Blu-ray subtitle conversion tool (sub2bd)

[bronan]

sub2bd is a small front-end I made to speed up Blu-ray subtitle conversion using avs2bdnxml. The basic idea is you pick your input file (ASS/SSA - see later in the thread about SRT support), set a few parameters, and then a .SUP is spit out for you. I used easySUP in the past for subtitle conversion, but was always running into various issues. Luckily, avs2bdnxml works great, even with those pesky ones with multiple lines of text appearing on screen at once that tends to cause flickering and other glitches.



Installation:
- Download sub2bd 0.93
- Install Avisynth & .NET 4.0 runtime

Directions:

1. If the source subtitles are in an MKV, extract them with a tool like MKVCleaver. Note that MKVCleaver can also extract any fonts used, which need to be installed on your system for use with sub2bd. Otherwise, AviSynth will use its default font that usually doesn't look nearly as good.
   
2. Select the subtitle file (SRT/ASS/SSA). The final converted .SUP file will be placed in the same folder with the same name, but with the .SUP extension
   
3. Select the video's Resolution and Frame Rate
   
4. Convert!
   

Change-list:

• 0.93 - Fixed wrong resolution being passed to avs2bdnxml
  
• 0.92 - Fix for forcing UTF8 encoding on temp file, now attempts encoding detection
  
• 0.91 - Allow drag/drop on Batch tab. Internal refactoring and cleanup, minor tweaks.
  
• 0.9 - Hide avs2bdnxml process window to prevent accidental user interaction, new Progress tab
  
• 0.85 - Batch add window now accepts multiple files
  
• 0.8 - Automatically calculate runtime duration. Added drag and drop onto form for ASS files.
  
• 0.7 - Forced Unicode encoding on temp file
  
• 0.6 - Fixed overwriting SUP file
  
• 0.5 - Fix for unsupported double byte characters in file name or path
  
• 0.4 - Added fix for stalling out with non-Latin characters at the beginning or end of ASS. Added options for Strict mode, Optimize Buffer, and Ugly mode in avs2bdxml (see https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146493 for info on these)
  
• 0.3 - Added 4K resolution support
  
• 0.2 - Fixes for framerate issues
  
• 0.1 - Initial Release
  

[Beber]

That's interesting for a sub guy like me. I've been quite but not fully satisfied with easySUP, but I'll see if I can try yours. Might be better. Thanks.

[bronan]

That's interesting for a sub guy like me. I've been quite but not fully satisfied with easySUP, but I'll see if I can try yours. Might be better. Thanks.

Cool, please let me know how it works for you!

[spoRv]

Thanks for this tool!

[Beber]

Okay, just tried it. A couple observations:
- when feeding it with a *.srt file, no font and height settings which would be the basic settings. So that's not good.
- when feeding it with an *.ass file, it does keep the font and height placements already set inside the *.ass file, and I stress the plural, 'cause I tried on a partially IMAX movie that I set my *.ass to change height depending on the changing aspect ratio, so that is a real plus! I haven't tried with 2 fonts inside the same *.ass yet, but that aspect is promising.
- however, although I did set my file to 23.976 fps, the sync is messed up and is no longer, well, in sync! So, unless you have a solution, that's useless at the moment.
Maybe the problem is here, as it states "23.00 fps" when doing the conversion although I did set it up to 23.976.

[bronan]

Okay, just tried it. A couple observations:
- when feeding it with a *.srt file, no font and height settings which would be the basic settings. So that's not good.
- when feeding it with an *ass. file, it does keep the font and height placements already set inside the *ass file, and I stress the plural, 'cause I tried on a partially IMAX movie that I set my *.ass to change height depending on the changing aspect ratio, so that is a real plus! I haven't tried with 2 fonts inside the same *ass yet, but that aspect is promising.
- however, although I did set my file to 23.976 fps, the sync is messed up and is no longer, well, in sync! So, unless you have a solution, that's useless at the moment.
Maybe the problem is here, as it states "23.00 fps" when doing the conversion although I did set it up to 23.976.

Thanks a bunch for the feedback!

- Multiple fonts should work with no problem at all for ASS.
- Sorry about the SRT stuff, I haven't really tested with it since almost everything I've been needing to convert lately is ASS. I will take a look at the parameters and see if I can add some general settings for them.
- I think I know what the problem with the framerate is, its most likely a string to float conversion error since you are in Euro territory and use a different separator for decimal. This is the kind of stuff I was expecting to find when more people used it

Thanks again for the feedback, will try to get out an update soon for the framerate problem!

I hate working with subtitles, but this tool looks like it has the potential to make doing so easier, so maybe I'll give it a whirl. Thanks, bronan!

[Beber]

No problem. If you can fix the framerate problem, it promises to be a very good converting tool from ASS to SUP which would be good enough as SRT to ASS conversion is very simple and ASS offer many settings inside the file anyway.
I really like the possibility to convert directly from an ASS file. In fact, if you just want to focus on ASS and ditch SRT, go for it. Keeping the height switch, font switch within the same file is just gold for IMAX movies and pre-existing burnt-in subtitles or credits. That's what frustrated me when using easySUP, which only allowed me to use {\aX} tags.

EDIT : 2 fonts inside the same ASS works fine. Sweet! Just fix the framerate issue and I'm a happy camper!

[bronan]

No problem. If you can fix the framerate problem, it promises to be a very good converting tool from ASS to SUP which would be good enough as SRT to ASS conversion is very simple and ASS offer many settings inside the file anyway.
I really like the possibility to convert directly from an ASS file. In fact, if you just want to focus on ASS and ditch SRT, go for it. Keeping the height switch, font switch within the same file is just gold for IMAX movies and pre-existing burnt-in subtitles or credits. That's what frustrated me when using easySUP, which only allowed me to use {\aX} tags.

EDIT : 2 fonts inside the same ASS works fine. Sweet! Just fix the framerate issue and I'm a happy camper!

Awesome! I just uploaded a new version (0.2a) that hopefully fixes your framerate problem. Let me know how it goes..

[Beber]

Now it works and it says "23.98", and I suppose it's actually 23.976 displayed with only 2 numbers after the decimal, however, the subtitles timecodes don't seem to be fully respected. I have noticed some inconsistant 1-frame or 2-frame delays. That wouldn't annoy most people, but it does annoy me. When I make frame accurate subs, I expect them to be played accordingly.