How do I figure out what kind of sub file I have?

[dronon]

Hi, I've got what I assume is a subtitle file, but I don't know what software it was made with or how to watch it. The end of the filename is ".DVDRip.divx.pro.5.1.sub". I've got the free DivX 2.5.4 player on my WinXP machine, and I think I've got the DivX 5.2.0 pro codec installed (according to GSpot). What possible formats might this file be in, and how would I figure it out?

In terms of what software I already have, I've got VirtualDub 1.6.11, and SubRip 1.30 - it didn't seem to find anything in the file, but I'm so rusty at how it works I could have easily goofed. The sub file itself is 1.34M in size for an 80-minute movie. Any help is appreciated!

[redwudz]

I'll move you to the Subtitle Forum, where you may get better advice. Check the 'Stickies' first.

[manono]

Does it have an IDX file to go along with it? If so, you have an IDX/SUB file, extracted directly from a DVD, and the SUB file consists of images, or pics, or BMP files, and not text files, like many subs are.

To watch the movie with the subs, install DirectVobSub.

[Jeremiah58]

dronon,
Judging from the size of your .sub file (1.34 MB), you probably don't have a text subtitle.
How to watch it?
Try with GOM player or KMPlayer (freeware).
Since you have got SubRip on your machine, you could open that .sub with Subrip and OCR to text.

[mats.hogberg]

To see if it's a sub, or a sub/idx, open it in Notepad. If you can read it, it's the former. If it's just gibberish, it's the latter.

/Mats

[handyguy]

there are also subtitle websites, if you want to get the real things. e.g.
subscene.com
opensubtitles.org

[dronon]

The text content was gibberish, so I took the suggestion that it was missing the idx thing and tracked that down. VirtualDub wouldn't interpret it, but to my surprise, my "Real Alternative" software did. And after solving that mystery, I found out the subtitles were in Chinese! Ah well, I still learned something new. Thanks for all your help, everyone, and for pointing me to those subtitle sites!

[celtic_druid]

VOBSub's can contain multiple languages. Could be that it contains Chinese and English. If by Real Alternative you mean Media Player Classic, then check under subtitles to see if there is more than one stream.