How to Get an .avi file with Soft-Coded (On/Off) Subtitles

[Spiralagnus]

So here's the deal:

I have a DVD rip that I'm trying to covert to a single .avi Xvid file with soft-coded subtitles (i.e. the ability to turn subtitles on and off). I use AutoGK to do all of my conversions. The first time I tried to convert my file, I ended up with the subtitles burned in (i.e. I couldn't turn them off). The second time, I followed a guide that instructed me to select a couple of options under "Advanced Settings," and while I was able to turn the subtitles on and off after that, my .avi file had to be in the same directory as corresponding .sub and .idx files for it to work.

The problem is that I want just an .avi file with subtitle on/off capability, no external files required. I've been browsing around various tutorials here and elsewhere, but all of the solutions seem to involve either burning the subtitles into the file or converting the file to a different format (ex. .mkv), and I don't want a different format.

So here's my question: how do I either a) combine video.avi, video.sub and video.idx into one video.avi file with subtitle on/off capabilities or b) re-encode the DVD rip with AutoGK into one video.avi file, again with subtitle on/off capabilities?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Baldrick]

Try avimuxgui(or it might only be srt subtitle ). BUT the subtitles might not work with all players or on a standalone player. It's better to have avi and a separate srt or idx/sub for that.

[Bonie81]

long ago i came across a free utility for particularly DiVX softsub and hardsub even for stand alone DVD Players.
Oooops can't recall the exact name. And it's pity that nice utilities get disappearing from web without host over by the time.
Search for the bold text here may lead you to proper one.
if it was DiVXLand Subtitler, it seems web-site look has been changed recently.
Try AviSub or DivXLand Media Subtitler from VideoHelpTools - Subtitle.

As said by baldrick "Try avimuxgui(or it might only be srt subtitle ). BUT the subtitles might not work with all players or on a standalone player. It's better to have avi and a separate srt or idx/sub for that."

I can only recall that i used that utility only once, but, successful, at that time stand alone DVD/DiVX Players successfully recognized subtitles. But, almost all media players failed to recognize muxed sub-titles.

[MilesAhead]

AviAddXSubs will take .srt or idx/sub subtitles as input along with an .avi file with the same base name, and output a .divx file with XSubs. All the Philips stand-alone players I've had and the Oppo player I owned previously, supported them. My WD HDTV for USB does not. For that I have to include either .srt or idx/sub files named for the video file(or muxed into an .mkv as you mentioned.)

VLC now supports XSub and PGS subs for play on the PC. You don't need divx player on your PC anymore provided VLC is stable on your particular system. Seems to be a lot of crashing going on as they add support for these items.

I've been using AviAddXSubs for years. It's a dependable Windows utility.
Provided you have the .avi and sub files named correctly, you can multi-select a whole folder full of .avi and process them in one go. If you don't like having a .divx extension you can rename the output files to .avi if you prefer. Either extension has worked the same in my stand-alones.