how do i create mpeg-4's or xvid's with subtitles? i've tried a number of ways to get the subtitles in the movie without a subtitles file and have had no luck. any suggestions?

Not sure what you've tried so far, but this should work: on the first screen (after you select the device), in the lower right corner, select only a single subpicture stream for processing. Make your other title selections, click Next, then click the Configure button. Make the other selections (profile, bitrate etc.) then, in the lower right again, select "Direct Render to Video" using the drop down selector window. Click OK, then click Start. The subtitles should now appear (permanently) in the picture when the output file is played.