Use subtitles on .avi files

[anamorphis]

Hi.
I want to use my video iPod as my movie player at home, using an A/V cable to connect it to the TV. I have some .avi files on my computer, and also the .srt subtitle files for them.
The question is, is ffmpegX the software I need to do this job? I mean, some of the movies are divided in two .avi files and two .srt files. Can I join them into one single file and then move it to the iPod so that I can watch it on my TV?

Thanks a lot.

[major]

What you can do is the following : first convert each avi file to "DivX mencoder" at same image size (and add its own SRT file in the filters tab). Then convert the resulting two avi files with subtitles to iPod format. Finally copy the two mp4 files with subtitles in your iPod, and watch them in sequence.

[Scav2003]

Is that DivX Memcoder, as oppsed to the ffmpeg(decode with Quicktime)?

(I'm not at my home computer...I was going to research a similar question, but found this right away---I took an avi, chose ffmpex DiVX encode, added a .srt in the filter menu, but after taking a very long time to encode, the resulting avi didn't have the subtitles on it.

[anamorphis]

ohh... men!!! I was all happy about trying it... Now I don't know... Anyone has any other opinion about it?

[Scav2003]

ohh... men!!! I was all happy about trying it... Now I don't know... Anyone has any other opinion about it?

What's wrong with Major's explanations? they're pretty straight forward (other than my question to his answer)

[anamorphis]

ohh... men!!! I was all happy about trying it... Now I don't know... Anyone has any other opinion about it?

What's wrong with Major's explanations? they're pretty straight forward (other than my question to his answer)

I'm confuse now! Sorry. Didn't you tell that after you encode the .avi file it still didn't had the subtitles?

[Scav2003]

ohh... men!!! I was all happy about trying it... Now I don't know... Anyone has any other opinion about it?

What's wrong with Major's explanations? they're pretty straight forward (other than my question to his answer)

I'm confuse now! Sorry. Didn't you tell that after you encode the .avi file it still didn't had the subtitles?

Well I didn't...but then I haven't followed Major's instructions yet, and they might be different than what I did (I'm not at my Mac right now, so i can't test). What I was asking was a clarification to see if I did things differently.

[Scav2003]

Ok, I have found that using the DIVX MENCODER (rather than ffmpeg) setting, the subs get into the avi. so yay!

BUT The outputted .AVI is ignoring any settings I make to the subtitles, like font choice, size, or encoding. If I click on Preview in the Filter pane (I'm using .9t, btw) , the fonts match the settings I chose, but the actual avi, nada.


EDIT Ok, after some forum research, I found you need to replace the current Mencoder binary with This One (the one used with 9s) to get the Subtitles to change around. so Yay!

[anamorphis]

Ok, I have found that using the DIVX MENCODER (rather than ffmpeg) setting, the subs get into the avi. so yay!

BUT The outputted .AVI is ignoring any settings I make to the subtitles, like font choice, size, or encoding. If I click on Preview in the Filter pane (I'm using .9t, btw) , the fonts match the settings I chose, but the actual avi, nada.


EDIT Ok, after some forum research, I found you need to replace the current Mencoder binary with This One (the one used with 9s) to get the Subtitles to change around. so Yay!

Well, that's great!
The problem is that I'm not really an expert on this... and some of the things you've just said are going on my nerves...
For example: I go to that Mencoder link that you posted and it opens a page with a lot of things to download... wich do I get? Source and Binaries, Codecs, Fonts, Skins... Then, once I get the right ones, what should I do? where to do I download them? To wich folder?
And for last, what is that "9s" that your reffer to? And the binary that needs to be replaced?
Sorry I'm really newby...
If you could spent some time answering to my questions that would be relly nice of you...

Thanks a lot.

[Case]

For example: I go to that Mencoder link that you posted and it opens a page with a lot of things to download... wich do I get? Source and Binaries, Codecs, Fonts, Skins... Then, once I get the right ones, what should I do? where to do I download them? To wich folder? And for last, what is that "9s" that your reffer to? And the binary that needs to be replaced?

The names of some tools get automatically linked by the forum itself, often helpful, but sometimes confusing. To get the mencoder/mplayer binaries specificly for ffmpegX, follow the links on the ffmpegX download page. To get the older version of mencoder/mplayer, that lacks new features, but handles subtitle fonts better, follow the This One link. Pick a mirror server to download from, unzip the download file. The ffmpegX app will ask for the files from the zip and put them in their right locations.
"9s" refers to "ffmpegX version 0.0.9s", which was released on 23-01-2005 (according to VersionTracker), hence the reference number in the ffmpegXbinaries230105.zip filename.

[trovon]

Hey man,

Is there a quckiest way to do this, at once? I mean, may I not
use mencoder to do the job directly - put the subtitles and
convert to the desired format?

Thanks

[rumplestiltskin]

Hey man,

Is there a quckiest way to do this, at once? I mean, may I not
use mencoder to do the job directly - put the subtitles and
convert to the desired format?

Thanks

No, the X264 encoder doesn't do subtitles so you have to first embed the subs using the divx mencoder and then convert the result to iPod H264.

I've been doing this (embedding and then converting for iPod) for a while and it's not a big deal. You may want to try these iPod H264 encoding settings, however, if you want to get the best possible quality from the videos (movies) on your iPod (when played through the AV cable to your TV):

Bitrate: add about 25-30% to the "best" recommended setting (ie, 275kb > 350kb).

2-pass (adds some encoding time but does make a difference).
4-motion vector.

Qmin: 3, Qmax: 28 (major believes the 28 is a bit excessive but I get great quality).

ME: Exhaustive (or uneven multi-hexagon). Adds some time but gives better quality.

Good luck!