Fansubbing, a.k.a. fan subtitling, is the process of taking a video or movie in a foreign language and adding your own subtitles to it so that people who don't know the original language can watch and enjoy the work. This guide describes how to produce DVD to DVD fansubs on the Linux platform using free software. Because I am only familiar with NTSC video, the discussion is restricted to the NTSC format only.
Here is what you need to get started.
You need a computer with a DVD burner. My expertise is with DVD-R, because that's what I use, but most of it applies equally well to DVD+R once you have dvd+rw-tools working (in fact only the last step is different). DVD-RAM is not supported by most DVD players, and is not discussed here.
If you don't have a DVD burner, you might want to read the horribly outdated previous version of this guide, which focuses on fansubbing to CD media. The current version and all future versions of the guide will cover DVD media only.
Your computer needs to have reasonably modern CPU speed and disk capacity. Reasonable minimums might be a Pentium III 500MHz CPU and 10 GB of free disk space (this is just an estimate; I have never tried actually using such a system for fansubbing). There is no upper limit on what is useful--video work is a very demanding application capable of using up whatever resources you can throw at it.
I will list all the software that you need, along with where to get it for Red Hat. If you use another linux distribution then you will have to install it on your own using this listing as a guide.
Copyright © 2003 David Jao <djao@dominia.org>.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.
All comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome and should be sent to djao@dominia.org.
Some of the programs whose usage is documented in this guide can optionally make use of CSS decryption routines for decrypting the contents of encrypted DVDs. Although CSS decryption software is legal in most countries, its legal status in the US is in doubt in light of the MPAA v. Reimerdes, Corley and Kazan court ruling. THE AUTHOR OF THIS GUIDE DOES NOT SANCTION THE ILLEGAL USE OF CSS DECRYPTION SOFTWARE IN THE UNITED STATES. READERS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO US LAW MUST AGREE TO LIMIT THE APPLICATION OF THE TECHNIQUES IN THIS GUIDE TO UNENCRYPTED OR LAWFULLY ACCESSIBLE DISCS ONLY.
Regardless of the legal status of CSS decryption, the copyright laws in most countries do not allow unlicensed copying of DVD videos except in very limited "fair use" contexts. THE AUTHOR OF THIS GUIDE DOES NOT SANCTION THE ILLEGAL COPYING OF COPYRIGHTED DVDS.