is it possible to turn an ass file into a document?

[dudnaito]

BTW, I'm using a Mac, but I do also have access to a PC if that's what it takes. Basically, I have some Japanese subtitles in the ass format, and I was hoping to arrange it to make it look like a script, so I can print it out. I also have some srt files, and I'd like to do the same things with them, but I'd prefer to find out about the ass files preferably.

Thanks for any insight.

[Ai Haibara]

Can you print from the OS X version of Aegisub? (I currently don't have it installed on my Mac, because it's still considered alpha-level software, and I'm waiting before I try it, again.) If so, you can try printing the subtitle file directly to a PDF, and see what happens.

(Edit: I'll have to check the Windows version and see if you can print from that, too. I'm on my Linux tower at the moment, but don't have Aegisub installed on that. )

[ndjamena]

Convert it to SRT, then use a notepad++ and a regular expression to 'replace' all the numbers and time-codes with nothing and you'll be left with just the words. I'll figure out the expression you need if you like.

-edit- Regular Expression to remove SRT formatting:

\d*\r\n\d\d:\d\d:\d\d,\d\d\d --> \d\d:\d\d:\d\d,\d\d\d\r\n

[dudnaito]

Convert it to SRT, then use a notepad++ and a regular expression to 'replace' all the numbers and time-codes with nothing and you'll be left with just the words. I'll figure out the expression you need if you like.

-edit- Regular Expression to remove SRT formatting:

\d*\r\n\d\d:\d\d:\d\d,\d\d\d --> \d\d:\d\d:\d\d,\d\d\d\r\n

Apologies for being a complete ignoramus, but... uh... what is an expression?

Any software you'd recommend (paid or free) to make this painless?

[dudnaito]

Can you print from the OS X version of Aegisub? (I currently don't have it installed on my Mac, because it's still considered alpha-level software, and I'm waiting before I try it, again.) If so, you can try printing the subtitle file directly to a PDF, and see what happens.

(Edit: I'll have to check the Windows version and see if you can print from that, too. I'm on my Linux tower at the moment, but don't have Aegisub installed on that. )

I don't see it anywhere... and judging from the way it looks, not sure what ungodly mess would come out.

[ndjamena]

If you're fine with windows:
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v6.6.1.html

A regular expression is almost a language used in searches to find non-specific patterns. \d finds any number, \r is a carriage return, \n is a new line. * means find one or more of the last value, that's all I'm using in the pattern I gave you.

Depending on your operating system you may need to replace all occurrences of \r with \r\r.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression

If you're interested in using regular expressions in the future, google for a full reference.

(I have my Visual Studio 2012 help files as a reference, which I can't give you)

[dudnaito]

If you're fine with windows:
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v6.6.1.html

A regular expression is almost a language used in searches to find non-specific patterns. \d finds any number, \r is a carriage return, \n is a new line. * means find one or more of the last value, that's all I'm using in the pattern I gave you.

Depending on your operating system you may need to replace all occurrences of \r with \r\r.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression

If you're interested in using regular expressions in the future, google for a full reference.

(I have my Visual Studio 2012 help files as a reference, which I can't give you)

ok, thanks, i'll try to figure it out from here on out. Any idea on a good software (mac or pc) to convert ass to srt though?

[ndjamena]

I've never tried but Subtitle Edit should do.

[ndjamena]

I stole that regular expression piece from the expression I use to remove all the carriage returns from my Doctor Who SRTs (I'm about two thirds through).

This is it in full:

(?:\d*\r\n\d\d:\d\d:\d\d,\d\d\d --> \d\d:\d\d:\d\d,\d\d\d\r\n(?:(?:(?!(?:(?:\<i\>)?[-\r\n]\s)))..*(\r\n)(?!(?:[A-Z\d\s]+\:))(?!(?:(?:\<i\>)?[-\r\n]\s))..*))|([\.\,\!\?\:])(</i>)

I've changed the resolution slightly on the encodes and the subtitle lines don't quite fit on the screen anymore, so, thanks to word-wrapping, I'm left with whole lines being used to display a single word from the middle of sentences. Thankfully, if I just remove all the line breaks MP4Box will add new ones, in better positions, when it adds the SRTs to the MP4 (unless that's the players doing, in either case, it works).

Sadly, Doctor Who was the first series I encoded once I discovered AVISynth. As such, with all the experience I've gained since, all the encodes I made are now obsolete and I'm wondering if I should continue creating the SRTs or just delete it all and start again.

'Doctor Who - 26x14 - Survival (3).h264' was encoded on 26/05/2013 and at this stage I'm halfway through converting the subtitles for 'Doctor Who - 19x05 - Four to Doomsday (1)'

The moral of the story is, don't bite off more than you can chew, or something like that. Can I add the word 'tedious' in there somewhere?

[Ai Haibara]

Aegisub also has an ASS-to-SRT conversion feature, as I recall, but I've never tried it (and don't know if the OS X version will do it).

Yeah, the Windows version doesn't have a print feature, either - but you can try experimenting with the Export Subtitles feature (again, though, I don't know if the OS X version has it); I managed to export a text file that basically only had the lines, and the timecodes were stripped (from an ASS file). Probably not exactly what you were looking for, however.

Edit: In Aegisub, with the file you're trying to convert loaded, pick "Export subtitles..." from the File menu (Windows version). In the "Export" window that pops up, click on the "Export" button. When entering a filename to export to, give it the ".srt" extension to export the ASS subs to a SRT-format file, or the ".txt" extension to export to the text file format I mentioned above.

[videobruger]

I've never tried but Subtitle Edit should do.

File > Export > Plain Text...

(If that's what you want)

[ndjamena]

That's even better! Now all I need is someone to play Gwen and someone to play Kevin and, and....

[dudnaito]

Aegisub also has an ASS-to-SRT conversion feature, as I recall, but I've never tried it (and don't know if the OS X version will do it).

Yeah, the Windows version doesn't have a print feature, either - but you can try experimenting with the Export Subtitles feature (again, though, I don't know if the OS X version has it); I managed to export a text file that basically only had the lines, and the timecodes were stripped (from an ASS file). Probably not exactly what you were looking for, however.

Edit: In Aegisub, with the file you're trying to convert loaded, pick "Export subtitles..." from the File menu (Windows version). In the "Export" window that pops up, click on the "Export" button. When entering a filename to export to, give it the ".srt" extension to export the ASS subs to a SRT-format file, or the ".txt" extension to export to the text file format I mentioned above.

Worked beautifully. Thanks so much Ai and everyone here. What a great community.