Instructions
1
Download the necessary software. There are three pieces of software necessary to put subtitles on your AVI file (see Resources). VirtualDub is the primary file. This is the program that will actually place the subtitles on the AVI video. The second piece of software is the VirtualDub Subtitler Plugin. This increases the functionality of the VirtualDub program concerning subtitles. The third download, the SRT to SSA Converter, is a program to change the common .srt subtitle format into the .ssa format, which is readable by VirtualDub (.srt is not readable by the VirtualDub application).
2
Install and configure your new software. The files do not have an automatic installation feature. Therefore, you must install them manually. On your desktop, create a folder named "VirtualDub" and a folder named "SRT to SSA." Open the VirtualDub download. It is in a ZIP file and requires WinZip to open (see Resources). Select all of the zipped VirtualDub files, and drag and drop them into your new VirtualDub folder. Do the same for the SRT to SSA Converter ZIP file. Open the VirtualDub Subtitler Plugin ZIP file, go into your VirtualDub folder, and enter the Plugins folder. Drag and drop the files within this ZIP file into the Plugins folder. This will give VirtualDub the tools it needs to add subtitles.
3
Configure VirtualDub. Double-click on the "VirtualDub" application within the VirtualDub folder on your desktop. In the new window, click on the "Video" tab and select "Filters" from the drop-down menu. In the new Filters window, click on the "Add" button on the right side. Click on the "Load" button on the right side of the window. Find the Plugins folder within VirtualDub, and double-click on "Subtitler.vdf." If you do not find the Subtitler.vdf file, you have improperly completed a previous step. Keep the VirtualDub application open, but minimize it.
4
Find the proper subtitles file. If you already have the proper .srt subtitles file, you may skip this step. If not, go to DivXSubtitles.net (see Resources), search for the name of your video file and attempt to find a matching subtitle file.
If you are unable to find it after searching DivXSubtitles.net, do a Google search for ".srt [common name of your AVI file] subtitle download." If the video you wish to add subtitles to is popular, you can almost certainly find an English subtitle for it on Google. For more obscure languages or files, however, a subtitle file may simply not yet exist. In this case, you must either create your own subtitle file (which is complicated and outside the scope of this article), or find someone to do it for you.
5
Convert the subtitles file. As previously stated, most subtitles come in the .srt format, but VirtualDub can only read subtitles files in the .ssa format. Open your SRT to SSA folder and double-click on the "Conversor" application. In the new application window, click on the top "Browse" button to the right of where it says "Input file." Browse for the appropriate .srt file and double-click on it. Click on the second "Browse" button to the right of "Output file." Select the location where you wish your new .ssa file to be placed, and name the file.
The additional options below the two Browse buttons are optional configurations. Change them with your own judgment, depending on what your specific needs are, but the default settings work just fine. Finally, click on the "Convert" button on the bottom of the screen.
6
Add your video file to VirtualDub. Go back to your VirtualDub application, which should still be open. Click on the "Video" tab on the top and click on the "Full processing mode" option. Click on the "File" tab on top and click on the "Open video file" option from the drop-down menu. Find your AVI file you wish to add subtitles to, and double-click on it. You may need to wait a few minutes for it to load.
7
Add your newly created .ssa subtitles file to your AVI video file. Click on the "Video" tab on top of VirtualDub once again and select the "Filters" option from the drop-down menu. Click on the "Add" button the the right side. Scroll down the list of filters until you find the one named "subtitler." This is the VirtualDub Subtitler Plugin. Double-click on it. In the new window that appears, click on the "..." button in the upper-right corner. Find your .ssa subtitles file and double-click on it. Click on the "OK" button in the lower right. Select "OK" once more from the Filters window to go back to the main VirtualDub screen. Press the "F7" button on your keyboard and select a location to save your new AVI file with subtitles.