Hardsub and keep the style

[teclas]

Hello, I'm new here.
I searched the forums (and google,btw) about hardsubbing and keeping the style of the original subtitles and found nothing. So... I'm here.

I have several mkv files that I want to convert to avi so I can play them on my DVD player but I want to hardsub them and keep the style. At the moment, I'm using Format Factory to convert the files but the subtitles get their style (colours, font,...) changed.
I love those little details (like colour and karaoke style) in the opening of the anime and so some fansubing groups have and I want to keep them.

How do I do it?

(BTW, the subs are merged with the mkv file)


here are the specs of one of the files:

General
Complete name                    : G:\Anime\High School of the Dead\[CoalGuys]_HIGHSCHOOL_OF_THE_DEAD_-_01_[A1383F7A].mkv
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 410 MiB
Duration                         : 24mn 2s
Overall bit rate                 : 2 385 Kbps
Movie name                       : HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD - 01
Encoded date                     : UTC 2010-07-05 09:33:17
Writing application              : mkvmerge v4.0.0 ('The Stars were mine') built on Jun  6 2010 16:18:42
Writing library                  : libebml v1.0.0 + libmatroska v1.0.0
Cover                            : Yes / Yes / Yes

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 6 frames
Muxing mode                      : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 24mn 0s
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Resolution                       : 24 bits
Colorimetry                      : 4:2:0
Scan type                        : Progressive
Title                            : 720p H.264
Writing library                  : x264 core 100 r1659 57b2e56
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=4 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.50
Language                         : Japanese

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AAC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version                   : Version 4
Format profile                   : LC
Format settings, SBR             : No
Codec ID                         : A_AAC
Duration                         : 24mn 2s
Channel(s)                       : 2 channels
Channel positions                : L R
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Resolution                       : 16 bits
Title                            : 2.0 AAC
Language                         : Japanese

Text
ID                               : 3
Format                           : ASS
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info                    : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Title                            : Styled Subtitles (.ass)

Menu
00:00:00.000                     : en:PROLOGUE
00:02:03.957                     : en:OPENING
00:03:42.389                     : en:HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD - 01
00:20:01.032                     : en:ENDING
00:21:30.872                     : en:AFTER/PREVIEW

Thanks in advance.

[Ai Haibara]

The best bet would probably be to demux the subtitles from the MKV, then use an AVISynth script to feed to MKV into VirtualDub. This page might provide some good information for a starting point (definitely note what it says about installing vsfilter.dll as one of VirtualDub's plugins, too). You can then also add resize and TextSub filters within VirtualDub (to resize the video as DVD players that'll play AVI usually won't play an AVI that exceeds maximum DVD resolutions, and the latter to overlay the .ass subs onto the video), or make similar calls within the AVISynth script. It'll probably be easier just to add the filters in VirtualDub, if you're new to working with AVISynth.

I've done it using AVIDemux, as well, but it doesn't seem to handle all the effects as well (I'm not sure whether or not you need the fonts used in the subtitles actually installed on the system for AVIDemux to use them, for example).

[teclas]

Thank you very much.

Going to try it.

[kooliokool]

If you use extract the .ass and fonts file from the .mkv and install the fonts, you should be able to use xvid4psp to hard sub with the style. Just load the subtitles from the .ass in xvid4psp and encode in whatever format you want. I've done it for a few anime episodes.

[DeathStalker77]

Tried XVID4PSP and it converted fine to a .TS, but didn't include the .ASS subs

[manono]

Did you check the preview window before doing the encode? No subs in preview, no subs in output. When I try and load ASS subs but am missing fonts, it just uses Ariel instead. With the right fonts installed you should get the subs exactly as seen in the source video. If you get no subs at all either you did something wrong or something's wrong with the subs. Did you extract them as suggested above? Maybe check the AviSynth script to make sure they were added. Or add them yourself by editing the script.