Issues with SubtitleCreator

[andreacar07]

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to find a txt to sup tool (a freeware one) which would let me control horizontal and vertical display. I have hit on Subtitle Creator 2.1 and it seems to pack a lot of features.
Congrats to the developers!

I have come across several issues, and would be grateful if any of the developers could help me figure them out

1. The "Save SRT" and "Save SRT as" feature appears to be erratic. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Top and bottom subtitles are sometimes lost. Most of all, it is very inaccurate at saving the "New Position" coordinates in the subtitles. These coordinates appear to be properly saved only when I exit SC without saving, and answer YES to the "save file?" prompt

2. Another major issue (this appears to be a bug) is when I try to insert a new subtitle while viewing "ONLY subs with errors". What happens here is that the new lines are inserted in the wrong position (to be specific, one position after the newly assigned position in the error list)

3. I seem unable to use the SC preferred decoder overlay, even after installing the codecs it requires. Problem is, with my XP overlays, I lose the sync between subtitles and movie - although I am not sure this is a codec issue. All subtitling software (ex. Subtitle workshop) seem to have a hard time with synching when using an mpg movie. They all work fine with avi files. (This does not mean that my multiplexed dvds will be out of sync. In fact they are not. I am just unable to properly sync mpg and subtitles while using subtitling softwares)

I have a few other issues, but these seem to be the most urgent right now.
Anyone willing to help?

Thanks a lot,
Andry

[manusse]

Hi Andry,

1) Do you mean using the <w 70,250,580,2 /w> command in SRT files?

2) There may be bugs here. However when you visualize only subs in error, you should not enter new subs because you don't know what comes after the line in error. Just write down the line number, switch back to normal mode and insert your new line after the noted line number. Or you can work only in normal mode and Check Settings->Highlight too long subtitles in blue and Settings->Highlight duration errors in green. You can also right-click in the subtitle list and choose Go to too long subtitle.

3) I don't understand if you could or not preview your SRT subtitles on top of the DVD video with SubtitleCreator? Do you use a NTSC or PAL DVD?

Cheers
Manusse

[andreacar07]

Hi Manusse,
I was in fact hoping for your reply.

1. Yes, I mean the <w 70,250,580,2 /w> command. If I save the srt file using the "file-->save" command, I never know if those commands are saved or not (unless I open the .srt file from a text editor, of course, but that is not the way it is supposed to be, right)? Also, the "file-save" command occasionally deletes the first 2 and/or the last 2 subtitles.

2. I understand the problem. May I suggest that in the "errors only" view, you disable the "add caption" option form the right-click menu. This way, people would not risk messing up their files.

3. The subtitle preview feature does work, but it is slightly out of sync (up to 1 second). This makes any sync adjustment impossible in SC. I wonder if the "SC preferred" codec would fix this, but I seem to be unable to make it work. I use both Pal and NTSC sources.


Again, thanks for your support and congrats on a very nifty piece of software, much superior to the other freewares out there in this field.


Best,
Andry

[manusse]

Andy

1. Right-click in the subtitles and choose Edit Subtitle -> Show Position. This should do the job, doesn't it?

2. I understand your point. Will look at it.

3. When you say it's out of sync, do you mean a fixed delay? (IMHO SC preferred will not help to solve this point)

Cheers
Manusse

PS: Thanks for your encouragements. You can also donate if you like :-)

[andreacar07]

Hi Manusse,
1. My problem is not in viewing the new positions. This is fine. The problem is that the "new positions" are not saved in the .srt files (or erratically saved) if I use the "save" or "save as" command.
The only time that I get guarantedd saves is if I do not try to "save", but just "exit" the program, and answer YES to the Save prompt.

2. Thank you

3. No, no fixed delay, unfortunately. But various unpredictable delays. (BTW: the same thing happens if I use an mpg file for synching under Subtitle Creator or Media SUbtitler - only AVI files give me guaranteed results). In other words, mpg (or VOB) files seem to generate incorrect syncs. Is this a problem I am having, or is this shared by others?

Thanks for your continued support.
And yes, you're right, I will donate.
Best,
Andry

[manusse]

Hi Andy,

About question 1, Paddington is the expert for this function. I know that he is very busy at the moment. Hopefuly he reads this thread and gives you and appropriate answer.

About question 3, it's my part. So could you please detail the exact problem that you have with SubtitleCreator (I'm not interested about other software). So please detail what kind of delay you have. When you talk about "various unpredictable delays", could you please give an order of magnitude (0.1 sec, 1 sec, 10 sec ??). Also when you write "the same thing happens if I use an mpg file for synching under Subtitle Creator ", could you please explain how you try to synch, aka using what menus/method. Also for each synching bug you notice, tell me if it's with a NTSC or PAL DVD because I know that SC has problems with NTSC DVDs (because Paddington and myself are living in PAL countries).

I will do my best to understand your exact problem and try to fix it if I am able to, but I need a very accurate description.

About point 2: I modified the menu behaviour as you suggested. It will be available in the next version of SC.

Cheers
Manusse

[andreacar07]

Hi Manusse,
great about point 2. And I look forward to hearing from Paddington about point 1.

About point 3: I am sorry, I meant "Subtitle Workshop" (not "Subtitle Creator", you obviously don't synch in SC - except for manual adjustments).

But you're not interested in other software, fine (even though I suspect this is a GENERAL issue, involving the way XP deals with mpg video).

This is what I do:
- I demux an NTSC movie frm a DVD (29,97 FPS)
- generate an avi file (using gordian knot, a spotless procedure)

- I sync my subtitles under Media Subtitler using the AVI movie.
I get perfect srt files: I load them onto SC (or other sup generating sw), load the demuxed IFO files to SC to pick up the right color palette and other movie specs, generate the sup files, re-mux with IfoEdit and I get a perfect dvd with new soft subtitles.

However, If I try to fine-tune (i.e. manually adjust) my .srt file with SC (which does not accept AVI movies, but only MPG movies - consequently in SC I need to load the ripped version of the movie in vob, i.e. mpg, format), my .srt file and the mpg movie that I play in SC are suddenly out of synch.

The point is that they are NOT out of sync: In fact, the remux with that .srt file with the M2V (i.e. mpg) video IS PERFECTLY in sync.

But If I manually re-sync my .srt file using SC, my final srt will be out of sync. This is not a fixed delay problem, as mentioned, but an erratic off-sync problem (example: subtitle 1 may be 0.5 sec late, sub 6 may be 1 sec. early, etc.)

What I'd like to point out is that this does not only happen with SC. If I try to synch under Media Subtitler or Subtitle Creator using an mpg movie (rather than an avi movie), and then generate the sup file and remux, I get the same type of issues. This is why I suspect it's an XT related issue, and not software specific.

I hope this is clear now.

Thanks for your time.
Best,
Andry

[andreacar07]

Hi Manusse,
great about point 2. And I look forward to hearing from Paddington about point 1.

About point 3: I am sorry, I meant "Subtitle Workshop" (not "Subtitle Creator", you obviously don't synch in SC - except for manual adjustments).

But you're not interested in other software, fine (even though I suspect this is a GENERAL issue, involving the way XP deals with mpg video).

This is what I do:
- I demux an NTSC movie frm a DVD (29,97 FPS)
- generate an avi file (using gordian knot, a spotless procedure)

- I sync my subtitles under Media Subtitler using the AVI movie.
I get perfect srt files: I load them onto SC (or other sup generating sw), load the demuxed IFO files to SC to pick up the right color palette and other movie specs, generate the sup files, re-mux with IfoEdit and I get a perfect dvd with new soft subtitles.

However, If I try to fine-tune (i.e. manually adjust) my .srt file with SC (which does not accept AVI movies, but only MPG movies - consequently in SC I need to load the ripped version of the movie in vob, i.e. mpg, format), my .srt file and the mpg movie that I play in SC are suddenly out of synch.

The point is that they are NOT out of sync: In fact, the remux (sup+M2V+wav) IS PERFECTLY in sync.

But If I manually re-sync my .srt file using SC, my final srt will be in sync if lplayed under SC, but off sync if re-muxed to a dvd. This is not a fixed delay problem, as mentioned, but an erratic off-sync problem (example: subtitle 1 may be 0.5 sec late, sub 6 may be 1 sec. early, etc.)

What I'd like to point out is that this does not only happen with SC. If I try to synch under Media Subtitler or Subtitle Creator using an mpg movie (rather than an avi movie), and then generate the sup file and remux, I get the same type of issues. This is why I suspect it's an XT related issue, and not software specific.

I hope this is clear now.

Thanks for your time.
Best,
Andry

[manusse]

But you're not interested in other software, fine
It's just that I know a bit the insights of SubtitleCreator's code and nothing about other softwares so I cannot help with them.

If the delay you notice between the subtitles and the video is more or less one second, it's normal. It's not really an unknown bug. It's just that the timing reference given by MS Windows when playing a DVD is not very accurate. I don't know how to fix that. If it's more than one second then it can be a bug.

Cheers
Manusse

[andreacar07]

Thank you Manousse.
This was very useful. I get delays in the 1 second range.
This is clearly a Windows-related problem, as I suspected (it appears on all subtitling softwares I have tried when synching with an mpg file).
I was just wondering whether the SC preferred codec fiexes it or not. (I have not been able to install the SC preferred codecs).

It would be great if the next release of SC would also fix the "save" problems I am experiencing (I discuss them in one of my earlier posts).
Thanks for your support.
Andry

[Paddington]

1. Yes, I mean the <w 70,250,580,2 /w> command. If I save the srt file using the "file-->save" command, I never know if those commands are saved or not (unless I open the .srt file from a text editor, of course, but that is not the way it is supposed to be, right)? Also, the "file-save" command occasionally deletes the first 2 and/or the last 2 subtitles.

Hi Andry,

Manusse pointed me at your problem - congratulations, you have found a bug! I only write the <w ... stuff when the number of lines of that subtitle have been changed. I've changed that code now (Manusse, line 2385 in Subtitle.cs), and it will be available in a future beta/update.

About the lines that aren't saved... that's a feature. In principle, only lines that are included (i.e. checked in the list box) are saved. It may be the case that some lines are unchecked because they contain www or @ symbol - this behaviour can be turned off, though: Settings. during the loading, unselect).

Cheers, Paddington