Intro, and sample project.

I've wanted a blog like this for a while and have finally sat down and started working on it.
Ever have a project around the house or with your computer that you were particularly fond of, or couldn't quite finish? Then this blog is for you. I hope that I can build a community around this blog that will allow it's users to post a multitude of hobby related projects and allow an exchange of ideas feedback.

Here's one that I've thrown together, no particular reason for choosing this one.
1/31/08 - I've made some progress, note changes in bold.
---
Netflix has a video streaming service called "watch instantly" or "watch now" depending on what part of the site you're viewing. Because Netflix hates deaf people, none of the videos have closed captions (with the exception of a few foriegn films that aren't dubbed in English).

I have hacked together a method of viewing subtitles on many (but not all) of the titles available on "Netflix' watch instantly".

First you need to download a program called Media player Classic.
There's a fork that I find works best: "media player classic: home cinima"
Then you need to have a video file at least as long as the movie you're watching, which consists entirely of black frames. I used a program called VirtualDub to create mine and I've made it available for download HERE. (it's a zipped file, unzipped it's about 7mb and it's about 2 hrs long.

Then find a title on the Netflix website, then go to a subtitle website such as this:
http://www.divxsubtitles.net/
Try to find the subtitle file for the title you wish to view.
Once you've found the file you're looking for, download it and unzip it with RAR format compatible unzip utility.

Now, rename the AVI file (which you unzipped after downloading from my link above), to match the file name of the SRT file you've obtained from the subtitle website. (rename both of them if you like, as long as they match - the files also have to reside in the same folder)

Begin playing the "blank" video with the subtitles, and use Media Player Classic (MPC) to re-position the subtitles to the top of the MPC window (there are keyboard shortcuts for this and it makes oh so much easier), hide the menubar and anything else obstructing your view, then you can position the window above your IE window and set it to always on top.
(Select: View--> Options. In the options window Click "Default Style" under the Subtitles menu on the left. Make the font size quite large and position the subtitles top and center. )

Now you can begin play of the Netflix movie, and restart play of your subtitle file. This is where you'll discover the last big hurdle in the process; synchronization.

I haven't worked out a way to easily synchronize the netflix video with the SRT file.
Still no easy way to get this, keyboard shortcuts help.

I do however have a brief video of my method in action, however one of my rats bit a hole in the USB cable for my camera and UPS says it'll be a few more days before a replacement gets here. :(
Turns out that a Kodak U-8 cable is NOT the same as a USB miniA cable. but with some shrink tubing and patience I was able to repair the cable for my camera. (yay) However I've not uploaded the video to the internet. I don't think I will now because it's shakey-er than I remember.

It seems that it takes a fairly good video card and a fairly good CPU to make MPC and WatchInstantly go at the same time. a 1Ghz sony viao laptop will never be able to do this. (I tried everyting) A 1.3Ghz Lenovo laptop almost works. I used a different program for displaying subtitles and it seemed to work but once in a while the Netflix video will "hiccup" and I'll be unsynced again.

Lastly I can't justify working on this any more because I've found that it makes me go way over my ISPs 10GB traffic restriction. They add on a per GB charge for going over and it's cheaper to increase the number of netflix disks "home at a time" than it is to use the Watch Instantly feature.