I would like to know how to convert from DVD and back...

[squid3660]

I am trying to burn a dvd and have the english subtitles burned onto the video.

At this point, I have experimented with ffmpegx, and have successfully converted the source video_ts file to an mp4 with the subtitles burned into the mp4. I am very happy with that.

Now I wish to convert the mp4 back to a VOB so I can burn that as a watchable dvd with Toast 8. I am not sure how to proceed from this point. Can anyone please guide me. You see, I have already tried converting the mp4 to "dvd mpeg2enc", and to "dvd ffmpeg" with ffmpegx, but I am not having success with that. The conversion process always fails near the end, after about two hours, or 74%.

I am running OS X, 10.4.8, on a Mac Mini 1.66Ghz Intel Dual Core, 1G RAM.

I have tried starting the conversion process directly after a reboot, and with no other programs runnning, since this conversion takes up quite a bit of my processor, but the conversion still fails.

Is there a better approach to this? My goal is to have a VOB with the subtitle already burned into the video.

Many thanks!!

[Case]

Wouldn't it be better to retain quality by not converting at all, but instead using MyDVDEdit to set one of the subtitles to "ON" by default? Just a thought...

After selecting your preset, check the Options tab to see which decoder is used. Select a different one. Try encoding again.

When the conversion process fails, is there any error message in the Log?

[squid3660]

Case,

I really appreciate you getting back to me on this. I took a look at MDE, which is a program I never even heard of before, and I am really glad you pointed it out to me. I am currently reading the overview, and I am learning alot about DVDs that I didnt know before! Pretty cool.

So far, though, it looks like this is not the solution I am looking for. Something I didnt mention in my first post is that I am planning on adding a second title to my dvd-dl project in toast. The second title will be in a completely different domain than the first, with different resolution and different audio tracks used... so I dont think myDVDEdit can help me here. What I really need is a VOB with the subtitles I want already in the video stream, which I can take and plop into Toast, and then plop whatever other VOB file I wish into Toast as well, so I can have a couple of different titles on one DVD-DL. You may be wondering why I wish to do this... trust me... lol... it is for a good cause, nothing illegal. Bottom line, I am providing video for a closed loop video network on a campus environment. I am not in charge of controlling how the video is played on the campus dvd players, I just provide them with the content. Unfortunately, those who are in charge of playing the content don't care about their duties and so they just throw in the dvd, press play, walk away, and they don't look back. So, if the title is in Japanese with English as a selectable language (audio or subtitle), well, the viewer is SOL because English will never be turned on for them. So, I have to provide the content with the appropriate language already "burned" into the VOB.

Well, this project is turning into a challenge for me, but I am having fun, a bit of frustration, and am learning a lot along the way.

Thanks again, Case!

[squid3660]

BTW Case,

I have been messing with MDE, and I cant figure out how to configure the sub to turn on automatically, like you suggest. Any ideas?

And about ffmpegx... yes, it did have an error... something similar to "program unexpectidly quit... osx not affected... blah blah blah..." I'm sure there was more, but I didnt take notice, and I really don't want to spend another two hours trying to encode and fail just to find out what it said. Well, at least not at this moment. Maybe later, when the superbowl is on...