This may not be exactly a MakeMKV question but here it goes.
I had made MKVs of many BluRay Episodes, however it appears that PLEX is not displaying the subtitles/captions for them (not even as an option). Is there something that I possibly missed doing when making the MKV files?
I am trying to figure out what went wrong in my workflow so that I can fix it before creating more MKVs that will have the same problem. I have a load of disks sitting on my desk waiting for the MKV treatment,.
Best and Happy Early New Year.
Captions - for Plex
Re: Captions - for Plex
Can you verify that there is a subtitle track in your .mkv rip? MediaInfo is a handy, free tool that can show this.
Assuming your rip has subtitle track(s) in it… is this the file that's on your Plex? Or did the rip get processed in Handbrake or something? MediaInfo can probably show the relevant details about the processed file.
Assuming the file in Plex has subtitle track(s) in it… are they turned on in Plex? If you access your Plex in web browser, on a title's detail screen, there's a section about subtitles right under audio. If there are no subtitles in the file, it'll say none. If there are some, but they're turned off, it'll say off.
Assuming your rip has subtitle track(s) in it… is this the file that's on your Plex? Or did the rip get processed in Handbrake or something? MediaInfo can probably show the relevant details about the processed file.
Assuming the file in Plex has subtitle track(s) in it… are they turned on in Plex? If you access your Plex in web browser, on a title's detail screen, there's a section about subtitles right under audio. If there are no subtitles in the file, it'll say none. If there are some, but they're turned off, it'll say off.
Re: Captions - for Plex
I used the MediaInfo App as suggested. It appears that the captions are in the Original MKV file. I see a "Text" section listed.
However, I wonder if the Plex Optimized versions are stripping this out. I am not sure... hope that someone can help me review the data below, I don't see a Text section in the Optimized versions but the Format was changed by plex from MKV to MP4 so is it showing in a different section?
Original MKV File
Plex Optimized - Original Quality
Plex Optimized - For TV
(btw... for MacOS is it a paid $0.99 app)
However, I wonder if the Plex Optimized versions are stripping this out. I am not sure... hope that someone can help me review the data below, I don't see a Text section in the Optimized versions but the Format was changed by plex from MKV to MP4 so is it showing in a different section?
Original MKV File
Code: Select all
General
Unique ID : 200099236274448564358049768585612345197 (0x9689B60A957B60F999F8D5C970BDBF6D)
Complete name : /Volumes/homes/plex/Media/TV Shows/Star Trek The Next Generation (1987)/Season 01/STAR TREK The Next Generation - S01E01 - Encounter At Farpoint.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 17.4 GiB
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 27.2 Mb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Movie name : STAR TREK The Next Generation Season 1
Encoded date : 2023-11-19 20:13:34 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.17.5 darwin(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.17.5 (1.3.10/1.5.2) darwin(x64-release)
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source medium : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Format settings, Slice count : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 20.4 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 38.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.411
Stream size : 13.0 GiB (75%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Audio #1
ID : 2
ID in the original source medium : 4352 (0x1100)
Format : DTS XLL
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name : DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 5 028 kb/s
Channel(s) : 8 channels
Channel layout : C L R LFE Lb Rb Lss Rss
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossless
Stream size : 3.21 GiB (18%)
Title : Surround 7.1
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Audio #2
ID : 3
ID in the original source medium : 4352 (0x1100)
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 509 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 986 MiB (6%)
Title : Surround 5.1
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Audio #3
ID : 4
ID in the original source medium : 4353 (0x1101)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Format settings : Dolby Surround
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 83 ms
Stream size : 125 MiB (1%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Dialog Normalization : -27 dB
compr : -0.28 dB
dsurmod : Dolby Surround encoded
mixlevel : 281 dB
roomtyp : Small
dialnorm_Average : -27 dB
dialnorm_Minimum : -27 dB
dialnorm_Maximum : -27 dB
Text
ID : 5
ID in the original source medium : 4608 (0x1200)
Format : PGS
Codec ID : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration : 1 h 29 min
Bit rate : 37.2 kb/s
Frame rate : 0.448 FPS
Count of elements : 2416
Stream size : 23.9 MiB (0%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:Chapter 01
00:01:44.312 : en:Chapter 02
00:07:06.092 : en:Chapter 03
00:14:35.624 : en:Chapter 04
00:27:29.272 : en:Chapter 05
00:36:01.075 : en:Chapter 06
00:47:09.535 : en:Chapter 07
00:57:02.794 : en:Chapter 08
01:06:20.017 : en:Chapter 09
01:11:42.548 : en:Chapter 10
01:18:24.157 : en:Chapter 11
01:30:17.245 : en:Chapter 12
Code: Select all
General
Complete name : /Volumes/homes/plex/Media/TV Shows/Star Trek The Next Generation (1987)/Season 01/Plex Versions/Original Quality/Star Trek_ The Next Generation/S01E01.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/dby1/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 11.5 GiB
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 18.0 Mb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Writing application : Lavf59.20.101
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate : 16.3 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.328
Stream size : 10.4 GiB (91%)
Writing library : x264 core 161
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0 / me=hex / subme=0 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=4 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=16.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Codec configuration box : avcC
Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Source duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 741 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 768 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 484 MiB (4%)
Source stream size : 484 MiB (4%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Source duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 741 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 768 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 484 MiB (4%)
Source stream size : 484 MiB (4%)
Language : English
Default : No
Alternate group : 1
Audio #3
ID : 4
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Format settings : Dolby Surround
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Source duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 125 MiB (1%)
Source stream size : 125 MiB (1%)
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : No
Alternate group : 1
Dialog Normalization : -27 dB
compr : -0.28 dB
dsurmod : Dolby Surround encoded
mixlevel : 281 dB
roomtyp : Small
dialnorm_Average : -27 dB
dialnorm_Minimum : -27 dB
dialnorm_Maximum : -27 dB
Code: Select all
General
Complete name : /Volumes/homes/plex/Media/TV Shows/Star Trek The Next Generation (1987)/Season 01/Plex Versions/Optimized for TV/Star Trek_ The Next Generation/S01E01.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/dby1/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 6.02 GiB
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 9 435 kb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Writing application : Lavf59.20.101
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate : 7 747 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 8 000 kb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.156
Stream size : 4.94 GiB (82%)
Writing library : x264 core 161
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0 / me=hex / subme=0 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=4 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=16.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=8000 / vbv_bufsize=16000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Codec configuration box : avcC
Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Source duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 741 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 768 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 484 MiB (8%)
Source stream size : 484 MiB (8%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Source duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 741 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 768 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 484 MiB (8%)
Source stream size : 484 MiB (8%)
Language : English
Default : No
Alternate group : 1
Audio #3
ID : 4
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Format settings : Dolby Surround
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Source duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 125 MiB (2%)
Source stream size : 125 MiB (2%)
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : No
Alternate group : 1
Dialog Normalization : -27 dB
compr : -0.28 dB
dsurmod : Dolby Surround encoded
mixlevel : 281 dB
roomtyp : Small
dialnorm_Average : -27 dB
dialnorm_Minimum : -27 dB
dialnorm_Maximum : -27 dB
Re: Captions - for Plex
.mp4 files generally don't allow for subtitles.
.mkv files, on the other hand, allow for many subtitle tracks and will work fine in Plex. In the Handbrake GUI, on the first screen (summary tab), pick MKV for the format, not MP4. Then on the subtitles tab, you'll be able to select the subtitle track in the source file (you probably want to uncheck forced and burned in).
As a side note, if you're on an Apple Silicon Mac, the most recent version of Handbrake, 1.9.0, has encoders that work faster on Apple Silicon.
Finally, the 99¢ fee for MediaInfo on the Mac App Store is a recent development I was unaware of. I use MediaInfo all the time via the command line in Terminal. I have installed it via Homebrew, but that's at the geeky end of the spectrum. Paying $1 to install via the App Store is probably better for most people.
.mkv files, on the other hand, allow for many subtitle tracks and will work fine in Plex. In the Handbrake GUI, on the first screen (summary tab), pick MKV for the format, not MP4. Then on the subtitles tab, you'll be able to select the subtitle track in the source file (you probably want to uncheck forced and burned in).
As a side note, if you're on an Apple Silicon Mac, the most recent version of Handbrake, 1.9.0, has encoders that work faster on Apple Silicon.
Finally, the 99¢ fee for MediaInfo on the Mac App Store is a recent development I was unaware of. I use MediaInfo all the time via the command line in Terminal. I have installed it via Homebrew, but that's at the geeky end of the spectrum. Paying $1 to install via the App Store is probably better for most people.
Re: Captions - for Plex
The only issue that I have is that these are Optimization Versions that Plex is transcoding, I am not running HandBreak manually on these so that I keep my high quality rips. So I am not sure how to solve this issue.
Re: Captions - for Plex
Oh… you're doing this: Creating Optimized Versions
I don't have much experience with that, although it seems like a suboptimal solution regarding subtitles.
Personally, I do my own transcoding in Handbrake so I can control all aspects of the output. For movies at least, Plex supports having multiple versions of the same movie, so you could optimize in whatever way is best for you.
Re: Captions - for Plex
What would be the recommended settings for handbrake to accomplish these tasks? For optimizing for tv and mobile?
Re: Captions - for Plex
It depends. Lots of folks would just put their unaltered rips on their Plex to watch on their TV, assuming all the links in the chain could support it so they could watch via Direct Play. If you've got some other limitation, you can adjust accordingly. For instance, what audio codecs can your playback setup support? Is the networking between your server and your player robust? Can your player support 10-bit h.265 files or does it need to stick with 8-bit h.264 files?
And for mobile, what are the limitations and goals? Are you streaming to a modern iPad over wifi in your house? Or are you streaming to an old, small phone, perhaps outside your house over cellular? Maybe a compressed 1080p file with multichannel audio is fine, but maybe a 720p file with stereo audio is more appropriate.
Re: Captions - for Plex
TV is Apple TV
Mobile would be iPad (2020 or later) and iPhone (current gen) both in and out of home.
Mobile would be iPad (2020 or later) and iPhone (current gen) both in and out of home.
Re: Captions - for Plex
All of that stuff will handle 10-bit h.265 encodings. I live in the Apple ecosystem and encode my stuff to 10-bit, h.265 and it all does Direct Play. I've recently switched to encoding audio with the Opus codec, but AC-3 or E-AC3 codec will work as well.
H.265 is a more sophisticated codec than h.264. H.265 vides can be smaller than but look as good as larger h.264 videos. H.265, however, takes longer to encode than h.264. Doing 10-bit encoding (as opposed to 8-bit) means the resulting file will be less susceptible to color banding.
AC-3 audio is the surround sound that came on DVDs. It is almost universally supported everywhere on everything. E-AC3 is the successor to AC-3. It is more sophisticated and like h.265 can encode audio at the same quality as AC-3 in less space or higher quality audio in the same space. Most modern stuff supports E-AC3 audio and it is used in quite a lot of streaming services. Opus is the newest and most sophisticated audio codec and is even more efficient than E-AC3. All three options are supported on modern Apple stuff.
Handbrake's documentation suggests one chooses Constant Quality as opposed to Average Bitrate. They also recommend RF 20 - 24 for 1080p content. In the end, I would expect you could turn a 30GB rip of a blu-ray into about a 5GB movie that will look as good as any decent streaming service.
As a side note, the AV1 video codec is the newest and theoretically best video codec these days. Playback support for this codec is not widespread yet and is still pretty rare in the Apple ecosystem. If you keep your rips it will be relatively easy to re-encode your library with AV1 when playback support for it becomes common.
H.265 is a more sophisticated codec than h.264. H.265 vides can be smaller than but look as good as larger h.264 videos. H.265, however, takes longer to encode than h.264. Doing 10-bit encoding (as opposed to 8-bit) means the resulting file will be less susceptible to color banding.
AC-3 audio is the surround sound that came on DVDs. It is almost universally supported everywhere on everything. E-AC3 is the successor to AC-3. It is more sophisticated and like h.265 can encode audio at the same quality as AC-3 in less space or higher quality audio in the same space. Most modern stuff supports E-AC3 audio and it is used in quite a lot of streaming services. Opus is the newest and most sophisticated audio codec and is even more efficient than E-AC3. All three options are supported on modern Apple stuff.
Handbrake's documentation suggests one chooses Constant Quality as opposed to Average Bitrate. They also recommend RF 20 - 24 for 1080p content. In the end, I would expect you could turn a 30GB rip of a blu-ray into about a 5GB movie that will look as good as any decent streaming service.
As a side note, the AV1 video codec is the newest and theoretically best video codec these days. Playback support for this codec is not widespread yet and is still pretty rare in the Apple ecosystem. If you keep your rips it will be relatively easy to re-encode your library with AV1 when playback support for it becomes common.
Re: Captions - for Plex
Great. Thank you. That is tomorrow night's and this weekend's project. You indicated that they have optimized Handbrake for the M Series processors? I have a new M4 Pro MacBook Pro. It has been so long since I used handbrake last, are there any tips or gotchas that I should be aware of?
Re: Captions - for Plex
I have a M2 Pro Mac mini (currently on Sonoma 14.7.1) that I run Handbrake on. I do most of it via the command line in Terminal, but the GUI works fine as well. As I mentioned earlier, the latest version of Handbrake, 1.9.0, includes updates to the underlying encoders Handbrake uses that are more optimized than earlier versions on Apple's M-series processors.psycoperl wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 7:16 pmGreat. Thank you. That is tomorrow night's and this weekend's project. You indicated that they have optimized Handbrake for the M Series processors? I have a new M4 Pro MacBook Pro. It has been so long since I used handbrake last, are there any tips or gotchas that I should be aware of?
Before you commit to a set of encoding parameters, it is probably worth doing some testing with point-to-point encoding of a section of movie with various parameters for comparison. I've found that most encoding does relatively decently in well lit sections of a movie, like when people are walking around outside in the sun. When scenes become more static and more dimly lit, things get harder. For instance, in the movie Air (2023), the scene in the restaurant in chapter 5 or the scene in the conference room in chapter 10 can be problematic. There are lots of scenes in Dune: Part Two (2024) that can be problematic, like the battle sequence in chapter 7.
I've also found that watching via Plex on my big TV exposes flaws more easily than on my computer monitor.