Subtitles not encoded into video

[shertiger]

Hi - I'm trying to hard code subtitles from a .srt file into an avi (mpeg4). I've followed the instructions and set target format as DivX mencoder as well as download and install mpeg2enc, mencoder and mplayer. I've selected VOB subtitles, Burn and Load Subs from the Filters tab. However when I preview or encode I get no subtitles. When I close mplayer I get the following error:

FIXME:Hardenabling SSE and SSE2 without detection
/Users/username/.spumux/Arial.ttf doesn't look like a font description, ignoring.
Cannot load font: /Users/username/.spumux/Arial.ttf
SUB: Could not determine file format
Cannot load subtitles: /Users/username/Desktop/subtitles.srt

The subtitles are in english. The Arial.ttf file is in the .spumux folder. I'm guessing the above error msg is the reason the subtitles are not being added. Any ideas to resolve this would be appreciated. I'm using OSX 10.5.8.

[Case]

1/ I tried to encode an AVI (DivX mencoder preset) with .srt subtitles on 10.5.8, and it worked like a charm. I can't seem to replicate your issue.
2/ Selecting "VOB subtitles" and "Burn" in the Filters tab may do nothing here. It is only functional for burning subs from a VOB file or VIDEO_TS folder as movie source, with subtitles included inside the VOB(s). For using external subs, you only need to Load that .srt file.
3/ Don't close mplayer by using the regular red Close button in the upper left of the window, as it may cause mplayer to crash. Use the keyboard ('q' or 'Esc' key) to close mplayer instead. (more mplayer keyboard commands)
4/ ffmpegX has two Preview buttons with different behavior. Please be aware. The Preview button in the upper right corner is for previewing converted output, i.e. the part that has been done, even while the conversion is still in progress. The other Preview button is in the lower right corner of the Filters tab, and previews the source file with current settings, including selected subtitles.
5/ Check your .srt file for being a valid SubRip format file, by opening it in a text editor and examining the content.

[shertiger]

Hi Case - thanks for looking into this and trying to replicate. My .srt file appears correct I've included a sample below. Could there be an issue with my install of mencoder? I remember having to manually copy etc when first trying to get ffmepgx to work. However all appears good (no highlighted red) in the install binaries dialog box. Is the error msg about missing fonts a red herring because I exited mplayer incorrectly?

/*extract from .srt file */


1
00:00:46,300 --> 00:00:48,370
Hello Check...Check...

2
00:00:49,100 --> 00:00:50,931
There's a slight echo, no?

3
00:00:51,340 --> 00:00:53,410
Try stepping away from the mic please.

[Case]

Could there be an issue with my install of mencoder? I remember having to manually copy etc when first trying to get ffmepgx to work.

The installer not only copies the binaries to their proper location, but also sets permissions (and the executable flag). You may try installing again, which would overwrite existing files. You could bring up the installer window from the ffmpegX menu.

Is the error msg about missing fonts a red herring because I exited mplayer incorrectly?

Possibly. There have been some posts on this forum that mention the font error, that seem to have been fixed without changing the font(s), by applying proper procedure. However, the exact cause of the error isn't fully clear to me.

[shertiger]

I've re-installed all binaries using ffmpegx auto install. Still no joy.

I think the font error msg is a red herring. If I rename the .spumux folder I don't get the time displayed in preview. Renaming it back brings the time display back. Also if I change the font it changes the font accordingly for the time display. So I would say the font selection works.

I saw previous posts about installing old binaries which would allow font position and size to change but installing those did not solve the problem.

Playing the avi and .srt through vlc works fine.

Any more ideas would be appreciated. I can't see why it doesn;t work. I'm not trying anything clever just vanilla subtitle merging.

[shertiger]

PHEW!!! sorted

I actually decided to give up (which is rare for me) and use my Windows machine and the brill virtualdub and subtitle workshop. I tried to use subtitle workshop to convert teh .srt file to .ssa. It gave an error msg. It appears it needs the .srt file in ANSI mine's was in UNICODE. A quick save as in Notepad and it worked. I then decided to copy the ANSI .srt file back to my Mac and voila it worked in ffmpgx.

Thanks for you assistance Case it's appreciated.

[Case]

ffmpegX can handle Unicode subtitle files, but it doesn't detect the text encoding. It stays at "ISO 8859-1" (Latin 1), unless the user changes it. The user has to mark these subtitles as Unicode ("UTF-8" or "UTF-16" in the text encoding list).

Unicode is not very common for english language subtitles. Thanks for supplying a solution to a symptom.