How Extract Subtitles From Dvd
If you need subtitles on your movies, you can always find them on the DVD, but if you're ripping, downloading, or streaming, things get a bit tougher. Here's how to get subtitles on all your. 3 - Use DVDDecrypter to extract the DVD data into your hard disk. 4 - Use CCExtractor to extract the closed caption track from the DVD data. As an example, I will be using the movie Merlin. Remember that DVD subtitles and closed captions are two different things.
I guess you'll agree with me that most DVD ripping tools out there handle video and audio pretty well but unfortunately just do not manage subtitles that good at all. They either 'burn' the subtitles on the video which means you cannot turn them off or create .sub files. In the other hand, .srt subtitles is much more handy than any of the choices above. It's plain text, so it is small sized and can be formated by the player to the liking of the user. Also it is very easy to merge in containers like mkv so that you can have video, audio and subtitles in one file.So the best solution is to create the video file using the DVD rip program of your choice and then rip the subtitles using something else. In this guide we will use one of the most popular programs that can do this task, SubRip.
Load SubRip and in the main window click the 'VOB' button in the toolbar (it is the very first one). The window above will open. First, you will have to click Open IFO and load the first .IFO file of the DVD. That will probably be VTS_01_0.IFO. After you load it, check the filenames to make sure everything is OK, there should be 4 or more VOB files of a big size (size appears in the right). Make sure you select all of them but the first, and right at the top select the Language stream you want to rip. In the right part of the window, leave Characters matrix file to New File (we will explain what that means at the end) and make sure 'SubPictures to Text via OCR' is selected in the Actions option. Finally, click Start to begin the ripping process. |
SubRip is using OCR (optical character recognition) to convert the subtitles, which in the DVD are stored as images, to text. Because of that you'll need to manually input each character the first time SubRip finds it. It may sound like a big job, but usually in 5-10 minutes you will enter everything SubRip needs to continue the ripping automatically. You can see an example dialog above. All you have to do is check the blue character in the image, enter it below and click OK. Just make sure you enter the correct one (they are case-sensitive) or the subtitle created will have dozens of errors. |
Above you can see SubRib working. Usually ripping a 2 hour movie's subtitles after you're done with the manual character input takes a little less than an hour. Just make sure you are around, since SubRip might find an unrecognizable character anytime, and of course halt the ripping process waiting for your input. |
When it is finished you have to save to .srt file. Click the save button as shown in the image above and your subtitles file is ready! Before you close SubRip it would be a good idea to save the Characters Matrix, so check the next step as well. |
The Characters Matrix file holds all OCR information that we inputted manually before, so it's a very good idea to save it by selecting Characters Matrix -> Save Characters Matrix File As. Then you can load it in Step 1 in the next DVD you will rip in order to save yourself time by not starting the recognition process all over again, but instead just enter any extra characters SubRip can't understand. This pretty much concludes this simple guide for ripping the subtitles from a DVD. Of course SubRip is a much more advanced utility with many more options that we may explain in future guide. Until then feel free to use our forum for any question. |
Summary: follow this article to free rip and extract subtitles from DVD disc and save as .srt file.
You plan to play DVD movie with your player, which, however, needs the files to be separate to begin with. That means you need to extract subtitles from DVD as a separate .srt file. Another case, you wanna use the memorable quotes of some DVD movies into your DIY videos, but you don't find the subtitles online and fail to download subtitles from online site. In such case, ripping subtitles from DVD is your ultimate solution.
Prior to extracting subtitles from DVD movie on Windows/macOS, you'd better have some basic knowledge about what kind of subtitles can be extracted and what can't. Here we mainly talk about the most common soft subtitles, hard subtitles, forced subtitles and closed captions.
Table of Contents
Part 1: All Subtitles can be Extracted from DVD?
Soft Subtitles: soft subtitles are subtitles that are not IN the actually video. The DVD video file and subtitles are separate as individual files. You can rip soft subtitles from DVD as separate .srt or .ssa file.
Hard Subtitles: opposite to soft subtitles, hard subtitles (aka. burned-in subtitles) are rendered INTO the actual video, which means you can NOT extract hard subtitles from DVD as separate files. To put it in another words, the subtitles and video images are melt into one.
Forced Subtitles: forced subtitles are commonly on movies and only display subtitles when the characters speak a foreign or alien language. For instance, if the movie uses English for most part, interspersed with some Spanish language, then the forced subtitles only appear in English when the Spanish dialogue shows up. Hence, you're also able to extract forced subtitles from DVD.
Closed Captions: closed captions are essential for people with impaired hearing and are different from the common DVD subtitles. Usually, DVD subtitles are decoded by the DVD player, while Closed Captions are decoded by the TV. Generally, there is hardly no closed captions used in common DVDs.
To sum up, when it comes to strip DVD subtitles, it mainly refers to soft subtitles or forced subtitles, not hard subtitles/closed captions.
Part 2: How to Extract Subtitles from DVD on Windows PC
From the first part, you know what kind of subtitles can be ripped from DVD disc. And now it's time to show you how to remove soft subtitles, forced subtitles or closed captions from DVD as separate .srt, .ass or .ssa file. Generally two steps to go: rip DVD to VIDEO_TS folder and extract subtitles from VIDEO_TS folder via subtitle extractor tool.
Step 1: Free Rip DVD to VIDEO_TS Folder
For Windows PC, you can consider to use free DVD ripper DVD Shrink to free rip DVD to VIDEO_TS folder first.
1. Free download DVD Shrink on Windows PC and fire it up.
2. Click 'Open Files' button to load VIDEO_TS folder or alternatively click 'Open Disc' to load DVD disc. Followed by a tap on 'OK'.
3. Adjust DVD compression settings. Click 'Main Movie' and you can see the titles under main movie. The compression settings is on the right column, where you can freely adjust settings to compress DVD file size at 58.4% compression ratio.
4. In the compression settings zone, the subpicture means DVD subtitles. If there is no subtitles, right click on the Title > tap 'select default streams' > click 'Display the Following Subpicture Streams' > choose subtitle streams that you wanna rip DVD with subtitles.
5. Choose 'Hard Disk Folder' as backup target, browse to choose destination folder, tick 'Create VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS subfolders'. Tap 'OK' to call it begin.
Step 2: Free Extract DVD Subtitles on Windows by SubRip
To rip DVD subtitles on Windows PC, the DVD subtitle extractor highly recommened is the well-known SubRip. Certainly, there are also some other DVD subtitle extractors like SubtitleEdit, DVDSubEdit, etc. you can try.
1. Free download SubRip and install it on your Windows. Launch it after the installation is over.
2. Click 'Open VOBs' or tap 'VOB' icon and then click 'Open IFO' icon to import your VIDEO_TS folder on the pop-up window. Here you can also directly load VOB file after you choose the file type as 'VOB, vobsub'.
3. Click 'Open Dir' to choose the individual VOB files from VIDEO_TS folder.
4. Select 'SubPictures to Text via OCR' under 'Action' at the right side of the interface. You can also choose 'Save SubPictures as BMP' (BMP - bitmap subtitles), 'Save SubPictures as SUP Files' (SUP - image-based subtitle format) or 'Only Show SubPictures'.
5. Click 'Start' button to begin free extracting subtitles from DVD as SRT text subtitle format, bitmap subtitle, or SUP file.
If you wanna know more about the difference between image based subtitles and text based subtitles, bitmap subtitles and text subtitles, etc, please read the below Q&A.
SubRip tips shared by user mats.hogberg on forum.videohelp: he explains the reasons why sometimes SubRip doesn't work for you. As he said, SubRip doesn't know an A from a Z when it starts looking at the subtitles at the first time (much similar to the infant, know nothing), so it will ask you once for each first time it encounders a character it hasn't seen before. As long as you tell it a Z is really a Z, it wont ask you again about Z.
Indeed, SubRip also has its first learning process and man-machine interaction inside (regarded it as intellectual robot if you like). So for the first subtitle, you're suggested to pay more patience to SubRip. Soon later, it won't bother you any more once it masters most characters and decodes (OCR) to text skillfully.
Part 3: How to Free Rip DVD Subtitles on macOS
This part is specially for those who are running on MacBook Pro/Air, iMac, Mac Mini or iMac Pro with macOS operating system. Still, there are two steps to go: rip DVD to VIDEO_TS folder and extract DVD subtitles. Now let's cut to the chase.
Step 1: Free Copy DVD to VIDEO_TS on macOS
For Mac OS X, you're suggested to try on Mac The Ripper to free rip DVD to VIDEO_TS folder on macOS.
1. After downloading tool, launch it on your MacBook Pro/Air, 5K iMac or iMac Pro.
2. Insert your DVD disc. Then toggle 'RCE Region' to 'OFF' if Mac The Ripper displays 'DISC RCE: -CLEAR-' after scanning the DVD in the drive. (RCE Region means region code enhanced, the stronger encryption of Region Code protection)
3. Click 'Extract' to start to free rip DVD on Mac. And the output DVD file will be saved as VOB, your desired format for your later DVD subtitle extraction.
How To Rip Subtitles From Dvd
Note: the free version of Mac The Ripper is only available for Mac OS X Lion or earlier to rip unencrypted DVD, CSS DVD and Region Code DVD. As for users who plan to rip copy protected DVD like Disney DVD, Sony, DVD, Lionsgate DVD on macOS Sierra or High Sierra with subtitles, MacX DVD Ripper Pro is up to the mark.
Step 2: Free Extract DVD Subtitles on macOS by D-Subtitler
1. Free download this DVD subtitle ripper on your MacBook Pro/Air, iMac, Mac Mini or iMac Pro. Afterwards, fire it up on your macOS.
2. Open your ripped DVD VIDEO_TS folder with D-Subtitler.
3. Opt for the subtitle track to strip and tap on the green button.
How To Extract Subtitles From Dvd On Mac
Note: in some cases, your DVD subtitles track can't be completely extracted when you work with D-Subtitle from some VIDEO_TS folders. If unfortunately you meet this case, please keep in mind that you rip DVD to VOB file first and then use D-Subtitle to rip DVD subtitles again.
Also learn how to add subtitles to DVD movies in the language you want.
FAQ
Convert Dvd Subtitles To Srt
What is the difference between text subtitles and image subtitles?
Usually, the subtitles in DVD are text based subtitles, which can be extracted from DVD and saved as .srt, .ssa or .ass. and easily edited. The common soft subtitles and forced subtitles are text based subtitles. As for image subtitles, there are two different types of image-based subtitles: hard subtitles (burned-in subtitles) that can't be extracted from video folder and extractable image subtitles that is only displayed on video image (not into) and can be extracted from video folder. Hence, for the image-based DVD subtitles, some can be stripped from DVD movies and some (into video) can't be ripped.
Could you tell me what are the common used subtitle formats?
For image-based subtitles, the common used subtitle formats include .sub, .idx, .sub, .svcd, .cvd, .bmp, .jpg, .png and more.
For text-based subtitles, the common used subtitle formats cover .srt, .ssa, .ass, .txt, .dks and more.
What is the difference between bitmap subtitle and text subtitle?
Bitmap subtitle is a subtitle list with all text items as encoded bitmaps. All subtitle lists that the editor read from a video file or a DVD movie are bitmap subtitles.For a bitmap subtitle, the original texts are usually inaccessible, and as the result, they are all blanks in the text list display. Text subtitle is a subtitle list with all text items in their original text forms, and this is easily identified from the text list display. Quoted from womble support.
What is OCR?
Optical character recognition (also optical character reader, OCR) can be understood as a standard or medium, with which you can use the third-party subtitle extractor to successfully rip or convert subtitles to machine-encoded text, whether from a scanned document, a photo of a document, a scene-photo. Especially when you need to rip subtitles from DVD as .srt text subtitles, you need OCR. For more detailed info, visit OCR Wikipedia.