Subs look janky after authoring with SubtitleCreator

[wubikens]

Thing is, they look fine in the preview before I author. Even when I tick the option to show what the subs look like without AA, they look fine. But when I author my DVDs, the subs come out looking terrible, in some sort of ugly font where the letters are randomly disproportionate to what they should be. Typically I pick Arial/Regular/20 as my font, so it shouldn't look that way.

Is there a reason for this? Any possible ways to prevent this from happening?

[Baldrick]

DO you have a sample?
Using latest subtitlecreator?

[wubikens]

I'm using the latest version available (2.3 RC1). Here's an example of what I mean:

https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/Ut4dfal.png

Notice how some of the letters are randomly disproportionate, like the "L" in "black" and "like." Two completely different sizes, the one in "black" is bigger than the one in "like." Also note the letters "th" in "the" and "with."

[manono]

Use a different font? And also create an anti-alias color?

[Skiller]

Disable SubtitleCreator's anti flicker filter.

Use an anti-alias color.

And please, for the love of Jesus, do not use Arial. Try "PT Sans Narrow Bold" (free font) or if you don't feel like using that just use Tahoma or Trebuchet MS which are standard fonts you already have. Almost any sans-serif font is better than Arial for subtitling.

[wubikens]

The anti-flicker filter is disabled. I only use plain and fast. Also, I don't think the font is the issue, because like I said, it looks fine in the preview before I author. Arial is also the most standard looking font ever, so it shouldn't look disproportionate like that.

Also, it doesn't matter what colors I pick, for anti-aliasing or otherwise. Whenever I author my DVD and subs, the colors get converted to some weird random colors that I didn't pick. I end up having to change the colors in PGCEdit post-authoring because SC never gets them right.

[manono]

You ask for advice and then choose to ignore it by saying we don't know what we're talking about. Why come here to ask for advice in the first place? Actually, my advice would be to not make subs in SubtitleCreator in the first place. I use MaestroSBT. And the Tahoma font. And have never had your problem after creating subs for more than 500 DVDs.

Also, it doesn't matter what colors I pick, for anti-aliasing or otherwise. Whenever I author my DVD and subs, the colors get converted to some weird random colors that I didn't pick.

Of course they do, since the DVD sub-pic colors have to be chosen from among only sixteen allowed colors. The colors you see when watching the DVD are overlaid on them. And you can choose them in PGCEdit afterwards as you're already doing. Who said anything about what colors to choose, and how does that relate to your problem?

[wubikens]

Why are you getting defensive? I'm not ignoring anyone's advice and I never implied that you don't know what you're talking about. I'm sure you're very knowledgeable, however none of the advice I've been given has worked.

I'm not using the anti-flicker filter, like I mentioned. I'm using plain and fast, yet the problem is still occurring. Another piece of advice was to create an anti-aliasing color. I've tried that, and it doesn't help. Picking a different font hasn't helped either.

If the subtitles look fine when I preview them in SC, then what happens during the authoring process that causes them to look completely different?

[manono]

Why are you getting defensive?

Defensive? In your earlier post you gave no indication of having tried the suggestions. Your paragraph about colors was irrelevant and you denied the choice of font was the problem.

Another piece of advice was to create an anti-aliasing color.

That probably doesn't directly affect your problem, but it's something that should be done if you want your subs to look their best. It's generic good-sub-creation advice.

Picking a different font hasn't helped either.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. And what font was that? Have you tried Tahoma or one of the other ones suggested by Skiller? If that still doesn't solve the problem then I'd have to say SubtitleCreator is the wrong software to use.

If the subtitles look fine when I preview them in SC, then what happens during the authoring process that causes them to look completely different?

Perhaps someone that uses it for subtitle creation and authoring can answer that. However, I doubt anyone seriously into creating subtitles for DVDs uses it.

[wubikens]

Tahoma and Trebuchet were actually the first alternatives I tried, along with the other ones that were suggested. I also googled some other good fonts that are commonly used (Verdana was suggested, but I couldn't find it as an option). Still had uneven lettering in some spots though.

I wouldn't have any problem using different software, it's just that I liked SC for its streamlined process of creating, editing and authoring subs and DVDs. Since I'm relatively new, it made the process significantly easier. What other alternatives would you suggest?

[manono]

Okay, thanks. I think you've proven SubtitleCreater sucks for creating DVD subs. I guess you were creating SUP subtitles or VobSubs?

Anyway, MaestroSBT creates SST (or SON) subs which I use for authoring with Muxman. It takes SSA text-based subtitle input and there are some guides for its use somewhere around here. It does have a learning curve but once that's conquered it takes about 5 minutes to create the subs followed by the authoring. Most authoring programs (free ones might include DVDAuthorGUI and GUI4DVDAuthor, besides Muxman) allow for the creation of subtitles from some sort of text-based subs. I'm sure there are others that can suggest other authoring programs with subtitle creation abilities. And maybe even provide you with a solution for your current problem with SubtitleCreator. Good luck.

[Skiller]

However, I doubt anyone seriously into creating subtitles for DVDs uses it.

Yeah, I stopped using SubtitleCreator many years ago because I was never really satisfied with it's quality and was annoyed by it's awkward usage and bugs.

I agree MaestroSBT produces very nice subtitles.


@wubikens
Your sample screenshot does not show any anti-alias color, so I'm guessing if you did specify an anti-alias in SubtitleCreator the anti-alias color ended up having the same color as the main letter color (or border color) after editing the color lookup table (CLUT) in PgcEdit.

[wubikens]

Sorry for bumping the thread, but I thought I should add something.

If I manually add the subtitles to my DVD through method 2 of the SubtitleCreator guide, the font and everything comes out looking fine. It seems as if the issue occurs only when using the DVD authoring wizard in SubtitleCreator.

Strange.

[supercroco]

I have the same problem like you wibikens, i changed the font, the size, everything, same results. I even downgrade to previous version but the result was the same. On CRT TV the subtitle looks fine but on LED TV it looks bad. My solving ? Anyway i wanted just the main movie from the dvd's, so i remuxed in mkv with MakeMKV, the video & audio that i want and the subtitle i left it in .srt and i play it with vlc player. I don't have to make any more .sub file. I think it has to do with the resolution of the .sub file when it's played on LED TV. That's why it looks bad.