How do I hard code a movie with subtitles?

You will need these:
- VirtualDUB
- SRT-SSA Converter
- VirtualDub Subtitler Plug-in

Getting Started

  • The first step is opening up VirtualDub. You then want to go into the Video tab and select Filters or for convinience sake, simply press Ctrl+F. Then press the Add button followed by the Load button. You now want find the subtitler.vdf file you downloaded before and finish the operation by pressing Open.
  • Leave VirtualDub open, as we will need it for later steps.
  • Once you have acquired the subtitle file you want for the .avi you have, make sure you put them in the same folder. I would recommend creating a new folder on the Desktop for convinience.

Converting subtitles

  • The next step is converting the .srt files into something VirtualDub can read, in this case, an .ssa file.
  • Open up the .SRT-.SSA Converter and click on Browse to select the .srt file you want converted.
  • The program will now automatically create an output file with the identical name as the input file except with an .ssa extension.
  • All you have to do now is hit Convert and wait until it is done processing.

Adding subtitles into VirtualDub

  • Its now time to go back to VirtualDub which should still be open.
  • Go to the Video tab and select Full Processing Mode.
  • Now go to File and Open Video File... and use the browse function to select the .avi file you want the subtitles hardcoded to. Press Open when you find it.
  • Once the video has opened, go once again to the Video tab and select Filters again.
  • Press the Add button, and navigate down to the Subtitler option and press OK.
  • Select the .ssa you created earlier and press OK

Selecting the Compression

  • The final step is selecting the compression for our .avi.
  • Navigate once again to the Video tab and this time press on Compression.
  • If your file is an XviD (most will be) then simply select XviD Mpeg-4 Codec from the list. Leave the default settings.
  • If your file is another type of compression select that from the list and leave the default settings.

Saving your file and finishing up

  • To finish up simply go to File and select Save As .avi or simply press F7 for convinience. Save it where you want and make sure the Save as type is set to audio-video interleave (avi).
  • Click Save and you are done. Sit back and wait for your .avi with hardcoded subtitles.

Source

As for the tool for editing subtitles, just take a look at what SuperUser/Google suggest. I don't think I could think of anythink better that what is already there. :)


Hard-coded subtitles are unnecessary (and even a little misguided). Just use a container format than can hold subtitles within it, just like it holds the audio and video streams. OGM or Matroska should do it, amongst others.


Use Subtitle Edit to edit the subtitles the way you want. Then you can use VirtualDub to hard code the subtitles into the video file. You can find the instructions here.

"Subtitle Edit" Features:

  • Visually sync/adjust a subtitle (start/end position and speed).
  • Create/add subtitle lines
  • Translation helper (for manual translation)
  • Convert between SubRib, MicroDVD, Substation Alpha, SAMI, and more
  • Import VobSub sub/idx binary subtitles (code is ripped from Subtitle Creator by Erik Vullings/Manusse)
  • Can read and write UTF-8 and other unicode files (besides ANSI)
  • Show texts earlier/later
  • Merge/split
  • Adjust display time
  • Fix common errors wizard
  • Remove text for hear impaired
  • Renumbering
  • Swedish to danish translation built-in (via Multi Translator Online)
  • Google translation built-in
  • Spell checking via Open Office dictionaries/NHunspell (many dictionaries available)
  • Effects: Typewriter and karoake
  • Can open subtitles embedded inside matroska files
  • History/undo manager