Add permanent subtitles to S/VCD,DVD,AVI with ffdshow/vobsub

[Baldrick]

This is probably the easiest way of adding permanent subtitles to VCD, SVCD, DVD or AVI/DivX/XviD. No frameserving required.

Tools required:
Latest ffdshow or latest vobsub.
TMPGenc

Preparation
First be sure that you have your subs in sub or srt format. You find a lot of subtitles converters here if you have the subtitles in some other format or if you want to make your own subtitles.

Rename the subtitle file to the same name as the video but with a .sub or .srt extension(Be sure to turn of Hide extension for known files types in Windows Explorer under Tools->Folder Options->View). Example:

video.avi
video.sub


Guide

First we must install a subtitle filter. You can use ffdshow or vobsub subtitle filter.

Using vobsub filter
Install vobsub and you are done. To change subtitles settings run the vobsub configure from the Start menu->vobsub.

or Using ffdshow filter
Install ffdshow and run the ffdshow Configuration from the Start menu->ffdshow->Configuration.
1. Select Subtitles in the menu to the left
2. Enable the subtitles.
3. Hit Ok.


Now should the subtitles appear if you play the video with Media Player. If not then the subtitles may be in wrong format.



Converting to VCD,SVCD,DVD or AVI

Convert with TMPGenc
Start TMPGEnc and close the Wizard. First change the Directshow priority in TMPGEnc (the Directshow reader reads the subtitles the same way as Media Player).
1. Select Option->Enviromentel Settings
2. Select VFAPI Plugin
3. Right click on the Directshow Multimedia File Reader and select Higher Priority, repeat it until it is on the top of the list.


Open the video with wizard or manual. The subtitles should now appear. Use File->Preview in TMPGEnc to check that you can see the subtitles before encoding.


Last just convert to VCD or SVCD or DVD as usual.

To convert to AVI,DivX or XviD with permanent subtitles use TMPGEnc. In TMPGEnc first close the wizard, choose file->new project, open the video, choose File->Output to file->AVI File. Select a video compression like DivX or XviD and choose an audio compression like MP3 and hit save.

Done.



Problems

The subs doesn't appear.
Try with both ffdshow and vobsub. Be sure that subs are in sub or srt format.

Be sure to change the directshow prirority in TMPgenc.

[2573]

Thank you very much.

this way can be used in Canopus Procoder, that don't support frameserver of virtual dub.

So, if you want to add subtitles to a vcd or svcd with procoder, use this way

[Baldrick]

Thanks for info. Adding it to the guide. Any more tested encoders?

[Baldrick]

worked fine with mainconecpt.

[EddyH]

is this just for converting from divx, or does it work from dvd as well?

My test-rip dvd has both an english language track, and a foreign track with english subtitles, want to see if i can make both the english copy and the subbed one... seeking around the guides and forums not found many hints yet, apart from using DVDx.. and i'd rather stick with Tsunami if it's at all possible :/

[Baldrick]

If from dvd use dvd2svcd or dvd2avi->virtualdub/vobsub->encoder.

[jwsons]

Newbie question:
Is there anyway to cover a permanent-subtitle of a SVCD and make my own permanent-subtitle as replacement for it ?? [case SVCD or VCD doesn't have .sub files likes DVD w/subtitle(s)]
Thx in advance.
jwsons

[abarros]

I tried to convert some videos (divx & xvid) to avi (xvid or divx) with subtitles (DirectVobSub 2.23/TMPGEnc-2.58.44.152-Plus-EN). The subs are ok on the conversion, but I get no audio - PCM, MP3, etc - nothing works. What am I doing wrong?

[neiltaxi]

i have downloaded a german film with english subtitles in a notepad SRT file the film plays great with subtitles in windows media player but now i am trying to copy to a dvd with tmpg and my dvddit i just cannot get the titles to encode in preview in tpmg has anyone any suggestions

[rafa]

How do you select Divx and MP3 compressors in TMPGEnc? Being ignorant, couldn't see how...

[And when went ahead with encoding, the resultant file was enormous after only 1-2mins!!]

Full guide specification for idiots like me would be helpful. [I just want to permanently embed srt file on avi file]

Thx

[infinity3d4life]

couldn't get it to work with mainconcept.. Video decoded fine, audio fine, no subs though.. i have to be doing something wrong...

[rafa]

neiltaxi ...

I know u can easily add permanent subs w virtualdub if u 1st select Filters and Textsub and then specify your SRT file...

Preview will then show whether subs are being added...

In that case, do normal dub... but it takes 4 hours for me!

Does anyone know way to add permanenjt subs w TMPGEnc - couldnt see way to do it..

[phucloctho]

Hi everyone,
I hope that this would help someone who try to include the subtitle in the movie when try to convert the movies from ogm to avi. It has worked for me very well

I use graphedit to convert the movie from ogm to avi. Be sure that you set the interleaving in the avi mux to full so that both the video and audio is not out of sync

If the subtile does not show in the avi movie then you can load the ogm file in virtualdubmod and save the text file

Load both the new avi movie and the text file in vobsub and vobmus them together and save the movies as avi file. Be sure that interleaving full option is check

That is it.

Both the virtualdubmod and vobsub can be download for free.

[bighousie]

I tried to convert to avi. Followed exactly Baldrick's tutorial, but i got no sound! Chose for video xvid and for audio mp3. What can be gone wrong? Who can help me?

[Baldrick]

bighouse: Convert the audio to wav, www.dvdrhelp.com/tmpgenc#problems , www.dvdrhelp.com/virtualdubaudio.htm .

[bighousie]

Baldrick, thanks for reaction, but after converting to wav: no sound at all! I suppose i have to put the wav-file at audiosource in Tmpgenc and remove the "v" before audio in the Output avifile window? What has to filled in under "Stream type"?

[Jakeman]

i have the same problem, no fuckin sound??

[Mastropiero]

Hey there, I happen to have the same problem: lack of sound, even after having converted the audio to .wav, using virtualdub. Everything appears to be correct, the video source is good, an .avi file. The audio source is correct, a .wav file. The subtitles work good in the preview...... what am I doing wrong?

[dioxido]

I have a problem.........
I can make the SVCD with DVD2SVCD, all ok there, but i can't put any subtitles before to the AVI file....
I tried all, but i want to be permanent the insert of the subtitles.
Anybody could make or tell me again about this but more detailed???

"To convert to AVI,DivX or XviD with permanent subtitles use TMPGEnc. In TMPGEnc first close the wizard, choose file->new project, open the video, choose File->Output to file->AVI File. Select a video compression like DivX or XviD and choose an audio compression like MP3 and hit save.
"

I dont have the Xvid or the Divx codec to select in TMPGENc and i dont have any mp3 compression.........and i dont want to change the size, and quality of the AVI i want to add the subtitles.
So. is there any way that i could put permanent subtitles WITHOUT changing the .avi in it's structure?
Sorry, im a newbie in this but im trying the subtitle thing since 4 days ago and i can't continue and everyone explain as if all were genius in this, but i really dont understand too much.
Thankx for your time and your patience.
Dioxido

[Mastropiero]

OK, this is starting to be reaaaally frustrating

I´m still stuck with this lack of sound problem..... even though I thought I had managed to get over it.

I decided to encode the bloody file and see if it would work - since I got no reply whatsoever from Baldrick I thought it might be due to the fact that in the end it should work, hence no reason for a reply. I encoded it, and it works fine in my PC. Full quality sound, the subs are there..... I thought I made it.

I´ve just burned the file, played it on my standalone, which is the purpose of all this..... and I HAVE NO SOUND!!!

Anybody has the slightest idea of why this could be happening? Please? PLEASE???

[RoDeNtJe]

Baldrick,
I did everything as told,I have my subtitles in mediaplayer,
but when I open my video-file (.mpg file converted from a vcd .dat file (mpeg1)) with TMPGEnc
(just load my video source (the mpg file), and authomatically the audio loads too as the same file, right?)
after changing the priority as in your guide, and I goe to preview, I just get my video WITHOUT any subtitles visible and without sound...
any idea what I do wrong?
thnx

[siski]

worked fine with mainconecpt.

Tried the whole evening no luck yet with mainconcept, but it is working with TMPG encoder. If i play the avi with mediaplayer, the subs are
correctly shown. Also in the preview modus in TMPG the subtitles are shown and the ffdhow tray icon is visible. With mainconcept the tray icon is not visible, although i marked it.

Wondering if some one has a solution

TIA

[zanex]

I have another problem. I have this xvid movie I want to sub. The size of the file is 700MB. I choose DivX 5.1.1 as Video compression, and MPEG Layer-3 56kBit/s 24000 Hz stereo as Sound Selection.
Everything works fine, 90 mins later I have the movie subbed, but the filesize is only 376MB, and with a great loss in the quality.
Are there anyway to do this whitout the loss of quality?

[tadeu64]

I was using Mainconcept to convert AVIs and everthing was fine until some days ago, when I had to reformat my PC and begin to install it again.
Now, I tried ffdshow and mainconcept and I am having the same problem that siski is having:
1 - movie plays in Windows Media Player and subtitles are OK. The ffdshow icon appears in sys tray;
2 - when using Mainconcept, neither the subtitles nor the systray icon appears.

I tried to find a solution on the forums and could not find any. Does anybody knows what to do ? Again, it used to work and now it doesn't work anynore, I think I am missing something.

[balrog]

Well, first I want to say that this tutorial works with TMPGEenc 3.0 Xpress too.

After several attempts to solve the sound problem (Doens´t have sound at all) I found a solution. I´m using vobsub to put the subtitles and this only works with me to reencode avi files, mpeg doens´t work. Trying to reencode with TMPGEnc both video and audio they used VFAPI reader: Direct Show Mutimedia File Reader and did not have sound. So I change the audio source to ac3 file that I had extracted from avi with VirtualDub and this file is read with wav file reader in tmpgenc, then the sound come back.

I don´t know much about this, but I think that the sound and video it should read in two different ways to give an correct work.

[jimA]

It's a great guide, and I was very happy when I found it, 'coz I had been looking (and asking) for a way to do this for a long time. I mean, not adding subtitles... I was frameserving those with VirtualDub... but putting the subtitles in the bottom black border on 2.35:1 movies.

I am using vobsub, not ffdshow.

BUT... the video is jerky. I then tried lowering the Directshow.... filter, and then the jerkiness was gone, but alas, so was the subtitles.

Is vobsub using a "wrong" codec ? Does it have a built-in codec or what ?

Should I try ffdshow instead of vobsub, or do they work the same way ?

thx
/jima

[gerardhvisser]

Great article, helped a lot, thanks! But for TMPGenc XPress users like I: it's important that you make ONLY the radiobuttons before VFApifilereader and before DirectShow Multimedia file reader active, or it WON'T WORK. Further I only managed to import AVI's this way up till now, with .srt subtitlefile and VOBSub 2.23 running....

[nuzumaki]

has anybody solved the mainconcept problem? i get it working via tmpeg and vobsub, but not with mainc. and thats my most favourite encoder.

any help out there?

[nuzumaki]

can anybody please let me know how to get it working with MAINCONCEPT!
i dont get it
THX

[Nokiamania]

I've followed this guide step by step to create a vcd format with permanent subtitles out from an avi format with srt subtitles.

The problem is sometimes there are missing subtitles in some parts of the video, not all subtitles in the srt subtitles will appear in the video. I tried to uninstall vobsub and install it again but the result is still the same. I try to use different versions of tmpgenc but the outcome is still the same. There are still some few missing subtitles that do not appear in my output file.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated as I have been stucked with this problem for quite some time already.