.pgs format subtitles vs .srt and .idx formats

[Dan Viele]

Avid fans of MakeMKV with hundreds of our Blu Rays on disk. Most medial players other than computers have some issue or another with the .pgs format subtitles embedded into MakeMKV files. Our Oppo player plays MKV's beautifully, but can't read the embedded subtitles. It will read .srt subtitles in outboard files in the same folder. Extracting the embedded subs (many extractors available) only produces unreadable separate files in .pgs or other formats. It would make more sense for MakeMKV to rip subtitles into .srt (standard preference for universally readable subtitles) format, preserving the one pass beauty of the program. For foreign movies requiring subtitles, the .srt subtitles could be easily extracted in 10 minutes, producing a folder with movie, embedded, and separated subtitle files, which would then play in most all computers and media players in stead of the reverse. Is there any chance the wizards at work here will reformat the embedded .pgs subs to a more universally usable file type? Or is there a reason .pgs is the output? Is there an extractor that can extract the .pgs subs into .srt files... that would solve the issue directly in one pass. Or best of all... could MakeMKV produce embedded subs as well as outboard .srt files in one pass?

The rest of the ripping interface is great, with all the choice and simplicity necessary to produce perfect files with minimum fuss. Great product, except for the subtitle issues in players. Thanks.

[Smithcraft]

PGS and VOB subtitle streams are included because MakeMKV copies the streams from the disc.

PGS( as well as VOB) subs are a graphics files, and converting them to text files like an SRT file would require an OCR system. I've been OCRing my foreign movies for years, and 10 minutes to convert a thousand lines of video to text is something I could only dream of. You also have to monitor the process as the OCR system sometimes will need you to correct what it thinks it sees.

And then there are movies like Curse Of The Golden Flower. Every OCR line is wrong and has to be fixed by hand.

SC

[Chetwood]

Our Oppo player plays MKV's beautifully, but can't read the embedded subtitles.

Well, the WDTV does and costs a fraction of the Oppos.

The rest of the ripping interface is great, with all the choice and simplicity necessary to produce perfect files with minimum fuss.

Which is the reason NOT to clutter it with unneccessary OCR functionality.

I've been OCRing my foreign movies for years, and 10 minutes to convert a thousand lines of video to text is something I could only dream of.

You should try Subextractor (hxxp://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=162633) then which currently has the best OCR engine and can rip from PGS and VobSubs.

[Chetwood]

Our Oppo player plays MKV's beautifully, but can't read the embedded subtitles.

Well, the WDTV does and costs a fraction of the Oppos.

The rest of the ripping interface is great, with all the choice and simplicity necessary to produce perfect files with minimum fuss.

Which is the reason NOT to clutter it with unneccessary OCR functionality.

I've been OCRing my foreign movies for years, and 10 minutes to convert a thousand lines of video to text is something I could only dream of.

You should try Subextractor (check Doom9 for a post by Tappen) then which currently has the best OCR engine and can rip from PGS and VobSubs.

[Smithcraft]

So does Subtitle Edit.

SC

[Chetwood]

In 10 minutes?

[Smithcraft]

Not for Barry Lyndon , but if the characters are easily OCR'able then yes. Even the old application I used, could rip right through a DVD with clean titles. Sadly, it doesn't do PGS so I use something else, and something that works in OS X.

SC