convert mkv with subs to avi (ac3 audio)

[Substance001]

hey howdy...

ive got this movie which i want to burn to cd so my parents can watch...

ive managed to merge the subs with the avi and create a mkv which has the subs hardcoded into the file, but i cant work out how to convert the mkv with the hardcoded subs back into avi.

ive tried mencoder but i couldnt work out the command line as it seems to only work for mp3 audio?

audio in this movie is ac3.

if somebody could point me in the right direction, that would be lovely...

thanks!

[guns1inger]

Have you tried mkvextract ?

[Substance001]

doesnt that just extract whats in the mkv?

like i could extract the the subs again?

i need to convert back to avi.

[guns1inger]

If the subs are hardcoded - that is encoded into the image of the video - then you can't realistically take them out again. If they are selectable but embedded then you may be able to get them back. I don't use the mkv format, but mkvextract seems to be the best option to get the contents out in a format you can then work with.

[Substance001]

umm....

i dont understand why you guys are suggesting that i extract the subs?

maybe i didnt say what i need to do correctly.


ill try again....

i have a xvid movie that comes with subs.

i want to merge the xvid movie with the subs, then burn to cd so we can watch it on a xvid player.

so i have gotten cd1.avi + .sub
and used mkvmerge to merge the avi and subs into a mkv format. (at this stage, the mkv format has subs merged in together)

now how do i convert my newly created cd1.mkv file back to cd1(with subs).avi without losing the subs that have been merged in?

i hope that makes more sense.

thanks guys.

[guns1inger]

Why convert it to mkv format ?

You can use virtualdub and the vobsub filter to add them and save a new avi file. Have a read of this guide

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=272736

it covers setting up Vobsub, and then how to use it.

[jliles]

Substance001,

Is this going to be on a hardware DVD player that's capable of playing Divx/Xvid files? If it is, you may be going about this all wrong. In most cases you won't need to "merge" the sub file and the xvid video file at all. Most Divx/Xvid players I know of will play at least a few text format subtitles along with the movie as long as the subs have the same title as the movie does and they are in the same directory (for example, mymovie.avi and mymovie.srt). If you still have the original files, this is probably you easiest and best bet. I don't know of any hardware player that will play MKV files directly, as I assume you know. It might help if you tell us which player you want to play the file on.

Since you've already merged the subs together with the video on an MKV, you can use MKVExtract to extract the video out (which will include the subs). I don't know if you have a separate audio file in your MKV container. If you do, you can extract that out as well. If it's in MP3 or AC3 format you can just use a tool like VirtualDubMod to merge the audio and video together.

Julie

[45tripp]

Use avimux-gui.
Load mkv.
generate data.

If you've simply embedded the sub stream into the container, as it sounds,
deselct sub stream. start and save to an avi container.
right click sub stream and extract. Which will work if you've got text subs.
Convert to srt subs if they arent already, rename subtitle to the same name as your avi and burn avi and srt sub.

If the subs are graphical you've got work to do.
extract with say mkvextract and convert to srt subs. Probably using subrip to convert.

If the subs are hardcoded you won't get a sub stream show up in avimux-gui in the first place and you can just save as an avi and you're set.

gl

[Substance001]

Substance001,

Is this going to be on a hardware DVD player that's capable of playing Divx/Xvid files? If it is, you may be going about this all wrong. In most cases you won't need to "merge" the sub file and the xvid video file at all. Most Divx/Xvid players I know of will play at least a few text format subtitles along with the movie as long as the subs have the same title as the movie does and they are in the same directory (for example, mymovie.avi and mymovie.srt). If you still have the original files, this is probably you easiest and best bet. I don't know of any hardware player that will play MKV files directly, as I assume you know. It might help if you tell us which player you want to play the file on.

Since you've already merged the subs together with the video on an MKV, you can use MKVExtract to extract the video out (which will include the subs). I don't know if you have a separate audio file in your MKV container. If you do, you can extract that out as well. If it's in MP3 or AC3 format you can just use a tool like VirtualDubMod to merge the audio and video together.

Julie

thanks for the info...
ive still got the original avi files and subs...
i never thougth about just burning to cd in the same directory and hoping that it picks it up...
guess i dont want to waste a cd/dvd...but ill give it a try and post back.

thanks!

[Substance001]

Use avimux-gui.
Load mkv.
generate data.

If you've simply embedded the sub stream into the container, as it sounds,
deselct sub stream. start and save to an avi container.
right click sub stream and extract. Which will work if you've got text subs.
Convert to srt subs if they arent already, rename subtitle to the same name as your avi and burn avi and srt sub.

If the subs are graphical you've got work to do.
extract with say mkvextract and convert to srt subs. Probably using subrip to convert.

If the subs are hardcoded you won't get a sub stream show up in avimux-gui in the first place and you can just save as an avi and you're set.

gl

many thanks for this program, ill give it a go...

thanks for the info guys....i should be able to figure out the rest


ill post back later on today

[Substance001]

Why convert it to mkv format ?

You can use virtualdub and the vobsub filter to add them and save a new avi file. Have a read of this guide

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=272736

it covers setting up Vobsub, and then how to use it.

well i think i got it sorted using virtualdub and vobsubs...

took me a little while to get it all setup but its now saving as a new avi file with subs encoded...*i think*

another 40min to go.

[Substance001]

got it all working!

thanks guys

new avi now has subs...so i can burn to dvd and play in our xvid player

thanks again!