How to Create Subtitle for video and convert video to iPod mp4 format?

(Tutorial for PC users)
Have you thought about letting iPod play videos with subtitles created by yourself? This tutorial will introduce you how to create subtitle and video for iPod step by step.

Software required:

1. Subtitle Workshop - to create and edit subtitle


2. VSFilter - to render subtitles onto video during playback and conversion


3. Sothink iPod Video Converter - to convert video and embed subtitle file for iPod

Content in this tutorial:

1. Make subtitles for your video



2. Convert video with subtitles for iPod

Make Subtitles for Your Video

Software:

1. Subtitle Workshop - to create and edit subtitle


2. VSFilter - to display external subtitle files onto video

Install Subtitle Workshop

You can download the latest version (v2.51) of Subtitle Workshop here. During the installation, the program may prompt an error message. Just click ¡°Ignore¡± and continue the installation, and then Subtitle Workshop can be successfully installed and working without any problem.

Create Subtitles

• Step 1 Load your video

Choose "Movie -> Open" to load your video.


• Step 2 Create a new subtitle file

Choose "File -> New Subtitle" to create a new subtitle file.


• Step 3 Insert the first subtitle

Click to play the video. Once the first dialogue started, click to pause the playback and click to set the start time for the first subtitle.
Enter the content of the first subtitle in the Text field.
Then click to continue the playback. When the first dialogue ended, click again, and click to set the final time for the first subtitle.

Now the first subtitle is successfully added. You can see its details like this:


• Num ¨C subtitle order number
• Show ¨C the time that the subtitle starts to display
• Hide - the time that the subtitle stops showing
• Text ¨C the content of the subtitle

You can modify the details in the related editing field:


• Step 4 Insert the next subtitle

Choose "Edit -> Insert subtitle" to add the next subtitle. And then repeat the previous operations: set start time, enter the content, and set final time, until all subtitles are added.




• Step 5 Save the subtitle file

Choose "File -> Save" and the subtitles as an external subtitle file for video. You can choose to save your file as SubViewer (*.SUB) or SubRip (*.SRT) format. Both of them are widely supported and compatible with all popular applications. I chose ".SRT" format which is just like a text file, so that I can edit it with a text editor later.
Save the subtitle file using the same file name and folder as the video file used, so that the subtitles can be correctly displayed and converted.

• Step 6 Adjust the subtitles

In most cases, after created the subtitles, you need to check and adjust the show/hide time of each subtitle one by one, to make the subtitles display more precisely. You can adjust subtitles with Subtitle Workshop or just with Windows Notepad directly.

Open the subtitle file with Notepad, and you can see the text is divided into separate subtitle segments in chronological order. Each segment has four parts: a subtitle number, a timecode, subtitle text, and a blank line.







• Subtitle number: The chronological order of subtitle
• Timecode: Specifies when the line of text should be shown and hide. Time is measured from the start of the video in these units:
  • HH - Hours starting at 00
  • MM - Minutes (00-59)
  • SS - Seconds (00-59)
  • FS - Fractional Seconds (0-999)
    The timecode construct is like this:
    HH:MM:SS,FS --> HH:MM:SS,FS (Subtitle display starts at the first time, and stops at the second time)
• Subtitle text: One or more lines of text.
• Blank line: a blank line is used to mark the end of each subtitle.




After you understand the segments and construct of subtitle file, you can modify it using just Notepad with ease.

Play your video with the subtitle

To play video with subtitle on PC, you need to install VSFilter. It is a subtitle filter for DirectShow players (such as Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, Real One Player, and others) to display external subtitle onto video.
If the filter has been already installed, when you play the video, you can find a green icon in the "Notification area" on Windows Taskbar. And if you can¡¯t see any subtitle displayed, make sure you have save the subtitle file using the same file name as the video file used, and put them in the same folder.
Double-click the icon to open the settings panel of VSFilter, then you can set the font, color, position, etc. for the subtitles.

Convert the Video with Subtitle

Software:

1. VSFilter - to render subtitles onto video



2. Sothink iPod Video Converter - to convert video with subtitle files for iPod

If you want to play videos on your iPod, you need to convert the video to the format that iPod can recognize (iPod compatible MP4 format). Currently, quite a number of softwares can help you make the conversion with ease. However, if you want to play video on iPod with subtitle, you will need a software to convert the external subtitle file and embed it into video stream, because iPod does not have the subtitle filter to display external subtitle. Few softwares can convert a video with its subtitles for iPod. I use Sothink iPod Video Converter, as I found it is very easy to use, and it supports a lot different video and subtitle formats.

Make the conversion

• Step 1 Load the video file

Make sure that both the video file and its subtitle file use the same file name, and are in the same folder. Launch Sothink iPod Video Converter and click "Add" to load the video file.


• Step2 Setup the conversion and start converting

You can customize the audio and video setting for conversion on this panel. And I just simply select one pre-defined profiles "High quality video ". Then click "Next" to start conversion.

View and upload the created video onto iPod

During the conversion, you can check the option to let the program automatically upload the created video onto iPod for you. But I¡¯d like to view and check the video before uploading. Use QuickTime Player to play the created video. You can see that the subtitles are successfully embedded in the video.

Finally, just connect your iPod to PC and upload the created video file, watch the video with your self made subtitles. and ¡­Enjoy!