Forced Subtitles - I Think!
I use my Linux system as a home theatre - over 500 films and the same in TV programs work happily through VLC.
However, there are a select few, which I now know contain solmething called 'forced subtitles' which will not play the subtitle at all. (these are subtitles that play when someone is speaking a language foreign to the principle English on the fiilm)
So far I have identified Battle of Britain, A Bridge Too Far, and X-Men First Class. Now I have many others that have subtitles and play them fine - The Way Back for example, so I guess they don't used the 'forced' option
What I cannot understand is why there is no Liunx player that will play these DVD's 'out of the box'. I'm sorry to say Windows Media Player has no trouble.
I have even ripped the DVD to disk and put the files through Handbrake following all the instructions carefully to capture the subtitles, but no; they will not display.
I have tried VLC, mplayer, SMplayer, several different ripping tools and still no result
Has anyone any success in this area?
Re: Forced Subtitles - I Think!
hmmm i would suggest take a VOB [insert disc and drag to desktop]from one of those dvds that DO NOT play subs and run through mediainfo [in repo] to see which format they are in and if forced etc there are so many formats for subs
if not srt you may have to convert them first
else go to a search engine then find appropriate srt for the film you want then attach with handbrake or mkvmerge or ffmpeg
PS and more basically run the film you say does not show in vlc then toggle the V key and see if they appear [but you probably know this]
Subtitle formats[edit]
For software video players[edit]
Name |
Extension |
Type |
Text Styling |
Metadata |
Timings |
Timing Precision |
AQTitle |
.aqt |
Text |
Yes |
Yes |
Framings |
Dependent on Frame |
Gloss Subtitle |
.gsub |
HTML/XML |
Yes |
Yes |
Elapsed Time |
10 Milliseconds |
JACOSub[12] |
.jss |
Text w/markup |
Yes |
No |
Elapsed Time |
Dependent on frame |
MicroDVD |
.sub |
Text |
No |
No |
Framings |
Dependent on Frame |
MPEG-4 Timed Text |
.ttxt (or mixed with A/V stream) |
XML |
Yes |
No |
Elapsed Time |
1 Millisecond |
MPSub |
.sub |
Text |
No |
Yes |
Sequential Time |
10 Milliseconds |
Ogg Writ |
N/A (mixed with audio/video stream) |
Text |
Yes |
Yes |
Sequential Granules |
Dependent on Bitstream |
Phoenix Subtitle |
.pjs |
Text |
No |
No |
Framings |
Dependent on Frame |
PowerDivX |
.psb |
Text |
No |
No |
Elapsed Time |
1 Second |
RealText[13] |
.rt |
HTML |
Yes |
No |
Elapsed Time |
10 Milliseconds |
SAMI |
.smi |
HTML |
Yes |
Yes |
Framings |
Dependent on Frame |
Spruce subtitle format[14] |
.stl |
Text |
Yes |
Yes |
Sequential Time+Frames |
Sequential Time+Frames |
Structured Subtitle Format |
.ssf |
XML |
Yes |
Yes |
Elapsed Time |
1 Millisecond |
SubRip |
.srt |
Text |
Yes |
No |
Elapsed Time |
1 Millisecond |
(Advanced) SubStation Alpha |
.ssa or .ass (advanced) |
Text |
Yes |
Yes |
Elapsed Time |
10 Milliseconds |
SubViewer |
.sub |
Text |
No |
Yes |
Elapsed Time |
10 Milliseconds |
Universal Subtitle Format |
.usf |
XML |
Yes |
Yes |
Elapsed Time |
1 Millisecond |
VobSub |
.sub + .idx |
Image |
N/A |
N/A |
Elapsed Time |
1 Millisecond |
XSUB |
N/A (embedded in .divx container) |
Image |
N/A |
N/A |
Elapsed Time |
1 Millisecond |
There are still many more uncommon formats. Most of them are text-based and have the extension .txt.
Re: Forced Subtitles - I Think!
Thanks for the excellent reply!
I took the easy option and got a file from the web, well, several until i found one that worked properly.
I also found one for Battle of Britain, but had a bit of trouble syncing with the video
Amazing what a minefield it all is - I'm thankful that my first language is English and I don't have to do too much messing around .
Thanks again
Alex
Re: Forced Subtitles - I Think!
:KS yes Alex glad you cracked it can be a right palaver
Re: Forced Subtitles - I Think!
MPlayer has an option that you could perhaps experiment with:
Code:
-forcedsubsonly
Display only forced subtitles for the DVD subtitle stream se-
lected by e.g. -slang.
although I admit that I have no experience with this option but I see that SMPlayer has an option for this under 'Subtitles'...