Gpgm2srt is a software tool that converts DVD subtitles into text format with a graphical interface.
You can obtain the subtitle stream from a DVD disc using tcextract in conjunction with MPlayer or tccat. The process for doing this is detailed in a previous article on processing DVD subtitles in console. With gpgm2srt, you can accomplish the same functionality through a few clicks on its graphical interface and access added features.
Although the scripts are still currently in development and many features remain to be implemented, the existing functionality is already impressive. If you encounter any bugs, you are encouraged to report them, and requests for new features are also welcome.
Currently, only an English version of the GUI is available, but the recognition algorithm is designed with diacritics capabilities, and compatibility for other languages, such as Czech, Slovak, and more. In case the program runs oddly or fails altogether, you can run it from the console and monitor or send the appearing messages.
It is essential to note that the program is a script and, thus, has certain limitations in speed. On a 1.8Ghz Pentium 4 computer, the script runs fast enough. Any delay should be manageable with patience. If the script freezes or undergoes an unhandled loop, check the messages in the console, processor load, and hard disc activity.
Additionally, the most time-consuming steps are the ripping of the initial subtitle stream from the DVD disc and then its conversion into PGM pictures, using pgm2subtitles. The software requirements include Perl, Perl-Tk, subtitle2pgm, libnetpbm9, perl-Tie-Watch, recode, file, tcextract, tccat, MPlayer, and srtrepair.pl.
Installation is easy and requires the download of scripts gpgm2srt.pl, Exactocr.pm, and subtitle2pgm into the ~/bin/ directory or any other preferred directory. If the /bin/ directory is not present in your home directory, create it. Then check if PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin is set. If not, use PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin to set it.
Finally, in case your Perl versions fail to compile, use encoding ':locale'; command, but should this not work, you can comment the line with # or prompt use sed "s/use encoding/#use encoding/" -i gpgm2srt.pl to solve problems with saving/loading text subtitles encoded in UTF-8/ISO-2/Win1250. Overall, gpgm2srt is an excellent software tool that offers numerous benefits to its users.
Version 0.6.1: N/A