.idx to .srt

[dorayme]

Anyone recommend a Mac program to convert .idx (subtitle) files to
.srt?

--
dorayme

[Warren Oates]

In article <dorayme-3FAF68...@news.albasani.net>,

dorayme <dor...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> Anyone recommend a Mac program to convert .idx (subtitle) files to
> .srt?

Without trying it out, I would imagine Jubler could do it (I use Jubler
when I'm messing about with subtitles):

http://www.jubler.org/
--
Where's the Vangelis music?
Pris' tongue is sticking out in in the wide shot after Batty has kissed her.
They have put back more tits into the Zhora dressing room scene.
-- notes for Blade Runner

[gtr]

On 2013-04-05 12:10:25 +0000, Warren Oates said:

> In article <dorayme-3FAF68...@news.albasani.net>,
> dorayme <dor...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>> Anyone recommend a Mac program to convert .idx (subtitle) files to
>> .srt?
>
> Without trying it out, I would imagine Jubler could do it (I use Jubler
> when I'm messing about with subtitles):
>
> http://www.jubler.org/

I worked my way through a lot of programs on trying to reconfigure
.idx/.sub to .srt. It can't be done. You can squeeze a image-based
system so it will extrude neat and tidy lines of text into a .srt
format.

PLEASE prove me wrong.

My understanding was (is), that the .idx file is a series of pointers,
they look like this:

timestamp: 00:09:46:218, filepos: 00001c800
timestamp: 00:09:49:722, filepos: 00001d000
timestamp: 00:09:53:426, filepos: 00001e000

You can load them into a text editor to verify. The am of the believe
that the .sub file is essentially the images of the text that to be
summoned; at each timestamp it will look up the filepos and display it.

Thus, converting and image at a location in a "mosaic" file if you
will, so that it is in tesxt format (as below), would be damned
difficult. Particularly as any .idx/sub file might contain any kind of
"text" from Chinese and Russian to French or Polish.

.srt format:

19
00:04:48,988 --> 00:04:50,546
Good morning, breakfast time.

20
00:04:59,198 --> 00:04:59,994
Here.

21
00:05:10,510 --> 00:05:11,408
It's hot.

[gtr]

On 2013-04-05 06:35:57 +0000, dorayme said:

> Anyone recommend a Mac program to convert .idx (subtitle) files to
> .srt?

As I say upstream, this can't be done. I spent months last year in hip
waders with this stuff.

Specifically, can you tell me what you're starting with and where you
want to go? Perhaps I can re-route you through something feasible. With
a fleet of utilities and a lot of experimentation, I've more or less
managed to reach my goals with subtitles files.

Alternatively, I might just be able to DO the damn thing for you...

[gtr]

On 2013-04-05 16:54:04 +0000, gtr said:

> On 2013-04-05 12:10:25 +0000, Warren Oates said:
>
>> In article <dorayme-3FAF68...@news.albasani.net>,
>> dorayme <dor...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone recommend a Mac program to convert .idx (subtitle) files to
>>> .srt?
>>
>> Without trying it out, I would imagine Jubler could do it (I use Jubler
>> when I'm messing about with subtitles):
>>
>> http://www.jubler.org/
>
> I worked my way through a lot of programs on trying to reconfigure
> .idx/.sub to .srt. It can't be done. You can squeeze a image-based
> system so it will extrude neat and tidy lines of text into a .srt
> format.

I garble again: "You *can't* squeeze an image-based system…". I'll
leave my bucket of garbled syntax and spelling as is below.

[dorayme]

Kind of you. But my immediate problem is gone. I had a movie that
someone gave me that did not display the subtitles. They were .idx, I
could see the sub folder. I thought maybe QT or VLC (the cleverest in
this regard) could not grok .idx (which seems controversial in the
case of VLC, some say it can!).

I found places where you can download subtitles (in .srt and in other
formats) for particular movies. And amazingly, found one for mine. It
worked even on QT, but more importantly, on a TV that reads USB.

I found it interesting that the movie was in two parts, first half in
one folder, second in another, I guessed that there would be time
stamps and stuff in the .srt file and all the appropriate ones would
be fetched at the right frames, so I just put duplicates of the .srt
in both folders and bingo. I perhaps could have joined the two .avi
files in QT Pro but this other worked fine.

One thing, the subtitles I got were in a nice font but I would have
liked bigger. Have no idea if you can control subtitle size as
displayed (that are not your own creation)?

--
dorayme

[gtr]

On 2013-04-05 21:57:15 +0000, dorayme said:

>> As I say upstream, this can't be done. I spent months last year in hip
>> waders with this stuff.
>>
>> Specifically, can you tell me what you're starting with and where you
>> want to go? Perhaps I can re-route you through something feasible. With
>> a fleet of utilities and a lot of experimentation, I've more or less
>> managed to reach my goals with subtitles files.
>>
>> Alternatively, I might just be able to DO the damn thing for you...
>
> Kind of you. But my immediate problem is gone. I had a movie that
> someone gave me that did not display the subtitles. They were .idx, I
> could see the sub folder. I thought maybe QT or VLC (the cleverest in
> this regard) could not grok .idx (which seems controversial in the
> case of VLC, some say it can!).

I can't say about earlier versions, but certainly 2.0.5 can. Look under
Video > Subtitle Track and select the preferred subtitle language.

> I found places where you can download subtitles (in .srt and in other
> formats) for particular movies. And amazingly, found one for mine.

Stay amazed: I have hardly found an obscurity where I can't find a
subtitle file. And I chase some significatn obscurities.

I'm not sure if you've watched the movie in question yet, but they
aren't always well sync'd--it likely depends on which movie they used
for reference in adding the subtitles. They're not always the same,
particularly for old movies. I'm currently using "Subtitles theEditor"
(that's the name of the application), to re-sync, re-translate, correct
spelling, etc.

> It worked even on QT, but more importantly, on a TV that reads USB.

I'd like one of those. Right now I'm using Beamer with an Apple TV and
can stream most mkv (subtitles embedded) and video files accompanied by
.srt files.

> I found it interesting that the movie was in two parts, first half in
> one folder, second in another, I guessed that there would be time
> stamps and stuff in the .srt file and all the appropriate ones would
> be fetched at the right frames, so I just put duplicates of the .srt
> in both folders and bingo. I perhaps could have joined the two .avi
> files in QT Pro but this other worked fine.

Lucky you. Especially with split files sometimes the .srt's can be a problem.

> One thing, the subtitles I got were in a nice font but I would have
> liked bigger. Have no idea if you can control subtitle size as
> displayed (that are not your own creation)?

I currently know of no player that will upscale them on the fly.

I have a few programs I use to embed the .srt files right into the
video so they are then a stand-alone file and can be handed off to
anybody anywhere for viewing. ffmpegx indicates an option for upscaling
fonts, but doesn't do it. There must be some trick to it, but I ran out
of gas after a day or two.

At least one program, SubMerge, has the ability to upscale the fonts,
in fact that's all it does for $9. Works great if that's what you
need. These days I'm using HandBrake for embedding subtitles, but I see
no option for changing their size.

[Warren Oates]

In article <slrnklvr8n....@mbp55.local>,
Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

> In message <dorayme-C48878...@news.albasani.net>

> dorayme <dor...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
> > One thing, the subtitles I got were in a nice font but I would have
> > liked bigger. Have no idea if you can control subtitle size as
> > displayed (that are not your own creation)?
>

> If you have a srt ile, you certainly can. I have VLC set to 36pts and yellow,
> iirc.

VLC allows you to choose the font, the size, the encoding, the color,
the opacity, and the screen placement. So does XBMC.

[gtr]

On 2013-04-06 09:36:01 +0000, Lewis said:

> In message <dorayme-C48878...@news.albasani.net>
> dorayme <dor...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

>> One thing, the subtitles I got were in a nice font but I would have
>> liked bigger. Have no idea if you can control subtitle size as
>> displayed (that are not your own creation)?
>

> If you have a srt ile, you certainly can. I have VLC set to 36pts and
> yellow, iirc.

Both of us are discussing how to watch videos on a TV rather than on a
computer screen. Dorayme is playing it via USB directly into a TV, and
I don't have a new enough Mac to play VLC via Airplay to my Apple TV.

I did notice yesterday while reviewing my army of utilities related to
these tasks that VideoDrive has found some new applicability for me.
It's basic task is to convert files for playback via iTunes, iPad,
iPhone and ATV's of all varieties. I was testing to see if it would
convert .sub/.idx for play back format via iTunes. Once again, of
course, it would not.

But I noted while playing the test file on iTunes that it was willing
to stream it to my ATV, which is a revelation. I use Beamer for this
task right now, but Beamer frequently has problems backing up and
re-starting without a unending re-buffering that causes me to re-start
the program. When playing back via iTunes, this has gone away. So I
think now I'll begin streaming to my ATV using iTunes. I note it tells
me that it's using "Airplay", and I was under the (false) impression
that this worked only on 2012 model Macs and newer. Mine is 2009.

[gtr]

On 2013-04-06 12:01:26 +0000, Warren Oates said:

> In article <slrnklvr8n....@mbp55.local>,
> Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
>> In message <dorayme-C48878...@news.albasani.net>
>> dorayme <dor...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>>> One thing, the subtitles I got were in a nice font but I would have
>>> liked bigger. Have no idea if you can control subtitle size as
>>> displayed (that are not your own creation)?
>>
>> If you have a srt ile, you certainly can. I have VLC set to 36pts and yellow,
>> iirc.
>
> VLC allows you to choose the font, the size, the encoding, the color,
> the opacity, and the screen placement. So does XBMC.

I've never been able to store the resultant video with subtitles to an
output file such as mkv, mp4, avi or mov. I've fiddled with it but can
make no sense of it.

[Warren Oates]

I hadn't thought about "burning in" the subs. All of my equipment
happily plays them with separate files. You might have to make a
screen-capture movie in real time (he said off the top of his head).

XBMC is one of the great programs.

[gtr]

On 2013-04-06 17:25:25 +0000, Warren Oates said:

>>> VLC allows you to choose the font, the size, the encoding, the color,
>>> the opacity, and the screen placement. So does XBMC.
>>
>> I've never been able to store the resultant video with subtitles to an
>> output file such as mkv, mp4, avi or mov. I've fiddled with it but can
>> make no sense of it.
>
> I hadn't thought about "burning in" the subs.

Well VLC won't route it to my TV. And the videos don't HAVE to be
burn-in-able. They just have to go through Beamer to get to my ATV: It
can handle .srt and well as embedded in *some* mkv files. I could also
burn them to a DVD but that costs and I don't want to do that anymore.

> All of my equipment happily plays them with separate files.

Is your TV part of that equipment? If so, how do you get the video there?

> You might have to make a screen-capture movie in real time (he said off
> the top of his head).

I might have to--if I used VLC? Is that what you're saying? If someone
can explain how that works, I'll try it. That would be handy for
.sub/.idx files since I can't get them to my TV through any other
method at this time. Real-time is certainly slower than all my other
programs for burn-in, but I have no method for even doing burn-in with
.sub.idx.

> XBMC is one of the great programs.

I'll look at it.

[Warren Oates]

gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> writes:

:On 2013-04-06 17:25:25 +0000, Warren Oates said:
>> All of my equipment happily plays them with separate files.>
:Is your TV part of that equipment? If so, how do you get the video there?

Samba shares on my Mac Pro to a Zotac id41 running XBMC (Arch Linux) via
HDMI through my Pioneer receiver to the tv. I have separate shares for
TV and Movies (and Music). My recent experience with .srt files was with
a French tv show called "Engrenages." The first, third and fourth
seasons had nice "hard-coded" subs from the Beeb, but the second I had
to download the .srt files and manipulate them (mostly because the subs
didn't have the time at the beginning for the "previously on ..." stuff,
but there were other strange inconistencies as well).

>> You might have to make a screen-capture movie in real time (he said
>> off the top of his head).
>
:I might have to--if I used VLC? Is that what you're saying? If someone
:can explain how that works, I'll try it. That would be handy for
:.sub/.idx files since I can't get them to my TV through any other
:method at this time. Real-time is certainly slower than all my other
:programs for burn-in, but I have no method for even doing burn-in with
:.sub.idx.

Look up streaming solutions. Avahi/Zeroconf works (and with
Samba). There's something called Serviio, which I've used, but isn't as
stable as Samba. Doing a screen capture, that seems like a lot of work
when the solutions are out there. Unless you absolutely need a permanent
copy with burnt-in subtitles.

>
>> XBMC is one of the great programs.
>
:I'll look at it.

It's not really designed for casual viewing of, say, one only video, but
if you have a library of sorts, it works very very well. It's available
for many platforms. Unfortunately, using Linux means no Netflix (without
Wine, I guess, but Wine is like, I dunno, MacPorts or like that -- way
too much overhead for just one program. You could probably run a real XP
or OS X in a vm and get your Netflix kix).

--
Okay then.

[JF Mezei]

On 13-04-06 16:17, gtr wrote:
>
> Is your TV part of that equipment? If so, how do you get the video there?

MacPro -> Mini DVI to HDMI adaptor -> TV.

My TV acts as a display for my Mac , I can drag windows to it and is
part of the desktop.

So when I open a movie with VLC, I just drag the window to the TV and
then go "full screen".

Same for iPhoto for slide shows and quicktime for movies, or preview for
PDFs.

[gtr]

On 2013-04-06 20:47:30 +0000, JF Mezei said:

> On 13-04-06 16:17, gtr wrote:
>>
>> Is your TV part of that equipment? If so, how do you get the video there?
>
> MacPro -> Mini DVI to HDMI adaptor -> TV.

Ah, I did that once with a 30 foot cable, but it's a nuisance to run
back into office to pause things.

[gtr]

Yeah. I think you inhabit a different world than I. I did understand a
few of the words above though. Which is pretty good.

[JF Mezei]

On 13-04-06 19:29, gtr wrote:

> Ah, I did that once with a 30 foot cable, but it's a nuisance to run
> back into office to pause things.

Mobile Mouse Server on my Mac, and equivalet app on my iPhone.

(but my MaC pro is in same room as big TV, so it isn't the end of the
world to get up and change things there)