Adding CEA-608/708 to DVD

[cysjunk]

I would like to know if there is (preferably free) software available that will let me add CEA-608/708 (SCC format) closed captions to an MPEG-2 video so I can burn it to DVD. My video editor (VEGAS Pro) supports importing them but when I go into VideoReDo to create an ISO using the rendered file it seems to mangle the closed captions when I play the contents of the ISO back in VLC Media Player. Playing the video with the captions prior to creating the ISO does seem to work.

[ProWo]

The simpliest way is to use srt subs instead if cea 608/708 captions but not for DVD.

[cysjunk]

For me the goal is to have the TV be able to use the CEA-608/708 data so SRT is out of the question.

[ProWo]

For me the goal is to have the TV be able to use the CEA-608/708 data so SRT is out of the question.

Your TV cannot handle srt subs?
I don't think so.

[cysjunk]

I am working with a CRT.

[ProWo]

I am working with a CRT.

Read:
https://www.pixeltools.com/tech-tip-closed-captioning-existing.html

[ProWo]

Found this:

ffmpeg -i input.mpg -i subtitles.srt -c:v mpeg2video -c:a copy -c:s copy -vf "mergecc=sub_file=subtitles.srt" output.mpg

This recodes your videostream.

Should work with scc files too.
Try it.

[cysjunk]

That software (PixelTools) is paid. FFmpeg gave me a "No such filter: 'mergecc'" error. I did see a bit more success in HandBrake where I could add the captions to the video but the captions seem to only last a split second. At least they are not mutilated like in VideoReDo.

[usually_quiet]

That software (PixelTools) is paid. FFmpeg gave me a "No such filter: 'mergecc'" error. I did see a bit more success in HandBrake where I could add the captions to the video but the captions seem to only last a split second. At least they are not mutilated like in VideoReDo.

There have been many requests for it over the years, but there is no good, free, software for adding North American closed captions to a DVD.

You can convert the closed captions from a recorded DTV stream to SRT subtitles using CCExtractor GUI. ...and then convert the SRT subtitles to hard subtitles (a permanent part of the picture) using Handbrake. ...or you can convert SRT subtitles to DVD soft subtitles and author a DVD with subtitles that the DVD player can turn on and off.

I used VideoReDo for editing recorded DTV streams but never tried it for authoring DVDs so I don't know if it does a good job compared to other free authoring software.

Most recently I used AVStoDVD for DVD authoring. However, it has been some years since I authored a DVD, so my memory is fuzzy. As I recall, if the video is DVD-compatible, AVStoDVD doesn't re-encode and CCs are preserved. I think I could also import SRTs into AVStoDVD to create soft subtitles but my memory regarding that process not clear at this point.

[zing269]

There is this: https://github.com/szatmary/libcaption

I can't find much using this library, but you may be able to find something suitable.