No Subtitles

[Joey9]

A DVD I was working with contains subtitles. However, when I extracted with VOB2MPG, the resulting MPG does not contain subtitles. Any ideas?

Maybe it has something to do with the RLE subtitles format.

DVD specs




MPG specs

[Baldrick]

edit: Oops...

[ChrissyBoy]

Look at the mpg with VOBEdit to check for subtitle streams:




Often the subtitle streams are a long way into the mpg and so some identification programs don't pick them up. Do they appear in VLC?

[Joey9]

Hi ChrissyBoy, For the MPG, no subtitles appear in VLC. No subtitle streams listed in VOBEdit either. However, they do show in the DVD.

[ChrissyBoy]

If you look at VTS_01_1.VOB in VobEdit - do you see sub streams?

Can zip up your *.IFO files along with the log file from V2M and attach them here please - i will have a look.

[Joey9]

VTS_01_1.VOB in VobEdit show no sub streams. Strange as VTS_01_0.ifo does have them.

Thanks for looking into this.

Screen Capture of DVD

[ChrissyBoy]

What does MediaInfo say about VTS_01_1.VOB ?

(i am away for a the weekend but when i come back perhaps you can upload the vob for me to check?)

[Joey9]

A 4 day weekend? You sure know how to live right mate!



I tried to upload the the VOB (0.99 GB) but it wouldn't let me, it exceeded the maximum file size. Email me when you get a chance and I'll upload it to one of the file hosters and send you the link.

Maybe these are closed captions instead of subtitles. I don't know the technical difference between them but perhaps that could be the why VOB2MPG isn't picking them up. Just a thought.

[ChrissyBoy]

Took Friday off work and its a bank holiday in the UK!!

Back now.

I will PM you my FTP details if you are happy to upload the vob for investigation.

[Joey9]

Sure, no problem, I'll upload the VOB for you. I assume you want the 1st VOB, right?

[ChrissyBoy]

Ok Thanks for the upload.

There is a sub stream in the VOB:

Although they don't appear till a fair way in.

So, as i thought, mediainfo and indeed VLC don't suggest there are any. (They will scan a certain length at the beginning of a file to determine the various streams in the source).

However, as they exist in the vob - they exist in the mpg after VOB2MPG has finished. If you load the file in VLC, initially you can't select the subtitle. But go in 10 mins, you can select the subtitle and then restart the playback from the beginning and all is well.

In summary - if the subs exist in the DVD they will exist in the mpg.... it is just that some programs struggle if the subtitles don't exist near the beginning of the movie.

(Interestingly - if you extract chapter 2 on its own - you DO get the subtitles in VLC and MediaInfo.....)

[Joey9]

Hi ChrissyBoy, I'm glad you got the VOB. I'll be away for the next few days, I'll study this when I get back and post another reply. Thanks for looking into this for me I appreciate it.

[Joey9]

You're right, In VLC, initially you can't select the subtitle, but if you seek ahead some, then you can. Strange. Since I came back, I used VOB2MPG Pro on 5 DVD's and subtitles appeared on all the resulting MPG's. Thank you for all your help, I appreciate it.

Would it be possible to add subtitle functionality to VOB2MPG Pro? For example, the ability to select the subtitle streams you want? Some DVD's have multiple subtitle streams in different languages. I know it would be a lot of extra work but as a VOB2MPG Pro user, I would be willing to pay for such an update.

Cheers!