Handbrake can't see subtitles from makeMKV?

[yalag]

I just ripped a mkv from a bluray disk. The mkv plays fine with all the video tracks and all the subtitle tracks in VLC. However when I open it in handbrake I don't see the subtitle track. There's only one subtitle track called "Foreign Audio Search - (Bitmap)" not sure what that means.

I need to use handbrake to encode this file because it's 40G large. Any ideas? Thank you.

[crowfax]

However when I open it in handbrake I don't see the subtitle track.

This has nothing to do with MakeMKV. Handbrake doesn't support blu-ray subtitles. It's a feature people have been asking for for at least a year now.

They have a forum here that you can use to request it as a feature. I'm sure eventually it'll be added, but the most people ask the better.

Handbrake forum here: https://forum.handbrake.fr/

[yalag]

so what other alternative methods are there right now? What programs should I use?

[crowfax]

You'll need to extract the subtitles from the MKV file using something like MKVcleaver (download link). You'll also need MKVToolnix (download link) for MKVcleaver to work.

Once the subtitles are extracted, open them with BDSup2Sub (download link) and then save them as IDX subtitles (the same format used on DVD).

Then open MKVmergeGUI, part of the MKVToolnix package (download link) and merge the MKV file with the IDX file created by BDSup2Sub. The resulting MKV file can be processed by Handbrake and it will see the subtitles.

This is an extremely tedious workaround, so I'd suggest pestering the Handbrake developers as much as possible so they support PGS subtitles.

[Vicky4]

I offer a different approach, probably more straightforward:

1) rip with MakeMKV as usual
2) re-encode with Handbrake without the PGS subs [btw, I use audio pass-thru & x264 1080p constant rate factor 22 which is more than sufficient with my 110" Full HD projector screen, imho]
3) open the re-encoded mkv with mkvmerge-gui (mkvtoolnix). Also add the original mkv & deactivate all those tracks but the PGS's you want. Save. Voil?.

[VideoWolf]

Would be SO MUCH simpler if makeMKV could rip just the Subtitle files from a BluRay into .SRT files by adding the option "create Subtitle files separately from movie" & then letting you choose what subtitles you want to create, including just forced. Handbrake lets you easily import SRT subtitles files into your movie compressions. Also, creating separate subtitles files lets you just add only what you want. This would be SOOOO helpful for titles like District 9!

Also Pestering Handbrake's developers is a waste of time, as Handbrake is only updated like maybe 1x or 2x a year....

[crowfax]

Would be SO MUCH simpler if makeMKV could rip just the Subtitle files from a BluRay into .SRT

Blu-ray subtitles are images, SRT subtitles are text. Converting from image based subtitles to text based subtitles would require manual OCR'ing of the images.

It's not something that can be done automatically.

[Smithcraft]

It definitely is not something that can be done 'simply.' Even converting DVD subtitles(Vobsubs) isn't simple!

SC

[jeff_s]

This looks like it's now been committed to the Handbrake code: https://trac.handbrake.fr/changeset/4605 Not in an official release yet, but should work if you're up for compiling it yourself...

[Woodstock]

No need to compile it yourself, the nightly builds have include PGS subtitle support for a week now.

Converting to MP4, you can only burn one subtitle track in, but, if your player supports PGS subtitles in MKV files, you can keep the subtitles in place as tracks by compressing back into an MKV.

[Smithcraft]

A new, new to me at least, app for converting subs from bluray or DVD is Subtitle Edit. It's available for Linux, OS X, and Windows.

http://www.nikse.dk/SubtitleEdit

SC

[tjsuominen]

Hi,

Update: Shifted to the Handbrake Daily builds and tadaa... No additional stuff needed!

//timo

---

Tried the MKVmerge "way" by loading the input files & deselecting everything but needed Video and Audio from the Handbrake encoded MKV + PGS-sub from the "original" MakeMKV file -> Started muxing -> no subtitles in the generated output file still... Any hints / tips what could be wrong?

//timo

[Romansh]

A new, new to me at least, app for converting subs from bluray or DVD is Subtitle Edit. It's available for Linux, OS X, and Windows.

http://www.nikse.dk/SubtitleEdit

SC

Linux, OS X, really? it's written in C#. I don't see any non-Windows builds available and I doubt anyone has tried to build this with Mono either.

[Smithcraft]

Looks like the info is now buried in his blog.

http://www.nikse.dk/home/Details/634702455180000000

SC

[Romansh]

Heh! Good to know, though I'm not sure this really counts as cross-platform (at least the Mac build could become unmaintained at any time).