Changing subtitle start time

I use VLC Media Player to view videos, and I recently found a set of Chinese subtitles online so my girlfriend can watch The X-Files with me. Unfortunately, they are about 30 seconds fast. Is there anything I can do to change the start time to fit with the video files?

 

Test another player also, if you don't mind doing so. VLC is a good player though, so I would second LourdesCrowe suggestion.

 

It's harder with Chinese and an older show like X-Files. On the major Chinese subtitle site I found two sets - one is Chinese and English and is synced for a video without the opening credits, while the other is only in English, though it's synced correctly. I was kind've hoping there would either be a way to delay the start of the subs or a simple way to edit the file so that its start time and all other times are offset by a certain amount of time.

 

You certainly can edit a .srt file. Here are a few ways of doing it:

SubShifter - Online SRT Subtitle Resync Tool
DivXLand Media Subtitler - Create, edit and fix subtitle files
video file and subtitles file are out of sync because of missing intro

The first link is probably the easiest method.

 

The easiest way to adjust this on the fly in VLC is to use the letters g/h to decrease/increase the subtitle delay, respectively.

 

I run into this problem a lot when my girlfriend and I watch videos together too! VLC is great in that it allows you to delay or hasten the subtitles as well as speed them up or slow them down. You can do what MidnightSun suggests, or you can open up the menu by going to "tools" and then "track synchronization." It might take a little work depending on how much the subs and video differ, but it works well. Good luck!

 

Many, many thanks to the three of you. Wish I had seen these before we went on a trip with our colleagues - I watched about a dozen episodes on bus rides and she couldn't follow them at all. I wonder if track synchronization will work - it's synched before the opening credits (there's always a couple minutes of intro), but off after the credits because the titles were made for videos with the credits cut out. Either way, I can use the g+h combo to keep things on track.