DVD to x264/MP4 with hardcoded subs?

[FallenAngelII]

How do you hardcode subs into an iPod-compatible x264/MP4-file? It needs to be hardcoded because AFAIK, iPods can't handle soft subs.

The process must not deteriorate the quality in any noticeable way before finally encoding it into x264 as recoding it twice will undoubtedly have adverse effects on the image quality.

Formats for which I need to do this is DVD-VOB and MKV. I've got images in both formats with soft subs that I need to hardcode since they're in Japanese.

Preferred programs are meGUI and Staxrip. If there are any other programs that can do this and are x264 GUIs that support multipass, I'm willing to use them.

[TaoTeWingChun]

I could be mistaken, but have you checked the Guides section? I could swear I saw a guide written on how to do just what you are looking for.

Otherwise, you could rip the DVD and convert it to an AVI then use this guide to put in the hard-coded subtitles:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic316471.html

Then you run your AVI through an iPod video converter and viola! iPod video with hard subs!

Cheers!

TTWC

TTWC

[FallenAngelII]

The problem with that is that unless I'm gonna re-encode it into a super-high quality AVI, which would take quite a while, the quality will deteriorate.