When you want to watch a video file such as a movie or a tv series in your computer all you have to do is use the same name for bothe the video and subtitles file and most modern video players will automatically recognize the external subtitle file such as .srt and .sub. However if you want to view your video in a mobile device or with a player that doesn't support external subtitles you must somewhow embed the subtitles on the video. In this guide I will describe you how to hardcode your subtitles using VirtualDub. Just remember that embeding subs means that you will have to reencode the video file which will take some time and you might have a quality loss.
So let's start with the tutorial. First you must download and install the following applications.
XviD Codec an open source video codec which we will use to encode our video.
VirtualDub a freeware video capture and AVI/MPEG-1 processing utility. This application doesn't need installation. Just extract it somewhere. C:\Program Files\VirtualDub is a good place.
VobSub a subtitle filter for VirtualDub and DirectShow. Any video player - like Windows Media Player - can handle it. Here during the installation in the Choose Components screen select VobSub for VirtualDub and TextSub for VirtualDub and Avisynth as you see in the picture below. TextSub is the subtitler filter we are going to use.
In the Installing screen you will have to select the directory where you have previously extracted VirtualDub.
Now run VirtualDub. You will find it here: C:\Program Files\VirtualDub\VirtualDub.exe Of course you can create a shortcut in your Desktop for accessing it easier.
This is VirtualDub main window.
Go to File -> Open video file and load the file you want to embed subtitles into.
**Note: If your video files have Variable Bitrate (VBR) audio you may encounter syncronization problems. Full processing mode is recommended for those cases.
Next go to Video -> Filters and press the Add button. Select TextSub from the list. This is the filter that adds subtitles from .srt, .sub, .psb, .smi, .ssa, .ass formats into our video.
In the new window click Open and select the subtitles file you want to hardcode.
If you click the Style button you can choose a font type, font size, color, placement and outline for your subtitles.
When you are ready press Ok to close all windows. Use the slider to find a frame with subtitles and check if the result is good for you.
Next press Video -> Compression and select the XviD codec we have installed previously. If you press the Configure button you can access many settings for this codec. Check what is best for you. Better quality always means bigger file size.
Finally press File- > Save as AVI to save your video with embeded subtitles. Depending on your computer and video lenght this might take a while. In my guide I have used a 20 minute video clip on a Intel Core 2 E8400 CPU @3GHz. The proccess took around 8 minutes to complete.
I hope you enjoyed my virtualdub subtitles tutorial!
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Subscribe to this comment's feedgood guide
thanx a lot that was very helpful now i can watch foreign movies on my xbox 360. thanx again
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May 30, 2009
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YOU ARE AWESOME!
I always wondered why it had to be this hard to hardcode subtitles to a file -.- But it's not too hard, and this is the real deal! This guide is the best guide YET! Even though, I wish that sometime it will come a program that hardcodes subtitles for you fast and easy. But THANK YOU for this guide! Now I can watch movies on my ps3 with subs 
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September 21, 2009
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aaaaagh!
I've followed all instructions, but when I get to the part that says 'Use the slider to find a frame with subtitles and check if the result is good for you.', there are NO subtitles there at all!
any advice most appreciated.
Thanks
any advice most appreciated.
Thanks
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November 16, 2009
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I just remembered
I just remembered that I'd used DVD Flick before, and it was great, so
i'll just use it again. Way less complicated than this method for sure.
i'll just use it again. Way less complicated than this method for sure.
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November 17, 2009
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4gb restriction
great writeup, but what happens when my movie needs to be split in half for ps3 playback? how do i get the subs to work properly in two files? thanks
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November 20, 2009
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Thanks kenni.
You can split the movie in half with VirtualDub. Here is a VirtualDub guide to help you.
You can split the movie in half with VirtualDub. Here is a VirtualDub guide to help you.
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November 22, 2009
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Issue at TextSub Settings step
It worked great most time. However, I had an issue & don't know how to resolve.
Movie Pinocchio movie, I downloaded SRT file. After filter add Textsub 2.23, I then selected the SRT file under TextSub Settings window. The program didn't pick the SRT file. It keeps going back to same window. There's no other SRT file on the internet.
Please help, let me know what I did wrong. Thank you Kenni.
Sonny
Movie Pinocchio movie, I downloaded SRT file. After filter add Textsub 2.23, I then selected the SRT file under TextSub Settings window. The program didn't pick the SRT file. It keeps going back to same window. There's no other SRT file on the internet.
Please help, let me know what I did wrong. Thank you Kenni.
Sonny
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April 24, 2010
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Hi Sonny, that's strange..
Have you tried to open the .srt file with a text editor like Notepad and see if it's ok?
If you play the movie with VLC the .srt files loads ok?
Have you tried another word-wrapping style in the open subtitle window?
That's all I can think of..
Have you tried to open the .srt file with a text editor like Notepad and see if it's ok?
If you play the movie with VLC the .srt files loads ok?
Have you tried another word-wrapping style in the open subtitle window?
That's all I can think of..
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April 26, 2010
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I did not see anything wrong with the SRT file using Notepad. I tried all 4 word-wrapping style in the VirtualDub open subtitle window.
I can see subtitles when playing file using VLC or Media Player Classic - Homecinema.
By the way, I forgot to mention I am adding Vietnamese language SRT subtitles to a movie for my little niece to watch. I don't think it's a problem with the language, VitualDub works well with other SRT files.
Same SRT file works fine when using ConvertXtoDVD program to write to DVD.
Let me know what other steps I should try. Thank you.
Sonny
I can see subtitles when playing file using VLC or Media Player Classic - Homecinema.
By the way, I forgot to mention I am adding Vietnamese language SRT subtitles to a movie for my little niece to watch. I don't think it's a problem with the language, VitualDub works well with other SRT files.
Same SRT file works fine when using ConvertXtoDVD program to write to DVD.
Let me know what other steps I should try. Thank you.
Sonny
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April 28, 2010
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After over 10 successfully embed subtitles to movies, I now encountered a different issue - large output file size. For example, kid movie Happy Feet, original AVI file size slightly more than 700 MB, output AVI file with hardcode sub is over 60 GB 
I don't know what I did wrong, please help. Thank you.
Sonny
I don't know what I did wrong, please help. Thank you.
Sonny
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May 08, 2010
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Thank you for this guide. I have followed it perfectly and it seemed to work. My problem is that the produced subtitles include some of the programming along the lines of Actual Subtitle . Is this a problem with my .srt file or one of the programs in this tutorial?
Thanks so much for any help here.
Thanks so much for any help here.
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June 04, 2010
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What do you mean by "some of the programming"? You can open the .srt file with a text editor like Notepad and check if it is alright.
You can also read and try my guide How to hardcode subtitles to AVI files without recompression.
You can also read and try my guide How to hardcode subtitles to AVI files without recompression.
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June 04, 2010
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No TextSub?
Thanks for all that!
Installed OK, opened filters, VobSub is there but not TextSub! How come?
Installed OK, opened filters, VobSub is there but not TextSub! How come?
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June 07, 2010
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During the installation of VobSub have you chosen custom installation and selected TextSub? Take a look at the first picture of this guide. 
If not just reinstall VobSub and choose TextSub.
If not just reinstall VobSub and choose TextSub.
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June 09, 2010
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totally awesome!
One of the most helpful tutorials i have come across. Very thorough. Bookmarked it, thanks!
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June 26, 2010
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problems under Win7 64bit
Tutorial looks good and I would really like to try it, only I keep running into problems at the step you add the filters and the SRT-file.
Ik do not get the plugin listed, even though it is installed. It's returning an error of not being a valid Win32 application.
Is this tutorial suitable for 64 bits systems or do I need to look for different solutions?
Ik do not get the plugin listed, even though it is installed. It's returning an error of not being a valid Win32 application.
Is this tutorial suitable for 64 bits systems or do I need to look for different solutions?
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July 04, 2010
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FIX :)
Hehe, i have same problem with not seeing subtitles after adding. That can be fixed by going to "View - Pane Layout - Output pane layout. Or by just turing off "Input pane view" in View menu. Also, you can try to maximize whole VirtualDub window and then you'll see two panes one after other, and first one, default, is input, the one that don't have subtitles.
I find out this "fix" when i start to write tutorial on Serbian language on my blog http://www.baguje.com/2010/07/...-film.html
I find out this "fix" when i start to write tutorial on Serbian language on my blog http://www.baguje.com/2010/07/...-film.html
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July 20, 2010
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