.SUP to Image Format (BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, etc)

[Hanzo]

Hi, I have just started to play around with DVDs and well, I am sure I will be visiting the forum very often! :)

My interest basicaly started because I have some DVD with no subtitles at all, and I wish I could add some subtitles to them, but not just that, but adding an option to select the subtitles languajes as well (English and spanish), in order to do so, I have to modify or create my own Menus.

I have tried to get information about it and I have certainly learned a lot lately, not enought yet though, to do what I want, so I am doing some experiments first before going for the real thing!

Right now I am working with "LOST HIGHWAY".
I ripped the menus, all of them are still menus, and of course, I got a .M2V file, a .SUP file and Celltimes.txt since I used PGCDemux. It has no audio.

The subpicture used to select the options of the menu is very simple, yet, I would like to see it, and I am unable to see it in the .SUP format.

Now, this brings me up 2 questions:

1.- Is there a way to convert .SUP to .BMP, .GIF or JPEG to see it?
2.- Is this (.SUP) format the same used for SUBTITLES? if that's the way then I guess the .SUP are a series of stand still images for subtitles?

Thanks for your help!

[kumi]

1.- Is there a way to convert .SUP to .BMP, .GIF or JPEG to see it?
2.- Is this (.SUP) format the same used for SUBTITLES? if that's the way then I guess the .SUP are a series of stand still images for subtitles?Welcome to the forums. You can try DVDSupDecode.exe to convert .SUP to bitmaps: http://web.quick.cz/FKasparek/Software/DVD/DVDSupTools.htm

As far as I know, a .SUP file is a demultiplexed DVD subtitle stream. It contains more than just pixel data, see http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/DVD/Book_B/Subpic.html for more info.

You can get a fine-grained look at the internals of a .SUP file with DVDSubEdit: http://download.videohelp.com/DVDSubEdit/

[Hanzo]

Indeed, that's exactly what I needed! Thanks a lot Kumi.
The links are also very useful, much appreciated!

[manusse]

Hi Hanzo,

SubtitleCreator will also allow you to see your SUP subtitles. Just go to the Tools menu and choose Tools -> Manipulate Sup.

Then click on Open IFO if you want to see your subtitles in the right colors (because the colors are not stored in the SUP files but in the IFO file).

Then click on Open SUP and open your SUP file. Et voila!
(If you need it, SubtitleCreator will also allow you to save your SUPs as BMP, JPG or PNG, use the Save BMP button for that.)

Cheers
Manusse

[BigCondor]

I prefer to use vobsub to extract idx/sub files. It is generally more acceptable and you can watch the subtitles with subresync.

[manusse]

Just a simple question: what do you mean by "It is generally more acceptable"?

Also, I want to let you know that the future version of SubtitleCreator (2.1) will also be able to read idx/sub files.

Cheers
Manusse

[BigCondor]

What I mean is it is more convenient for me to use it to correct the timing and at the same time convert it to .son files for DVD Maestro.
(Because I have to add Chinese subtitles)
The programs I use to OCR the subtitles are for idx/sub files only.
For SubtitleCreator, since I do not have the proper .net installed so I am not able to test it out.

[manusse]

OK, I understand.

It's true that to be able to use SubtitleCreator, you need to install .NET framework 2.0.

However SubtitleCreator is able to generate subtitles in Chinese, Japanese, ... Even writing vertically is possible. It will also automate the process of adding the new sub to your DVD.

Cheers
Manusse

[BigCondor]

Thanks for the advice, maybe I'll build up another system to test it out, thanks once again!

[Hanzo]

Well, I will have to handle subtitles eventualy, but for now, I am focusing on subpictures aimed to the menus, not exactly the subtitles. I have tried SubtitleCreator and it works great, however I don't think it is useful for menus subpictures, is it?
But now that we are talking about subtitles, I had another couple of questions about it.

I have seen some tutorials about adding subtitles to a movie, but most of them take as granted that you have gotten or ripped a subtitle. Now, I have this movie without any subtitles, not even available for download, since it is a made for TV movie. (Just in case you are interested about it, the name is "DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL")

The movie is divided in 4 VOBs, each one is around 25-26 minutes long, and I have been typing the whole thing using Subtitle Workshop. The problem came when the first VOB finished, because the next one starts at 00:00:00. (Well, all of them start at 00:00:00, of course!)

Now, I don't know what should I do. Should I treat every VOB as new and then try to join the subitles together later, or shoud I try to merge them all so I can create only 1 subtitle file synchronized with the whole movie?

I was wondering if I could create individual subtitle files for each VOB and then somehow merge the subtitles with each VOB, but something tell's me it is not right, or even possible.

Demuxing the whole movie in one single file is useless, since audio is ripped off, so I am kind of stuck there...

I think creating individual files for each VOB is the best solution. I think SubtitleCreator has the option to merge the files, right? But I don't know how can it synchronize the subtitles with the movie. It would make sense if the last subtitle of each VOB ended together with the movie, since (I assume) it would be easy just to shift the times of the next file the same number of hours,minutes,seconds,milliseconds of the total so far. Maybe I am just making things the complicated way???? :)

Anyway, any help is appreciated!

Thanks in advance guys!

[manusse]

Hi Hanzo,

If I fully understand you have created the subtitles yourself.
SubtitleCreator can join subtitles one after another which should allow you to get the result your are looking for. Just check the timings inbetween each sub.

Then you can preview your subtitles on top of the DVD to check if the result is fine. It could be a solution. You can also use the included DVD authoring wizard to add your new subtitle very easily.

Cheers
Manusse

[kumi]

PgcDemux (http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/dvdtools.htm) allows you to create a single .VOB from a PGC. That might be the way to go.

But IMO, writing subtitles from scratch is much easier when your source is audio. SubStation Alpha (http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Sub_Station_Alpha) is an excellent tool for the job. I use it for writing the first revision of a subtitle track, then I load the .SSA in SubtitleWorkshop and fix overlapping, line lengths, etc.

[BigCondor]

Since you prefer subtitle workshop, then I suggest you continue to work on it at each vobs separately and join it together afterwards. Just remember to adjust the timing of the subtitles after it is finished.
E.g. suppose your 1st vob is 25mins long. After you have finished the 2nd vob, goto Edit -> Timings -> Set delay and then you enter the value of + 25:00.000 to it. Save it as srt file and you join it with text pad or with subtitle workshop. The rest will be done the same way.

[Hanzo]

Thanks a lot for your help guys!

Manusse: You are right, I am making them myself.

Kumi: I am definitly making the subtitles based on what I hear. I have never used SubStation Alpha. I will give it a try. Can it play AC3 files? I demuxed the audio, so the files I have are .AC3. I will try SubStation Alpha anyway to find out :)

BigCondor: That's what I had in mind... I only have one question. If the first VOB ends is 25min but the last subtitle finishes at 23min (for example) would I need to add 25 mins to the 2nd VOB or 27 mins taking in consideration the remaining time to reach the 25 mins?

I guess I can put them together in SubtitleCreator. Just want to be sure I get them as synchronized as possible on the first pass! :)

[manusse]

The synchronizing should be straightforward using SubtitleCreator.

You need your DVD and your SRT files. You should first backup your srt files.

After it's done, open the first subtitle file. Write down somewhere the start time of the last subtitle. Then click on the "Join subtitles". Open your second subtitle file.

Now we will synchronize it. Open the DVD with the corresponding button. Play the DVD until the moment where you want the first subtitle of your second file to appear and click on Pause (if the DVD has original subs, you can put them ON to easily find the correct moment). You will then see that the "Synchronize DVD" button on the right is active. Click on it. On the subtitle list, highlight the first sub of your second file and click on the "Insert" button. Do the same for the last subtitle of the second file. There must be 2 subtitles in the subtitle list (below Synchronize DVD). Now click on the Synchronize button.

Play your DVD and check with the subtitles overlay that they are correctly synchronized. When OK, do the same for your 3rd and 4th files

This should take you no more than 5 minutes. However there is a small delay between the actual subtitles after they are burnt and the timings as seen when previewing your subtitles with SC (1 sec. max). Although it can be acceptable, you should generate a DVD on your harddisk to check the conformity of the final result. (Use Tools->DVD authoring wizard). If you see a delay, just correct it with the Synchronize->Set Time Delay of SC.

Cheers
Manusse

[Hanzo]

Thanks a lot again Manusse, I will do so.

I have been working on this very seriously, and I am almost ready to come with the ultimate question! :P

Stay on line for it! :)