Chinese subtitles for...

[chrisnhong]

One of my annoyances is that i have been unable to get much in the way of chinese subtitled english language films. I've tried yesasia.com and a bunch of others, but they're awful expensive compared to buying the standard dvd here. Also there is a lot of stuff that's just plain not available.

 

I think if your SOs are like mine, they've seen a lot of stuff from the last 10 years, but practically nothing before that. One of the things i bought her for christmas was a copy of Groundhog day, which is pretty good for learning as much of the text keeps being repeated. It's a good film as well.

 

I looked at verycd.com recently, and found it to be ok, but i just don't like pirating movies. TV shows in .rmvb format work pretty well (try Real Alternative Player instead of RealPlayer, it's not anywhere near as annoying). A lot of that stuff just doesn't reach here, so i'm less concerned about the piracy aspect. The TV shows usually have the chinese subtitles embedded in them, so they're easy to use.

 

I did find however, that movie subtitle files can be downloaded. Sites like shooter.com.cn have just about anything. I'm in the process of trying to play locally purchased DVDs in Real Alternative Player and load these external subtitles at the same time. I'm still on the learning curve here, no success yet as it appears that I have to upgrade to a recent video card.

 

The target is to get to watch locally acquired DVDs and watch them with subtitles downloaded from the net. I'll let you all know how i get on.

[Randy W]

The only commercially available English language DVD's I've found with Chinese sub-titles are Mulan, Lost Horizon, and Lady from Shanghai.

[mercator]

EBay. They all come from hong kong and are probably jia de but at least you'd have them. My wife will go on a VCD spending spree prior to coming to the US. I'll then put them all in a CD case or two to save on room in the bag. We'll have to get a VCD player as well, so she doesnt have to always watch them on her laptop.

[david_dawei]

yes... if you want to buy legit versions with chinese subs... go to ebay and you can find sellers (stores) where you can get multiple purchases to cut the cost to about 6-9$/DVD, including shipping.. That's how I initially built up my asian collection.

 

The trick is to search for a popular chinese movie on ebay, then look at the auction list and check to see if the seller has 'others' or a store, and see his discounts, etc.

[mercator]

exactly.

[Rakkasan]

The only commercially available English language DVD's I've found with Chinese sub-titles are Mulan, Lost Horizon, and Lady from Shanghai.

207881[/snapback]

FYI - Sleepless in Seattle has Chinese subtitles

[Rakkasan]

EBay.  They all come from hong kong and are probably jia de but at least you'd have them.  My wife will go on a VCD spending spree prior to coming to the US.  I'll then put them all in a CD case or two to save on room in the bag.  We'll have to get a VCD player as well, so she doesnt have to always watch them on her laptop.

207989[/snapback]

I have a cheap APEX brand DVD player I bought about 8 years ago, but I noticed recently on the remote a button marked P/N. This is to switch between PAL and NTSC formats. While in China I purchased a couple of karaoke VCD's to play on my computer. Becuase I was curious i put one in the APEX DVD player and viola...it played. It did not have automatic startup. I had to hit play and select the song i wanted to hear, but it worked. I fact I didn't even have to it the P/N button. There was a short dialog on the screen and then it played.

[chrisnhong]

Well,

I’ve finally worked this out. It turns out that the software needed to show subtitles onto DVDs and movie files already exists, I didn’t have to write any after all.

 

Here’s what is required:

1. A reasonably current PC, with DVD drive.

2. Installed with a current video card, capable of running VMR9.

3. Direct X9.

4. A decent media player (software), Real Alternative Player is my choice, it seems to have the widest capability whilst being very lightweight and fast.

5. A DVD decoder, such as Nero DirectShow. Others are available, many for free.

6. DirectVobSub, this is software required by most players to run subtitles.

7. The east asian language pack must be installed so that Chinese characters can be seen on screen.

8. A program capable of editing subtitles, my preference is Subtitle Workshop.

9. An internet connection so that you can pick up subtitles from shooter.com.cn

 

All of the software mentioned is available on the net.

 

In the media player, go to Options and set the subtitle font to something Chinese, eg. SimSun or SimHei. Set the DVD to render in VMR9, which is required to render the DVD and subtitles on the screen as required.

 

In Media Player Classic you can load the DVD and then the subtitles, merely hitting the play button should run them. If you are using movie files such as .avi then you only need to ensure that the subtitles file has the same name as the movie file and the subtitles will run.

 

Subtitle files usually come in a .rar archive. They are pretty small files. Often they are split, so you need a program such as Subtitle Workshop to join them. They sometimes come out of synch, so you may need to adjust the timing before you play them. Otherwise the subtitles can lag or run ahead of the film.

 

If the movies that your SO brings with her do not have English subtitles, this is a good way to view the film for those of us whose Chinese is less than fluent.

 

Most current video cards have TV out, so the movie can be watched on the TV screen if you have the correct leads. I’ll give that a try this weekend. You can even hook up the sound system.

 

So now it is possible for me to purchase or hire a DVD locally and have it up and running with Chinese subtitles within an hour or so.

[izus]

Well,

I’ve finally worked this out.  It turns out that the software needed to show subtitles onto DVDs and movie files already exists, I didn’t have to write any after all.

 

Here’s what is required:

1. A reasonably current PC, with DVD drive.

2. Installed with a current video card, capable of running VMR9.

3. Direct X9.

4. A decent media player (software), Real Alternative Player is my choice, it seems to have the widest capability whilst being very lightweight and fast.

5. A DVD decoder, such as Nero DirectShow.  Others are available, many for free.

6. DirectVobSub, this is software required by most players to run subtitles.

7. The east asian language pack must be installed so that Chinese characters can be seen on screen.

8. A program capable of editing subtitles, my preference is Subtitle Workshop.

9. An internet connection so that you can pick up subtitles from shooter.com.cn

 

All of the software mentioned is available on the net.

 

In the media player, go to Options and set the subtitle font to something Chinese, eg. SimSun or SimHei.  Set the DVD to render in VMR9, which is required to render the DVD and subtitles on the screen as required.

 

In Media Player Classic you can load the DVD and then the subtitles, merely hitting the play button should run them.  If you are using movie files such as .avi then you only need to ensure that the subtitles file has the same name as the movie file and the subtitles will run.

 

Subtitle files usually come in a .rar archive.  They are pretty small files.  Often they are split, so you need a program such as Subtitle Workshop to join them.  They sometimes come out of synch, so you may need to adjust the timing before you play them.  Otherwise the subtitles can lag or run ahead of the film.

 

If the movies that your SO brings with her do not have English subtitles, this is a good way to view the film for those of us whose Chinese is less than fluent. 

 

Most current video cards have TV out, so the movie can be watched on the TV screen if you have the correct leads.  I’ll give that a try this weekend.  You can even hook up the sound system.

 

So now it is possible for me to purchase or hire a DVD locally and have it up and running with Chinese subtitles within an hour or so.

212651[/snapback]

very very nice! dpes this work?

i could not find this website

shooter.com.cn

you forgot to add a DLP projector

Edited May 8, 2006 by izus (see edit history)

[izus]

or you get someone that you know in beijing and have them ship you whatever movie you want with chinse subtitels for 1 dollar each

[chrisnhong]

The process does work, but I don't have a projector. Real estate is pretty high priced in Sydney, even compared to the US, so my place is only a small apartment, but I'm not exactly stretched in paying the mortgage.

 

The site, www.shooter.com.cn does exist, I've never had a problem finding it.

 

I understand that I can get pirated stuff from China, I would just prefer not to go that way if possible. Customs here rather frowns on large numbers of DVDs coming in from China as well. I have no problem with downloading TV programs off the net, for example, if it's not available here.

 

I'm just happy to have it all working.