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Living in a world without Windows (or Videoredo)

fenlander

fenlander

Active Member
Some years ago I posted here about how I edit TV programmes to remove the ads and edit the subtitles. The world moves on and, as others have noted, my then favourite video editor (VideoRedo) is no more. My other favourite tool is SubtitleEdit with which dvb subtitles can be easily OCRd to produce an editable .srt subtitle. With the end of support for Windows 10 looming, I am preparing to move my last Windows PC to Linux. The other 3 migrated long since. This is a voluntary move on my part since the PC in question is quite capable of running Windows 11, but I'm not prepared to put up with Microsoft any longer. Unfortunately SubtitleEdit performs very poorly in Linux, so that's both my preferred tools gone.

These days I mainly use my hummy to record from ITV1, C4 and Channel 5, and then clean up the recordings before viewing. I need a method for doing this with Linux software only.

So far this is the best process I have come up with:
  1. Record, decrypt and download the file to PC. I use Filezilla to download.
  2. Top, tail and remove the ads using Avidemux. I seem to be able to make cleaner cuts with Avidemux than in the past. Save the edited file.
  3. Open the saved file in MKVToolnix and deselect all streams except the audio. Remux. The result will be an .mka file.
  4. Use the online version of Clipchamp to generate captions from the .mka file and download the result as an .srt subtitle file. In most cases I find the results of the speech-to-text conversion to be remarkably accurate; better in fact that those given by SubtitleEdit's OCR engine. If you wish, the .srt file can be further edited using any linux-based subtitle editor - I use SubtitleComposer. And yes, I know that Clipchamp is a Microsoft product...(sigh)
  5. Use MKVToolnix again to mux the .srt file with the video file.
The end result is an ad-free file with text-only captions which are extremely accurately timed. Captions are not quite the same as fully-formatted subtitles, but they suffice for people like myself who are becoming a little hard of hearing. It may seem a very ponderous process, but once you've done it a few times, parts 2-5 take little longer than watching one ad break. I only do this in exceptional cases when I cannot get a particular programme from some other source.

Of course, there may well be better solutions and if you've found one, please share it here.
 
I'm a (retired) *nix IT guy. I use linux for most things but still use Windoze 'cos of its extensive *sphere of useful applications. Including SubtitleEdit of course! I like your tip about Clipchamp, I shall look into that, ta. I tend to save sub files as .ass files, as I can easily set the font and colour for clarity thereby.

I haven't used Avidemux all that much, I should look into it. I use VSDC's Free Video Editor for de-ad'ing and smudging out logos, and Handbrake (or rather, VidCoder, nicer front end) to merge in subtitles and clip and reduce the file size to summat more reasonable. All Windoze-based, but I don't find it expensive to get a licence online - $10 or so, so I have no real issues with it. I prefer the cleanliness of a *nix install, but I like the Windoze apps.

I do have an older machine that will not upgrade to Windoze. Now that, that I will swap over to Linux (Mint, prob'ly) as it is used for background, almost server, sort of stuff anyway.

I guess my way is by no means better, just different to your method, so for comparison purposes. Horses for courses etc.
 
I agree, and refused to update from Win7. My daily driver is a Linux Mint machine, but my Win7 notebook is still frequently used for the likes of CorelDraw. So far I've not figured out how to clone it to a VM.
 
As I said, there is no technical reason why I can't just upgrade my last Windows pc to version 11. However, I am keen to be rid of Windows and running it in a VM or dual boot setup really doesn't fulfil the rubric. As it stands, VRD and SubtitleEdit are the only 2 applications giving me any cause to hesitate and once I am happy that I've found a suitable alternative way to achieve what I want achieve, Windows and I will be able to part company.
A few discards:
LosslessCut (alternative to Avidemux): poorly designed and inaccurate cuts
VSDC editor: Windows and iOS only.
Speech Note: usable local speech-to-text for linux, but glacially slow.
Most online AI processors: costly. I want FREE!
Full-featured video suites: need to recode after making cuts. Too slow.
Useful:
subtitletools.com (online srt cleaner): great for cleaning up, e.g. iPlayer downloads.
 
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