Trying extract subtitles into .srt format

[leopardson]

Hi all,

Beginner here. I'm using v1.16.5 winx64 release.

I've been reading several earlier posts on this site on how to extract subtitles from DVDs and BDs (instead of burning them into the video) using makeMKV but it's not very clear on how this can be done.

Some posts mention that creating .srt files is impossible, while others say it is possible. I'm thoroughly confused.

I recently read a thread on using Advanced Options to select mmccextr and mmccextr64 to extract CC, but I'm not having much luck with it as I can't find the output file that mmccextr created.

Some questions I have are:

1)Does the audio/video option need to be selected if I just want to extract just the subtitles (i.e., English)?
2)Where is the output file if .srt files are extracted? Although the .mkv file is created, I don't see the .srt files.
3)Can someone post some screenshots with step by step procedure on what to select?
4)For CC, which file should I use mmccextr or mmccextr64?

Thanks

[Woodstock]

DVDs and BDs have their subtitles in PICTURE formats, referred to as VOBSUB and PGS, respectively.

In the case of DVDs, if they have Closed Caption information, MakeMKV can extract that from the video stream as an SRT file (it's already text). There is a problem that some disks do not work well with the program MakeMKV uses for this (ccextractor); in those cases, you either have to wait a long time to rip the disk, or deselect the CC subtitle.

Turning picture subtitles into SRT requires doing optical character recognition, which is not an exact science yet. There are programs that are very good... assuming the text is in a clear font, very little decoration, and especially if it uses dictionary words that can be cross-checked by the program. Stray from that, accuracy drops rapidly.

[leopardson]

OK thanks for clearing that up. It's a shame that ccextractor doesn't work seamlessly.

So to use ccextractor, what are the steps to enable it to work? Should disable audio and video copying entirely and just select CC Box if it appears?

Also where does the cc file get exported too? Same folder where mkv files get go after it's finished?

I'll

[Woodstock]

By default, MakeMKV will try to use ccextractor to pull out the CC data, and it will put the SRT file in as a track on the MKV file. If you want as a separate file, you can use mkvtoolnix to extract the track to a file. Otherwise, it's in there so you can use it "down stream" for things like handbrake or other programs, and any player that recognizes MKV files should see it.

The problem with ccextractor shows up on certain DVDs, where they advertise having CC, but may not actually have it. MakeMKV will "hang" for a while, while ccextractor tries to find CCs. I first encountered it with Gone With The Wind 75th anniversary edition. That's the only time I've explicitly told MakeMKV to NOT get the CC track; I let it grab it if there is no problem.