Yesterday a relation of mine asked me how to combine a .avi file with a .srt file in order to create a single video file he could watch on his iPod. For those who do not know, subtitle files can be downloaded for many different programmes and in many different languages from websites such as podnapisi.net and divxsubtitles.net.

Once you have downloaded the subtitle (.srt) file you must place it in a folder with the corresponding video file and rename the .srt so that its name matches that of the video file, excepting of course the suffix which remains .srt (see picture below). Now when you open the video file with apps like VLC and Quicktime the subtitles appear in the video! You should be aware that in order to play AVI files in Quicktime you’ll need to download and install Perian, the “swiss-army knife of Quicktime components”, from perian.org.

In order to combine the two files into a single video file compatible with an iPod (or indeed Front Row) you will need a copy of Quicktime Pro. Simply follow the steps above (not forgetting to install Perian) and then in Quicktime Pro select File > Export > Movie to iPod (see picture below). And that’s all there is to it! You now have a single video file (in this case a .m4v) with subtitles ready for playback on an iPod or iPhone. Although we chose Movie to iPod you could choose any of the video formats from the Export window.

1. Ian Beck, May 13, 2008:

   Wow, thanks for the timely article! I was having the hardest time figuring out how to do this, but fortunately a Google search turned up this article and I was set!

2. Megan, November 24, 2008:

   Is there a way to do it without having to buy QuickTime Pro?

3. Francis Jago, January 7, 2009:

   Many many thanks, saved me hours of pain!

4. Moon River, May 21, 2009:

   I think ffmpegX also a good choice to combine avi videos and srt files.
   just consult this guide :
   How to add srt fiels to avi video on mac for free?
   http://www.dvdburnermacosx.com/tutorial/how-to-burn-srt-sub-subtitle-to-dvd-on-mac.html#129

5. Detroit Dude, September 27, 2009:

   You’re The Man!!!!!!! Thanks.