Ripping A Foreign Film With English Subtitles

[JamesCRocks]

Hi,

I'm trying to convert my Blu-ray/DVD collection to a streaming server (Jellyfin) which is largely going well.

I have a few foreign films that I would like to rip in their native languages with English subtitles (the dubbed versions are awful)... this is proving to be problematic.

I have the Swedish versions of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" series) and, using MakeMKV, I've ripped MKVs that default to English but have the Swedish audio tracks and have English subtitles (defaulting to none). I've tried many times to convert these to MP4 using Handbrake but no matter what I do, I can't seem to achieve Swedish audio with English subtitles. I'm trying once again, using what I consider the most logical choices but I doubt it'll work.

I've also tried VidCoder, but that doesn't seem to even offer Swedish audio.

I have a couple of other films I'd like to do the same with e.g. "Nikita" (French) and "Let The Right One In" (again, Swedish).

Any advice appreciated.

James

[hech54]

Can't you just remove the unwanted stuff BEFORE it gets to HandBrake?

[JamesCRocks]

Can't you just remove the unwanted stuff BEFORE it gets to HandBrake?

Apparently not. I tried it, creating a full-size MKV that had Swedish audio and the option for English subtitles; running it through Handbrake created a file with Swedish audio but no subtitles of any kind.

Thanks

James

[mail2tom]

Easy-Peezy. Open the MKV in MKVToolNix, deselect unwanted audio and subtitles, remux it, then use whatever program you prefer to get it to the desired output. Good Luck.

[cholla]

Post a short clip in .MKV that has the Swedish audio with English subtitles.
I will try ffmpeg to see if it will do this.

I know Handbrake uses some of ffmpeg codecs but its' own as well.

I use mkvtoolnix a lot but it will create another .mkv .
Not an .mp4

[JamesCRocks]

Post a short clip in .MKV that has the Swedish audio with English subtitles.
I will try ffmpeg to see if it will do this.

I'm afraid I don't know how to make a short segment of the film, not complete with subtitles. I tried using Bandicut but that didn't bring over the subtitles.

James

[cholla]

I mostly use ffmpeg to make cuts.
I found the video on YouTube. It is supposed to be Swedish.
I did a one minute cut with 3 different programs.
One is ffmpeg & I did not post it because it is done with Command line.
The others were done with Clever & the Lossless Cut.
Both cut with subtitles no problem.
You should be able to post a cut short with either.

I had to convert the subtitles in the YouTube to timed text to be in a .mp4 .
Maybe that was the problem if you were trying to put a different subtitle format in a .mp4.
VLC media player plays the timed text format.So do both MPC-HC & BE. A settop player may not.

[netmask56]

Post a short clip in .MKV that has the Swedish audio with English subtitles.
I will try ffmpeg to see if it will do this.

I'm afraid I don't know how to make a short segment of the film, not complete with subtitles. I tried using Bandicut but that didn't bring over the subtitles.

James

Avidemux

[netmask56]

Post a short clip in .MKV that has the Swedish audio with English subtitles.
I will try ffmpeg to see if it will do this.

I know Handbrake uses some of ffmpeg codecs but its' own as well.

I use mkvtoolnix a lot but it will create another .mkv .
Not an .mp4

Any reason why you don't use mkv as the final product? MP4 is not as flexible container like mkv.

[cholla]

[QUOTE=netmask56;2801960]

I'm afraid I don't know how to make a short segment of the film, not complete with subtitles. I tried using Bandicut but that didn't bring over the subtitles.

Avidemux

The OP already has a .mkv he is wanting to convert to .mp4.

Avidemux cannot add soft-subtitles (internal, toggleable tracks) or copy existing internal subtitle streams into an MP4 container. Its subtitle tools permanently burn (hardcode) text into the video stream during re-encoding, and MP4 muxing in Avidemux does not support soft subtitle track preservation or insertion

Avidemux does not support copying or preserving internal (soft-coded) subtitle tracks. When you set the video output to Copy, Avidemux drops internal subtitle streams entirely. To keep subtitles, you must either hardcode (burn) external subtitles using a video filter

This is why I suggested Clever or Lossless Cut.

Any reason why you don't use mkv as the final product? MP4 is not as flexible container like mkv.

If you are asking me. I would be fine with .mkv.
The OP wants to use .mp4 . There may be a reason for this like he has a set top player that only accepts .mp4s

[netmask56]

[QUOTE=cholla;2801964]

I'm afraid I don't know how to make a short segment of the film, not complete with subtitles. I tried using Bandicut but that didn't bring over the subtitles.

Avidemux

The OP already has a .mkv he is wanting to convert to .mp4.

Avidemux cannot add soft-subtitles (internal, toggleable tracks) or copy existing internal subtitle streams into an MP4 container. Its subtitle tools permanently burn (hardcode) text into the video stream during re-encoding, and MP4 muxing in Avidemux does not support soft subtitle track preservation or insertio

Avidemux does not support copying or preserving internal (soft-coded) subtitle tracks. When you set the video output to Copy, Avidemux drops internal subtitle streams entirely. To keep subtitles, you must either hardcode (burn) external subtitles using a video filter

This is why I suggested Clever or Lossless Cut.

Any reason why you don't use mkv as the final product? MP4 is not as flexible container like mkv.

If you are asking me. I would be fine with .mkv.
The OP wants to use .mp4 . There may be a reason for this like he has a set top player that only accepts .mp4s

I’ve cut MKV files with internal subs using AviDemux for trailers etc and they have been preserved. Admittedly a long time ago and maybe later versions no longer support?

[cholla]

I did not test AviDemux with .mkv format to preserve soft subtitles.

Further search says AviDemux can only output hard coded subtitles.

[JamesCRocks]

Any reason why you don't use mkv as the final product? MP4 is not as flexible container like mkv.

I suppose it's a question of familiarity plus experience. Because the MKVs ripped by MakeMKV are large (in this case, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is 22Gb), I run them through Handbrake and choose MP4 because I know that's a video standard (and possibly because I like order so all MP4s is "goodish") to create a file just under 4Gb... but no, outside of my own biases, probably not.

I'm using Jellyfin to stream (playing with Wholphin as a client on my Firestick) from a mini-PC with 2TB internal and 4TB USB... because that "server" is multipurpose (serves as DLNA, NAS, local cloud and media streamer) space is still at a premium so size is important (MP4s seem to be smaller than MKVs although that might just be the Handbrake settings I'm using). I could just use the DLNA server but I think Jellyfin offers better organisational tools, which is important as my wife is not techy but yeah, maybe you're right; maybe I should use MKV over MP4... I'm not familiar enough to know what's better for me.

James

[cholla]

If you only play your videos on a computer then a media player like VLC should work with a .mp4 that has timed text.
It is when you use a set top BD player USB input that timed text may not work.

This is where a .mkv is better it accepts several subtitle formats.

I should have ask this & I believe it is the problem you have.
What format are the subtitles in the .mkv that makemkv rips from your blu ray "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" ?
If they are .sup AKA .pgs .
Here are some instructions from online:

Open Handbrake and drop your source MKV file into the window.
Go to the Summary tab.
Choose MKV as the format container. (This will not work with .mp4)
Set your video encoder (like H.264 or H.265) and adjust quality on the Video tab.
Go to the Subtitles tab.
Click Add Track and pick your PGS(.sup) subtitle stream from the drop-down menu.
Leave Burn-in unchecked if you want to turn subtitles on or off later.
Choose a save location at the bottom and click Start Encode.

To use the .mp4 format you will have to extract the .pgs (.sup) subtitles & convert them to timed text format.
Then add them back in with a software like Handbrake.

[hech54]

Is all the extra "fluff" people have added to this thread just because the OP doesn't know that he/she can remove stuff from the disk?

[Attachment 93446 - Click to enlarge]

[JamesCRocks]

Is all the extra "fluff" people have added to this thread just because the OP doesn't know that he/she can remove stuff from the disk?

[Attachment 93446 - Click to enlarge]

Yes, I know I can do that using MakeMKV and, indeed, have. Where it falls down is in conversion to MP4.

I asked Netmask56 this but didn't get an answer; maybe I should use MKV over MP4... I'm not familiar enough to know what's better for me.

Thanks

James

[cholla]

@ JamesCRocks,
I've tried to explain & I'm not going to quote myself.
.MP4 can only use timedtext as an internal soft subtitle. Thats' it period.
It can use other formats as an external soft subtitle.
This means you need an external subtitle file you add with a media player.
The external formats are .srt & .vtt as soft subtitles.

The blu ray you are using should have .pgs soft subtitles.
These may also be named as .sup or vobsub but all are really the same format.
.MKV can play this format & have it internally.

So to answer for Netmask56: You need to use .MKV.

The only way to use .mp4 is to extract the .pgs subtitles & then convert those to timedtext format.
Then add them back into an .mp4.
So it is possible to use an .mp4 but it is the long way around.

[cholla]

I've ripped MKVs that default to English but have the Swedish audio tracks and have English subtitles (defaulting to none).

Does the .mkv you created with MakeMKV have both English & Swedish audio tracks ?
The video I was able to download was only Swedish audio with an English subtitle in timed text.

I was able to create a .mkv similar to what you have but only Swedish audio.
I removed the old subtitles & replaced them with PGS English subtitles.
It is the GIRL_WITH_THE_DRAGON_TATTOO_clever_.mkv

I then compressed it with Handbrake using the instructions in post #14 .
It is Girl_with_the_dragon_tattoo_clever_HB.mkv
If this is close to what you want Handbrake can compress the videos you have.