How to embed/hardcode subtitles in your

videos using VirtualDub

Saturday, 28 March 2009 17:45
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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Comments (79)
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good guide

thanx a lot that was very helpful now i can watch foreign movies on my xbox 360. thanx again
ricardo , May 30, 2009

+2


Bookmarked!

Great tut. Just bookmarked it, just in case I forget
Newrone , September 19, 2009

+1


...

Thanks guys! Easy way to hardcode your subtitles, isn't it?!
axel , September 19, 2009

+1


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
Daniel , September 21, 2009

+1


...

You are welcome Daniel. PS3, iPod, iPhone, mobile phone and so on!
axel , September 21, 2009

+2


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
michael , November 16, 2009

+6


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.
michael , November 17, 2009

-2


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
kenni , November 20, 2009

+1


...

Thanks kenni.

You can split the movie in half with VirtualDub. Here is a VirtualDub guide to help you.
axel , November 22, 2009

+2


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
Sonny , April 24, 2010

+2


...

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..
axel , April 26, 2010

+1


...

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
Sonnyzen , April 28, 2010

+0


...

I'm sorry Sonny but I can't think of anything else.
axel , April 28, 2010

+0


...

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
Sonnyzen , May 08, 2010

+0


...

Check the codec you have selected in Video -> Compression.
axel , May 08, 2010

+0


...

after i put in the sub file, when i use the slider i dont see any text
jjasa , May 16, 2010

+0


...

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.
Danielle , June 04, 2010

+1


...

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.
axel , June 04, 2010

+0


No TextSub?

Thanks for all that!
Installed OK, opened filters, VobSub is there but not TextSub! How come?
Bleach , June 07, 2010

+0


...

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.
axel , June 09, 2010

-1


totally awesome!

One of the most helpful tutorials i have come across. Very thorough. Bookmarked it, thanks!
Santosh , June 26, 2010

+0


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?
Marcel , July 04, 2010

+4


perfect

Thank you!
Peter , July 13, 2010

+0


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

Sasa , July 20, 2010

+0


problem

why is it there's a on my subtitle? how to ommit that?
vince , August 04, 2010

+0


problem

why is it there's a < / font > ? how to omit that?
vince , August 04, 2010

+1


wow

this is the most simple, direct solution for hardcoding subs. amazing. i love virtualdub so much.
tyler , August 09, 2010

+0


Wow, and I thought the AfterDawn tutorial was easy...

I just have to say what a great tutorial! I had been just using the VirtualDub filter, but having to
convert the SRT files to SSA was just an extra step that I had to do, but it didn't help me when I
had a .SUB file or other type of subtitle. So not only does your tutorial provide one less step (that
is, after the first time around) for me to have to do, it also makes provision for other subtitle files
without having to convert them also! Two thumbs up, Kudos, etc. etc.

Thanks!
Chyna , August 25, 2010

+0


...

Thanks for you comments! I'm glad you find this guide easy and helpful!
axel , August 26, 2010

+0


vobsub won't install

hi, I'm having a problem with vobsub. It wont install. it crashes on installation right after I
clicked next when I choose where the virtualdub folder is installed in my computer. please help.
Neil , September 18, 2010

+3


...

Hi Neil, try to download and use another version of vobsub. Maybe there is a problem with the
one you have.
axel , September 19, 2010

+0


...

Oh my God, you truly happened to become my saving grace!!! I wasted HOURS and went half-
mad! Thank you so, so much!
~ Elusive
Elusiv3 , September 19, 2010

+0


...

Thanks Elusive! It's good to know that my guides are helpful for someone!
axel , September 19, 2010

+0


*cry*

i followed all the steps and everything worked great till the end when i had to save as avi, it says
i dont have permission to save it in this location (and believe me i tried MANY locations!) and to
contact the admin to obtain permission.... great, i am the admin! *cries*
Melanie , September 21, 2010

+0


Thanks

Just wanted to say "Thank You"
Keith , October 06, 2010

+0


HELP ME

help me please in in the part of selecting the subtitles file you want to hardcode. but when i select
it the styles.. and ok button is not clickable only cancel and open..heLLLP Thanks
HELP. , October 17, 2010

+1


VobSub Installing issues?

When I try to install VobSub, and once it asks me to select the directory where VD is the
installions freezes and closes down... If you can please reply back via email or on here. I
seriously need to my parents some American movies with korean subtitles.
Dan , November 28, 2010

+3


VobSub Installing issues on windows 7 32bit

I have the same problem as above when installing VobSub. I refer to the VirtualDub folder and
freezes.
Doug , December 14, 2010

+0


...

http://forums.afterdawn.com/t.cfm/f-158/
vobsub_freezes_when_installing_and_selecting_the_direct
ory_for_virtualdub-833806/
Doug , December 14, 2010

-1


Asian characters won't show up...

Thank you for the guide! It solved some of my other problems. However, when I input my file
(which has karaoke subs in Korean), the Korean characters came out as gibberish. Do you know
how I can fix this? I see that your example is also in a foreign language, so if you can please
reply!
Cat , December 25, 2010

+4


your tutorial...

i can't tell you how many problems/how large a problem this tutorial helped me solve...i gladly
place myself, karmically, in your debt. i've had, for various reasons, foreign films stockpiling on
3 different ext drives for years now...only watching one occasionally b/c of not being able to
watch them on anything but my computer screen. couldn't even get the subs to work on the vlc
player at work for whatever(prob missing a codec?) reason/s...
and i felt all this pressure telling myself i was missing a lot of good stories...wasting disk space,
too...
anyways...thank you very very much for the enlightenment...
Isaac , January 22, 2011

-1


doesn't recognize the file types

hi,

I've been following the tutorials and installed all programs but the movies I have downloaded are
different types such as: ISO and ASF and VirtualDub does not support these.
Do I now have to convert these movies into another extention such as AVI or WMV?

hope someone can help me out !
alard , March 02, 2011

-1


new issue

hi,

disregard previous question.
converted the movies into AVI and this works however, I always get 2 thumbnails in the virtual
box iso 1 and it's not filling the box either.
why is this?

in your tut I see a filled up box (how I met your mother) but I do not get this. I see 2 same frames
next to each other...
alard , March 02, 2011

-1


got it

found out how to have just 1 pane !
alard , March 02, 2011

-1


Also having problems opening subtitle file..

Seen some post about this. Having the same problem. Very irritating. Can't seem to find an
answer. When I go to "video->filters->add->Textsub->open" It lets me browse to find my
subtitle files, but when I select them it just goes back to asking me to browse for subtitle files.
Tried with 5 different subtitle files (all work fine and open in vlc)Also tried with 2 versions of
Virtual dub. If anyone knows how to fix this it would be greatly appreciated!
Filiomasters , March 08, 2011

+2


VobSub Freezes after selecting VirtualSub directory. After selecting Sub, OK and STYLES are greyed out.

Problem #1: When I installed VobSub, it froze after I selected which directory VirtualDub was
in. But it still appeared to install properly.

Problem #2: After going to Video->Filters->Add->TextSub (In VirtualDub) and selecting my
subtitle OK, STYLES and the Directory box are greyed out.

Has anyone had Problem #2 without first having Problem #1? Any help regarding this issue
would be much appreciated. Also, does anyone know an alternate way to do this? I'm just trying
to embed a .srt to an AVI.
Thanks,
Cody
Cody , April 05, 2011

+3


issue free, until

Followed instructions, good until

I loaded the movie into VirtualDub, video, filters, add, TextSub, open, selected my sub file, hit
enter and field is still empty, wont allow me to type into field.

Restarted all programs and computer, same issue. How do I get past this?
cherisse , May 19, 2011

+2


Data problem

Ok, i used it and it seemed to work, but there is probably something i did wrong, my video data
was through the roof.. It didn't even complete the movie ( i ran out of data on my computer
before it was done) I currently have around 60GB of memory left on my computer ( free space )
and the video data used up all of that plus wanted more. It gave me an error that it could not
finish..
Did i miss something or what? this is crazy lol
Jay , May 20, 2011

+0


Think i fixed the data problem

Well the projected file size looks way smaller this time around.

http://maketecheasier.com/how-to-compress-a-video-file-with-virtualdub/2009/05/31/

anyone having a similar problem to mine.. Check out the link posted above.
It helped me, Goodluck!
Jay , May 20, 2011

+0


Can't install VobSub

VobSub crashes on installation after asking for the location of the VirtualDub directory, anyone
having same problem?
T , June 03, 2011

+1


Same problem Can't install VobSub

same problem anyone help..
potanes , June 05, 2011

+1


Help for PS3 users only

Hey guys,

I've been using virtualdub and vobsub for a while, but now that I watch just about all my video
on my PS3 I've found myself using some different options. If you're a PS3 user you're probably
dealing with mkv's as well, so I've put together a guide for everything you need to know to watch
video on your PS3, including subtitles. If you can't get vobsub working, give this a shot?

http://www.manolution.com/2011/06/the-complete-guide-to-playing-video-on-your-ps3/
Sean Lind , June 15, 2011

+0


works a treat!

lovely jubbly, embedding subs as we speak!
nelson punkwheat , June 17, 2011

+0


issue

followed steps completely but when i preview the file it shows < font
color="#ffffff">SUBTITLED TEXT HERE< /font> for every line of text...wtf? How do I get rid
of this?
Slim , June 30, 2011

+0


...

Its a really great way to have the subs embeded, Only thing i really dislike is the fackt taht the
file size is usually doubled, i would expect some enlargement of about 200 or 300 mbs. but more
than double or double seems quite a lot. but thanks for the tutorial anyway. Its really easy and
effective to work with
jack-daniels , August 20, 2011

+0


Help audio problems

when I go to "save as avi" I get a window to save to but when I choose to save the file to the
folder I get error "Audio filter graph lacks output node" I used Windows Media Audio V2 for
compression. Maybe I should not have used this compression but I was getting another audio
error about audio compression when I tried to save the avi file. Help
Roger , August 29, 2011

+0


i want to kill someone

when i try to open subtitle files there are none showing in the folder..i've now been trying to
embed subtitles for the last 2 years and not 1 of these internet guides has ever worked..help
before i go comit murder..please
whitetrash , September 12, 2011

+1


...

Everytime I apply the filter, no subtitles show on the video. What am I doing wrong?
Taryn , November 12, 2011

+0


...

whitetrash, I didn't understand what you are trying to do. You need a video file and a seperate .srt
file that you have downloaded from the internet or created on your own.

Taryn, have you installed VirtualDub as I show in the first picture in this guide?
axel , November 13, 2011

+0


VobSub doesn't work on Windows 7 SP1 x64

VobSub installer crashes on Windows 7 SP1 x64 after selecting the VirtualDub folder. Useless
POS
Big Rodge , November 15, 2011

+0


nicholas c.

after adding a filter i selected a .sub file but nothing showed up... kinda mistified actually????
Nicholas connor , December 27, 2011

+0


...

sry, i meant added a filter (textsub 2.23)*
Nicholas connor , December 27, 2011

+0


...

Hi Nicholas. I have tried this only with .srt subtitles. However it is supposed to work with .sub
subtitles as well. Have you used the slider to move through the movie but not any subtitles
appeared?
axel , December 29, 2011

+0


help huge temp file

I'm trying to use the tutorial to create a new avi of a movie I have the srt file for. The original file
is 691 mb, Virtual Dub runs out of memory while creating the new avi. It created a file 111 gb
(that is correct: 111gigs) Is it abnormal for Virtual Dub to make such a massive file during the
conversion process? All I'm trying to do is add subtitles why would it need 100s of gigabytes to
do this?
stvnhthr , December 30, 2011

+0


...

You must have forgotten to choose a video compression method such as Xvid. That's why you
ended up with such a huge file. Check my second screenshot from the end.
axel , January 02, 2012

+0


Brilliant!

Thanks for this, just done three films and every one worked perfectly, very good tutorial, well
presented and no jargon, thank you!
Druss , January 17, 2012

+0


my converter doesnt recognize the language of .srt files

Hello there ! i recently download and installed step by step VirtualDub to embed subs in my avi
files ! I found it really easy ! i only have one problem ! when i import the subs and check the
slider, the subs arent in the language i want but they look like chinese or something ! The same
when i play the movie with a player ! Although the subs can be recongnized they lok allien and
not Greek ! I made sure the movie and the sub to have the same exactly name but it seems like
nothing happens ! Any comments?
Marios Nikas , February 16, 2012

+1


...

Fails during installation and probably would not work for the vast majority of people. Thanks for
the guide though. Sometimes i wish we could just put subtitles in these files and hard coding was
a simple process. There is no reason why this has to be so complicated.

Apple TV is the worst with this crap. They don't take anything that wasn't created by them.
Tim , March 31, 2012

+0


Awesome

Had trouble with one conversion, where I would choose TextSub and then when I would go to
select my srt file it wouldn't show up once I clicked it. A decent amount of people have listed
that as a problem. The srt file was fine when I used VLC. I don't know if this is a definite fix, but
all I did was open the srt file, cut and paste the text into a new notepad/txt file, and save as. Just
make sure you save as ".srt". And it worked...so like I said, not sure if it will work for all, but in
this instance it did. Hope this helps.
Mark , May 06, 2012

+1


And

Oh and I don't know if it matters, but I saved the new txt file the same way the avi was named, so
"movie.title.720p.avi" would be "movie.title.720p.srt"
Mark , May 06, 2012

+1


Little help please

When I get to the compression step the Xvid codec is not showing up?
Stiff , May 19, 2012

+0


...

Stiff you have to download and install Xvid codec from the link at the top of this tutorial.
axel , May 27, 2012

+0


mr

Thanks best tutorial i have found
Baz , May 31, 2012

+0


Done everything in the instructions but textsub doesnt show up on list..

Hey, I've done everything exactly like in the guide, apart from the fact that my version of
VirtualDub is 1.9.11 instead of 1.8.8 though I dont think it makes a difference. So I went to the
add filters, and TextSub wasnt on the list.
Steph , July 05, 2012

+0


Steph

Steph, if you click 'Load' and go to the 'Gabest' folder and open the 'Vobsub' folder, you can
open the textsub.vdf filter and then select it from the list.

I hope that helps!
Regret , July 21, 2012

+0


File size

Hello. I have to say I appreciate this guide very much and it has helped me a lot. However, I've
noticed that when I've added a 5-10KB srt to my 700MB avi, it always ends up more than
doubling the output size. So for a 700MB avi file, after hardcoding a small srt file, the output
size usually ends up being around 1.6-1.7GB. It's not that big of a deal, but I was wondering if
there was a way to reduce the overall size without compromising the video quality? Thanks
again, you've made my life much easier.
Mark , August 05, 2012

+0


SRT files

Hi,

Thanks for your constructive guide.

I have a problem with adding srt files. I have downloaded srt files from one site but some of
them could be added to film and the others not. I can not add them at the stage of FILTER, ADD,
OPEN : (the OK button is not active)

WHY?
Sebas , October 01, 2012

+0


Issue with Subtitles not opening with TextSub Filter *Solution*

When you try and load your .srt file with the TextSub filter, you notice that OK is greyed out and
thus you can't load the subtitle.

What you need to do is:

1. Open your .srt file with for example Notepad.
2. Choose "Save As...".
3. Note in the "Save As..." window - "Encoding" = choose "ANSI".
4. Save your new encoded .srt file.
5. Your new file will probably have .srt.txt - remove the .txt and now you should be able to load
the file in Virtualdub.
Mephisto , October 06, 2012

+0


64 bit fix

HI All,

This guide is a little out of date. I had the 64 bit version of virtual dub installed and had to get the
64 bit beta version of the vob sub filters to get it working. Get DirectVobSub from here:
http://www.videohelp.com/tools...rectVobSub
and install. then you will have to go to where the directVobSub program installed (C rogram
FilesDirectVobSub) and copy the VsFilter.dll file into a folder named plugins in the virtual dub
directory. Then rename vsfilter.dll to VSFilter.vdf and when you are in the virtual dub filters
dialoug hit load and select vsfilter.vdf. Then the textsub/vobsub filters will appear close to the
bottom of the list.