AVI + SRT =>> burn a regular DVD, how to? Urgent as heck.

[tranglos]

Okay, I'm really in a pickle now, and it's urgent as heck. (Explanation for the curious will follow...)

I have an AVI file (NTSC) and subtitles in an SRT file (actually a txt file with frame counts instead of timecodes, but I can convert that). From these, I need to create a regular DVD (PAL) that will work in a regular hardware player.

I've googled of course, but all the freebies ever mentioned are either old, or don't exist anymore, or don't do the job, or crash, or otherwise refuse to be useful. Thing is, this is urgent, as in I need a working solution right about now, else I'll become a laughingstock of a densely populated city. Okay.

Please, anyone. No lists of software (such as this: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/all-in-one-dvd-converters ) - what I've tried from there doesn't work, and I don't have much time for trial and error. (FWIW, Nero can't do it, the AVS family apps can't, and neither can Sony DVD architect, as they don't support subtitles.) I can buy some software if it's reasonably priced, $100 max, but it'd have to be good.

Please only respond if you know how to do it, you've done it yourself and it went well and the DVD actually played in a hardware player, and hopefully you've done it recently, so the software still exists in more or less the state you used it in. Only a known-working procedure, please. I don't just need to create the DVD, it's only one of a hundred things I need to do by Friday, but without the DVD I can just about curl up and wait for a heart attack. It's kind of serious ;)

Whoever has a proven working solution will save my a** big time.

Explanation for the curious - you can safely stop reading here. A couple of months ago a group of activists I'm a part of did a two-day event, a documentary film festival, the first on this particular topic in Poland. All at zero budget, we got screening rights from all the copyright holders for free (with one exception, where we all just chipped in to cover the fee), we translated the movies ourselves, did the subtitles, burned DVDs, designed and printed logos, posters and badges, prepare slideshows, prepared reports to accompany the screenings, went on several radio stations to advertise the festival, held Q&A panels, and had a great time doing all that. So two months on, I am now organizing a rerun of the festival in my home city, kind-of singlehandedly this time. And it's all wrapped up except for one little thing. The one person who was responsible for mastering the DVDs and was holding on to all the movies, just left Poland. I badgered him for a full month to get the copies, but he's the "busy" kind. I even traveled to Warsaw once to meet him and he couldn't meet me. So, he finally handed over the DVD copies at the last minute, but now I've found that one of the movies on DVD is without Polish subtitles, and another is AVI+TXT files instead of a DVD. Screenings are at a movie theater and they can only play DVDs, not AVI files or anything computer-based. So for one movie I just need to generate a DVD; for the other I need to rip it to Avi, prepare subtitles in SRT and generate another DVD. All this plus my regular work and lots of other preparations, and I have only 4 days to go. It'll take one whole day to just manually type in all the timecodes to create an srt file with subtitles. I've spent the last few hours trying to dig up something via google, but nothing so far that actually works.

And oh, doing this thing is one of the top best things I've ever done. A highly recommended undertaking, just make sure your blood pressure stays nice and low!

[scancode]

ConvertXToDVD did the trick for me the very few times I had to do that.

[tranglos]

ConvertXToDVD did the trick for me the very few times I had to do that.

-scancode (June 21, 2010, 05:01 PM)

Description looks awesome, downloading the trial now, thanks scancode!

on edit: doesn't work. It takes the TXT file with subtitles, recognizes it (format and all), then goes on to produce a VOB file without any subtitles

[tranglos]

ConvertXToDVD did the trick for me the very few times I had to do that.

-scancode (June 21, 2010, 05:01 PM)

OK, this is crazy. ConvertXToDVD created the vob files, and the log file has entries like

1311 subtitles frames encoded in subtitle stream #1
SUBTITLE Stream #1 [RAW COPY]: polski
Subtitle file with 1 stream(s) - Playback order:1 - Queue:1
Output Stream #3 (SUBTITLE) - dvdsub, 64 kb/s

etc., but playing the vob files in software players no subtitles are shown. Playing the folder contents as if it were the video_ts folder of a DVD, no subtitles. (in Zoom Player and in KM Player).

The log also has a line
SUBTITLE Stream #3 [REMOVED (unsupported)]: Subtitle: DXSB / 0x42535844
but no explanation as to what it means, why it's unsupported or how to fix it.

Now I'm worried.

[steeladept]

etc., but playing the vob files in software players no subtitles are shown. Playing the folder contents as if it were the video_ts folder of a DVD, no subtitles. (in Zoom Player and in KM Player).

-tranglos (June 21, 2010, 05:48 PM)

Have you tried it in a hardware player like you want?  It may be something with the way Zoom Player and KM are working.  Just a thought before continuing...

[MilesAhead]

If you can get the subs to standard .srt it will work in either
DVD Flick
or
FAVC

both free.

Select PAL output DVD type.

My players can play either PAL or NTSC so I never change the frame rate. Audio out of sync is a possibility, but I doubt it. If using FAVC I recommend using HC in 2 pass mode.

edit: Note, if FAVC use the DVD Options Tab to add the .srt subs to the title.  The output will have selectable subs.

edit2: if you have trouble with the .srt subs, try loading in Notepad and Save As ANSI file type and try again.  It may not like UTF-8.

[tranglos]

Seems to work now after I converted subtitles to srt. Retrying one last time, and it might just do the job. Now, where did I put that $50...

[Curt]

or merely capture the video while playing

[tranglos]

ConvertXtoDVD did it, plus it has a good selection of options for positioning the subtitles. Doesn't have a preview (that is, the preview it has does not show subtitles), so it's all trial and error, but it does work.

So thanks scancode and all, you've totally saved my life!

[MilesAhead]

For heterogeneous input

Seems to work now after I converted subtitles to srt. Retrying one last time, and it might just do the job. Now, where did I put that $50...

-tranglos (June 21, 2010, 07:40 PM)

Unless you need to mix and match multiple format input files, free video converters often do a better job.  If the audio is in a format already suitable for
the display device(such as AC3 for DVD or whatever) then often all you have to do is demux into video and audio streams, convert the video, then use an authoring program such as DVDAuthorGui to create the VIDEO_TS with selectable subtitles.

If you have 20 input files all different formats then it's too cumbersome to do it by hand.  But one input video to get one output video it's pretty easy.

edit: when I say "pretty easy" I mean in the case where you are not changing frame rate or doing anything fancy.  As example, it's pretty easy to input .mkv and get an .m2v video file out etc..

[Innuendo]

Unless you need to mix and match multiple format input files, free video converters often do a better job.

-MilesAhead (June 22, 2010, 05:11 PM)

Well, the problem is he had already tried every free converter he could get ahold of & trialed many commercial ones & the one he's settled on is the only one that could fulfill his needs.

[MilesAhead]

Unless you need to mix and match multiple format input files, free video converters often do a better job.

-MilesAhead (June 22, 2010, 05:11 PM)

Well, the problem is he had already tried every free converter he could get ahold of & trialed many commercial ones & the one he's settled on is the only one that could fulfill his needs.

-Innuendo (June 22, 2010, 07:22 PM)

I find that unlikely.  .srt subtitle support is hardly exotic.
I know the ones I mentioned work.  I've used 'em several hundred times.

edit: I realize the OP was under deadline. I should have just left it at encouraging people new to video conversion to check out the freeware since there's a ton of paid crapware in this area that isn't worth installing.  The type of stuff you keep seeing on Give Away of the Day that doesn't even get the aspect ratio right etc.. I've heard good things about ConvertXtoDVD.