Adding sub-titles to a film on DVD?

Voyager2002

OK, so I'd love to watch a DVD of a Shakespeare play with a foreign friend. Since the language is tricky, I'd like subtitles.

I have found and downloaded an .srt file from the web, which appears to be subtitles synchronised for this film. How do I get it to play at exactly the same time as the DVD? Or do I need to rip the video files from the DVD and then add sub-titles?

I am looking for a DVD of the play "Twelfth Night"; I can borrow the 1996 film of it directed by Trevor Nunn; I downloaded the subtitle file from http://www.all4divx.com/download_subtitle/4933486/.subtitle

I am open to any other suggestions.

benjus

I'm pretty sure you're not going to be able to do it without either ripping or burning a new DVD.

I'd say your options are:
* If you have a device that can play videos from a USB drive and use subtitle files, rip the DVD and put the ripped video file and the subtitle file together on a USB drive
* Burn a new DVD as per this tutorial: http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/331166-Adding-subtitles-to-an-existing-DVD-(the-easy-lazy-way)

Nilrem

You probably cannot do it without ripping and re-authoring the DVD to include the subs, if you want to play it on a normal DVD player.

If you've got a PC with a DVD drive you may be able to get VLC to play back the DVD with an external sub source (I'm not too sure though).
I suspect it's a case of starting the DVD in VLC, then telling it to open the subtitle file (normally you click the video button at the top of the window, select subs and it shows available subtitles, but i think it also lets you find a specific subtitle file).

One thing to note, is that you will need subs that are timed for that version of the DVD, as any edits or even just it being for the NTSC version rather than the PAL version can potentially affect the timing.

Voyager2002

Thank you.

Rather than ripping the DVD, I just downloaded the .avi file as a torrent. The subtitle file (in Spanish) goes with this particular film, and I downloaded it separately. I copied it into the same sub-directory as the .avi file and played with VLC, and everything seems to work.

johnnyboyrebel

Just to let you know what I would have done, ripped the DVD to avi then treated the subtitles as an audio track and just layered it over the avi then rendered again as avi

Exile_geordie

Id just write out cards in the language then hold them up in sequence as the film plays through