

But snap-shot within the player will always capture the SAR. No way around that methinks.

Curiouser and curiouser....

Because manono mentioned "DVD subtitles" it made me wonder, as the MPC-HC menu doesn't say "DVD subtitles" if you don't open a DVD the traditional way, and that's something I almost never do as I rarely play DVDs. So it turns out if I open a vob file directly or open it via a corresponding IFO file, the subtitles aren't included with using Alt+I. If I open the DVD via the VIDEO_TS.IFO file, or via the File/OpenDVD menu, the "DVD Subtitles" option appears in the subtitles menu, and the subtitles are included when using Alt+I.

I tried an MKV containing both srt and DVD subtitles and in both cases the subtitles weren't included with the saved image, so maybe it's just a DVD thing, although I don't know why they'd work differently.

I did realise the subtitles in the sample from the second post are displaying oddly if I open the vob file directly. Initially I thought someone created crap looking subtitles, but if I open the sample via the File/Open DVD menu the subtitles look normal (white text). If I open the vob file directly though, they display as black text with a white outline as they do in the image in my previous post. When I tried to extract them so I could mux them into a different container, VSRip said it found an encrypted sector but no key to extract them, so maybe that's the problem there.

[manono]

I used to use PowerDVD every once in a while for watching DVDs on the computer and remember being irritated that it didn't show the subs when I paused to take a picture. I don't know if it's changed since then, but if ladykathryn has or can get a copy, it's worth a try.