SubtitleCreator

Although I prefer programming over writing documentation, I understand the importance of providing you with the necessary information. Here are the key features of SubtitleCreator:

• The File menu allows you to open the IFO file of the DVD (to read color palette and PAL/NTSC settings), the subtitle file (in SRT or SUB format), and save them as binary SUP or SRT files. You can also join multiple subtitles if they are split and load a different background. To quickly load subtitle, IFO, and SUP files for synchronization, press CTRL-X and enter eXpress mode.

• The Formatting menu controls how subtitles are displayed. You can load predefined profiles that control fonts, outline width, wrapping, and more from the SubtitleCreatorProfiles.xml configuration file. You can also override formatting settings and change the vertical alignment of subtitles in the yellow subtitle window. Additionally, you can select a different outline and anti-aliasing rendering method, which may be useful for Persian fonts.

• The Profile menu allows you to set font name, position, size, and other settings in one go.

• The Settings menu allows you to change the program’s behavior. You can choose to highlight errors, clean up subtitles during load, set your preferred GUI language, and more.

• The synchronization options include time shifting, frame rate conversion, and synchronization based on the original SUP subtitle file.

• The Tools menu allows you to manipulate existing SUP subtitles, reposition them, and go to the DVD authoring wizard. You can also translate SUP to SRT texts manually.

Other Options:

• If you have DirectX installed and a software DVD player on your system, you can access DVD player options such as opening the DVD, root menu, chapter menu, stop, play backwards, pause, play, previous and next chapter, and a tracker to jump through the movie.

• You can choose subtitle colors and transparency in this menu. The colors are defined in the DVD’s IFO file, so it’s best to use the same color palette.

• During DVD playback, you can position the subtitle window.

Furthermore, upon loading a DVD, a third menu should appear (as seen above) that permits you to synchronize with the DVD. Although I prefer advanced synchronization using an original SUP, sometimes the movie lacks subtitles, in which case I rely on this option. The synchronization process works as follows: you pause the movie, select the subtitle you want to display at the current time, press “Insert sub,” and potentially adjust the timing. After you’ve done this for a few subtitles (at least one near the beginning and one near the end), click “synchronize,” and voila! All other subtitles are adjusted using time shifting and frame rate corrections.

Note that when you insert a subtitle, the end time of the subtitle moves to the current time. So, you first listen to the dialogue, and when it’s finished, you pause the movie and insert the subtitle.

Here is a set of options to control the appearance of the subtitles:

• The first line includes left-align (CTRL-L), center-align (CTRL-E), right-align (CTRL-R), and Jump (to the current subtitle in the DVD, which only works when pausing the DVD).
• The second line includes Bold (CTRL-B), Italics (CTRL-I), Underline (CTRL-U), and Search (CTRL-F).
• Insert shortcuts are used to insert predefined text (from SubtitleCreatorProfiles.xml), such as Music symbols (<s M/> and <s m/>), at the beginning of the string. Some other useful commands are <L>, <l>, and <s> to make the current line larger, larger, or smaller than the current subtitle font.
• The list box allows you to edit the times and subtitle text (double click) and choose whether or not to include it. Uncheck subtitles if you want to exclude them for some reason. Note that you can use italics (begin with <i> and optionally end with </i>), bold (<b> versus </b>), regular and underline (<u> versus </u>) fonts.
• Tip: If you want to use a different font for the current subtitle, specify it as follows:

<f Name=’Arial Narrow’, Type=’Regular’, Size=’14’>

Tip: If you want to position the current subtitle somewhere else (e.g., because it overlaps with the DVD intro text), go to Settings, uncheck “Change all subtitles,” and move the subtitle box with the mouse.

Synchronize subtitles

Synchronizing subtitles with the video and audio has been a major issue for me. To solve this problem, I developed a feature that uses an original subtitle from the DVD to synchronize your own subtitles.

The user interface is designed to be user-friendly. You can simply choose the corresponding subtitles from the left (original SUP file) and right (your subtitle file) windows, then click on the link button in between. Once you are done, select “Synchronize” which will apply linear synchronization to adjust for any time shifts and frame rate conversions between the different subtitles.

Here are some tips:

1. Double-clicking on a subtitle in the left window will make the right window jump to a subtitle with a similar start time, although this is less useful as there are fewer subtitles to display in the left window.
2. When your subtitles are split into two parts, it is uncertain whether the second part begins immediately after the first set of subtitles or if there is an additional pause. Therefore, create links with the original for the first and last subtitle in each set. You can also use the ‘<‘ and ‘>’ buttons to jump to the beginning and end of each file.

Manipulate subtitles

To access the subtitle manipulation tools, go to Tools and select Manipulate SUP. This will open a window where you can adjust the vertical position of each subtitle and choose from a variety of color options.

The available options are quite self-explanatory, as follows:

• To read the color palette, you can open an IFO file.
• You can open a subtitle file in the SUP format.
• It’s possible to add a delay to the subtitle.
• You can save the SUP as a new file or a set of bitmaps.
• By using the vertical trackbar, you can shift the position of the subtitle.
• The subtitle colors can be changed.
• By right-clicking on the image, you can set the background image.
• By right-clicking on the subtitle list, you can delete a subtitle.