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Handbrake and subtitles?

O

omni

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 20, 2008
335
6
Anyone figure out (hopefully with Handbrake) how to encode a movie with subtitles that can be toggled on/off?

So far I can only figure out a binary solution - they either are always on or always off. I've tried messing with the closed caption option in the appleTV itself but it doesn't really seem to do a whole lot haha.

I want them off by default but sometimes when the woman goes to sleep would be great to keep watching and turn the volume down but have the ability to still read to follow along.
 
omni said:
Anyone figure out (hopefully with Handbrake) how to encode a movie with subtitles that can be toggled on/off?
Click to expand...
HandBrake does not do this itself. If you choose subtitles it burns them into the video track. Always on, or always off.
 
omni said:
Anyone figure out (hopefully with Handbrake) how to encode a movie with subtitles that can be toggled on/off?

So far I can only figure out a binary solution - they either are always on or always off. I've tried messing with the closed caption option in the appleTV itself but it doesn't really seem to do a whole lot haha.

I want them off by default but sometimes when the woman goes to sleep would be great to keep watching and turn the volume down but have the ability to still read to follow along.
Click to expand...

Buy a wireless headset. :)
 
Bump!

dynaflash - I know a lot of work has been happening with something close to this here lately (more like for the iPhone/iTouch ) but just curious if you guys had luck on the appleTV front?
 
AppleTV currently doesn't support subtitles at all like the iPod Touch/iPhone. Just cc. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it suddenly appears in one of those non-descriptive incremental updates they love to push out.
 
Figured as much but thought I would give it a try.

Thanks for the reply.
 
dynaflash said:
AppleTV currently doesn't support subtitles at all like the iPod Touch/iPhone. Just cc. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it suddenly appears in one of those non-descriptive incremental updates they love to push out.
Click to expand...
If you setup Handbrake to include subtitles, they will show up in both iTunes and Apple TV. The downside, as someone has already pointed out, is that you can’t toggle them, as you can on a DVD. They are always on if you encode them that way in Handbrake or always off if you don’t. Right not, there is no way to create a choice.
 
... which is because HandBrake burns the subtitles directly into the video stream. Its is actually part of the picture if you will.
 
I have my handbrake set to only included "forced" subtitles. This way, I only get the subtitles that I would have seen in the movie theatre. Only when the characters are speaking in non-english will I actually see any subtitles.

It is in the video tab I think... like the second page.
 
fivepoint said:
I have my handbrake set to only included "forced" subtitles. This way, I only get the subtitles that I would have seen in the movie theatre. Only when the characters are speaking in non-english will I actually see any subtitles.

It is in the video tab I think... like the second page.
Click to expand...
It’s in the Audio & Subtitles section. In the Subtitles: section there, you can select a language or None. If you select a language but only want the subtitles that translate foreign dialog, there is a checkbox for Forced Subtitles Only, which will do what the earlier poster has described.
 
gwsat said:
It’s in the Audio & Subtitles section. In the Subtitles: section there, you can select a language or None. If you select a language but only want the subtitles that translate foreign dialog, there is a checkbox for Forced Subtitles Only, which will do what the earlier poster has described.
Click to expand...


Thanks for clarifying my post... I wasn't near my mac to double-check what I was saying. I was WAY off! :)
 
Thanks for the info. I've been looking at Handbrake but been fearful of messing up the subbie. Permanent subbies will do me fine.

Does extracting the 'main feature only' with MactheRipper also extract the subbs in a form useable by Handbrake? If not, what settings do I need to use for MtR?

Also, I have some DVDs and files without subs (Blue Velvet was released on DVD without subs, and often re-releases of classic films are without subs). There's several fansub sites outthere on the net, but I often have problems grabbing subs with the right framerate.

I've looked in VLC and QT but there doesn't seem to be any option for quickly telling me the framerate of a file. I have the feeling I'm missing something very basic :eek:
 
gwsat said:
It’s in the Audio & Subtitles section. In the Subtitles: section there, you can select a language or None. If you select a language but only want the subtitles that translate foreign dialog, there is a checkbox for Forced Subtitles Only, which will do what the earlier poster has described.
Click to expand...

When I click the dropdown box the only selections available are Autoselect and None. There isn't an option to choose english. I am using the Windows version of Handbrake. Am I missing something?
 
I came across this thread when I was trying to get Inglorious Basterds to play with subtitles (when they are speaking non-english) on my AppleTV.

I had no luck doing so in Handbrake, but I found a solution. It turns out the most important thing is that you change the file extension from .mp4 as Handbrake produces to .m4v that iTunes/AppleTV likes. There is a preference for this in Handbrake so it does it automatically.

For movies that Handbrake doesn't work on, I found a neat little program called iSubtitle. It is a $30 program unless you want to put up with "please register" titles inserted in between each subtitle screen. Again, this only works on the movie if it has a .m4v extension.

Another neat thing about iSubtitle is that it can automatically search the internet for subtitles that match the movie you are working on. And it doesn't have to re-encode; it just adds the subtitles to the movie file.

Now I have soft subtitles that I can turn on and off in iTunes and on my AppleTV by holding the play/pause button. A menu comes up so you can make a selection.
 
Adobe75 said:
I came across this thread when I was trying to get Inglorious Basterds to play with subtitles (when they are speaking non-english) on my AppleTV.

I had no luck doing so in Handbrake, but I found a solution. It turns out the most important thing is that you change the file extension from .mp4 as Handbrake produces to .m4v that iTunes/AppleTV likes. There is a preference for this in Handbrake so it does it automatically.

For movies that Handbrake doesn't work on, I found a neat little program called iSubtitle. It is a $30 program unless you want to put up with "please register" titles inserted in between each subtitle screen. Again, this only works on the movie if it has a .m4v extension.

Another neat thing about iSubtitle is that it can automatically search the internet for subtitles that match the movie you are working on. And it doesn't have to re-encode; it just adds the subtitles to the movie file.

Now I have soft subtitles that I can turn on and off in iTunes and on my AppleTV by holding the play/pause button. A menu comes up so you can make a selection.
Click to expand...

I don't get this. How did you make the subtitles soft? I can't figure this out in handbrake.
 
phenixdragon said:
I don't get this. How did you make the subtitles soft? I can't figure this out in handbrake.
Click to expand...

He's saying (18 months ago) that Handbrake DIDN'T work. It's now the case that Handbrake will add an external SRT file that you've already found from somewhere else, and will leave this as a soft subtitle unless you choose to burn it in. You can equally add an external SRT file using Subler and probably other programs too.

To create your own SRT file from the original DVD/Blu-ray isn't a straightforward process because these use image-based subtitles and SRT is a text format. The only way to turn an image to text is through optical character recognition which always needs some manual training and correction. So if you're dead set on soft subtitles it's easiest to find an existing SRT file on the Internet, though you may have to try a few different ones until you find the one that matches up right with your movie.
 
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