Adding subtitles to an mp4 video for Apple TV 3 viewing

[lawllmaster]

NOTE: I am writing this guide because there wasn't one when I looked for it. If everyone already knows about this, tell me.

In my experience, I have had many pain in the *** situations where it just WOULDN'T ENCODE. Whenever I tried to embed soft subtitles directly into the file, I would need to use either mp4box or ffmpeg via cmd (those GUIs sometimes suck in my opinion) and that was always f**ked up. Then I found a GREAT tool for embedding/hardsubbing subtitles in using a program called Daum PotEncoder. It originated in South Korea, and it's awesome when it comes to encoding video. It utilizes a customized ffmpeg engine which is pretty effective. I'm not sure there is an English version (since the program is in Korean), but if there is, be sure to get it.

First things first. When embedding subs to watch on an Apple TV, they aren't classified as "subtitles", but as "Closed Caption", or CC. I found this out the hard way by going to the Apple TV menu, turning on subtitles and saying, "WHERE THE HELL IS MY SUBTITLES!?" and throwing that tiny Apple Remote across the room.

So, on to the program. It basically has many options such as video encoder type, audio encoder type, bitrates, all that junk. You probably already know all this, so I won't talk about it. When adding a CC to a video file (your file IS an mp4, right?), just go to the Subtitles Tab in Advanced Settings, and check "Use Closed Caption". At the bottom, you might want to change the font style because sometimes Apple TV doesn't want to read that font. In my opinion, Arial is the most common and widely used font, so go with that. (This isn't exactly necessary, but I'm just saying)

When you're all done, have the file in place in itunes, and your TV is on, go to settings and make sure to turn on Closed Caption. MAKE SURE.

And that's all there is to it. Pretty simple to me (compared to using those buggy GUIs that keep failing :/). If you manage to get past the language barrier, it's the most useful tool out there.

Daum PotEncoder download: http://tvpot.daum.net/application/PotEncoder.do

If you see the Korean letters as squares or gibberish, you might need to change you system locale to Korean (Windows 7) or download and add a Korean language pack (Windows XP & Lower). Applocale might work too.

If you have any questions about the program, feel free to ask in the comments.

EDIT: Apparently PotEncoder says it's CC, but Apple says it's subtitles. -_-
Due to this, all subtitles must be in English (Preferred), Greek, German, Italian, etc. (I don't remember all the subtitles supported...) It's OK if it's encoded in English, I've tried encoding several different languages with ENCC (English CC) but they display just fine because Apple TV just uses the appropriate fonts for different languages.

Also, I will post a detailed picture on how to use this tool, since it's in Korean. Oh, and one more thing: Apple TV loves H.264 encoded videos more than any other video decoder (Although using H.264 increases video size about 3 times). Using any other decoder results in some frames being damaged, but I don't know what is causing it...

[Baldrick]

I'm moving you to our subtitle section.


I guess you haven't seen any english version for potencoder?

[lawllmaster]

Lol my PC broke down while streaming to Apple TV :/

[lawllmaster]

I'm moving you to our subtitle section.


I guess you haven't seen any english version for potencoder?

O.o

I'll be sure to check it out, then edit this post accordingly. Thx Baldrick!

[Baldrick]

No. I mean if you have seen any english version?

[lawllmaster]

No. I mean if you have seen any english version?

Not that I know of... I can try to translate the program by messing with the code, but I don't think it's possible :/