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Burning in subtitles - quick HOWTO?

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I've been having a play around with DVD Rebuilder and have re-encoded the OOT DVDs to anamorphic widescreen (which does look better as it cuts down scan lines on a CRT and interpolates on other displays). It also means my TV will auto-switch to widescreen mode rather than me manually having to alter it every time.

Now while I've managed to preserve Greedo's subtitles on the DVD I'd rather have them burnt in on the picture as player-generated subtitles look very blocky. Also Greedo's dialogue in the cantina is slightly different on the DVD subtitles to the original VHS version and I'd like to fix this.

Reading other threads it seems people have done this... anyone got a quick step by step guide?

If it's successful and easy enough then I'll redo Empire and Jedi as well...
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This is something I would like to know as well
"Death Has Come To Your Small Town Sheriff" Dr. Sam Loomis-Halloween
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If it's for just a few lines, you can use the subtitle function in AVISynth and type the text in manually.

Example for ANH (this was from my laserdisc transfer, you will need to change the frame numbers to sync with the DVD):

subtitle ("Going somewhere, Solo?",-1,470,71018,71056,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("It's too late.",-1,470,71184,71223,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("You should have paid him when you had the chance.",-1,470,71231,71289,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("Jabba's put a price on your head so large...",-1,470,71299,71370,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("...every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you.",-1,470,71376,71443,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("I'm lucky I found you first.",-1,470,71457,71495,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.",-1,470,71561,71640,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("Jabba's through with you.",-1,470,71724,71764,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("He has no time for smugglers who drop their shipments...",-1,470,71795,71882,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("...at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.",-1,470,71887,71926,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.",-1,470,72015,72106,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("That's the idea.",-1,470,72163,72189,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)
subtitle ("I've been looking forward to this for a long time.",-1,470,72203,72287,"FranklinGotTDemCon",32,$ffffff)

You may adjust the font, size, colour and positioning to your taste (and replace ' with ’ where appropriate).

For subtitles in a separate file, get VSFilter and use the plugin for AVISynth or VirtualDub.

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Hi Moth3r,

Will this work with the AVISynth scripting function in DVDRebuilder Pro (I have been using this programme to resize the letterbox GOUT movies to 16:9), ie. without any extra plugins over and above a standard AVISynth installation?

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but the line "It's too late" is missing from Greedo's subs on the PAL retail GOUT discs- yet another disappointment from this release.

I have tried adding player-generated subs to correct this, but as Squirrel points out above, they generally look poor. Did you find the AVISynth craeted subs to be good quality?

Finally, what is the correct format for entering the frame numbers in this script?

Sorry to ask so many questions in one post!

Many thanks,

Goose
I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that.....
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We've had Goose and Squirrel in this thread? Rotflol!! That's awesome!
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Originally posted by: Goose
Will this work with the AVISynth scripting function in DVDRebuilder Pro (I have been using this programme to resize the letterbox GOUT movies to 16:9), ie. without any extra plugins over and above a standard AVISynth installation? Yes, the subtitle filter is internal to AVISynth (http://avisynth.org/index.php?page=Subtitle).

Originally posted by: Goose
I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but the line "It's too late" is missing from Greedo's subs on the PAL retail GOUT discs- yet another disappointment from this release. hadn't noticed that - I'll add it to the thread on the 2006 DVD problems.

Originally posted by: Goose
I have tried adding player-generated subs to correct this, but as Squirrel points out above, they generally look poor. Did you find the AVISynth craeted subs to be good quality?
You can adjust the font, size, colour and halo colour to your preference. Also, the text is anti-aliased to reduce the jaggy/blocky appearance.

Originally posted by: Goose
Finally, what is the correct format for entering the frame numbers in this script?
The subtitle is displayed on all frames between the first number and the second number. For example, the first subtitle appears on frames 71018 to 71056 inclusive. Open your AVS file into VirtualDubMod or AvsP to adjust the values.

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Thanks Moth3r- I have tried this and it works very well.

It looks way better than the software subs. Sure, it means re-encoding the video, but I was having to do that anyway to go from 4:3 letterbox to 16:9.

Thanks again,

G
I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that.....
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Is there a way to enforce subtitles onto a mpeg (and unfortunately it's not occasional subtitles - it's all the way through) by using the above method, or a different one ?

Have the DVD files and the subtitle file and need the subtitles to not be optional when the mpeg is created (effectively "burnt in").

Cheers,

mm
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You can add a "forced" subtitle stream when you author your DVD.

If you want "burnt-in" (aka "hard encoded") subs then you must re-encode the video. You could use the VSFilter (formerly VobSub) plugins for VirtualDub or AVISynth to add the subs into the picture, then frameserve to your encoder.

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I tried pasting that bit of code into the AVISynth filter window in DVD Rebuilder but it doesn't seem to have worked...

Apologies for sounding like a n00b, but... can someone point me in the direction of a complete step-by-step guide to doing this? I'm using the PAL DVDs as a source with DVD Rebuilder in one-click mode. Do I perhaps need to run DVD Rebuilder in step-by-step mode and edit the AVISynth script for the Greedo clip directly?

Confused of UK...
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You need to make sure that DVD Rebuilder is actually re-encoding the title, otherwise editing the script will have no effect.

Maybe someone who has more experience with DVD-RB could write a step-by-step guide? I know there were a few people in the "converting GOUT DVDs to anamorphic" thread who used it.

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It is re-encoding as it converts 4:3 letterbox to 16:9 anamorphic (which on a CRT at least looks better than zooming).

I think the problem is that DVD-RB splits the movie into segments, and the frame numbers in the subtitle filter are never reached.

Still cursing Lucas... what's wrong with using the multi-angle feature for different language subtitles? That's what they do for the opening crawl.
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Well, I’m one of those who has used DVD Rebuilder Pro (DVD RB) to fix the GOUT discs, so here is a guide incorporating Moth3r’s AviSynth script above.
This will produce a DVD-9 backup of the entire Star Wars DVD, resized to 16:9 with burnt in subs for Greedo’s lines in the cantina:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t37/jsdnav/Greedo-2.jpg

1. First of all, my software versions are as follows:

-- Rebuilder: v1.10.8
-- ReJig Version: 0.5.0.5
-- QuEnc Version: 0.7.1.0
-- HC Version: 0.18.0.0
-- DGDECODE Version: 1.4.5
-- AVISYNTH Version: 2.5.6.0

You can check your DVD RB info by selecting Display Versions under the “Help” menu. Note that I am running under the default skin.

2. Let’s deal with the required settings under the options in the top menu bar. Under “Mode”, ensure that you have selected (annotated by a tick mark) One Click Mode, Suppress Warning Prompts and Enable Output Directory.

3. Also under “Mode”, select the appropriate Encoder and Backup Mode. This is personal preference, depending also on what encoding software you have installed. I do not have CCE so I use HC Mode, and I also use Full Backup as I want to retain the menus.

4. Finally under “Mode”, as this will be a DVD-9 backup there is no need to steal space from the DVD extras so ensure that this is set to 00%.

5. Next, under “Settings”, set the HC settings to BEST (slowest) and the Variable Bit Rate Bias slider all the way to the left (“More like VBR”). Also ensure that Dual Layer Target Size is selected.

6. Again under “Settings”, select Encoder Priority to Normal : this process takes a long time as it is!

7. Right, onto the left window and folders. Make sure that you point DVD RB to the correct source folder and that you have a working and a destination folder available. Also ensure you have enough space on your HDD! The DVD RB Help file indicates that depending on your encoding method you might need up to twice the size of the original DVD available as working space ie. approx 13 GB for the Star Wars GOUT disc.

8. OK, now the actual DVD. In the right hand window of DVD RB you should have 5 headings. The first of these is called “Input Settings”. With this selected you should see the contents of the Star Wars DVD. You should have two video titles. The first of these (VTS 02) contains the extras and the second (VTS 03) contains the movie. Expand this second set and you should see the various audio and subtitle streams.

9. As the hard subs will replace the player-generated subs for Greedo, we need to deselect the latter from our project. Deselect Stream 6 by double-clicking the symbol immediately to the left of the text- you should see it change to a cross.

10. Next, go to the “Options” tab. Here you will see various headings in the display window. Expand the first of these, AVS Options, and then expand the new sub-heading AVS Expert Options. You will now see the option “Convert LB 4:3 to 16:9”. Expand this and you will see 3 options: All, VTS 02 and VTS 03. As it is only the main movie that needs converting to 16:9, just check the box next to VTS 03 by double-clicking.

11. Nearly there! Double click Filter Editor in the “Options” display window to bring up the AVISynth editor dialogue. Copy and paste the script below and then press “Save and Exit”. Note that I have used UnDot to clean up the picture a little (this is quite simple- there are far more filters available, so if you know what you are doing, go crazy!). I have also amended Moth3r’s script from this thread to resize and reposition the subs so that they fit the final picture, and I have also altered the frame numbers so that the subs appear at the right time:

UnDot()
subtitle ("Going somewhere, Solo?",-1,440,70673,70711,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("It's too late.",-1,440,70839,70878,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("You should have paid him when you had the chance.",-1,440,70886,70944,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("Jabba's put a price on your head so large...",-1,440,70954,71025,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("...every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you.",-1,440,71031,71098,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("I'm lucky I found you first.",-1,440,71112,71150,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.",-1,440,71216,71295,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("Jabba's through with you.",-1,440,71379,71419,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("He has no time for smugglers who drop their shipments...",-1,440,71450,71537,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("...at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.",-1,440,71542,71581,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.",-1,440,71670,71761,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("That's the idea.",-1,440,71818,71844,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)
subtitle ("I've been looking forward to this for a long time.",-1,440,71858,71942,"FranklinGotTDemCon",28,$ffffff)

12. That’s it! Press “Backup” and wait for everything to complete. This took 412 minutes on my (humble) PC- a meatier machine should chew through this faster, but you can always let it run overnight…

Hopefully this guide has been easy enough to understand- forgive the lack of graphics, but I think DVD RB is straightforward to navigate around.

Please be aware that there are loads of other options available in this programme. I am also sure that there are more advanced ways to backup these DVDs, but the above simple settings produce an end product that I am happy with.

If you have any questions, or if upon trying this guide you encounter any problems, then please let me know.

Cheers,

G
I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that.....
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No joy... :-(

Here's what I did. I'm using the free version of DVD Rebuilder, latest versions of all the components:

Using DVD Shrink with no compression, extract just the movie to a folder on the hard disk stripping out all the alternate languages and subtitles. No need for the Huttese subtitles as we're burning them in.

In DVD-RB:

Options > AVS options > Advanced > Convert from LB 4:3 to 16:9 (applied to all titles as there's only one).

Options > AVS options > Advanced > Filter editor, copy and paste Goose's script above

Options > HC Encoder options > Best quality

Then hit "Backup DVD".

No subtitles come up. I've tried it with the font name as-is, also putting the filename of the TTF file into the subtitle() filter. What am I doing wrong?
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Hi Squirrel,

Well, I'm at a bit of a loss I'm afraid. As you can see from the screenshot, the above method works for me.

I am using AVISynth 2.5- can you confirm you have this version installed?

If so, maybe your AVISynth installation is at fault? Try encoding with just the following in the filter editor:

Showframenumber()

This should produce video with a line of frame numbers hard-encoded down the left hand side. If this also fails, then I suggest you try to reinstall AVISynth.

Another suggestion is to select the "Force reencoding (for filters)" option under "Mode" and see if that has any effect.

Beyond that, it might be possible that there are sufficient differences between the free and Pro versions of DVD RB to mean that my method above will not work with the former.

Let me know how you get on,

G
I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that.....
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Tried that and yes, it did list the frame numbers down the left hand side. So I had another fiddle.

Found two problems...

Firstly I have to put the filename of the font in, "FRADMCN.TTF".

Secondly the forum software appears to have put a space in between the "subtitle" and "(". Removing this space and changing the filename looks to have fixed it - I ran a quick test from frames 10 to 300 and "Going somewhere, Solo?" appeared over the Lucasfilm logo.

So the subtitle filter is working anyway...

Can I just check something? Are you using the PAL or NTSC DVDs as a source? If you're using NTSC then it's possible the frame numbers may need changing for the PAL version...
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Hi Squirrel,

Glad you've managed to get something to work. The spaces were not an issue for me (they were in Moth3r's original script and I left them in the DVD RB filter editor). I can't think why the font filename makes a difference either but hey, if it's working...

I have the PAL discs. I encoded the movie using the Showframenumber() filter, synched this up to a capture of a PAL VHS copy of Star Wars in After Effects and noted the appropriate frame numbers from there. These numbers worked perfectly for me.

G
I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that.....
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Thanks for taking the time to write this guide, Goose.

Some notes:
The font I used may not be the most authentic, it was just the closest match I could find that I had installed at the time.
The frame numbers should be exactly the same for the NTSC DVD.
I think it looks nicer to use curly apostrophes instead of straight ones.
(It’s too late. <=> It's too late.)

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Happy to help!

Absolutely authentic or not, I think this font looks great. I tried adding subs in After Effects with Haettenschweiler, which has been identified in another thread as being pretty close to the font used for the Def Collection, but the spacing between letters was awry and it looked untidy.

I think this font is more eye-pleasing and far clearer. It's certainly better than the Tahoma-based player generated garbage that the GOUT disc supplies.
I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that.....
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Right, think I've found the problem...

The free version of DVD Rebuilder splits the movie into segments and encodes as a whole sequence of separate AVI files, based (I think?) on DVD chapters. It then joins all the video segments together when it creates the VOBs.

The problem here is that when a new segment starts the frame counter gets reset to zero - so the frame number for the subtitle filter is never reached. And of course if you use the "correct" frame numbers the subs will come up in every segment, not what you want!

Might need to use DVD Rebuilder in 3-click rather than 1-click mode and edit the AviSynth script for that segment individually. Unless someone can think of a better way of doing it?
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YES!!!

Finally got it to work with DVD-Rebuilder Pro.

The problem is that the free version of DVD-Rebuilder inserts the trim() function before any custom functions (such as subtitles), resetting the frame count to zero. The Pro version inserts it after the custom functions meaning that things like subtitles can use absolute frame numbers.

Now, has anyone done the same thing for Empire and Jedi? Really want to get some decent anamorphic versions of these with decent looking subs on them. If anyone has... can they post the subtitle scripts? :-)
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There are no alien subs in Empire.

I'll have a look if I still have the Jabba subs for Jedi, but again the frame numbers will be from the laserdisc and not the DVD.

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Ok, thanks. Didn't think there were any in Empire.

If I've got the list of subtitles then I can use the showframenumber() function to find the correct frame numbers. Will post the script here when finished of course.

Thanks again.
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I'm SO frustrated.

I can't get DVD Rebuilder Pro (1.21) to correctly open any of the Star Wars GOUT DVDs. Every time I open ESB, Rebuilder opens "Video Title Set 02", which is 77MB. I cant get it to open the freaking entire movie! It does the same thing with the other two DVDs.

I have ripped the DVDs with Decrypter: File Mode, with File Splitting off. After ripping ESB, the folder is 7.31GB with 47 files.

Why isnt Rebuilder opening the main video?! This is driving me CRAZY. Right now, I hate this program.



Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks
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OK, I used DVDFab Decrypter to rip the ESB DVD and Rebuilder was able to recognize the main movie title. Good.

I checked the option to convert from LB 4:3 to 16:9 and encoded. It took about 3 hours and its done. The result is a video still with black bars, but they are much smaller. I image that the video is now 16:9. Is this correct? Should there still be smaller black bars?

Is there any way to completely cut off the black bars and be left with just the video?


THANK YOU