Question how to increase subtitle size with sub/idx files.

[jimdagys]

I have a avi movie with sub/idx files. (See screenshot) I would like to know how to alter the sub/idx files so that the subtitles will be bigger. I do not want to recode or use OCR. I simply want to alter the sub/idx files so that I can play the movie ( same avi with sub/idx files) and the subtitles will be bigger. I only use Media Player Classic to play avi with sub/idx subtitles and this always works fine, but one cannot increase the font in the software player, so I need to increase the font directly in the sub/idx files. If the subtitles were in the BMP format, then I already know how to use Irfanview to increase the subtitle size. Is it possible to convert the sub/idx files to BMP (where I know how to make them bigger) and then reconvert them back to sub/idx?

[manono]

If only playing in software, you can fool MPC into thinking they're bigger. After making them bigger, though, you'll also have to readjust the positioning. Open the IDX in Notepad and change these two lines to read as mine do:

# Original frame size
size: 540x360

# Origin, relative to the upper-left corner, can be overloaded by aligment
org: -100, -100

The "Original Frame Size" adjusts the size. The "Origin" adjusts the position left-right (first number) and up-down (second number) on the screen. If I've made them too big then raise the resolution. Then you'll probably also want to raise both of the "Origin" numbers (make them less negative, maybe to -60,-60, for example). Fool around and you'll get the hang of it.

You can also enlarge the BMPs, as you already know. It's easy to get them back to IDX/SUB format if you like. Let me know if you want to learn to do that.

[jimdagys]

Interesting trick, but I decided I want to increase the subtitles in the BMP. Question is, how to I change sub/idx to BMP (I know how to increase BMP size) and then back to sub/idx? Please tell me how to do that.
Following screenshots show the effect of the trick you gave me. Screenshot 1 is the original size, screenshot 2 is the settings for the increased size and screenshot 3 is the increased size. Found the widest subtitle in the movie and adjusted the settings so that the subtitle would not go off the screen, right or left. Works in Media Player Classic but does not work in KM Player.

[manono]

Works in Media Player Classic but does not work in KM Player.

But what did you say in your original post? Wait, here it is:

I only use Media Player Classic to play avi with sub/idx subtitles...

So what do you care whether or not it works in KMPlayer?

To convert IDX/SUB to IDX/SUB with bigger subs:

1. Open the SUB in SubRip.
2. Instead of saving to SST as you did earlier, save to SON format subs.
3. Edit the BMPs to the size you want as you did before.
4. Replace the original BMPs with the larger ones you created (making sure not to make the mistakes you did earlier).
5. Use SON2VSub to convert back to IDX/SUB.

https://forum.videohelp.com/images/guides/p1661328/son2vsub.exe

[jimdagys]

Thanks for the info. I'll get the software and check it out. The reason I wanted to increase the size of the BMPs is that on the computer that I eventually plan to show the movie, sometimes Media Player Classic did not work. Maybe some kind of interference with other software (players). Also, a lot of things go wrong that I can't foresee, and it is best to have two methods on the ready to increase the probability of success when I show the movie.

[jimdagys]

Got a problem. When using Subrip on the sub/idx to get the BMP output, for some reason about 15% of the subtitles are skipped, I don't know why. I used the setting as you said in Subrip. The subtitles in the movie are all clear enough, so I don't know why the subtitles are being skipped. The skipped subtitles just produce a large blank red color bitmap that corresponds to the skipped subtitle.

[manono]

I don't understand the question. Just as SST format subtitles have an SST text file and a bunch of BMPs, so does a SON file have a SON text file and a bunch of BMPs (and another text file). You open the Movie.son (with all your already converted BMPs) in SON2VSub, give it a destination and output filename (Movie.idx) and it instantly creates the IDX/SUB for you.

You do the same thing to the SON BMPs that you did to the SST BMPs, but this time rather than opening the SST file in Muxman, you're opening the SON file in SON2VSub. You have to convert all the BMPs in IrfanView or whatever, the same way you did the BMPs in the SST. Only after that's done do you run SON2VSub.

[jimdagys]

I am stuck with this problem when I use Subrip on the sub/idx file to get BMP, about 15% of the subtitles are skipped. All the subtitles are perfectly clear when I play the avi with the sub/idx. I have the original DVD, so I used Subrip on the original DVD and successfully extracted all the subtitles into BMP, no problem. I then increased the size of the BMPs with Irfanview and then used Muxman to author a new DVD, no problem. Then I used Fair Use Wizard to convert the just authored DVD to 700MB avi with sub/idx and this now plays with the bigger subtitles. ( I will eventually show this movie on a computer that does not have DVD drive so that is why I want a 700MB avi with sub/idx). But I want to know why Subrip would not extract all subtitles when I used Subrip directly on the sub/idx file (which came from Fair Use Wizard). Another question, if Subrip is somehow faulty when used in this way, can you suggest another software that I can use to extract BMP subtitles from a sub/idx file.

[manono]

But I want to know why Subrip would not extract all subtitles when I used Subrip directly on the sub/idx file

I might in turn ask why you need to increase the size of the subs again since you already did it once for the same movie? I don't know anything about FairUse and the quality of the VobSubs it produces. You could try getting them another way. Open the IFO in VobSub Configure and get the VobSubs. Or, better yet, open the IFO in SubRip and get the SON file directly.

Another question, if Subrip is somehow faulty...

I'd suspect FairUse before suspecting SubRip as being at fault here.

can you suggest another software that I can use to extract BMP subtitles from a sub/idx file.

You can open the IDX in SubResynch (comes included in the VobSub package) and save as SON (or SST).

[jimdagys]

I have confirmed that Subrip is faulty (and not Fair Use Wizard). I opened the sub/idx file (from Fair Use Wizard) in
SubResync (comes included in the VobSub package), and all the BMPs extracted perfectly with clear subtitles.(See screeshot 1). Subrip will only extract BMPs reliably when extracting directly from the DVD. Subrip would not extract BMPs reliably (10% subtitles skipped, ie an empty red BMP with no subtitle) from a standalone sub/idx file. I confirmed this fault in 2 ways:
1) Used Subrip to extract BMPs from sub/idx file from Fair Use Wizard. 10% of subtitles skipped.
2) Used Subrip to extract BMPs from sub/idx file from VSRip. Same 10% of subtitles skipped.

Now that this problem is solved, I can now increase the size of the BMPs with Irfanview and then I need to try to do your step 5. (Use SON2VSub to convert back to IDX/SUB.)


Screenshot 2: BMP (from sub/idx from Fair Use Wizard) gotten by SubResync (comes included in the VobSub package)

Screenshot 3: Same BMP gotten by Subrip - subtitle not visible, about 10% of BMPs had this problem

[manono]

Just as a test, to see if I could confirm your findings I converted an IDX/SUB to SON using SubRip and all the BMPs had writing on them - no blank ones. I checked about 300 of them out of the 957 in the movie.

[jimdagys]

Success (thank you very much). I can take a standalone sub/idx file and increase the subtitle size.
Using SubResync (comes included in the VobSub package) on the sub/idx file to get the BMPs/son files, then batch increase the font of the BMPs with Irfanview, then use SON2VSub on the increased size BMPs/son to convert back to idx/sub and use this new sub/idx in place of the original sub/idx. The only thing I needed to do is change the default number of 480 to 576 (See screenshot 1) for this pal movie.
I noticed one strange thing however. Enlarging subtitle size by using the Media Player Classic trick (as you explained above) gives clearer subtitles (look at letter "e") than enlarging the subtitle size directly inside the BMPs. Screenshot 2 shows subtitles enlarged by the Media Player Classic trick and screenshot 3 shows subtitles enlarged by increasing the size of the BMPs. It is a tradeoff because the method used in screenshot 3 will play on any computer, while method used in screenshot 2 will only work in Media Player Classic. However, I think Media Player Classic can be installed on most public computers because it is "green" software.