How to Sub DVDs using the new SSA 5.0 overlay feature.

Using an ATi chipset.

This works on my PC which has an ATi Rage 128 running at 800x600, and isn't guaranteed to work on these that doesn't fulfill these requirements. I have decided to do up this page as to get this working is a slightly tricky & convoluted, so hope this helps.

System Specifications:

What you need is....

  1. For some reason, my ATi genlock feature does not kick in when I am using my monitor at 32 bits, so set your monitor to 256 colours. (Maybe this isn't necessary in all cases)
  2. Open SSA 5.0 and load the required script, along with the DVD player.
  3. The overlay colour for the ATi card should be pure magenta (in the CMYK colouring scheme, it's 0,255,0,0, in the RGB colouring scheme it's 255, 0, 255)

  4. Use DVD Genie to resize the DVD window (by using the "Zoom" tab) to 849x637, with X offset at 0, & Y offset at -27. You cannot use full screen as for some reason the full screen in the ATi DVD player will not allow you to do alt-tab switching. This can be used for 1024x768 resolution, but the size and offset will need to be re-calculated for this, and any other resolutions. I would appreciate it if you do use SSA at a different resolution, I could have the size and offset settings.
  5. Start the SSA script, and press OK at this point. Alt-tab to the DVD player and start the DVD playing. Quickly alt-tab back to SSA & start the script running. This part is a little finicky and may need some experimenting with. Let me know if you find a foolproof way to do this part. NOTE .

Using an Hollywood Plus decoder card

The following walk through is applicable when using an Hollywood Plus card, and was tested on the following equipment.

System Specifications:

What you need is....

  1. Open SSA 5.0 and load the required script, along with the DVD player.
  2. For the Hollywood Plus card, the overlay colour is off-green (in the RGB colouring scheme, it's 0,40,0). This should be set in the Preferences:Playback window. Whilst in this window, you should select the "Windowed Output", along with the "Transparent" option.

  3. Using Zone Selector, run DVD Station, and play the DVD. Double click on the screen to get the full screen view.
  4. Start the SSA script, and DO NOT press OK at this point. Alt-tab to the DVD player and start the DVD playing. Quickly alt-tab back to SSA and start the script running. This part is a little fincky and may need some experimenting with. Let me know if you find a foolproof way to do this part. NOTE

NOTE!

According to Kotus, alt-tabbing whilst the script is awaiting for a key-press will trigger the script, and start it. There is no truly fool-proof way around this. To quote Kotus...

As a general rule for "onscreen" subtitling, even if you use audio triggering, I think it is better to start your movie first, THEN start SSA playing when a certain point ("synch point") is reached in the video eg. when you hear a particular sound or a particular "beat" in some intro music, or see a certain image/event in the movie. This lets you take your time when starting your script, so you can be more consistent and accurate when synching with the video. Of course your script has to be timed relative to this synch point, or time-shifted to match the chosen synch point.
Another source also commented that an external remote, such as a joystick could be used. Another drawback to subbing DVDs is the layer change on a dual-layered DVD could produce unpredictable results whilst timing scripts. There is currently no easy way around this.

Acknowlegements goes to:-

If you want to make any suggestions or anything, please do not hesistate to e-mail me at y.m.felberbaum@wlv.ac.uk