AVIAddXSubs

(http://www.calcitapp.com/AVIAddXSubs.php)

Overview

This utility is used to incorporate subtitles (XSUB) in DivX/XVid avi files. Subtitles are provided through srt or idx/sub external files.

Up to 8 subtitles can be provided from  8 separate srt (ANSI format) files. Also user can choose to generate up to 8 subtitles from one and only srt file, in various configuration regarding font, font size, position on screen and many others. So at playback time, through remote control, can choose any of them that looks more favorable to him/her.

Up to 8 subtitles can be provided from one idx/sub pair of files.

In case of Idx/sub pair the idx file must be an ANSI text file and sub a binary file containing subtitle bitmaps. Because subtitles are provided already in bitmap format, selection of font or font size, character set etc, has no effect. See more on this subject below.

Just drag & drop the srt (subtitle text) or avi file to program's icon (or shortcut) in your desktop. A new file with extension divx will be created ready to view it in your hardware DivX player. Note that you can drag&drop more than one files for a batch subtitle incorporation.

ZIP File contents

• AVIAddXSubs.exe : Main utility
• AVIInfo.exe : Displays information of avi/divx files. To inquiry problematic avi. Just drop the avi to its icon and email the information it appears when requested.
• AVIBitrate.exe: Bitrate analysis tool for those they use the USB slot of their player. Generally an avi, where for many consecutive seconds has bitrate above 7.5Mbits/sec, can cause jerky move and bad sound in various scenes. If this appears to be frequent then, maybe, is better to use a DVDRW disk instead of USB, for a trouble free playback.
• AVIAddXSub.dll, calclib.dll : Needed by the two executables
• AVIAddXSubs.txt : Sample configuration file
• README.htm : This file

What you need

1. Create a shortcut of AVIAddXSubs.exe in your desktop.
2. In a directory place the AVI file and its associated (same name) srt. e.g. movie.avi and movie.srt.
3. Drag & Drop any number of avi files (in the same directory) to the icon of AVIAddXSubs in the desktop.
4. Press "Create Subtitled DivX"

That’s it!

Multiple Subtitles from srt (up to 8)

In configuration page you can configure up to 8 srt subtitle files. There are 8 tabs, SUB1 through SUB8, with a number of configuration options. Pages from SUB2 to SUB8 have a checkbox with the title "Use SRT of SUB1". If this is unchecked then a specific srt file must be found in the same directory with avi. For example if SUB4 has this option unchecked it means that a srt has to be found and if it is found then the corresponding subtitle will be incorporated. Let's say we have the following files in the same directory

mymovie.avi and mymovie.srt

Those two files generate a divx with one subtitle (SUB1) incorporated. But if in the same directory exists another srt file with the name

mymovie-4.srt

then another subtitle will be incorporated with the contents of "mymovie-4.srt" and the configuration found at SUB4 page of the program. The same goes with all subtitles from SUB2 to SUB8.

Now, if in any of the pages SUB2 to SUB8, option "Use SRT of SUB1" is checked then another subtitle will be incorporated using the srt of SUB1 but the configuration found in this specific page. This way you can incorporate up to 8 subtitles from the same srt but with different configurations.

About Idx/Sub subtitle files

Any such file pair can contain subtitles for more than one languages. In case of more than one language a dialog will appear so the user is able to choose which of them to include. Up to 8 languages can be selected and included.

Also in case the subtitle colors are not satisfactory the user is able to intervene in the idx file with any text editor, like Windows notepad, and get better results. First check the text entry Custom Colors. This entry provides a palette of 4 colors that can be used in subtitle bitmaps. This entry appears as in the following example:

custom colors: ON, tridx: 0001, colors: 000000, 808080, FFFFFF, 0000FF

Check if marked as ON or OFF. If it is OFF make it ON and check again in case you get better results. If not you can change any of these colors as follows: In the same entry there is a section with the name tridx. This defines which of the palette colors are used as transparent. Its value is four digits of 0 or 1. If you see 1, then in the corresponding palette position there is a transparent color. Then you point your attention to the rest of palette colors. To get letters with white body and black outline, use the (RGB in hex format) color FFFFFF (white) and 00000 (black). Put these values in the various none transparent positions of the palette (all except the last in the example above), every time save the idx file, run AVIAddXSubs and see if the result is now satisfactory.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• To see the subtitles in your player possibly you have to activate them first. Read how in the manual of the player. Some button in the remote control.
• Do not put the srt file together with the generated .divx. Is not needed to play the video with subtitles. The subtitles is now in the same file as the video.
• You can rename the .divx as .avi if your player works better with the later.
• Also set (in configuration page) the correct character set for the 8 subtitles (2-8 are optional if "Use SRT of SUB1" option is unchecked). English text works with any character set (but you can use ANSI). German, French, Swedish, etc (the rest of Latin western languages) work best with ANSI. Subtitle text (.srt) has to be in ANSI text format. If it is UTF8 or UNICODE use Notepad to convert it to ANSI.

At the configuration page

• Break long lines. If this option is ON then long subtitles that do not fit will break in more lines to fit.
• Max Font Size: You can choose the maximum font size (in points). AVIAddXSubs will choose a smaller font if a specific subtitle doesn't fit in the resolution. Note that this will happen only if Break Long Lines is OFF.
• Font: You can choose the preferred font.
• Bold. Check this to get subtitles in bold text.
• Color: Click on the outlined rectangle to choose subtitles color.
• Character Set: Choose the correct character set.
• Language Code: Select language code. This is for displaying the language at the list of available subtitles in your player, if supported by the player.
• Align: Choose the align between the lines of every subtitle. Left, center or right.
• Vertical Position (or VP): Choose the position (in vertical axis) where the subtitles will be placed. If you have problems to see selected subtitles in the hardware player, experiment with smaller numbers in this option.
• Center At (or CP): This options defines the center point of your TV in horizontal axis. It is used for the centering of subtitles. If you found that subtitles are not well centered in your TV then experiment with this option.
• Opaque Background: When this options is checked an opaque black box surrounds the subtitles.
• Subtitle Bitmaps. Choose the first or second choice depending on your TV system, PAL or NTSC. Please note that this selection provides information to the program on how to construct the bitmaps of the incorporated subtitles. How the subtitles are handled is depended on your player's firmware which can vary a lot. So you can leave the default choice and if you are not getting satisfying results, choose the others. Use custom when subtitles do not appear whatever you do with VP. Play with Width and height to see if you get better results.
• Use SRT of SUB1. This option is found in all SUB configuration pages except the first (SUB2 to SUB8). If it is unchecked then a srt file has to be found and if it is found only then the corresponding subtitle will be incorporated. These srt files has to be renamed in a specific way, that is with a -SUBNO at the and of the srt file name, where SUBNO is the number of the corresponding SUB configuration page. For example for SUB4 page this will be the number 4 and if the avi file has the name mymovie.avi, the srt has to be named as mymovie-4.srt. If this option is checked for any of the pages SUB2 through SUB8, then always a subtitle will be incorporated using the srt of SUB1 page but with the configuration of this page.
• Full Screen. When is checked a full screen bitmap is generated for every subtitle in the Width and Height of the above options. If not checked then the generated bitmap is as big as the text it contains. if you find out that you need different VP to keep subtitles appear in the preferred TV position for various AVIs, experiment with this option. Also has been found that some players cannot use full screen subtitle bitmaps. In this case uncheck this option.
• Test Mode. When checked sample subtitles are generated. Each of these subtitles remain on TV about three seconds and every time is displayed in a different VP. Starts at VP=100 and increases 50 pixel every time until reach the bottom of the screen, and then starts again. This helps the user, first to know that subtitles can, somehow, appear with his/her player and at which VP.
• Unpack packed bitstream. Some players (like my PHILIPS DVP5980) do not fully support "packed bitstream". This causes some video encoded this way to appear with jerky move, like some frames are dropped, etc. This is a nice way to catch a headache. If this option is checked (default) the frames become unpacked automatically and all "packed" AVIs have a much smoother playback. Unpacking packed bitstream has nothing to do with video compression. The "unpacked" AVI actually can be slightly smaller.
• Mark DivX as: You can mark generated divx files as DIVX, XVID or DX50. Some players need a specific mark to show the subtitles. This option affects original avi with the above marks that represent compatible encodings. For example DIV3 avi will not be affected by this option. Selection NONE leaves the mark of the original avi.
• Use .avi for output file(s) if possible. By default the output file is named with extension divx. If this is checked and has been defined an output directory different from the one of the source file, then the generated file is named with extension avi. This cannot work, of course, when input and output directory are the same because we cannot write the new over the original avi.
• Time Shift by ... a number of milliseconds. Using a negative number subtitles will appear the specified milliseconds sooner. With positive numbers later.
• Increase Duration by ... a number of milliseconds. This is useful in cases that subs go away very fast or the synchronizations is "suspected" not that good. Of course the duration extension is limited by the start of the next subtitle.