Software to create burnt-in subtitles

lucid

lucid

lucid

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Hello good folks, I'm after some guidance on suitable software to create burnt-in subtitles.

I have been asked to have a look at some DVDs that were made for a small museum. They own the rights to the works so there's no issues with copyright. The films have no subtitles, but they'd like them adding so that they're always visible without the staff having to do anything more than put a disc in a player and press play. This is a really really low tech requirement.

I can see I'm going to have to rip the DVDs, then edit section by section to add the on-screen graphics before finally burning off new copies. That bit is easy enough. The videos are only 3-4 minutes in length and the scripts are quite simple voice-overs.

I have bits of free video editing software, but although they can do titles, what they can't do is the black band with white text overlay.

Does anyone know of a suitable package, either free or paid for, that doesn't matter, so long as it makes something that looks like ordinary TV subtitles?

Thanks in advance.
 
I've never tried them but VirtualDub has a couple of different subtitle plugins that I assume can do something like that (you might have to use a mixture of filters to add a black band and overlay the text dunno).
 
If you can figure out the subtitle file format, I reckon HandBrake could take your DVD files ( rip them to ISO first) and burn in the subtitles to an MKV, MP4 or whatever suitable for converting back to a DVD after.
 
skyripper said:
If you can figure out the subtitle file format, I reckon HandBrake could take your DVD files ( rip them to ISO first) and burn in the subtitles to an MKV, MP4 or whatever suitable for converting back to a DVD after.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but there isn't a subtitle file format. The subtitles don't yet exist. This isn't a Hollywood movie or TV Box set. Think of it more like your home-made wedding or Christening video that you're sending to a deaf relative to watch on VHS. It's that level of low tech.

Also, I can combine .srt subtitle files with rips, (not that I am going to in this case, but technically I am able to do that), however, it misses the mark because whoever is playing the film would then need to select the subtitle option on the player. This is something we don't want.

What we are after is the simplest lowest technical skill option on playback. Some of the volunteers have the absolute minimum of technical ability. Putting a disc in and pressing play is about their limit.
 
lucid said:
Does anyone know of a suitable package, either free or paid for, that doesn't matter, so long as it makes something that looks like ordinary TV subtitles?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I would suggest something like Subtitle Edit for creating a subtitle file. To actually burn that subtitle file into the video, almost any modern video converter will have the option to burn the subtitles into the converted file. DVDFab, VideoProc, Any Video Converter Ultimate, Handbrake, ConvertXToVideo 2, etc

If you just want to have a rip and have an external sub file play automatically, you just need to be able to deal with a MKV file for playback. Then use MKVToolNix GUI to package up the video with the sub file, and mark the subs as being forced, then re-build the MKV with those settings. The MKV will play with the subs shown automatically without having to re-encode the video to hard code the subs.
 
lucid said:
Thanks, but there isn't a subtitle file format. The subtitles don't yet exist. This isn't a Hollywood movie or TV Box set....
Click to expand...

I meant if you know what the format is for subtitles, you can create your own (using a text editor) but it could be easier than that - Steampunk above has suggested a suitable tool to create a subtitle file, and I believe HandBrake can burn the subtitles into the video it creates (forced I seem to remember) so they show as part of the video.

I've done similar for some Italian movies which needed subs showing automatically for an elderly relative, as negotiating the dvd player menu to turn them on led to frustration or the wrong language etc.

Good luck with it.
 
skyripper said:
I meant if you know what the format is for subtitles, you can create your own (using a text editor) but it could be easier than that - Steampunk above has suggested a suitable tool to create a subtitle file, and I believe HandBrake can burn the subtitles into the video it creates (forced I seem to remember) so they show as part of the video.
Click to expand...
Thats clearer now. Thanks for the added explanation.

Thanks all who have responded so far. Some things to try now.
 
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