Issues with Visual Sync in Subtitle Edit

[haggis999]

My wife suffers from deafness and needs subtitles. The DVD of one of one of my favourite films had subtitles but the Blu-ray version did not. This was very annoying, as the Blu-ray has a much better picture, but I have just realised that I could extract the subtitles from the DVD and then add them to the Blu-ray.

Subtitle Edit allowed me to create an SRT file with the required subtitles but their synchronisation with my MKV rip of the Blu-ray was very poor. I used the Visual Sync tool to get the correct timestamps for the first and last subtitles and then hit the Sync button. However, the results were disappointing. Most of the intermediate subtitle timestamps were still wrong.

I'm guessing that this was because the DVD and Blu-ray have different edits, though it doesn't seem likely that this would change ALL the subtitle spacing. There must be blocks of subtitles with the same spacing in both video formats (though it's not obvious how I would locate them). Is there a clever way to fix my problem, or am I stuck with having to manually position every subtitle?

[johns0]

You can look for a proper subtitle for the blu-ray at subtitle sites found through google.

[haggis999]

I haven't found one so far. It doesn't seem likely that a Blu-ray subtitle file would exist when it was never published with a subtitle track.

Surely the only way such a track would be available online would be if someone had already succeeded in the task that is causing my current difficulties?

[johns0]

What's the name of the blu-ray?

[davexnet]

Regarding sync problems, what is the exact running time of the two versions?

[haggis999]

The film is called Enigma, released in 2001 and starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. Not to be confused with at least one other film of the same name.

From memory, I think the Blu-ray is about 8 minutes longer than the DVD. I'll check that later.

[davexnet]

The film is called Enigma, released in 2001 and starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. Not to be confused with at least one other film of the same name.

From memory, I think the Blu-ray is about 8 minutes longer than the DVD. I'll check that later.

Well IMDB lists the running time as 1h 59m, the PAL DVD (@ 25 fps) sped up by 4% to 1h 54m (approx).
Blue-ray may be 24 fps; at the IMDB stated runtime

Also there are many versions of the sub online as johns0 mentioned

[haggis999]

Also there are many versions of the sub online as johns0 mentioned

I have been assuming that all subs online will relate to the DVD. Have you found any that specifically state they are for the Blu-ray?

[davexnet]

Also there are many versions of the sub online as johns0 mentioned

I have been assuming that all subs online will relate to the DVD. Have you found any that specifically state they are for the Blu-ray?

I'll PM you

[johns0]

https://subscene.com/subtitles/enigma/english/1148358

A sub for the blu-ray version.

[davexnet]

Didn't you get these search results?

[johns0]

They are all the same,just under different names except for the web version.

[haggis999]

https://subscene.com/subtitles/enigma/english/1148358

A sub for the blu-ray version.

Many thanks for that link. The first subtitle is wrong, but random checks after that throughout the movie were accurate for both positioning and text.

That will save me a lot of time

[haggis999]

Didn't you get these search results?

I'm probably guilty of not searching online as thoroughly as I should have done, due to my initial assumption that only the DVD subs would be available. That opensubtitles link was at the bottom of the second page of my Google search, so I never saw it first time around.

[haggis999]

They are all the same,just under different names except for the web version.

The text of all the available SRT subtitle files is likely to be more or less identical, but my experience was that the SRT subs I took from the DVD come up at the wrong times for the Blu-ray, even after shifting the start point to match the video. Visual Sync failed to sort that problem.

[haggis999]

Thanks to all here who pointed me in the right direction.

The SRT link provided by johns0 did the trick. My wife and I have just finished watching the Blu-ray of Enigma with a full set of accurate English subtitles. It made for a very enjoyable evening.