Subtitles from MKV and Burning In

[mike_mgoblue]

There are many movies where the Subtitles need to be turned On in order to have them seen. I don't like doing this, though. Some of the players such as MPC-BE and MPC-HC don't even recognize "Default" Tracks that are supposed to be "Forced" On "automatically."

As a result, I use Handbrake to "Burn In" the Subtitle Track that has only the "Forced" text. 90% of the time, this works fine. But, there are some movies such as "War for the Planet of the Apes" where this is a problem. Initially, the "Burn In" from Handbrake appears to "Burn In" the Subtitles fine when the apes are speaking to each other. However, when you then turn the other Subtitle Track on in order to see all the Subtitles, you immediately see the problem. Everything will be fine when people are speaking in English. But, when the apes speak, rather than seeing the yellow text line up over the other yellow text the way it should, you realize the two Subtitle Tracks are blocking each other out. The one Subtitle Track that was Burned In has the yellow text of the apes centered in the middle, while the other Subtitle Track has the yellow text of the apes positioned off to the side. This causes the two tracks to block each other out when you turn on the Subtitle Track for all text after you have Burned In the "Forced" Text.

I have read online that there are certain websites for "Subtitles" that can be downloaded. Some of the comments I read even made references to what appear to be some form of app or computer software that allows "Subtitles" to be repositioned.

If there was a way of "Downloading" some form of improved "Subtitle" Track that could be used with the MKV file initially downloaded, and then placed into the MKV file using the software program called "MKV Toolnix GUI," it would allow people to properly use Handbrake to "Burn In" a Subtitles Track that is compatible with the other Subtitles Track so they do not block each other out when you turn the other one on after the one has been Burned In.

Does anyone know what "Subtitles" source is available to be "Downloaded" and from what website? And would this be compatible with the MKV Toolnix GUI?

[dcoke22]

I don't have any experience with MPC-BE or MPC-HC; I use Plex. In my .mkv files for the forced subtitle track, I set both the default flag and the forced flag to true. Plex seems to pick this up correctly and plays the forced track automatically. As such, this avoids the problems with burned in subtitles. Do both MPC-BE and MPC-HC ignore both the default flag and the forced flag in .mkv files?

When people download subtitles, they're almost always in .srt form. It is a widely supported text-based format. In Plex, you put the .srt file in the same directory as the movie and Plex knows to look for them and present them to you in the interface. I have no idea if your playback setup supports subtitles in an external file.

As for where to download them, surely a search on your favorite internet search engine will reveal lots of options.

[mike_mgoblue]

I don't have any experience with MPC-BE or MPC-HC; I use Plex. In my .mkv files for the forced subtitle track, I set both the default flag and the forced flag to true. Plex seems to pick this up correctly and plays the forced track automatically. As such, this avoids the problems with burned in subtitles. Do both MPC-BE and MPC-HC ignore both the default flag and the forced flag in .mkv files?

When people download subtitles, they're almost always in .srt form. It is a widely supported text-based format. In Plex, you put the .srt file in the same directory as the movie and Plex knows to look for them and present them to you in the interface. I have no idea if your playback setup supports subtitles in an external file.

As for where to download them, surely a search on your favorite internet search engine will reveal lots of options.

I have never used Plex. I can tell you VLC does correctly use the "Default" setting for a "Subtitle" Track. For whatever reason, MPC-BE and MPC-HC do not correctly use the "Default" Subtitles - not even if MKV Toolnix is used to make the Subtitles Track "Forced."

I tried "Googling" what you are referring to. I was unable to find anything. Do you have a particular website?

I understand what you are apparently saying about how an "SRT" file would be recognized by Plex, as long as the SRT file is part of the same folder file. It sounds like it is similar to when you Save an HTML file from a website and you end up downloading quite a few files.

I really wish there was a particular Subtitle file that would work with MKV Toolnix. For the life of me, I have no idea why that MKV Subtitle file displays one way when it is played in its original MKV file, but when Handbrake burns it it, the file is Burned In in a different position. It is really weird. Like I said, it is only a small number of movies that have this problem.

[Chetwood]

There are many movies where the Subtitles need to be turned On in order to have them seen. I don't like doing this, though. Some of the players such as MPC-BE and MPC-HC don't even recognize "Default" Tracks that are supposed to be "Forced" On "automatically."

Actually, MPC-HC 2.0.0 64 does exactly that on Windows with an MKV where I've only set the second track to default.

But, when the apes speak, rather than seeing the yellow text line up over the other yellow text the way it should, you realize the two Subtitle Tracks are blocking each other out. The one Subtitle Track that was Burned In has the yellow text of the apes centered in the middle, while the other Subtitle Track has the yellow text of the apes positioned off to the side. This causes the two tracks to block each other out when you turn on the Subtitle Track for all text after you have Burned In the "Forced" Text.

I would never burn anything in since the video has to be recoded. Apparently subtitle positioning complicates things.

Does anyone know what "Subtitles" source is available to be "Downloaded" and from what website? And would this be compatible with the MKV Toolnix GUI?

You could save all this time by using hard and software players that simply adhere to the default/forced flag. Just sayin'.

For the life of me, I have no idea why that MKV Subtitle file displays one way when it is played in its original MKV file, but when Handbrake burns it it, the file is Burned In in a different position.

Contrary to e.g. ASS files SRTs are text based subtitle files without any info on positioning which is why pretty much every player supports them. I don't use Handbrake but I would expect it to use the exact positioning of the Bluray's bitmap format PGS subtitles. I'm sure someone on the Handbrake forums can comment on this.

[Chetwood]

I really wish there was a particular Subtitle file that would work with MKV Toolnix. For the life of me, I have no idea why that MKV Subtitle file displays one way when it is played in its original MKV file, but when Handbrake burns it it, the file is Burned In in a different position. It is really weird. Like I said, it is only a small number of movies that have this problem.

So, I've just got my hands on the German BD of "War for the Planet of the Apes" and it comes with two German subtitle tracks. One is for the director's comments and the other one for the main audio track. And this one has several items that are flagged as forced. As such, MakeMKV does extract them to a separate track with only the forced items in it which then gets also flagged as 'default' in the resulting MKV. Thus, there's no need to burn in anything.

[sfeinst]

Though I prefer to burn in subtitles with Handbrake for foreign parts of films, if I want subtitles in the language I am watching (usually because of hearing issues - too many movies now have actors without the ability to project their voices), I download subtitles.

These are text files usually with a srt extension. Most programs that playback movies look for a .srt file with the same exact name as the movie file (except the extension) and will automatically display the subtitle. Where it displays is really software dependent and whether or not it can be moved will depend on the playback software.

I have successfully done this with VLC (it has settings for where it looks for srt files) as well as just placing the file on the same harddrive as the movie and letting my Samsung TV just play it. No extra software for playback (except whatever Samsung uses). I have also done this with mp4 and mkv files.

What I like about srt files, is I can substitute another one (say a better one or one that only has foreign language or if I'm in a learning mood, another language). They are just text files.

One downside is you are dependent on people creating the files correctly. For some movies I have downloaded 3 or 4 versions to get the dialog to lineup correctly and on a few movies, none were perfect. I had to go in and change the timings myself (start and end range for when text appears). But I can usually find one that works.

I have used https://subscene.com/, but that is just one of many sites that has them. They usually download in a zip file that you have to extract and then rename the srt to match your mp4 or mkv filename. VLC does have a setting for the name to not have to match 100%. I turn this off, but it does allow naming where just the beginning matches.