Help with hardcoding stylized .ass subtitles to mkv

[JRM]

Hi,
I have been trying for about 2 days to figure this out but i cannot seem to find a way im sure im missing something but here's what im trying to do.

I have the origional .mkvs for the Anime Parania Agent and i created my own subtitles for the signs/texts that are not spoken and are not in english and i used aegisub im a total newb to this so its nothing special but i tried to make them blend in with the scenes and move with the screens to match and now im trying to hard code them onto the video and keep the effects i have like fading in and out and moving but when i hardcode them with handbrake the effects are gone like they dont move or fade anymore they are just still, they blend in still but the effects are gone. Im wondering how i can keep the effects? Im converting the MKV to MKV with the hardcoded subs but it doesn't have to be to MKV i just like MKV because i find .h264 better quailty than divx or xvid. So could anyone give me a hand please?

Thank you so much.

[netmask56]

According to the Handbrake help page

SSA Subtitles

• SSA Subtitles can be passed-thru or burned into the video.
• When burned into the video, all styling (e.g. fonts, colors, etc) is preserved.
  • Animated effects (e.g. fade in/out, karaoke) are not currently supported. (Only the middle frame of the animation will be used.)
• When passed-thru as text, only bold/italic/underline styles are preserved. Some players may not support the simultaneous display of multiple passed-thru SSA subtitles.

Maybe what you could do is convert your SSA subtitles to vobsub idx/sub and then add them to the MKV file using MKVMerge GUI. Next process that file through Handbrake and select burn in as the option.

[JRM]

According to the Handbrake help page

SSA Subtitles

• SSA Subtitles can be passed-thru or burned into the video.
• When burned into the video, all styling (e.g. fonts, colors, etc) is preserved.
  • Animated effects (e.g. fade in/out, karaoke) are not currently supported. (Only the middle frame of the animation will be used.)
• When passed-thru as text, only bold/italic/underline styles are preserved. Some players may not support the simultaneous display of multiple passed-thru SSA subtitles.

Maybe what you could do is convert your SSA subtitles to vobsub idx/sub and then add them to the MKV file using MKVMerge GUI. Next process that file through Handbrake and select burn in as the option.

So the vobsub idx would preserve the fade and moving effects? If so thank you so much

[poisondeathray]

You can use textsub() with avisynth

You can use a GUI that uses avisynth eg. megui, ripbot, xvid4psp

[netmask56]

So the vobsub idx would preserve the fade and moving effects? If so thank you so much

Thanks a bit premature!! - I don't know for sure but it would be worth trying.

[JRM]

Awww unfortunitly converting it to .sub made it even worse it turned it into just like a .srt and not even moved in the right places just at the bottom of the screen, thanks anyway . Any other tips anyone or guides as i said im new to all of them.

[netmask56]

What format does ssa subs work the way you would like and what player supports them? To make it universal it seems to me that the moving, fading all singing dancing subs almost need to be turned into a video themselves and then treated as a video overlay or keyed into the original video???? SONY Vegas or similar? If you do come up with a solution please post details as I have a similar but not nearly as complex project coming up....

[manono]

What format does ssa subs work the way you would like and what player supports them? To make it universal it seems to me that the moving, fading all singing dancing subs almost need to be turned into a video themselves and then treated as a video overlay or keyed into the original video????

pdr already explained how to do it - by using the Textsub filter to add the ASS file into an AviSynth script. You can't do it by converting ASS to Vobsubs (IDX/SUB) as Vobsubs consist of static BMPs.

[poisondeathray]

Any other tips anyone or guides as i said im new to all of them.

I mentioned it, but it's not too difficult to search using the keywords mentioned above. It's even listed in the aegisub manual instructions for hardcoding using avisynth
http://docs.aegisub.org/manual/Attaching_subtitles_to_video#Hardsubbing_with_Avisynth

Search for these terms:
"hardcoding" "avisynth" "textsub" plus any gui you want e.g. "megui"

voila!
http://forum.aegisub.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2468

there are dozens more tutorials , but I guess you just didn't know the correct search terms , or just too lazy