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Embedding subtitles into video
Hello,
I finished editing a short student film using Avid Xpress. A friend of mine wrote hearing impaired subtitles and carefully synchronized them. The subtitles are in SRT format, which I can easily convert into any other textual format (SUB, SSA etc).
I’d like to EMBED the subtitles in the video file, so the final DVD will contain the movie with the merged titles.
How can I do that?
I found lots of information regarding Virtualdub and embedding subtitles into Xvid/Divx videos, but I don’t want to use any external program that will cause loss of quality to the original video.Thanks,
Jane -
9 Replies
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title tool ahoy, man.
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Jane,
Video only supports embedding in the closed captioning track. If you want subtitles, you’ll have to create titles for each subtitle manually.
The only other suggestion would be marquee’s autotitler (to at least build all of your titles for you, if someone else has typed the information.)
Best,
Jeff G
Principal Instructor
Future Media ConceptsFMCTraining.com
Editorsretreat.com -
Since you are releasing on DVD, the easiest and best way to get the subtitles into the program is at the DVD authoring stage. You need to convert your file for the DVD authoring software being used. Closed captioning software can do this conversion, producing either a subtitle or a closed caption file for DVD use.
Adding the subtitles or closed captions at the DVD authoring stage allows the viewer to display the subtitles/captions or not as desired.
Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City -
I know it sounds stupid, but my school requires the subtitles to be embedded in the video file itself. So I must somehow integrate them both in AVID.
Since I already have the SRT file with the perfect timing, I thought about using virtualdub (or a similar program) to generate a “green screen” avi file with the subtitles embedded in it.
Now I can import this avi into AVID, make the green background transparent, and put it in front of my original video. The final result should be original video with the subtitles on top in perfect sync.
The problem is I’m not sure how to make the green background transparent in AVID (I’m a beginner…).
Any ideas?
By the way, virtualdub allows me to choose any RGB (32 bit) color. I just use “green background” as an example.Thanks again
Jane -
Jane, I agree with Bill (about embedding it into the DVD). The DVD spec permits subtitles very easily.
If you’re going through the keying route, two thoughts.
1) You’ll have a long import, unless you’ve directly rendered into one of the avid codecs or a camera codec (like DV25)
2) The spectramatte keyer will allow you to ‘knock out’ the green.
Best,
Jeff G
Principal Instructor
Future Media ConceptsFMCTraining.com
Editorsretreat.com -
Thank you.
Now I’m not sure I got Bill’s answer.
Our school demands that the DVD won’t have optional subtitles that viewer is able to switch on/off. The subtitles must be merged into the video itself.Do you have any idea how to get an appropriate codec/plugin for virtualdub in order to save the avi file in an AVID-friendly format, so the import time will be reasonable?
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No idea, since I’ve never used virtualdub. But I will say you can encode a dvd to ‘force’ the subtitle streams to be visible.
Best,
Jeff G
Principal Instructor
Future Media ConceptsFMCTraining.com
Editorsretreat.com -
There is a tool that convert srt file to Avid on https://www.coya-es.com
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