Overlay
Arabic subtitles inside a movie file
Watching a
movie is a great experience, especially when taking advantage of subtitles.
Subtitles are a great way to understand movies better, maybe because a movie is
in a foreign language or the sound is just not enough or any other reason.
Subtitles
can be found within the movie file itself or can be downloaded from the
internet. Usually, these subtitle files are found as an (.srt) file and can
simply be dragged and dropped into the movie window or named exactly as the
movie file so both can open automatically.
The problem
arises with subtitles of different languages that contain unique characters,
such as Arabic. Subtitle files as such may view very differently from what the
user expects. There are many reasons behind this, character encoding and fonts
are usually the main reasons.
Overlaying
subtitles into a movie file means to take these subtitles and “embed” them
inside the movie itself that would make the subtitle file “printed” within the
movie. There’s no need to define or configure anything when trying to open these
kind of movies, because the subtitle text is embedded and cannot be removed.
Therefore, the movie with its subtitle can be viewed anywhere using any
software and hardware.
Here, we
will guide you through how to overlay a subtitle file (with Arabic language)
into a movie using different tools easily with totally free software.
WHAT
SOFTWARE DO I NEED?
Of course,
this tutorial only works with Windows. These are the Windows software you need:
·
MediaCoder
·
Notepad (already a part of the system)
HOW DOES
EACH SOFTWARE HELP?
These two
programs are designed for many purposes, not just for this tutorial. MediaCoder
is a huge video converting software, it converts a video file format into
another one, encodes and edits video files using many different filters. It
also features the ability to embed subtitles into a video file.
Notepad is a
native Windows text editing software, it is also used to edit different sort of
files, like (.srt) which is used in subtitles.
THE VIDEO
FILE
In this tutorial, we will deal with an (.mp4) video format, which is
widely used because it’s compatible with different software and hardware
solutions. You can still follow this tutorial if you have a different video
format, but if you faced problems, remember to convert your video file into an
(.mp4) format.
THE SUBTITLE FILE (.SRT)
You can download your subtitle file from the internet, it is usually
found as an (.srt) file. What makes this subtitle format special is the fact
that it’s flexible and usable on many types of media players.
Sometimes, an Arabic subtitle views with unrecognized characters and
symbols. To avoid this, you are advised to save the (.srt) file in a (Unicode)
or a (UTF-8) encoding. To learn how to do it, follow these simple steps.
1.
Go to your subtitle file and
open it using the Notepad.
2.
When opened, you can see the
Arabic text inside with its timings. Now, click on File.
3.
Go to Save As.
4.
In the bottom of the (Save As)
window, you can see Encoding. Choose (Unicode) or (UTF-8).
5.
Another file is generated and
saved as a (.txt) file.
The generated file is (.txt) and cannot be used as a subtitle file
unless we convert it into an (.srt) file, this is how to do it.
1.
Go to Folder Options.
2.
Click on “View” tab.
3.
Uncheck box from “Hide
extensions from known file types”.
4.
Click OK.
5.
Now the (.txt) file name ends
with (.txt). Simply, change the (.txt) into (.srt).
6.
A confirmation message
appears, click “Yes”.
7.
File is converted.
SUBTITLE OVERLAYING PROCESS
The main work is going to be in MediaCoder. Simply, open the program and
introduce yourself to the fairly simple user interface.
1.
Now import the movie file into
the program, click File > Add File. After it’s imported, you will be able to
see the movie title in the white window below.
2.
Go to the “Video” tab and change
the settings according to the image below. Changing the “Source” option into
“AviSynth” is crucial.
-
IMPORTANT: Make sure the
“Encoder” option in Video tab stays “Auto” if you have a PC with CPU and/or GPU
other than Intel.
-
NOTE: You can check “Copy
Video” if you wish the program to make a new copy of the converted video.
3.
Go to the “Subtitle” tab and
change the settings according to the image below.
-
Make sure the “Mode” option is
set to Default.
-
Set “Encoding” to Auto.
-
Type “Ar” or “Arabic” in the
“Language” bar.
4.
Upload your Arabic subtitle
file (.srt) in the “Subtitle File” option which is present under the “Subtitle”
tab. Leave “Subtitle File (Global)” option blank.
-
Upload the (.srt) file which
we changed it into a Unicode character set.
5.
Set your “Output” folder to a
desired path. This is the location where the final video will be saved. You can
find the “Output” option in the top right of MediaCoder.
6.
After everything is done, hit
“Start” and wait for the overlaying process to finish. It might take a long
time depending on the quality of the movie file and the speed of your PC. You
will find the final video in the Output folder.
Done.
