Using Subtitle Files
Lately, with the sudden proliferation of a certain animated movie, a number of people have come up to me asking me how to make the included subtitle file (indicated by a .idx, .sub, or .srt extension) work with the video. Well I decided to put up a mini-tutorial so that people can just refer and link to it should the need arise. I guess it's become a problem lately only because people have gotten used to downloading "hard-subbed" videos, where the subtitles are encoded directly into the video file, disregarding the need for a seperate program to decode subtitle files. Well worry no more, as it's simpler to play subtitle files than you think.
There's actually only two things you need to be able to play .srt files:
1. VobSub. This is the main program that reads subtitle files, and will work with any compatible media player, which brings us to the next item,
2. A media player capable of utilizing VobSub. Three players come to mind, and those are Windows Media Player Classic (Start > Run > type in "mplayer2" and press Enter), Media Player Classic, and VLC Media Player. I'm not sure if Windows Media Player 9 and up will play it, and I don't care, because that's a program I'm not touching with a ten-foot pole.
3. (optional) Codecs to be able to actually play movie files. Personally, I only use three, and that's DivX, XviD, and Real Alternative. People would also recommend QuickTime Alternative, but I personally just install Apple's default player, as it's more compatible with the new H.264 format, even if it's a bloated, memory hog of a program. In any case, these four codecs will let you play the majority of the videos available online, as they're the most popular formats videos are encoded in.
Installation of VobSub is a snap, just use all of the default options when prompted during installation, and once finished, you don't have to worry about it anymore, as compatible media players will automatically be able to utilize it's functionality. For the final step, just make sure the .srt file is the same filename as the movie file, and once that's taken care of, you're ready to enjoy your movie.
That wasn't so bad was it? Just download VobSub, install it, rename the .srt to the name of the movie file, and you're good to go. Glad we cleared that up.
VobSub [AfterDawn]
Media Player Classic [AfterDawn]
VLC Media Player
DivX
XviD [Koepi Media Development]
Real Alternative [Free-Codecs.com]
QuickTime Alternative [Free-Codecs.com]
There's actually only two things you need to be able to play .srt files:
1. VobSub. This is the main program that reads subtitle files, and will work with any compatible media player, which brings us to the next item,
2. A media player capable of utilizing VobSub. Three players come to mind, and those are Windows Media Player Classic (Start > Run > type in "mplayer2" and press Enter), Media Player Classic, and VLC Media Player. I'm not sure if Windows Media Player 9 and up will play it, and I don't care, because that's a program I'm not touching with a ten-foot pole.
3. (optional) Codecs to be able to actually play movie files. Personally, I only use three, and that's DivX, XviD, and Real Alternative. People would also recommend QuickTime Alternative, but I personally just install Apple's default player, as it's more compatible with the new H.264 format, even if it's a bloated, memory hog of a program. In any case, these four codecs will let you play the majority of the videos available online, as they're the most popular formats videos are encoded in.
Installation of VobSub is a snap, just use all of the default options when prompted during installation, and once finished, you don't have to worry about it anymore, as compatible media players will automatically be able to utilize it's functionality. For the final step, just make sure the .srt file is the same filename as the movie file, and once that's taken care of, you're ready to enjoy your movie.
That wasn't so bad was it? Just download VobSub, install it, rename the .srt to the name of the movie file, and you're good to go. Glad we cleared that up.
VobSub [AfterDawn]
Media Player Classic [AfterDawn]
VLC Media Player
DivX
XviD [Koepi Media Development]
Real Alternative [Free-Codecs.com]
QuickTime Alternative [Free-Codecs.com]