Burning a dvd with subtitles

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Burning a dvd with subtitles

Hello, after much frustration with iDVD, I have to ask you guys for help. I really don't know what else to do. Ok, well I have my completed project on idvd ready to burn. The movie files I used are .mkv and are encoded with subtitles. When I test play the files in the project, they play fine with the subtitles. However, when I burned my first dvd, the subtitles disappeared. What can I do or how do I keep the subtitles in the burned dvd? I love the submenus and options that iDVD offers, so I would rather not use a different program.

Also, note that the .mkv file and the subtitles are one file. I don't have a separate subtitle file such as .srt or whatever. I am using iDVD 6.0.4

EDIT: My idvd project has 4 25 minute movies and a submenu per movie, no chapters nothing else. It took 14 hours to burn the dvd, is this normal?

I really appreciate the help. Thanks!

Message was edited by: Zeusie

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Oct 6, 2009 10:37 AM

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Answer 1

J Keller

Level 4

2,750 points

Oct 6, 2009 7:14 PM in response to Zeusie

Welcome to the forums.

At 100 minutes of video, you're pushing close to iDVD's max length (and max compression), so depending on your iMac's speed, 14 hrs isn't too long. Encoding is some of the most difficult work your computer will ever do.

Re subtitles, I am not familiar with .mkv files, but I see on Wikipedia that the format is a container format (like Quicktime is) for video, audio, and subtitles. I'm a bit surprised that iDVD was able to preview the video. I'd suggest experimenting with a video conversion to iDVD's native DV Stream format (.dv). I'd guess that you'll have to flatten the video (ie, merge the subtitle and video layers) using Quicktime Pro, MPEG Streamclip, or conversion software that understands that codec.

Try it on a small clip to reduce your time investment and let us know how it goes.
John

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Answer 2

Zeusie Author

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Oct 7, 2009 7:18 AM in response to J Keller

I see. That makes more sense. Is there any free software that would do it? iMovie wont do anything like that will it? How would I merge the video, I mean is there actually a merge button or command I can click on? Just making sure that I have the correct terminology and that I know what it is I am looking at, since I am pretty new to this.

Thanks for the help, I feel like I am going in the right direction now.

EDIT: I have Final Cut Pro, but it looks so intimidating that I haven't quite looked too much into it yet.

Message was edited by: Zeusie

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Answer 3

J Keller

Level 4

2,750 points

Oct 7, 2009 8:23 PM in response to Zeusie

FCPro can add subtitles and you can flatten the video (perhaps it can even import your existing video and export a flattened version) -- you could search/ask over in the FCP forum for details. And you're correct, there's a bit of a learning curve with FCP but the import/export routine is a lot easier than learning the whole software.

You can add titles in iMovie, but it's a pain to make them look like subtitles. You could try importing, though, to see if iMovie will do your video conversion.

Perhaps the software that created this format also has various export options?

MPEG Streamclip is free, and it is very capable, so you might give it a whirl.

Also, just to clarify your goal -- whatever hoops you jump through, iDVD won't create a DVD where you can turn the subtitles on/off (they will always be on). To create switchable subtitles or captions, you'll need more sophisticated software, like DVD Studio Pro (perhaps came with your FCP?).
John

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