extra empty lines in imported subtitles

probalaci wrote on 3/21/2006, 1:54 PM
hi,

i've imported Sonic DVD-format subtitles into DVDA but it adds new empty lines between the 2 lines subs - how can i remove that?

example:
original sub:
1. line one
2. line two

DVDA import that so:
1. line one
2. empty line
3. line two

of course can i delete manually every empty lines but maybe there's a better solution!

thx!

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 3/21/2006, 4:27 PM
I can't give you advice based on experience with the specific problem you are having, but in general, problems like the one you describe are caused by what is being used to terminate each line. The typical end of line sequence is a two-character sequence consisting of a <CR> carriage return, followed by a linefeed <LF>. However, other character are often used instead, such as a manual line break (the ASCII code for this I don't think is standardized).

The solution often requires that you specify the end of line character differently in whatever program you are using to create the Sonic DVD-format subtitles. An alternative solution, which takes an extra step, is to import the file into Word, and then do a search/replace on the end of line characters. If, in Word, you enable ALL the formatting marks (Tools -> Options -> View tab), you will be able to see what sort of end-of-line character is being used. You can then do a search and replace, using the "Special" button in the search/replace dialog, to specify which hidden character to look for and replace.

probalaci wrote on 3/22/2006, 2:15 AM
i use Subtitle Workshop.
i read in a topic here that there are 2 formats wich DVDA can accept: Sonic DVD Creator and MAC DVD Studio Pro.

they have the following format:

Sonic DVD Creator:
"0001 00:01:45:24 00:01:47:21 - 'Morning, Mr. Pirovitch.
- Good morning.

0002 00:01:47:23 00:01:50:16 - Always the first one.
- It's none of your business."

as you can see there's no special line formatting tag.

MAC DVD Studio Pro:
"00:01:45:24 00:01:47:21 - 'Morning, Mr. Pirovitch.< p >- Good morning.
00:01:47:23 00:01:50:16 - Always the first one.< p >- It's none of your business."

here < p > is the end of line mark. (i've to put spaces between the <> marks or the forum makes here a line break too)

how should i replace these in DVDA? what is the correct format for line break here so that DVDA won't put those extra empty line between?
ScottW wrote on 3/22/2006, 6:39 AM
>As you can see there's no special line formatting tag.

Not true. The fact that you have 2 lines of text says you do have a format effector embeded in the data. Format effectors are non-printable characters, or carriage control characters. They effect the motion of the print head. To print out 2 lines of text on a printer, you would normally find the text to be printed, followed by a CR (carriage return - which returns the print head to the left hand side) and then a LF (line feed - which advances a single line).

Most likely what you have is a situation where you have a CR/LF combo embeded in the text, and DVDA is interpreting it (incorrectly I might add) as an indication to put a blank line between the two lines of text (the CR is being interpreted as a new line indicator, which translates to a CR/LF and the LF is also being interpreted as a newline indicator).

Try following the suggestions that John gave you with MS Word.

--Scott
johnmeyer wrote on 3/22/2006, 7:59 AM
You have to look at the text in a hex editor or some other program that will show the hidden characters. That's why I gave you the extensive instructions on how to fix the problem in Word. It will at least give you some idea of what the end of line character is, but only if you turn on the "show" feature, as I already described.
probalaci wrote on 3/22/2006, 10:39 AM
hi,

the "show all" feature was enabled - there was only the normal "new paragraph" mark -, BUT as i've saved the file again there was an option about the end line chars (as you mentioned), so choosing "save only with line feed" solved my problem!

BIG THX!!! :)))