Burning subtitles onto video

arem wrote on 5/8/2006, 8:01 AM
So I was asked to put subtitles onto a school project and then burn it to DVD...so I did...using DVD Architect 3. Well, apparenty what they really wanted was to actually have the subtitles part of the video.

I know I can export the subtitles and then import them as regions, but then I have to go through and make titles for each one. Is there anyway to make the subtitles part of the file without retyping them all?

Thanks!
-Dan

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 5/8/2006, 8:21 AM
Normally the answer would be to use a script. However, scripting cannot insert text into the title generator (boo-hoo).

If you are asking how to actually permanently burn the text onto the video itself, rather than use the subtitle feature in a DVD, I would first of all ask your client to have his/her head examined. This is DUMB.

However, I think you can give them what they want (always give the customer what they ask for ...) without more than 30 seconds of work on your part. All you have to do is change your DVDA project so that the default for the subtitles is ON when they start the DVD. In addition, if they really, truly don't ever want them to turn off, you can make sure that at every end action, they get turned back on again. They won't know the difference. Less than one minute of work.

Go to Project Properties. Click on the Properties tab. Then, click on the Disc Properties sub-tab and set Initial SubTitle track to On. You're almost done (that was easy!). Next, select each piece of media, in turn, and click on the End Action tab on the right part of the screen and set Set Subtitle Track to whatever subtitle track number you want. For each button, click on Action and change "Set Subtitle Track" to turn on your subtitle track. While you're looking at the media properties, click on the Remote Buttons and change Subtitle Track to Off. This doesn't turn off the subtitle track, but rather turns off the remote control's ability to control the subtitle track. You've now got a belt and suspenders approach to keeping the subtitles always on. Absolutely no difference between actually burning them permanently on the video.
arem wrote on 5/8/2006, 1:42 PM
I noticed that feature...problem is, they want the video file (as in mpg) because they want to assemble their own DVD.

-Dan

Also, that dumb chapter and subtitle bug in DVDA is really getting on my nerves...is there a workaround yet or a fix?
johnmeyer wrote on 5/8/2006, 2:19 PM
Also, that dumb chapter and subtitle bug in DVDA is really getting on my nerves...is there a workaround yet or a fix?

Which bug?

OK, I understand your problem.

First option, which is kinda dumb, would be to play your DVD, and then capture the output and create an MPEG-2 file from that. Slight loss in quality, but no real work on your part.

Another option would be to use one of the tools I describe here:

Subtitling Data Code from MiniDV
arem wrote on 5/8/2006, 5:36 PM
Which bug?

Well, I have subtitles on my project and then I added chapters. When I burned it to DVD, everytime it switched to a new chapter, a random subtitle would appear and the subtitles would get stuck. I searched around and it came up as a known bug in DVDA.

I'll probably end up using like DVDx to recapture off the DVD and saving the new file as an mpeg...Sony needs to incorporate the ability to load text/subtitles from a text file into Vegas!!!!!!!!!

-Dan
rmack350 wrote on 5/8/2006, 6:19 PM
If you're into doing a bit of work, I know there's a plugin for virtualdub that will burn your subtitles into the video. It uses some variation of subtitle file.

I've discussed it a little on this forum so if you do a search you should find some useful URLs.

Rob Mack
PeterWright wrote on 5/8/2006, 6:55 PM
> "If you are asking how to actually permanently burn the text onto the video itself, rather than use the subtitle feature in a DVD, I would first of all ask your client to have his/her head examined. This is DUMB."

That's an unusually dogmatic statement John.

I do lots of captioned projects, and always embed the text in the video.

By doing them in Vegas I have complete control over fonts, size, position, colour, outline, shadow etc.

I have sometimes done two versions, with and without captions and put both on a DVD as viewing choices.

I haven't yet used the caption feature in DVDA - does it allow you to decide all these features?

Peter

johnmeyer wrote on 5/8/2006, 7:16 PM
> "If you are asking how to actually permanently burn the text onto the video itself, rather than use the subtitle feature in a DVD, I would first of all ask your client to have his/her head examined. This is DUMB."

Well, perhaps, but I think it is accurate. Going to DVD you should NEVER put captions "hard-wired" into the video. The whole point of having a subtitle track on DVDs (and you can have MANY different subtitle tracks) is so the user can turn them on, or off, as they please. I will grant that you don't get the infinite options available when you use the title option in Vegas, but you get enough for almost any normal purpose. The key thing is that the user gets to make the choice, and they can change their mind at any moment in time, while watching the video.

In DVDA (and any other authoring program worth its salt), you can choose fonts, placements, etc. You can even have multiple subtitle tracks, each with the same text, but with different font styles or sizes. And, of course, you can have multi-lingual options. Once you go to DVD, you should never have to hard-code text onto video again.

Back to the original poster, if they want the MPEG-2 file, if they are going to do their own DVDs, I'd just give them a SUB file (which you can export from DVDA) and which can then be input to whatever authoring program they use.

PeterWright wrote on 5/8/2006, 10:32 PM
Thanks John - this thread has started me looking into the Vegas Regions > Subtitles > DVDA routine.
There even seem to be some advantages - such as being able to change the text size/font etc in every subtitle at once using Paste Attributes, which I don't believe you can do with Generated Media in Vegas ...

... but - is there a way to export Regions as TWO LINE subtitles? Unless this is possible, it would be unusable for me.

Peter
farss wrote on 5/9/2006, 12:49 AM
DVDA will wrap the text over two lines if you give it enough room.
If the sub file contains I think a hard CR then it'll force a new line.
I've used VB to create a txt file to load in DVDA and tried creating a .sub file as well, seems pretty simple.
Actually in general I can make many things in Vegas and DVDA dance much easier outside of those two apps just using some simple code, so long as it's a text file you can do a lot with it.
PeterWright wrote on 5/9/2006, 1:54 AM
Yes, it's an interesting area Bob.

I just found a script written by jeremyk which should create 2 lines by inserting "\n" in the region name - I haven't tried it yet, I've just copy/pasted it from this thread:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=21&MessageID=307978

I'm not sure if I saved it correctly, but I'm about to port it over to my Vegas machine and try it.

Edit: Well, not bad for a first try - it in fact came in with THREE lines - an unwanted empty line in the middle. (What did I do wrong Jeremy?)
Still, that's promising. The other thing I found was that you must make your rendered DVD file start at the beginning of the timeline - this picked up the timeline Timecode for the Region correctly as 00:00:25:17, but the programm actually began not at zero but at 10:24, so the subtitle was out of position in DVDA.
johnmeyer wrote on 5/9/2006, 7:18 AM
If you don't mind an extra step, just use some character for the CR/LF. Pick something you'll never use in the subtitle, like "%".

Then (and this is the extra step), after you export the regions, open in your word processor and do a search for % and replace it with the CR/LF (which in MS Word is done by typing ^p).

rmack350 wrote on 5/9/2006, 9:21 AM
The last time I did subtitles for a DVD (also the only time), I started out trying to type things in as regions in Vegas. It turned out that it was much easier to take a transcript, break it up into lines, and then import it into DVDA and do the layout there. It wasn't really all that helpful to try to do the job in Vegas.

Now, while DVD subtitles are a lot more powerful than trying to embed them in the rendered picture, there are artistic reasons to put them in the picture. I don't know if Arem's teacher is thinking this way. If the instructor is really trying to teach a lesson about subtitling for DVD distribution, then he/she is really confused. If the point is to incorporate text into video as a kind of mixed media excercise then of course it's a valid request.

Two feature films stand out to me as great examples of text in film. Both by Peter Greenaway: Prospero's Books, and The Pillow Book. They are a a bit beyond the scope of a class project. An art film also comes to mind: Peter Rose's "The Man Who Could Not See Far Enough". This one uses subtitles very simply. Good luck trying to see it, though.

Rob Mack
PeterWright wrote on 5/9/2006, 5:34 PM
Good to look at alternatives, Rob - thanks. Can you create one and two line subtitles that way, or do you have to do that in DVDA?

The main advantage I see for doing it with Regions in Vegas is being able to set in and out points there and then, with smooth DV type playback, then everything's in position with the right duration when importing into DVDA.
PeterWright wrote on 5/10/2006, 6:43 PM
Just found Sub Text script - freeware from Vasst. It uses vertical line | to create two line sub-titles. First trial was successful.

I wrote to JeremyK about his script, and apparently it was written for previous version of Vegas, so cause of unwanted third line was a mystery. Anyway, Johhny Roy's looks like delivering the goods.