Creating subtitles with divx avi (with ON/OFF capability)

[googler1]

Hi all, I apologise for asking such a simple question, but I could not find answers in guides or by searching the forum.

All I want to do is to rip the sutitles from a DVD and be able to display them when I play the divx avi (created using GKnot).

1) Can the avi generation and the subtitle generation be done independent of each other, if I don't need burnt-in subtitles ?

2) I generated an idx and a sub file using rundll32 vobsub.dll, Configure and I read that after it indexes and generates the sub files, it's supposed to automatically display the subtitles with the same file name avi, but that's not happening, I see no subtitles (playing the divx movie in mplayer 6.4).

3) I have installed vobsub and VSfilter.dll, do I need anything else ? I searched for DirectVobSub, but all I got was VSfilter.dll

Appreciate your help, thanks !
googler

[niamh]

1) Yes (and no :D)
YEs, it's an independent process from creating the avi .(No because you need the same IFO and vob files as for the movie, so if you deleted them , you'll have to go through the whole decrypting process again)
2) If you managed to generate an idx/sub file, then you already know how to do it. to autoload subtitles, you need directvobsub indeed. Directvobsub is part of the vobsub package, go to start>program files>vobsub>directvobsub configure. in general, set it to always load, or load when needed at the very least. Furthermore, for idx subs to autoload, they need to be in the same folder as the avi, and have the very same name as the avi. movie.avi, movie.idx, movie.sub. When you launch mplayer2, you'll see a green arrow in the tray, right-click it for options.

3)vsfilter.dll should be included with vobsub when you install it, as well as all the utilities.

Another lighter way to " carry " your subs around is to convert them to srt or ssa or any other type of text subtitles (only one language, but very small files, usable in most players (not wmp that still needs vobsub) by simple drag and drop.
Get subrip and load the idx in it, follow the instructions, and save as... srt or whatever. This type of textsub is furthermore soft-muxable in an existing avi with apps like avimuxGUI, which means that instead of being separate, they'll be attached to the avi and will play back automatically if you have vobsub installed.

[googler1]

thanks for the clarification, niamh ! Directvobsub was not installed with my Gordian Knot package, so I'm just going to reinstall the whole package to access the structure that you are talking about.

can you recommend a better player than mplayer 6.4 (or any wmp) for watching divx avi movies (with full screen capability) and ability to read smaller sub files ? thanks !

[googler1]

Hey guys .. still no luck.

1) I have named them movie.idx, movie.sub and movie.avi.

2) I tried it with black and white custom colors, with and without transparency (don't understand why there are 4 custom colors). I also tried default, which is black transparent - what does this mean, by the way ? Why should a subtitle be transparent ?

3) I tried repositioning the subtitles.

4) The directvobsub is set to "always load subtitles"

I'm at a loss what to do :(

[niamh]

do you get the green arrow in the tray, or not? (i.e. does directvobsub actually load)
Can you open the idx in the subresync bit of the vobsub package, and check the subtitles are not actually empty?(maybe something glitched during creation) (clicking on a line should make it appear at the bottom)

[edit:you may try and create new subs by loading the ifo file in the vobsub configure app, just to be sure,and get that issue out of the way]

[googler1]

Niamh, there is no green arrow in the tray (system tray or in media player 6.4 tray). But I right click the picture in media player, and it takes me to properties, where i can see the properties of directvobsub, among other codecs. I also coverted the sub file into srt using subrip, and it did have all the subtitles, so that's not a problem. i think it might be the color settings, or placement on the screen. maybe it;s being placed outside the viewing area.

I also tried using avimuxgui to mix the subtitle and the avi file (hard-mix them). But that's not working either. Can you suggest a link which gives a step by step method of how to do this ? Maybe I'm missing a step.

Finally, maybe this is move-specific. I'm trying to display the subtitles for the Chinese conversation in Kill Bill 2. Any quirks with this particular situation ?

Thanks for your help !
googler

[niamh]

There should be an arrow in the tray, it's from where you switch the subs on/off usually.
The fact that directvobsub shows in filters properties throws me a bit, because at first glance, it just looks like it doesn't load. Are you sure it isn't set on " never load" in the start menu Dvobsub configure panel?
you can only mux text subtitles with avimux (btw it's soft muxed :) ). You can't mux the idx/sub into it, only the srt you made with subrip. Does that one show, whether muxed with avimux, or as external?(Dvobsub is capable of displaying text subs too)

They could be outside the viewing area, but you didn't tweak anything, and AFAIK the default colours and placings are always in.Nonetheless you can try moving them higher with the V parameter in the main tab in Dvobsub configure(override placement).Make sure external is ticked in the general tab, and hide subtitles is unticked in the misc tab.

The subtitles you want to show are called " forced subtitles". You can run a search for it here, there are tons of threads about it(try to search for kill bill too in subtitles, you'll be surprised). If you're going to keep the idx/sub files, all you need to do is tick "show only forced subs" in the directvobsub configure panel, it's by far the easiest way.

As far as alternative players go, I think they all have their problems, and personally I quite like 6.4, it's basic,ludicrously stable and does the job. But it's good to have an alternative player on hand. I would recommend media player classic (MPC) for now, as it's light and can play back virtually anything. (just make sure to disable the internal matroska splitter somewhere in options if you're going to play back mkv files, as it's outdated). It looks just like wmp 6.4 with tons of extra options, and you can access the subtitles menu from the screen, not only from the vobsub arrow, so if directvobsub actually loads, then you will have the possibility to switch them on from there.

Last but not least, what is your operating system, your version of GK (or vobsub) and do you have the latest matroska pack installed with the latest vsfilter.dll included by any chance( I vaguely read this one has issues with win98)? (vobsub should be v.2.23)

[googler1]

ok, I found the green arrow in the computer tray. It has 3 options for subtitles (english, english,kb2). kb2 is the name of the .sub file, the .idx file and the .avi file. The ifo has the original name. I selected each of the susbtitles, but still no sustitles show. It's set on "always load". I tried checking "only show forced subtitles" .. doesn't work.

I made an srt with subrip, and tried muxing it into the avi with avimuxgui. When you say soft mux, what does that mean ? the .srt file is joined with the avi and a new avi is created, so isn't that a permanent mux ? anyway, this method did not produce any subtitles (although the .srt file showed all the subs), so maybe I'm not selecting the right option in avimuxgui.


I have win xp, GK version is 0.28.6, although i don't recall matroska .. what is that, and how can i find out if I have it ? do i need it ?

i'm totally baffled why this doesn't work. please help me. thanks

[niamh]

No, files created with avimuxGUI are demuxable, hence the soft muxing. To hard mux a subtitle, you would need to re-encode the whole lot, so that it gets "written in". The srt you muxed, is switchable on and off , same as external subtitles. I don't think you went wrong, to use avimux you need to drop the video , audio (or film) and the subtitles in the box, and press start (all subtitles being ticked, and it is by default)

Anyway, Dvobsub loads, so it's a playback issue.
You get english, english, kb2, I would think the first english is the track you're looking for, the second english being the track for deaf people. You need to tick one of those for playback. (The forced track you need has probably a stream of its own, which is easier to rip. I.e. there is one separate track for the full subtitles and another for the chinese ones only)(so uncheck show forced suntitles). Did you try to play with the Vertical height in playback, in case the subtitles were out of the screen?

Anyway, your GKnot is very old. If you don't want to update it (latest is 0.32, and is a complete overhaul) at least you need to update vobsub or vsfilter :). It installs apart from the GK package, so you have no need to reinstall everything for now.
get it
here (http://www.free-codecs.com/VobSub_download.htm) for example.
Then get a newer even vsfilter.dll v.2.33 (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303&package_id=84359&release_id=222162)and replace the one you have by this one.(It might sound complicated, but it doesn't hurt to have updated stuff,once and for all)

matroska is a container, like avi is, in which you can put pretty much everything you want(several audio tracks, several subtitles, covers, chapters and so on),for playback in one single file. The developers have created a pack for it that includes a yet again newer vsfilter.dll(that dll is the core of vobsub so to speak). If you don't play with matroska, you don't really need it.But if you decide to install the matroska playback pack (http://packs.matroska.org/) it won't break anything (I asked because it breaks the subtitles playback on win98, but you have XP)

finally a link to media player classic (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303&package_id=84358&release_id=227046)

[Piaf]

just FYI when i load a movie.avi+srt subs vobsub "hide"the subtitles by default here so i need to set it to show the subs
maibe a silly answer and you already know this anyways heres pic:

http://img60.exs.cx/img60/4833/vobsub.png

[googler1]

Piaf, thanks for the tip, but I tried that.

Niamh, let me tell you what happens when I try avimux gui. I drag and drop the files into the top box, and then i select the avi, and i hit generate data source from files. then, i hit start, and it creates the avi. but during creation, the subtitle count is always at zero ! anyway, i attached pictures of the initial screen and the prgress screen, so i would greatly appreciate it if you can tell me what i'm screwing up here.

i'm also attaching the subtitle .srt file, to make sure there are no syntax errors there.

thanks for all the other tips. if i can get this soft mux to work, i'll be happy for now, i'll try out the other stuff later.

[niamh]

My subtitle count is at zero too when i mux, but it works anyway. Though directvobsub needs to be on always load.
Other than an issue with this old vobsub you have, I'm not sure what else it could be....