Weird, consistent subtitles problem

[irishuser]

Whenever I want to change an oversized VOB down to a nice-size AVI, a major problem occurs with the subtitles.

The subtitles appear sporadically, and never in the right size. Basically, I get an output AVI where the subtitles are cropped out of the picture, unless the actors speak a very long line, which means the subtitle "wraps" and then I will maybe see the top line.

Basically, I want to know a way to ensure that the subtitles appear on the screen, at the correct size.

If you like, I'll walk you through the process, explaining what's going wrong.

[irishuser]

I'm not too concerned about picture quality, as long as it's 75% as good as the full-size VOB. But I do want to retain the subtitles, and it seems that VOB is the only file type that can reliably do that for me.

So can you suggest software that will shrink VOBs without turning them into AVIs?

[irishuser]

Feel free to send a message to me about this!

[ammck55]

I've merged the separate requests, they seem to belong to one another.

One easy solution would be to take your original disc and run it through DVD Shrink, you'll get the original movie at only a slightly decreased resolution if you run a "Main Movie Only" project. You can find a guide for it on the Forum's homepage, click on the link at the top of the page and go to the Guides section.

Please read the Forum Rules and the Announcement on the Newbies page to get an idea of what issues are handled here, and some that are not.

ammck55

[irishuser]

Thanks ammck55

I DLed DVD Shrink. But it won't backup my original disks because of copy protect. It looks like it'd be just the thing for me if it worked :)

Am I doing something awry? Is there a way around it?

[ammck55]

"Decrypt" the disc with DVD Decrypter in either File, or IFO mode, first. This should remove the copy protection, but with some of the newer titles, other means may have to be resorted to. Deal with that if/when you get there.

Save this decrypted file in a place you can easily find it, then pull the file up in Shrink. To apply less compression, use Shrink in "Re-author mode", this will give you a main-movie-only copy; no menus, or extras, but a slightly cleaner file.

Click the "Doom9" link at the top of this page, that'll take you out to the Forum's homepage where you can find the Guides link. Doom9 has a fine Shrink guide; others can be found at www.dvdshrink.info. Almost forgot, you can find the latest version of Decrypter from the "Downloads" link out on the Forum's frontend; same place you'll go to find the Guides.

I use Nero to burn the ISO files that Shrink produces. With a full version of Nero, you can burn your ISO by a "Recorder > Burn Image" command; the stripped down OEM versions will be slightly different, but dig around and find the option to burn an "image" file. ISO=image

Whatever burning engine you're used to will accomplish the job for you, no worries if you don't use Nero. :)

ammck55

[Edit] Head in a dark place...wrong Nero commandpath the first time around. :)