How can I play back a movie without subtitles?

[Rooster6975]

I have found some manufacturers put out cheaper DVDs but impose the local language subtitles. For instance, I am anglophone, but live in France. When I buy a DVD, occasionally they are marked VOST, which means the movie is in it's original language with French subs. However, the subtitle menu in PowerDVD or WinDVD is greyed out. I have no choice but to watch the film with the French subtitles. Since I am not French, they do not do me any good other than to ruin the movie.

I already know they are not part of the filmed image, because if I create a DivX backup of my DVD, I do not have subtitles. How can I play the movie but turn off the subs? If a mass-market player such as PowerDVD can't do it, I have to assume it is some sort of agreement to force them on the public in order to sell cheaper titles. Most VOST DVDs also have very few extras, you basically get the movie and nothing else. And they cost about 30% cheaper than the "full" version with multiple language subs (which can be turned off).

Does anyone know of a tool to turn them off during playback?

Thanks,
Rooster.

[setarip]

If available under WinDVD, select a different "angle"...

[weezul]

yeh, i think DVD autors can control what you change and what you dont because on my dvd KoRn- Deuce you cannot fast forward/rewind through the copyright notice, the Imortal Reccords logo and other trailers. so i guess there doing something the same with your french subs.

[dogboy73]

Re: How can I play back a movie without subtitles?

I already know they are not part of the filmed image, because if I create a DivX backup of my DVD, I do not have subtitles

I think in some cases they are part of the filmed image & cannot be turned off.

for example I have a region 2 DVD of 'Night on earth' which contains some foreign language scenes that have english subtitles as part of the filmed image & these obviously cannot be turned on/off. However, You can still add a variety of different language subtitles for most european language's.

I spoke to someone else about this type of subtitled text which you can add to a movie who explained that this is nothing more than bitmapped text which is overlayed & synced with the movie. This is the case on my region 1 DVD of 'Subway' a French language film (That also contains appaling english dubbed version). Given that this region 1 DVD was released for a mostly English speaking continent it's suprising that English subtitles were not added to the film (Maybe they thought people in the US would go straight for the dubbed version). Anyhow, As it is you have to put up with the kind of additional bitmapped text subtitles i spoke of earlier which appear large, Yellow (Why yellow for God's sake?) & if you get more than 1 line of text the top line intrudes into the actual film (And not in the black borders where they should be).

I've been trying to find out if there is a program that allows you to adjust the font, Size & position of this text. If the subtitled text on the DVD's you are watching is of the same bitmapped added text (it must be if the backup copy you created did not have the subtitles) then prehaps such a program would benefit you also.

[dogboy73]

http://nickyguides.digital-digest.com/subtitles.htm

[Rooster6975]

Yes, that is the type of program I have been looking for

If I could manipulate the subtitle text font during playback, I assume I could equally turn them off. That is what I am looking for. As an example, I have Halloween on DVD which I purchased in France. It is a Zone 2 VOST (version originale sous-titrée) which means English with French subs. When a movie is categorized as VOST, the subtitles menu is greyed out and you cannot remove them. Why a distributer would oblige you to have subtitles is beyond me.

Since I agree with you that the subtitles are bitmapped text synched to the movie, it stands to reason that they are added during playback, therefore removeable. Using a store-bought DVD player such as WinDVD or PowerDVD, the subtitle menus are greyed out. Surely there must be a alternative player which would allow me to shut off the subtitles, even on a VOST movie?

When I have backed up DVDs to DivX in the past, I have ripped the subs using Nicky's Guide. It worked just fine, since I created a seperate MicroDVD file for the subs, I could turn it on or off as I liked. I would like to be able to do the same thing without having to rip my DVD into a DivX.

Thanks,
Rooster

[dogboy73]

Re: Yes, that is the type of program I have been looking for

This does sound strange not being able to turn of subtitles. Have you tried any other software to see if the subtitle options are still greyed out?

I downloaded Zoom player the other day because my newly flashed DVD drive would not play one of my region 2 DVD's. It worked okay with this freeware player though which has loads of different options. It's only about a 500k download anyway so it's worth checking.

Unfortunately it didn't help with my subtitle problem. If I could find something to allow me to change the position of the subtitle's & move them down on the screen slightly that would be okay. It would be nice to just do a new set of subtitles using subrip (And whatever other tools described in Nicky's guide) but like you I don't want to have to get into ripping whole DVD's in order to alter the bloody subtitles.

By the way, How difficult is it to rip a DVD & make a DivX out of it? It looks pretty involved breifly reading through Nicky's guide. Do you need a DVD burner to get the DivX film onto disc? How long does it take to rip an entire movie? Nicky's guide said something like 15 hours! but that was on a 500Mhz PC.

[Rooster6975]

It is very easy

Gordian Knot is the tool of choice these days. I have used it to create 10 DivX so far, all with AC3 audio. The results are impresive. I used to use Vidomi and EasyDivX, but GK has all the options you will ever need.

Follow this guide :

http://www.divx-digest.com/articles/dvd2divx5_gordianknot.html

With my 1.4 Athlon, it takes about 5 hours to encode the movie, not including the time it takes to Rip the VOBs locally (about 15 minutes with a 6X drive). I just launch it before going to bed, and it is done in the morning.

Cheers,
Rooster

[dogboy73]

How do you burn the ripped movie back to disk? do you need a DVD burner?

[Rooster6975]

No, the ripped movie is only 700 MBs

You decide how large to make the AVI file, either 700 for one CD or 1.4 GB for 2. You then only need a CD burner and you burn it to CD. That is the beauty of DivX!

If a movie is less than 1h50, I burn it to one CD with an AC3 2-channel track at 192 Kb. If it is greater, I burn it to 2 CDs and go for Dolby Digital 5.1 sound at 384 Kb. Full 5.1 sound takes about 400 MBs of space, so you need 2 CDs to have enough left over for excellent quality video.

Cheers,
Rooster