Dealing with CC text inside DVR-MS files

January 30, 2007 5:34 pm

Major Geek Alert: this article has a highly technical coverage of hacking with Closed Captioning!

If you use Microsoft Media Center to watch TV shows, you can also save TV shows in Microsoft’s proprietary video format called DVR-MS. These DVR-MS files happen to have all the CC text information which you can attempt to hack by using a few programs.

How does one go about extracting the CC text from DVR-MS files?

This in-depth link is worthwhile to read: “DVR-MS: Adventures in Closed Captioning” The page explains how you can as a programmer deal with the CC text and talks about a strange workaround to get CC text to show up as subtitles inside WMV or WMA files (again, Microsoft’s proprietary video formats).

If you just want to “rip” the CC text and get it into a separate text file, there is a program in the suite of CC Tools called DVR2SCC which you can use to extract the CC into the SCC format. Armed with the SCC format file, you can use CCASDI to convert it into a SubRip file.

Using AutoGK, you can combine an AVI version of the TV show and the SubRip file into a final AVI of the TV show that has the subtitles directly burnt onto the video.  I have not tried this method yet (I don’t have Microsoft Media Center at home) so are there any takers out there to confirm that this actually works?

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  • MAS
    Let you know that I tested and worked with DVR2SCC app but I came to dead ends...

    I just had talked to McPoodle who had Perl codes posted at his website (including DVR2SCC) and he said the problem right now is that the original Media Center works with it but new windows updates after 2005 had it changed and makes DVR2SCC unworkable. He had tried to fix it but doesn't know why and what had changed. It is obiviously his "pet" project to play with back then but no interest to pursue in fixing it.

    But I found that Osprey Digital video capture cards do have CC extraction (SDI & analog) and they do meet Federal Section 508 standards. ( http://www.viewcast.com/news/newsletter/december_2003.html#story4 )

    Osprey digital video capture card that captures SDI and analog CC are pretty expensive. Osprey-560 is the latest model and not yet out to sell. But Osprey-530 only supports analog CC extraction, not SDI CC extraction. Osprey-530 is about $2299.00 reseller by realnetworks.com More bargain is Osprey-230 $339.00.

    http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey/digital_comparison_chart.html
  • MAS
    Thanks! I will give a try. I have been struggling about CC on DVDs from dvr-ms files for a long while!

    Again thanks!
  • Bobby Cox
    Yes - very interesting stuff. I had WMC before with my old roommate and it was buggy as hell but overall did OK. The longer we used it the more it became unstable...had to reinstall that thing a few times. That's par for the course with Windows.

    Did you know that Gallaudet developed its own captioning format for Flash (along with another university?) Very cool stuff, you can see it being done with Davila's vlogs.

    See you at the blog conference!
  • Well, never mind. I just re-read the blog entry and your last paragraph answered my question. Seems like a good thing to me, I'll say.

    I'll have to give it a try someday.
  • I wonder if I would be able to convert it into a subtitle format (srt, sub, etc) for DivX/XviD files.

    Hmm...
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