create dvd subs from scratch - is there any reliable way?

[sunmanking]

hello,

i don't know of any single subtitle editor that opens vob files in a way that you can work with the WHOLE video file, not just with one vob at at time. when you open it, they just open VTS_01_1.VOB, forgetting about VTS_01_2.VOB etc.

if i create the subtitles, .srt for instance, from the vobs, i'll have to open the five vobs and therefore, create five subtitle files. later on, i'll join them into one file and recalculate the times so that everything is right.

HOWEVER, by some reason i cannot understand, each subtitle file from each vob will be out of sync some seconds, even a few minutes in some cases. so each subtitle file will be out of sync for some seconds. maybe #1, 20 seconds; #2 3 seconds etc. the cause is NOT recalculating the times. the only solution to this i know of is to calculate the time difference, which is a pretty sad solution. it is just as if when playing a vob file some time was added for some reason.

in order to solve the out of sync problem, i have also muxed .m2v and .ac3 into an .mpg as MPG2 program in tmpgenc but for some reason, subtitling tool will not open it. subtitle workshop will open it. however, i don't know of a way to create a sub from scractch with that program... never the less, video players will open the .mpg! how strange! i've heard about muxing with mainconcept but don't know if it can do it and haven't tried it.

i have also converted .ac3 into .mp2 keeping 48Hz and muxed .m2v and .mp2 into an .mpg with the same result: subtitling tool will not open it. however, video players will open it.

so, i don't know what to do in the end.

to put things worse, if i close the subtitling program or shut down the computer and want to edit my home-made subs, this time the out of sync time will be different even for the very same subtitle file! that is, the previously timed and synced subtitle file will be out of sync again. this is way too much depressing to me...

it cannot be that difficult!

please... help...

sunmanking

[dafreak]

hmm, you might try this.
1. load the vob files using dvd2avi.
2. save the project to a directory on your hd. it should save as a d2v file.
3. run the d2v file through VFAPI Reader to create a pseudo-avi file
4. load the pseudo-avi file up in subtitle workshop and create your subtitles.
5. save the subtitles that you have created as *.srt file
6. follow the rest of this guide on how to add subs to dvd.

[Vejita-sama]

There are guides on this here and at doom9.org There are several ways to make subtitles most people use SubStation Alpha to generate their own subtitles, then convert the SSA script file to a series of BMP files (MaestroSBT) then use those BMP files to generate/as the source of the subtitles.

You need a DVD authoring program that will accept subtitles as well: IFOEdit, DVD Maestro, Scenarist, Encore, Reel DVD, etc.

[dafreak]

oh.
if you need help working with subtitle workshop, check out the manual, that comes with the program.

[sunmanking]

hello,

firsly, i would like to say _thanks_ for replying to my post.

now, dafreak. i would have never thought about using a pseudo-file! which is amazing if we take into accound i have use that method many many times to to add filters to a video file through virtualdub in order to conver it into an mpg (vcd) compliant file! basically, the method works the same way! how could i have never thought about it...

btw, is the VFAPI Reader installed with tmpgenc? it seems to me so, but i'm not sure about it...

yeah! that is what i was looking forward to learning about... a pseudo-file! da freak, thanks!! i've been thinking about a solution to it for over a week!!

right now, i've made my first subtitle file from scratch, but i will definitely use your proceeding in my next try. and i'll let you know about if, of course.

Vejita-sama: yeah, you're right. but i don't remeber any guide at doom.org about creating this pseudo-file thing _under_ subtitle section. not even here either, _under_ subtitle section. i'm sure these guides must be under _dvd rip_ or _convert_ sections... i'm gonna have a good look at them.

thanks to you two, guys!

sunmanking

[sunmanking]

hello,

half-success

i've used dvd2avi and also made the .avi with the VFAPICodec so that i can frameserve the .avi wherever i want to.
vob>d2v+wav
d2v>avi

i can open it in the subtitle program. however, video is quite choppy, it's not running smoothly, as it does when you play any video in your computer. i'm just talking about video. i haven't tried audio yet. but i guess it'll be the same or maybe a little bit slower. so working this way is quite difficult to correctly time a subtitle file... i was so delighted to hear about frameserving as an option and now that it can be done... it is slow... i mean video should be displayed in real-time in order to time the subtitles.

maybe the problem is the very procedure of frameserving. frameserving may be allright if you want to convert to another format. but maybe it is not the right option to subtitle a series of vobs alltogether. or maybe there still something i can do i don't know about in order to improve video rendering...

again, please help...

greetings,

sunmanking

[dphirschler]

I have no idea if this will work, but I was planning on encoding a VCD-compliant mpeg for synching my subtitles. Then I would throw it away.


Darryl

[sunmanking]

hi there dphirschler,

yeah, i had thought about it too. but i have an AMD at 800MHz and encoding takes something like 14 hours. at top quality etc. maybe a fast encoding would take less and then it would make sense. i have not tried it, though. but as a last resource, it makes sense.

greetings,

sunmanking

[dafreak]

what program are you using to create the subtitles?

[sunmanking]

i have used substation. but i'm tired of it. the keys for timing in are so awkwardly set that my fingers really ache after timing for a while. i gotta find a better one...

greetings,

sunmanking

[dafreak]

that really does kinda suck that none of the subtitling programs will take vob files.
I read on subtitle workshop webpage that this feature will be added but not for a while.


anyways, i was thinking you could probably convert your vob files to divx/avi using virtualdub and feed them through sub. workshop, but I don't know how long the conversion would take.

another thing you can do is to maybe download a subtitle file from the internet and then add that to your dvd compilation.
what movie are you trying to sub? and what language do you need the subtitles for?

[sunmanking]

hi there,

_yes_. it does suck that vob files are not supported. there are vob video players, just anything you name. everything BUT vob support to subtitle...

btw, you mean making a divx to use in the subtitling process and then delete it, right?

this is an old spanish movie and i have already the subs spanish, which is ok. i just need a way to add the timestamps because at the current state of affairs, it is quite hard.

greetings,

sunmanking

[dafreak]

btw, you mean making a divx to use in the subtitling process and then delete it, right?

yes, but again, i'm not sure how long that will take and i don't know how much time you want to spend on it.

[dafreak]

ok, I looked around for some programs that would except vob files and it looks like adobe encore can.

here's a the link for the free trial version

and here's a link to the tutorial.