Lyris
13th January 2009, 11:44
Hi everyone, I'm currently in the process of exporting subtitles from Sony DVD Architect, so I can convert them to Spruce Technologies STL format to import them into DVD Studio Pro 4 on the Mac.
All of my MPEG-2 video assets are encoded as DVD-compliant 23.976fps with Cinema Craft SP2. These files were then imported to DVD Architect and subtitled inside that program. The problem I'm getting is that the timecodes on the exported subtitle file don't correspond to what I see in DVD Architect, which causes problems later.
Here's how I do this: I choose to export the subs from DVD Architect as a "DVD Studio Pro .txt" script. Easy, right? No, DVD Studio Pro doesn't like this file. Reading the documentation, Apple don't seem to document exactly what a "DVD Studio Pro" .txt file should be like (does anyone have an example of a "good one"?), and recommend using the Spruce .STL Format.
OK, so I use Subtitle Workshop to try and convert the file that DVD Architect output. No dice, the file is in Unicode and it was ANSI. So I run it through StringConverter to get an ANSI version out. Bingo, Subtitle Workshop likes it. And can save an .STL file which DVD Studio Pro happily imports.
One problem: the timing of the subtitle events is not exact. They're not horribly wrong, but they tend to lag sometimes up to a second or two behind. On closer inspection, the problem is that DVD Architect, the text file it outputs, and Subtitle Workshop, are all reporting different time codes!!
It's easier to explain with pictures:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f383/lyris1/subs-1.jpg
As you can see, there seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary alterations made to the timing. Is there any easy way for me to avoid all of this, and just grab the In and Out points from DVD Architect's output script and have Subtitle Workshop (or any other tool) pass them through without altering them?
Many thanks to anyone who can help me with this annoyance :)
All of my MPEG-2 video assets are encoded as DVD-compliant 23.976fps with Cinema Craft SP2. These files were then imported to DVD Architect and subtitled inside that program. The problem I'm getting is that the timecodes on the exported subtitle file don't correspond to what I see in DVD Architect, which causes problems later.
Here's how I do this: I choose to export the subs from DVD Architect as a "DVD Studio Pro .txt" script. Easy, right? No, DVD Studio Pro doesn't like this file. Reading the documentation, Apple don't seem to document exactly what a "DVD Studio Pro" .txt file should be like (does anyone have an example of a "good one"?), and recommend using the Spruce .STL Format.
OK, so I use Subtitle Workshop to try and convert the file that DVD Architect output. No dice, the file is in Unicode and it was ANSI. So I run it through StringConverter to get an ANSI version out. Bingo, Subtitle Workshop likes it. And can save an .STL file which DVD Studio Pro happily imports.
One problem: the timing of the subtitle events is not exact. They're not horribly wrong, but they tend to lag sometimes up to a second or two behind. On closer inspection, the problem is that DVD Architect, the text file it outputs, and Subtitle Workshop, are all reporting different time codes!!
It's easier to explain with pictures:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f383/lyris1/subs-1.jpg
As you can see, there seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary alterations made to the timing. Is there any easy way for me to avoid all of this, and just grab the In and Out points from DVD Architect's output script and have Subtitle Workshop (or any other tool) pass them through without altering them?
Many thanks to anyone who can help me with this annoyance :)