VobSub for permanent subs

[daxab]

I've been struggling with subtitles for some time. I like SVCD subs, but my player (Apex AD-600A) doesn't handle them. It sort of does, but some subtitles have lines under them, and then after about 8 minutes, the subtitles stop completely. Before then, some are omitted -- every 4th or 5th one.

Next I tried to get permanent subs to work. They didn't work in the 1.0.4 build but (yay!) they work in 1.0.6. Unfortunately, they don't look as good as SVCD subs. This has nothing to do with DVD2SVCD; its the Avisynth plugin that does the subtitling which I think comes from elsewhere (?). I'm not knocking it; it just doesn't look very good, at least on my player.

Today I read on Doom9's news page that VobSub 2.08 is out. I checked this out (in VirtualDub) and the visual quality is excellent. It looks as good as the SVCD subs do, or perhaps better.

I'm going to try to get VobSub to work with DVD2SVCD. I currently have it working as a VirtualDub filter, but I'm going to see if I can figure out the call signature for Avisynth to call it. If I get this working, I will post how I did it here, and maybe our kind benefactor will consider rolling it into a future version.

(If anyone has this working already, please let me know.)

[Mozart]

it cannot handle CVD style either?

FYI: the subtitler is also a dvd2svcd creation, with the help of Dividee.

btw: this thread was moved to DVD2SVCD newbie forum, because of obvious reasons;)

[daxab]

it cannot handle CVD style either?

Well, I couldn't burn the test disc that is linked to in the FAQ -- the ZIP file is good, but the included image appears bogus. But in my own tests making CVDs with 1.0.5, my player couldn't read them. I was surprised since I thought CVD was a pre-SVCD Chinese format and I thought Apex was manufactured in China.

FYI: the subtitler is also a dvd2svcd creation, with the help of Dividee.

Every day I take my hat off to dvd2svcd and everyone else involved. I used to make SVCDs once in a while, but now I do it almost every day -- and that's thanks to dvd2svcd. I'm sure others feel the same way. In addition, the level of bug fixing, feature addition, and general quality is frankly astonishing -- much better support than you get for most payware.

So the last thing I want to do is say something negative against dvd2svcd and crew.

[Mozart]

@daxab

have a look at Q&A. It was updated and there are 4 downloadable images. The first can be burned with easycd 4, only version 4. The others are cue/bin files.

[daxab]

Okay I have this working. The visual appearance is better, in my opinion. VobSub is pretty nice; it smooths edges, it uses the colors specified by the DVD, and it can subtitle before resizing. It's not difficult but it does involve a few extra steps.

1. Rip the DVD IFO and VOB files to your HD using dvd2svcd. Also specify subtitles (any format -- we're not going to use them). When the subtitle selection dialog comes up, figure out which stream you want and remember its ID number for later. Stop dvd2svcd at this point.

2. Now you need to write a short config file for VobSub. Mine looks like this:D:\B\VTS_01_0.IFO
D:\B\VTS_01_0
0 en
BLINDThe first line is your IFO file. Next is the base name for output files. VobSub will add ".idx" and ".sub" to this, so in this example, a file named "D:\B\VTS_01_0.idx" will get created. Next is the subtitle stream ID (which you took note of in step 1) and language code. The last line says to use BLIND mode, which you have to use for VOB files ripped by dvd2svcd. If you don't use BLIND mode some subtitles don't get ripped.

3. Rip the subtitles by opening a command prompt (or DOS) window and typing rundll32 vobsub.dll,Configure <paramfile> where <paramfile> is the name of the config file. (For docs about this see the vobsub-auto.txt file included with VobSub.) The rip takes a few minutes. Check the .idx file that gets created to make sure it looks reasonable. You can edit it if you want to apply more smoothing or reposition things. If you want to edit it in a GUI open it with the VobSub configure dialog.

Update: Much easier: Instead of steps 2 and 3, you can just open the IFO file in the VobSub Configure dialog. Then click the large middle button which mentions crossing the fingers. This seems to be the GUI way to do a BLIND mode rip.

4. Restart dvd2svcd. Uncheck the rip box (of course). Check the "edit .avs file" box. Uncheck the subtitle box. Start it up.

5. When it's time to edit the .avs file, add lines to insert the subtitles. Make sure you insert the subtitles before resizing for best results. Here's an example. New lines are bold:Import("C:\app\avisynth\vdfilters.avs")
LoadPlugin("C:\WINNT\system32\vobsub.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\app\AVISynth\GreedyHMA.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\DVD2SVCD\MPEG2Dec\mpeg2dec.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\DVD2SVCD\INVERS~1\IVTC.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\DVD2SVCD\AVISYN~1.DLL")
mpeg2source("D:\B\DVD2AV~1.D2V")
GreedyHMA(1,0,4,0,1,0,0,0)
VobSub("D:\B\VTS_01_0")
BilinearResize(480,480)Notice that the VobSub command has to match the config line from before. File paths in this example are for my system; you'll have to change them to match your own system. It's a good idea to double check your .avs file by opening it in VirtualDub at this point. Subtitles get encoded into the MPEG stream, so make sure you like how they look before doing your encode. If you want to change them you'll have to re-encode.

6. That's it. Now let dvd2svcd do its thang.

[daxab]

I was thinking about this more and if you have letterboxed (16:9) source you probably want to do the subtitling in the bottom black margin. So the order of operations in the AVS file would be:

1. Resize vertically.
2. Add margins.
3. Add subtitles.
4. Resize horizontally.

There shouldn't be any image degradation from the two resize operations if they are pure horizontal and pure vertical. Example:BilinearResize(720,360)
AddBorders(0,60,0,60)
VobSub("D:\B\VTS_01_0")
BilinearResize(480,360)Edit: I've tried this and it works well.

[Antonio S.]

daxab:

I also have an Apex 600. Subtitles works very well in that unit.
You can use 2 ways to make subtitles in SVCD.

I-Author
1-Get your subs with SUBRIP097b. Remember to use I-Author parameters, and save sub as "I-Author Text files".

2-Demux your MPEG file

3-Mux video, audio, and sub with I-Author. Remember to check "PS" option. After muxing rename ".PS" file as ".MPG" file.

4-Encode with Nero or TSCV (with VCDIMAGER ver 7.12)

Submux
1-Get your subs with SUBRIP097b. Remember to use Phillips SVCD Designer parameters, and save sub as "Phillips sub files".

2-With "SUBMUX GUI ver 1.1.5" load original MPEG file and SUB.Check CVD option (if not it doesn't works). Then run program. After some minutes you will have a new mpeg file with sub. Remember to have SUBS and original mpeg in the same file.

4-Encode with Nero or TSCV (with VCDIMAGER ver 7.12).


As you see is easier with "SUBMUX"...

Good Luck,

Antonio S.

PD to get "SUBMUX GUI" go here...http://rilanparty.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12829&pagenumber=1

[daxab]

@Antonio S.

Do you know what version ROMs you have?

Also, it seems like DVD2SVCD would give you results like your Submux procedure. Have you tried a standard DVD2SVCD-made disc with CVD subs selected?

[Antonio S.]

daxab:

What do you mean with "ROM's version" ?

I cannot use succesfully DVD2SVCD beacause I only have a demo version of CCE...However in order to have working subtitles in an APEX DVD player, CVD option must be activated when using DVD2SVCD (SUBMUX).

Antonio S.

[daxab]

What do you mean with "ROM's version" ?Sorry, I mean to say firmware version. For example, my player (a very early one) is A8.