gordianknot, vcd, subtitles

[theeht]

I've been using GordianKnot for dvd to divx, but would also like to use it as an .avs generator to make xvcd's w/Tmpgenc--it's simply easier to use for me than frameserving w/dvdx, flaskmpeg etc., where I tend to get a lot of errors. But I can't figure out how to select subtitles to become part of the mpeg file (rather than separate files loaded with dvobsub), as you can in dvdx, for example. Would anyone mind explaining to me how this would be done, or letting me know if it is impractical? Thanks very much for any help.

[manono]

Hi and welcome to the GKnot forum.

I haven't made any VCDs, but I have often put subs into SVCDs. You have to do a custom install of VobSub (http://www.doom9.org/Soft21/Subtitles/VobSub_2.23.exe) (something you may not have done when installing GKnot) and make sure you install the TextSub plugin for VDub and AviSynth. Then you have to load the plugin and add the textsub line to the .avs. Here's an example of one I'm working on now:

LoadPlugin("D:\Audition\Textsub.vdf")
TextSub("D:\Audition\Audition.ssa")

Adjust the locations for your own situation. They have to be in SRT or SSA format (maybe others, but I'm not sure). I much prefer SSA format, as it's easier to adjust the subs' size and position. I usually put the TextSub line after the AddBorders line to get them down in the black if it's a widescreen movie. You'll find more information in the Docs folder of VobSub. When done setting up the .avs, open it in VDub before encoding to make sure they look OK.

[theeht]

Thank you for the reply. I'll save it for future reference, but for now I just figured out how to do it from within GordianKnot. All you need to do is select the subtitle file on the subtitle tab, configure it (i.e. select language), then on the "Save" page from the preview window select the vobsub files! The .avs script then works for use in Tmpgenc. Not bad, have to say I'm very happy with GordianKnot all around.

By the way I'm working with ordinary bitmapped subtitles, not text.

[manono]

Oops-I forgot about the easy way.

I always OCR them first so I can fool around with the font. Good, I'm glad you figured it out.