Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Subtitles in Handbrake

R

rayward

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 13, 2007
1,697
89
Houston, TX
I've ripped the "Battle of Britain" from Blu Ray, and am now looking to encode it for Apple TV using Handbrake. THe encode looks great, even when downsized to 720p, but significant portions of this movie are in German, and I cannot get the English subtitles to appear. They are not embedded in the movie, as they are missing from a straight encode. The only subtitle option is "Foreign Audio Detect", which allows me to check "Forced only" and "Default", but still no subtitles appear in the encoded movie.

Anyone got any ideas?

TIA.
 
There is a $10 app called Submerge
if you can find a .srt file, which is subtitles for any movie you want,

it will place subtitles perfectly on the movie,
My only problem is the result will be a .mov file which is a problem for me because I want it in .avi to play it on my Divx enabled dvd player , which needs to rencode it again.

If you are using Apple tv then I guess you have nothing to worry about except buying the app and searching for a .srt file
 
Use MakeMKV to extract the Blu-ray to a mkv file with the subtitles included and then encode the mkv to the AppleTV format using Handbrake and now you will be able to select the subtitle you want from with in Handbrake.
 
roidy said:
Use MakeMKV to extract the Blu-ray to a mkv file with the subtitles included and then encode the mkv to the AppleTV format using Handbrake and now you will be able to select the subtitle you want from with in Handbrake.
Click to expand...

It was MakeMKV that I used for the rip. The only subtitle option I get is the "Foreign Audio Detection" mentioned above.
 
Ummm my bad... It seems that Blu-ray subtitles are stores as images instead of text like DVD subtitles, strange that MakeMKV would let you include the subtitles if there no use to you.

There's a guide on the VideoHelp.com forum, but it's a convoluted process. Like kingmohd84 said try to locate a .str file for the subtitles, but don't pay for the software he suggested as Handbrake can import the str file and include it in the encode. Failing that I can't help sorry:(
 
If you find a .srt file post-encode, you can use something like Subler to attach it. However, you cannot (as far as I know) set a soft subtitle track to auto-enable on playback, meaning you'll have to manually enable it everytime you watch the movie.
 
btw, why are you choosing mkv when .avi or .mov will work amazingly well
 
kingmohd84 said:
btw, why are you choosing mkv when .avi or .mov will work amazingly well
Click to expand...

He's not choosing to use mkv. MakeMKV just happens to rip Blu-rays and DVD's into a mkv file, hence the name. Once the disk is ripped to a mkv file your then free to encode it to what ever format you want eg mp4, avi or mov, but as he wants it for his AppleTV then he will be encoding it to a m4v (mp4) file.
 
kingmohd84 said:
There is a $10 app called Submerge
if you can find a .srt file, which is subtitles for any movie you want,

it will place subtitles perfectly on the movie,
My only problem is the result will be a .mov file which is a problem for me because I want it in .avi to play it on my Divx enabled dvd player , which needs to rencode it again.

If you are using Apple tv then I guess you have nothing to worry about except buying the app and searching for a .srt file
Click to expand...

Alternatively just select the downloaded srt file within handbrake and handbrake will add it into the movie for you as a soft subtitle track (using newest versions of Handbrake).

Cheers Ed.
 
Tried adding the srt file with HB last night, but nothing showed up. Selected the file, selected "Forced only" (which I understand "embeds" the subtitles in the movie) but no good. Back to square 1.
 
eddyg said:
Don't select forced only with srts. And do remember to turn on the subs in the player.

Cheers Ed.
Click to expand...

OK. I'll re-encode without checking forced and see what happens. But, with a movie encoded in this manner, I have to turn on subtitles on the ATV? Thanks.
 
rayward said:
Tried adding the srt file with HB last night, but nothing showed up. Selected the file, selected "Forced only" (which I understand "embeds" the subtitles in the movie) but no good. Back to square 1.
Click to expand...

No, it's the 'burned in' option that embeds the subtitles into the video but I'm 99% sure it dosn't work for srt subtitle files.

Encode the movie with the srt file and don't select forced or burned in then everytime you play the file on the AppleTV you'll have to manually turn on the subtitles.

Edit:-
http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Subtitles
Yep srt subs are pass-through only in Handbrake (unless it's changed in a newer version)
 
roidy said:
No, it's the 'burned in' option that embeds the subtitles into the video but I'm 99% sure it dosn't work for srt subtitle files.

Encode the movie with the srt file and don't select forced or burned in then everytime you play the file on the AppleTV you'll have to manually turn on the subtitles.

Edit:-
http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Subtitles
Yep srt subs are pass-through only in Handbrake (unless it's changed in a newer version)
Click to expand...

HB can't render a text subtitle onto the movie. Another issue in this case is that you only want the subs for foreign language settings, which means you have to find an SRT that only has those.

As for the enabling on the ATV, so far no mechanism has been found (using the track enabled/default options) to persuade the ATV to enable the subs by default.

Cheers, Ed.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old topic, but I never got this resolved. I have not been able to find a non-English only subtitle track, so the only way to watch this movie is with the subtitles on full time, which is annoying not least for the fact that the subtitles for the English dialog are often gibberish.

I'm coming back around to this because my media drive crashed - and wasn't backed up - so now I am starting over ripping my Blu Ray collection.

What I'm thinking now is that I need to edit the subtitle track to remove those for the English dialog. Is this possible? Any recommendations for software (for Mac OS X)?

TIA
 
Cave Man said:
Ugh. Sorry to hear about your media drive crash. I have most of mine backed up, but now I think I'll update that just to be safe.

You are wanting the forced English subtitles, right? I've done it using Windows 7. Do you have access to a Windows computer?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the media crash sucked. My iTunes library was stored on my 2TB NAS, but it got too big to be backed up onto my Time Capsule so I excluded it from Time Machine backups. Then I piled on a ton of HD rips; then I crashed the NAS. I reclaimed what I could from the last TM backup that included the media, and now I'm re-ripping the Blu Rays. I bought a 4TB NAS that backs up the whole friggin' lot!

I do have access to a Windows machine (work laptop with reasonable freedom to add software), but would prefer to use a Mac app. Jubler is one that I have found which looks like it does what I need. I think I should be able to figure out how to delete the English dialog subtitles in that, and I should be able to correct the non-English ones that don't make sense (it looks like they used voice recognition software to create the srt file I have, and it had a terrible time with proper nouns).

If anyone has any experience with Jubler, I'd appreciate some advice / tips.

Cheers
 
With the latest Nightlies or version .9.5 you can do subtitles for DVD's. I select to do forced only and all my encodes have subtitles. On Windows or Mac X.

Now for Blue ray that is different. I use a script off MacForums and it does all that for me on the Mac. I am nto sure how to do it with the PC. I knwo you have to rip them out and Mux it back into the file. Or load in a SRT file.
 
gunthermic said:
With the latest Nightlies or version .9.5 you can do subtitles for DVD's. I select to do forced only and all my encodes have subtitles. On Windows or Mac X.

Now for Blue ray that is different. I use a script off MacForums and it does all that for me on the Mac. I am nto sure how to do it with the PC. I knwo you have to rip them out and Mux it back into the file. Or load in a SRT file.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Adding the subtitles through HB I'm ok with. My problem is that the srt files I have for this particular movie are for the entire dialog, not just the non-English dialog. I want to be able to delete the English dialog subs from the srt file and then re-encode it into the final version with HB.
 
rayward said:
My problem is that the srt files I have for this particular movie are for the entire dialog, not just the non-English dialog. I want to be able to delete the English dialog subs from the srt file and then re-encode it into the final version with HB.
Click to expand...
On mac use Jubler to delete the subs from the srt file that are in english audio. I had to do this for Karate Kid ... it takes a run through with the movie playing and jubler open to make sure you delete the right subs. But it works just fine once your done and you add the modified srt to your encode via HB. Just my .02.
 
dynaflash said:
On mac use Jubler to delete the subs from the srt file that are in english audio. I had to do this for Karate Kid ... it takes a run through with the movie playing and jubler open to make sure you delete the right subs. But it works just fine once your done and you add the modified srt to your encode via HB. Just my .02.
Click to expand...

A valuable .02 it is, too. Thanks.
 
Blu Rays come with bitmap PGS .sup files for the subtitles and Handbrake cannot currently use those. You have to convert the PGS .sup into a VoBSuB .sub file which Handbrake can then burn in to the video while transcoding which works well because you always want those forced subtitles to show.

So here's my process on how to do the forced subtitles from Blu Rays using only Mac software:

1. Rip and Create the .mkv with MakeMKV (it will let you know if forced subtitles are included)
2. Extract the main English Subtitle that includes the forced one with MKVTools (you end up with a PGS .sup file)
3. Use BDSuptoSub to convert the extracted .sup file to a .sub and .idx file. (make sure you checkmark forced only)
4. Use MKVToolNix/MKVMerge to mux the .sup back into the original mkv. (the .idx contains the information needed by MKVMerge so choose that)
5. Use Handbrake to encode your MKV to .m4v and select the subtitle as burned in.

Thankfully not many movies actually have forced subtitles so it's not too much to worry about. I still haven't figured out how to use the soft subtitles on the Blu Ray disc yet without downloading a .srt from somewhere but I never use the soft subtitles even on the discs so it's not a big deal for me.
 
Last edited:
newagemac said:
Blu Rays come with bitmap PGS .sup files for the subtitles and Handbrake cannot currently use those. You have to convert the PGS .sup into a VoBSuB .sub file which Handbrake can then burn in to the video while transcoding which works well because you always want those forced subtitles to show.

So here's my process on how to do the forced subtitles from Blu Rays using only Mac software:

1. Rip and Create the .mkv with MakeMKV (it will let you know if forced subtitles are included)
2. Extract the main English Subtitle that includes the forced one with MKVTools (you end up with a PGS .sup file)
3. Use BDSuptoSub to convert the extracted .sup file to a .sub and .idx file. (make sure you checkmark forced only)
4. Use MKVToolNix/MKVMerge to mux the .sup back into the original mkv. (the .idx contains the information needed by MKVMerge so choose that)
5. Use Handbrake to encode your MKV to .m4v and select the subtitle as burned in.

Thankfully not many movies actually have forced subtitles so it's not too much to worry about. I still haven't figured out how to use the soft subtitles on the Blu Ray disc yet without downloading a .srt from somewhere but I never use the soft subtitles even on the discs so it's not a big deal for me.
Click to expand...


This looks perfect! Many thanks. I'm already trying it out!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back