swap one language for another on a dvd

[laurent3185]

ok i looked for adding a language to a dvd and that's not to my level of expertise to attempt such a thing but is swapping the language easier?? thanks for all advice and help
cheers

[XL3/\/7]

It's not that easy to replace the original language either. You can't just grab an audio stream and stick it in the DVD. You have to extract the audio and reauthor and there are other issues like synchronization.

[laurent3185]

is there anywhere i can find a guide to do this? doewsn't sound as bad as adding a language!! thanks

[b_n83]

You will need to demux the dvd into m2v (video) and mp2/ac3 (audio files). You can use VOBEdit to achieve this. You will then need to encode the new language to DVD compatible format (mp2 or ac3). Finally, you will need to reauthor the DVD in your favorite authoring application. I find TMPGENC DVD Author the simplest. I am not sure however, if you will be able to keep your menus intact using this process.

[XL3/\/7]

What is it that you want to do exactly? Add a language on a DVD and set it as the default language option, or use a language already located on the DVD and set it as default? Does your DVD have subtitles as well?
In general lines, use Vobedit to extract audio, video and subs from your DVD and then use an authoring tool to add your language and author back to DVD. You can use DVD-Lab if all you want is audio and video, but if you want to add subtitles as well, you will need to use a more complex tool, like Spruce DVDMaestro or Sonic Scenarist.
If you make it, make sure to check your DVD for audio - video synchronization before burning.
Here is a link to an easy to use DVD-Lab guide:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=220092

I guess you already know that, but there is a limitation of audio files that are DVD compliant, like .ac3, .mp2 or .wav.

BTW, there may be easier ways to do it if you search the guides. I've never done it before but I'm 100% sure it will work. And another thing. If your original DVD is dual layered and you want to make a DVD-5, you will also have to recompress your video with Cinema Craft Encoder (my personal favorite ), or TMPGEnc

[handyguy]

Just use dvdshrink, select language you want, deselect those you don't. Work for subtitles.

[XL3/\/7]

You can't use DVD Shrink if the audio language is not on the DVD already.

[laurent3185]

Thanks guys for all your answers XL3 i have english dvds and french divx of the same movies (cartoons actually) i'd like to be able to watch the image of the dvd (better quality than divx) with french divx sound. so i guess i'll have to extract audio from divx and convert to ac3 then add it to the dvd image following your instructions i ll use dvd lab. am i on the right track? is this the easy way?
thanks guys

[XL3/\/7]

Yeah. That's the right way to go. If you encounter any trouble with .ac3 audio, try .mp2 audio. Don't forget to set video to direct stream copy and audio to full processing mode in VirtualDub before extracting your wav. With DVD-Lab you can't have to audio files, so you will have to get rid of the English track and only keep the French one, so make sure you check your final project for audio-video synchronization before burning

[laurent3185]

hey first step passed i achieved the convert divx to dvd level!!! with tmpg and dvd lab !!! 8) (OK don't laugh i said i was new here!!) now do you know an authoring program that support 2 languages ( i'm getting greedy now!!!) cheers

[XL3/\/7]

Job done then. I know of 2 authoring tools out there that support multilanguages and subtitles. One of them is Sonic's Scenarist and is considered to be the best of all. The other one is Spruce DVDMaestro. Maestro has stopped coming out for a while now and it's extremely difficult to find a copy but it's easier than scenarist. Here's a link to a Scenarist guide
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/scenarist.htm
and another guide for Maestro
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/maestro.htm

Good luck

[laurent3185]

great thanks XL3 i'll let you know how i go. thanks for all your good advice