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Thread: Tutorial: Subtitling Basics

  1. #1
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    Question Tutorial: Subtitling Basics

    Subtitle Types:

    Text based – means the rendering of subtitles is executed by the device (e.g. TV).
    It is up to the device to draw the given text in the selected size, colors and font.
    Subtitle text can be also encoded to allow characters for languages (e.g. Polish, Arabic) to be displayed correctly.

    Image based – where subtitles are specified as an image and the device displays them it as is.
    Advantage of this system is that devices do not need to process the text with fonts, encoding or formatting.

    Presentation Types:

    Time based – each subtitle text item is displayed based on the video’s timeline.
    Example: 1 minute 43 seconds 12 milliseconds

    Frame based – each subtitle text item is displayed based on the number of the video frame.
    Example: frame=123

    Note: The video rate or frames per second (FPS) of a video may change if the original video is transcoded to another format. This can often occur when converting a video from PAL (25.0 fps) to NTSC (23.97 fps). In this case, frame based subtitles prepared for PAL will not match the new NTSC video and subtitles will no longer be synchronized with the video.

    Tip: Mezzmo will automatically convert subtitles to match the video’s original FPS frame rate.
    Last edited by Christopher; 05-03-2013 at 01:28 PM.

  2. #2
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    Default Encoding

    Text based subtitles may be encoded, where bytes are representing different characters for various spoken languages. The most popular encoding format is UTF-8 (Unicode - 8 bits) and is commonly used for creating websites on the internet. This format covers most written languages. Other encoding formats are designed specifically for computer industry standards - for example, a text file in Polish language may be created using encoding such as 1250 ANSI Central Europe, 28592 ISO 8859-2 Central Europe or UTF-8, where 1250 and 28592 are identifiers of the code page used by Microsoft Windows.

    Example: Reading SRT subtitles using an encoding that matches the subtitles content: UTF-8 without BOM,
    Mezzmo settings: Language = Korean, Code Page = 65001 UFT-8, Font = Arial Unicode MS:



    Example: Reading subtitles with Mezzmo settings: Font = "Arial" - the font is not supporting Korean letters:



    Example: Reading subtitles with Mezzmo settings: Code Page = 1252 Font = "Arial" - the Code Page doesn't match the SRT text file:





    Note: Reading text based subtitles with an incorrect encoding may result in syntax errors or displaying wrong characters.
    Some languages require selecting Unicode Fonts supporting all glyphs for the letters of Korean, Chinese, Hebrew or Arabic.


    Tip: Mezzmo will automatically convert subtitles to match your device’s supported encoding formats.

    Byte Order Mark (BOM) is a signature added to a Unicode text file to indicate the encoding format. For example:
    • UTF-16 expects the following bytes at beginning of the file: 0xFFFE
    • UTF-8 expects the following bytes at beginning of the file: 0xEFBBBF

    These bytes allow devices to read the content of the text based subtitles without code page settings required.

    Tip: Streaming text based subtitles encoded with Unicode (e.g. UTF-8 or UTF-16) allows devices to display the subtitle text automatically - without the need for you to make any extra Code Page or Encoding settings on your device using your device’s remote control.
    Last edited by Christopher; 10-24-2013 at 11:07 AM.

  3. #3
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    Default How Mezzmo streams subtitles

    External – subtitles are stored in separate files and streamed directly to your device. Popular formats are .SRT, .SMI and .SUB.

    External subtitles may be text based such as the SubRip (.SRT) format, or image based such as the VobSub (.SUB) ripped from a DVD.
    This is the most effective way for streaming subtitles for a video, since it does not require any processing by Mezzmo. Unfortunately, some devices are not capable of displaying external subtitles - for example, Sony Playstation PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Bravia TVs.


    Embedded – subtitles are stored inside the video file (or video container) as a stream - in the same way that video and audio streams are stored inside the video file. Not all video container formats can have embedded subtitles and there are limitations what subtitle formats are supported for each video container format.

    Some popular video containers that allow embedded subtitles are:

    • Matroska (MKV) – has excellent embedded subtitle support. For example, text based subtitles such as SubRip (SRT), Advanced Substation Alpha (ASS) and SubViewer (SUB), or image based subtitles such as DVD/Bluray subtitles (VobSub).

    • MPEG-4/3GP/MOV/M4V – allows Mpg4 text based XML subtitle format

    • MPEG-2, MPEG-TS – allows DVD (VobSub) subtitles

    • OGG – allowing SubRip (SRT) and others.

    • AVI – allows image based XSub subtitles withing the DivX specification

    Note: Support for displaying embedded subtitles varies between each device model from manufacturers. The the most popular video container with embedded subtitle support is Matroska (MKV). For example, devices from WD, Samsung and Panasonic will display embedded subtitles in MKV video files.

    Tip: Mezzmo can automatically embed external subtitles files into a video container before streaming by “remuxing” (or inserting) the external subtitle into the transcoded video.

    Tip: Devices typically can list list all the embedded subtitles onscreen for you to choose using the device’s remote control. This allows you to choose your preferred subtitle language.


    Burning – subtitles are drawn (or superimposed) over the video frames in the video by Mezzmo before streaming.

    Some devices (e.g. Sony Bravia TVs) cannot display external subtitles or embedded subtitles, so burning the subtitles into the video is the only way to display subtitles. Burning subtitles requires Mezzmo to fully transcode the video and this can require significant CPU and memory usage. Also, choosing another subtitle will require re-transcoding the video again. Note that the original video file is preserved so burning subtitles can be repeated as many times as required.

    Tip: Mezzmo v3.1+ also burns subtitles into 3D movies.

    3D-Subtitles - Side by Side, 3D-Subtitles - Top and Bottom:
    .


    Tip: Procedure of embedding or burning subtitles will create a temporary file, that will be used for streaming. Make sure the transcoded video file is deleted after changing subtitles settings or adding new external subtitle tracks
    Last edited by Christopher; 11-12-2014 at 01:04 PM.

  4. #4
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    Default Detecting External Subtitles

    External subtitles are automatically detected by Mezzmo when you add your video files into your Mezzmo library or when you maintain your Mezzmo library.

    The external subtitle file must exist in the same folder as the video file and should have the first part of the file name as video file name (i.e. “paired”). For example:

    • myvideo.avi - Video file
    • myvideo.srt - SubRip subtitle file
    • myvideo.txt - Subtitle file; format will be auto-detected by Mezzmo when reading the content
    • myvideo.fr.sub - Subtitle file in French language

    DVD or Bluray rip by ISO archive file, requires external subtitle file placed in the same folder and renamed to match the ISO archive file name (i.e. “paired”) and movie title index as detected Mezzmo library, for example:

    • \video\myDVD.iso - DVD rip ISO archive file
    • \video\myDVD_title1.fr.srt - SubRip subtitle file in French language for "My movie (1/2)"
    • \video\myBluray.iso - Bluray rip ISO archive file
    • \video\myBluray_title2.srt - SubRip subtitle file for "My movie (2/2)"

    DVD or Bluray rip by file structure, requires external subtitle file placed in disk root folder, and renamed to match disk root folder name and the movie title index as detected Mezzmo library, for example:

    • \video\myDVD\VIDEO_TS - DVD rip file structure
    • \video\myDVD\myDVD_title1.srt - SubRip subtitle file for movie "My movie (1/2)"
    • \video\myBluray\BDMV - Bluray rip file structure
    • \video\myBluray\myBluray_title2.fr.srt - SubRip subtitle file in French language for movie "My movie (2/2)"

    Tip: Where Mezzmo is looking for external subtitles:

    1. Select movie in Mezzmo library.
    2. Choose Menu / Edit / Properties -> Subtitles tab.
    3. Move mouse over Update Subtitles button. For a brief moment, dialog view will show the location for the external subtitles, for example:
      "Search for: H:\Multimedia\The Fifth Element\The Fifth Element_title1*.*" will match two external subtitle files like:
      "H:\Multimedia\The Fifth Element\The Fifth Element_title1.srt"
      "H:\Multimedia\The Fifth Element\The Fifth Element_title1.fr.srt"



    Mezzmo can detect over 30 text based formats. See the detailed list at:
    http://www.conceiva.com/products/mez...matsupport.asp

    Detected subtitles are listed by Properties dialog (Subtitles tab) for a video:

    1. In Mezzmo, select a video file.
    2. Click Edit / Properties to display the Properties dialog and click the Subtitles tab.




    Subtitles listed may have various formats, and it is recommended to verify your subtitles by previewing them:

    1. Select a subtitle track from the subtitle list.
    2. Click the Subtitle Setting button to preview the subtitle content.

    External subtitle tracks may be disabled using the checkbox in the first column in the subtitle list. Unchecked subtitle tracks will not be used by Mezzmo for any subtitle processing or streaming.

    Tip: How to add a subtitle manually:

    1. Click the Add Subtitle button.
    2. Select the subtitle file from your computer’s hard disk or NAS.
    3. Verify the subtitle content and click OK to accept the settings.

    Note: If subtitles are not displayed properly on your devices, then it may be required to adjust the subtitle settings. Typically this means changing the language, font and code page. If Mezzmo reports reading errors, then the reason may be that the subtitle format may be unknown to Mezzmo or the subtitles may be corrupted. In this case, try to force the format using the Input format field.

    Tip: Global settings allows to specify the way Mezzmo handles all subtitles, including your preferred subtitle language, fonts and code page.

    1. Click Tools / Options to display the Options dialog and go to the Subtitle page.
    2. Click the Global Settings button to specify the rules for processing all subtitles.
    3. Click the Settings button next to Preferred Languages to specify the rules for processing subtitles prepared in selected languages.
    Last edited by Christopher; 06-26-2014 at 08:24 AM.

  5. #5
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    Default Detecting Embedded Subtitles

    Embedded subtitles inside video files are automatically detected by Mezzmo when you add your video files into your Mezzmo library or when you maintain your Mezzmo library.

    Mezzmo will also automatically embed external subtitle tracks into a transcoded video before streaming when “Stream embedded subtitles” checkbox is selected.

    Subtitle tracks may be disabled using the checkbox in the first column of the subtitle list. Unchecked subtitle tracks will not be used by Mezzmo when a video is transcoded and subtitles may not be embedded into that movie. When all subtitle tracks are disabled, the transcoded video will not contain any embedded subtitles.



    Note: Mezzmo lists all detected subtitle tracks - even if some of the subtitle formats are not supported by your devices.
    Click the Subtitle Settings button to change the language and the title of the embedded subtitle.


    Tip: Mezzmo will arrange the order of the embedded subtitle tracks to match your preferred language.

    Tip: Click the Extract Subtitles button to extract the selected embedded subtitle track from the video file and save it as an external subtitle file on your computer. Mezzmo can extract popular formats such as SubRip, ASS and VobSub. Extracted subtitles will be used by Mezzmo for streaming as external files or burning into the video.
    Last edited by Christopher; 11-12-2014 at 12:45 PM.

  6. #6
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    Default Burning Subtitles

    Burning subtitles should be selected in Mezzmo if your device is not capable of displaying embedded or external subtitles. Burning subtitles will require full video transcoding even when the original video format can be played natively by your device.

    Some subtitle formats such as Karaoke or Advanced Substation Alpha (ASS) may have extra display or positional attributes that Mezzmo does not burn into the transcoded video. Attributes include special colors, overlapping and dynamic presentation. Mezzmo will ignore these attributes and just burn the subtitle text into the transcoded video using your selected burning font, size and color.

    Last edited by Christopher; 05-03-2013 at 01:37 PM.

  7. #7
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    Default Subtitle Settings dialog

    The Subtitle Settings dialog can be used for previewing subtitles and for modifying the settings when Mezzmo reads subtitles and burns subtitles.

    To display the Subtitle Settings dialog:

    1. Select a video file.
    2. Click Edit / Properties to display the Properties dialog and click the Subtitles tab.
    3. Select an external subtitle track from the list.
    4. Click Subtitle Settings to preview the subtitles.

    For specific details about functionality, press F1 in the Subtitle Settings dialog to display the Mezzmo Help file.

    Tip: It is recommended to select the language for each subtitle track. The language is used by Mezzmo for choosing subtitle tracks for streaming, and is required for proper encoding of text based subtitle files to match your device’s capabilities.

    Tip: Set the code page and font for the subtitle if the subtitles are not displayed correctly in the dialog or on your device.

    Tip: Use Global Settings to specify the settings for all your subtitles for all your video files and use the Properties dialog only if there are exceptions for particular subtitle tracks. Global Settings is also available for your preferred languages.


    Last edited by Christopher; 05-03-2013 at 03:48 PM.

  8. #8
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    Default Converting Subtitles

    The Subtitle Settings dialog can be used for converting or reformatting an existing external subtitle file. In some cases, the original subtitle file
    may have syntax errors, or be the wrong format, or may be missing important tags, or the subtitle text is not ordered correctly. In these cases, Mezzmo and your devices may reject the subtitles and not display them at all or display them incorrectly.

    Note: Mezzmo may reject external subtitle files and display errors like:

    The subtitles items are not ordered properly on the timeline,
    Subtitles may not work on some devices.
    (Error: 141)
    (L:9, C:0) “How are you?”


    where ‘L’ indicate the text line, and ‘C’ the columns with the subtitle file.

    Tip: Some XML based formats (for example: XAS, Mpg4, Timed Text) may be rejected by Mezzmo with syntax errors. You can try to load these XML/HTML files into your web browser such as Internet Explorer to get more detailed feedback about the syntax problems.

    Subtitle files with errors should be manually edited to resolve the errors - otherwise some of the text items may be lost, misinterpreted or ignored by Mezzmo when processing subtitles.


    Tip: Use the Convert Subtitles dialog to improve or modify the formatting of the original subtitle file.

    Last edited by Christopher; 05-03-2013 at 03:49 PM.

  9. #9
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    Default Global Subtitle Settings

    Mezzmo makes the process of configuring your subtitle settings easy by allowing you to preview your external subtitle files in the Subtitle Settings dialog:

    1. Click Tools / Options to display the Options dialog and go to the Subtitles page.
    2. Click the Global Settings button.
    3. Click the Browse button and select a subtitle file from your video library.
    4. Select the language for the subtitles.
    5. Select the code page for the subtitles.
    6. Select the font.
    7. If the characters are not displayed correctly, then try a different code page or font
    8. Choose the burning settings when Mezzmo burns your subtitles.
    9. Click OK to save the settings.

    Tip: Code pages used for popular languages:

    1250 or 28592 for Czech, Hrvatski, Hungarian, Moldavian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Turkmen
    1251 or 28595 for Belarusian, Bulgarian, Kirghiz, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian
    1252 or 28591 for Danish, German, English, Spanish, Finnish, French, Indonesian, Italian, Nederlands, Portuguese
    1253 or 28597 for Greek
    1254 or 28599 for Turkish
    1255 or 28598 for Hebrew
    1256 or 28596 for Arabic, Persian
    932 or 20932 for Japanese
    936 or 950 for Chinese
    949 or 50225 for Korean



  10. #10
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    Default Per-Language Subtitle Settings

    You can specify the subtitle settings for each of your preferred languages that you have specified in the Options dialog (Subtitles page).

    1. Click Tools / Options to display the Options dialog and go to the Subtitles page.
    2. Click the Add button, and add a new language to the “Preferred subtitle language” list.
    3. Order the list of languages using Up and Down buttons.
    4. Click the Settings button and specify subtitle settings for the selected language.
    5. Repeat the settings for each of the preferred languages.

    Mezzmo automatically recognizes the language of external subtitles when the external subtitle file contains a special suffix language code. For example:

    • myvideo.avi - Video file
    • myvideo.fr.srt - Subtitle file in French language
    • myvideo.ger.srt - Subtitle file in German language
    • myvideo.Spanish.srt - Subtitle file in Spanish language
    • myvideo-fr-cd1.srt - Subtitle file in French language

    Language identifiers that Mezzmo detects:

    • two letters code, as ISO-639-1 standard, commonly used by HTML pages on Internet, examples: pl, fr, en,
    • three letter code, as ISO-639-2 standard, examples: pol, fra, eng
    • name of the language, examples: Polish, French, English
    • two letter country code, as ISO-3166 standard, examples: pl, fr, uk, us

    Some subtitle formats like Sami or VobSub may have special tags with language specifications. For all these files, Mezzmo will read these special tags and detect the language automatically. These formats may also have many subtitle tracks inside the one external subtitle file. Deleting the external subtitle file may actually remove many subtitle languages from the subtitle list of the video.

    Tip: Use Properties dialog (Subtitles tab) for a video to manually specify the language for each subtitle track if the language has not been detected automatically by Mezzmo.
    Last edited by Christopher; 05-03-2013 at 03:12 PM.

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