Dreamcast FMV Auto-Subber

A utility to batch re-encode Dreamcast SFD videos with baked-in subtitles.

It is designed to accept original SFD video files and accompanying SRT subtitle files as input. It will produce re-encoded SFD video files with the provided subtitles baked into them as output.

Dreamcast FMV Auto-Subber is capable of intelligently detecting both resolutions found in Dreamcast SFD video files (320x224 and 320x448). It will scale subtitle text accordingly to ensure that it's proportional.

Current Version

Dreamcast FMV Auto-Subber is currently at version 1.1.

Changelog

Version 1.1 (2024-10-01)
- Added option for custom subtitle text color.
- Fixed bug preventing use of non-integer outline color value (e.g., 000000 was permitted but not FFFFFF).
- Eliminated use of ffprobe to query video dimensions (now using ffmpeg).
Version 1.0 (2024-09-27)
- Initial release.

INI Configuration Options

Key	Description	Example Value
`font_face`	Specifies the font family to use for subtitles. Note that this must be the full name of a valid font installed on the system running this program.	`Arial`
`font_bold`	Enables or disables bold text for subtitles. Accepts `yes` or `no`.	`yes`
`font_size`	Defines the size of the subtitle font in points.	`16`
`font_color`	Sets the color of the subtitle text using a hex color code (in BGR format).	`FFFFFF` (white)
`outline_color`	Sets the color of the subtitle outline using a hex color code (in BGR format).	`000000` (black)
`outline_strength`	Determines the thickness of the subtitle outline. A higher number creates a thicker outline.	`2`
`margin_vertical`	Adjusts the vertical margin between the bottom of the screen and the subtitles.	`30`
`margin_left`	Adjusts the left margin between the subtitles and the left edge of the screen.	`25`
`margin_right`	Adjusts the right margin between the subtitles and the right edge of the screen.	`25`
`bitrate`	Specifies the video bitrate in bits per second. Controls the output video quality.	`1250000` (good for CDIs), `2600000` (good for GDIs)

Usage

The following folder structure will be created after extracting the release package.

Code:

.
├── autosubber.exe
├── config.ini
├── helper_utilities
│   ├── adxencd.exe
│   ├── demux.exe
│   ├── ffmpeg.exe
│   ├── legaladx.exe
│   ├── Sfdmux.dll
│   └── sfdmux.exe
├── input
└── output

Original SFD video files should be placed in the input folder, along with their accompanying SRT subtitle files. Note that Dreamcast FMV Auto-Subber expects the base file name for both the SFD and SRT files to be identical. For example, a video named INTRO.SFD should have a subtitle file named INTRO.SRT.

Once all original SFD video files and their accompanying SRT subtitle files are placed in the input folder, autosubber.exe can be launched. The program will display status updates as it performs the re-encoding of each video file.

Once complete, all new SFD video files will be placed in the output folder, ready for use.

Example Output

Dreamcast FMV Auto-Subber 1.0