What's the best way on Windows to offline embed the text in an SRT
companion file to an MP4 video before uploading a short video clip to a web site?
I made a short (ten second) video with my phone to upload to a web site.
I tried a few methods to remove the exif metadata which probably worked.
Then I created a simple SRT text file with the desired captions.
1
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000
This is the first line of text.
This is the second line of text
Then I tried to burn in (embed, hardcode, merge) that SRT into the MP4 so that I only upload a single MP4 with a caption on the 2nd half of the MP4.
I tried Handbrake, VLC, MkvToMp4, VidCoder, Shotcut & a few others (all of which failed but probably they failed mostly due to my own user error or
from my following of bad AI-generated instructions found in my searches).
Given that it's not as simple as it may seem, what method on Windows do you use to burn an SRT file into a short video prior to upload to a web site?
On 2024-10-15 09:12, Oliver wrote:
What's the best way on Windows to offline embed the text in an SRT
companion file to an MP4 video before uploading a short video clip to a web >> site?
I made a short (ten second) video with my phone to upload to a web site.
I tried a few methods to remove the exif metadata which probably worked.
Then I created a simple SRT text file with the desired captions.
1
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000
This is the first line of text.
This is the second line of text
Then I tried to burn in (embed, hardcode, merge) that SRT into the MP4 so
that I only upload a single MP4 with a caption on the 2nd half of the MP4. >>
I tried Handbrake, VLC, MkvToMp4, VidCoder, Shotcut & a few others (all of >> which failed but probably they failed mostly due to my own user error or
from my following of bad AI-generated instructions found in my searches).
Given that it's not as simple as it may seem, what method on Windows do you >> use to burn an SRT file into a short video prior to upload to a web site?
There may be a way in exiftool.
Da Vinci Resolve will do this, but it's a steep learning curve - though there is probably a YouTube
out there for it.
Da Vinci Resolve is free for non-commercial output.
On 10/15/24 09:56 AM, Alan Browne wrote:
Da Vinci Resolve will do this, but it's a steep learning curve -Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then save the video and upload.
though there is probably a YouTube out there for it.
Da Vinci Resolve is free for non-commercial output.
Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then saveOf course that might be what DaVinci is. ...
the video and upload.
On 2024-10-15 10:15, Big Al wrote:
Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then save the video and upload.Of course that might be what DaVinci is. ...
Oh, you replied to a post without checking. How newbie-ish.
Feels bad huh! 😇
On 10/15/24 09:56 AM, Alan Browne wrote:Of course that might be what DaVinci is. ...
On 2024-10-15 09:12, Oliver wrote:Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then save the video and upload.
What's the best way on Windows to offline embed the text in an SRTThere may be a way in exiftool.
companion file to an MP4 video before uploading a short video clip to a web >>> site?
I made a short (ten second) video with my phone to upload to a web site. >>> I tried a few methods to remove the exif metadata which probably worked. >>>
Then I created a simple SRT text file with the desired captions.
1
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000
This is the first line of text.
This is the second line of text
Then I tried to burn in (embed, hardcode, merge) that SRT into the MP4 so >>> that I only upload a single MP4 with a caption on the 2nd half of the MP4. >>>
I tried Handbrake, VLC, MkvToMp4, VidCoder, Shotcut & a few others (all of >>> which failed but probably they failed mostly due to my own user error or >>> from my following of bad AI-generated instructions found in my searches). >>>
Given that it's not as simple as it may seem, what method on Windows do you >>> use to burn an SRT file into a short video prior to upload to a web site? >>
Da Vinci Resolve will do this, but it's a steep learning curve - though there is probably a
YouTube out there for it.
Da Vinci Resolve is free for non-commercial output.
On 2024-10-15 10:15, Big Al wrote:
Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then save the video and upload.Of course that might be what DaVinci is. ...
Oh, you replied to a post without checking. How newbie-ish.
Feels bad huh! 😇
On 2024-10-15 10:14, Big Al wrote:
On 10/15/24 09:56 AM, Alan Browne wrote:
Da Vinci Resolve will do this, but it's a steep learning curve - though there is probably a YouTube out there for it.Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then save the video and upload.
Da Vinci Resolve is free for non-commercial output.
Da Vinci Resolve mean anything to you?
On Tue, 10/15/2024 10:20 AM, Alan Browne wrote:
On 2024-10-15 10:15, Big Al wrote:You should try the prescription he's on.
Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then save the video and upload.Of course that might be what DaVinci is. ...
Oh, you replied to a post without checking. How newbie-ish.
Feels bad huh! 😇
On 10/15/24 10:20 AM, Alan Browne wrote:
On 2024-10-15 10:15, Big Al wrote:Olde, not newbie, just sleep walking.
Why not just use some video editor and overlay the text? Then saveOf course that might be what DaVinci is. ...
the video and upload.
Oh, you replied to a post without checking. How newbie-ish.
Feels bad huh! 😇
What's the best way on Windows to offline embed the text in an SRT
companion file to an MP4 video before uploading a short video clip to a web site?
ffmpeg -i sample_video_ffmpeg.mp4 -vf subtitles=sample_video_subtitle_ffmpeg.srt output_srt.mp4
That seems to be missing a -c copy, but maybe all the tracks will be there.
Using something like ffprobe.exe afterwards on output_srt.mp4 , should indicate whether an additional new track is present.
What's the best way on Windows to offline embed the text in an SRT
companion file to an MP4 video before uploading a short video clip to a web site?
For that, Subtitle Edit & ffmpeg freeware appear to work fine, but it's
wonderful that there are professional level tools to help the creators.
That's really the 'amateur' version, though capable of 'pro' results.
Their (Magix, was Sony, was Sonic Foundry) professional equiv is Vegas
Pro. Any functions are optional, and subtitles is just a very basis one.
I guess it comes down to factor such as $$$ spent, ease of implementing subtitles (and tweaking of them), how you value your time, etc.
On Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:00:49 +1300, Geoff <geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org> wrote
For that, Subtitle Edit & ffmpeg freeware appear to work fine, but it's
wonderful that there are professional level tools to help the creators.
That's really the 'amateur' version, though capable of 'pro' results.
Their (Magix, was Sony, was Sonic Foundry) professional equiv is Vegas
Pro. Any functions are optional, and subtitles is just a very basis one.
I guess it comes down to factor such as $$$ spent, ease of
implementing subtitles (and tweaking of them), how you value your
time, etc.
I appreciate that you brought up the professional tools as compared to teh freeware tools, where there is often a 1:1 freeware copy to the pro tools.
An example is PhotoShop versus Paint.NET/Pinta on the Windows platform.
The freeware tools do almost everything the pro tools do, as that's what their main raison d'etre is after all. To copy what the pro tools do.
In that case, you get most of the pro editing functionality, for free.
And, as a bonus, the freeware tools are easier to use than the pro tools.
So I agree with you that it depends a lot on how you value your time. Speaking of how much time it takes to do something...
I agree with you that the professional GUIs often can sometimes do far more than the freeware GUIs do, but even so, I think we perhaps might be hard pressed to find a professional GUI that does much of anything faster than some of the free command-line programs suggested in this thread can do.
For example, a 'deshake' operation with ffmpeg freeware is pretty fast. ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf deshake output_deshake.mp4
So is a 'rotate by 180 degrees' pretty fast on the freeware command line. ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "transpose=1,transpose=1" output.mp4
So is embedding yellow 32-point fonts pretty fast as a freeware command. ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=input.srt:force_style='FontSize=32,PrimaryColour=&H00FFFF'" output.mp4
Extracting thumbnails is also very easy on the freeware command line.
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=1/5" thumb%04d.jpg
So is embedding any chosen thumbnail easily to do as a freeware command: ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i thumbnail.jpg -map 0 -map 1 -c copy -
disposition:v:1 attached_pic output.mp4
Removing metadata (including thumbnails) is also easy on the command line. ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0 -map_metadata -1 -c copy output.mp4
Cropping/blurring areas using the cmd line is much more work though.
Crop out a section 20 pixels from the top and 20 pixels from the bottom. ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v "crop=in_w:in_h-40" -c:a copy output.mp4
Blur out a section 20 pixels from the top and 20 pixels from the bottom. ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "split[original][blurred]; [blurred]crop=iw:20:0:0,boxblur=luma_r=10
Crop to an 80-by-60 pixel area, starting from position (200,100).
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v "crop=80:60:200:100" -c:a copy output.mp4
Blur an 80-by-60 pixel area, starting from position (200,100).
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v "crop=iw:ih:0:0,split[original][blurred]; [blurred]crop=80:60:200:100,boxblur=luma_r=10:chroma_r=5[blurred_cropped];[original][blurred_cropped]overlay=200:100[out]" -map "[out]" -map 0:a? -c:a copy output.mp4
As is speeding up (or slowing down) a section a little more work though. AFAIK, you have to first chop the input video up into separate sections. ffmpeg -ss 00:01:00 -i video1.mp4 -to 00:02:00 video1-cut1.mp4
And then you can speed up that section (handling audio how you want).
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "setpts=0.5*PTS" -af "atempo=2.0" output.mp4
And then you can reassemble the separate sections back together.
dir /b *.mp4 > list.txt ffmpeg -f concat -i list.txt -c copy output.mp4
So far, I've had to do all those things repeatedly with my short videos
taken from my phone. I find ffmpeg does it fast once you know the command.
But I think the two or three things your suggested professional GUI would probably do faster & easier might be these three tasks I have had to do.
1. subtitles of what I want to point out in the video
2. cropping (or blurring) hand drawn areas of the video
3. speeding up/slowing down entire sections of the video
While I found that I had to use the SubtitleEdit freeware GUI to make
adding subtitles into a push-button simplicity, the other two are harder.
Is it very easy to do those other things using your suggested pro program?
Your 'free' does seem to involve a hell of a lot of unintuitive frigging around to achieve basic results.
I'd go for Shotcut then, for free ! Like ..... command-lines are great,
but it's not the 1970s any more.
On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 11:36:27 +1300, Geoff <geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org> wrote
Your 'free' does seem to involve a hell of a lot of unintuitive
frigging around to achieve basic results.
I appreciate your astute input as you seem to know your video editors.
Me? I'm just trying to get an editing job done fast, quick and simple.
For me, ffmpeg pretty much does everything in a single cut-&-paste command. There's really zero learning curve as you just save the command in a file.
You cut-and-paste the command when you need it, so it's extremely simple.
My philosophy with freeware versus payware editing is that there is almost never, if ever, payware that isn't already copied in the freeware tools. PhotoShop => paintnet https://www.getpaint.net/download.html
PhotoShop => pinta https://pinta-project.com/pintaproject/pinta/releases However, I understand your point of view on the payware video editors.
If I really wanted a professional level of (complex) video editing, the
first program I'd look at is the highly professional Shotcut freeware. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotcut
What people need to keep in mind is that for every payware editor there is almost always a cross platform open source freeware copy of that payware.
I already mentioned that you can get everything you need in Photoshop from Paint.NET/Pinta, and you can get everything you want for video editing in Shotcut freeware - which pretty much does everything an editor needs to do. https://shotcut.org/
The way I see it is there's a learning curve in any complicated video
editor, so if you're going to spend all that time learning how it does things, you may as well spend that time learning your favorite freeware.
The beauty of the Shotcut video editing freeware is there are many
tutorials, where there has never been payware that is better than this. https://www.shotcut.org/tutorials/
If you know of something the video-editing payware does that the Shotcut freeware doesn't do, I'd be surprised - but it might exist in the AI realm.
On 28/02/2025 3:15 pm, Geoff wrote:
.
I'd go for Shotcut then, for free ! Like ..... command-lines are great,
but it's not the 1970s any more.
.... and while you're dropping in your captions do a few other little
easy tweaks at the same time (maybe fades).
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