Subtitles not showing

[marukomu]

I have subtitled many DVDs but this is the first time I have seen this problem.
The disk is a three episode TV show DVD.
I use subtitle workshop and then follow a guide to mux in the subtitles. The finished DVD always has subs the wrong colour and too low on the screen but this isn't a problem as I can easily remedy that and it also gives me a chance to check them.

My problem is, I did everything as normal and even saw the subs onscreen in DVDsubedit, but when I tried to watch the DVD there were no subs on it. I checked the options and the subtitle heading was not highlighted indicating that there were no subs on the disk. I checked the files with Subrip to see if I could see the subtiles and they are there.

Anyone have any ideas what I should do?

[manono]

What guide did you follow? Did you get subs right after authoring, when playing the DVD using a software DVD player (like PowerDVD)? Are you adding the episodes back into the original DVD, so you can get back the menus? And the original DVD didn't have subs? If not, did you 'turn on' the subs so that they are part of the IFOs and can be played? Lots of words but you didn't really provide much information, especially not much about your workflow.

[marukomu]

I've been playing with this disk a lot oday and I think I've found the problem. It seems that the menu automatically resets the subs to not show. There are none on the original disk.
The subs are there but I can only see them if I play the disk then stop it, play another disk, then play the original disk so it resumes. I can then select subtitles. If I click the menu/title button, they're gone again.

[manono]

Then I guess you don't need any help since you didn't point out the guide you used. Just one question - why would a DVD automatically reset the subs to not show if there were none in the original DVD?

[marukomu]

The guide I use is on a forum that I am unable to access at the moment.

You're right about why are the subs resetting but I can't think of any other reason why they aren't appearing.
I burnt the disk and played it on a standalone but could not access the subtitles but when I ran the disk in Clone DVD, it said there were English subtitles.

[manono]

...but I can't think of any other reason why they aren't appearing.

I can. Since there were none in the original DVD, adding subs to the DVD doesn't make them able to be played since you (apparently) added the remuxed DVD back into the original and the original had no subs. They have to be 'turned on' to be accessible. See if this post helps:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic338721.html#1778185

The next time you have a project like this follow Method 2 of Baldrick's guide here:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic338721.html

[marukomu]

The guide I follow looks like a copy of that one to be honest. It has worked well for me in the past and even on a lot of disks with no original subtitles. Everything goes as indicated until the playback. I always use a completely new folder for the remuxed DVD so it should not clash with the original.
The subtitles are there as I edited them in DVDSubEdit.



I'll try again with Method 2.

[Bjs]

In pgcedit you must include commands related to subtitles ... maybe this is the guide hereyou where thinking of

[marukomu]

Thanks. I actually tried that today. I put the set sub-picture stream on at the end of the pre-commands as it says but nothing happened. I then tried it on the seperate chapters with the same result.
Maybe the original DVD structure won't allow it. I've sometimes seen people posting that they couldn't keep the menu and the subs together.
Here's another screenshot.

[manono]

OK, seeing them in PGCEdit convinces me you have subs. If you followed a guide like or similar to the one to which I linked, did the subs play after authoring using Muxman? What, exactly, did you do in DVDSubEdit? I've read, for example, that raising them by an odd number of pixels might cause the subs to mess up.

I'm half convinced now that there's something wrong with your subs, but you could try and create an STN pre-command to force the subs to play before each episode. That would be similar to what is suggested in Bjs's link, but right before an episode starts. The Subs menu won't work any more, but you can turn them off after an episode starts using the remote control, if you like.

[marukomu]

Whenever I use DVDsubedit I always have to do the same thing. The colours of the subtitles need changing and I need to raise them 100 pixels. It's become a standard thing for me to do.
I have actually had the subtitles working but they only worked when I resumed this disk after checking another one. They worked until I clicked the 'go to menu/title' button and then disappeared from the options.

If I create the STN-pre commands would I have to put them in all the VTSTs?

[manono]

If I create the STN-pre commands would I have to put them in all the VTSTs?

Yeah, 5 times it looks like from the pic. Create the command once and paste it in the other 4 times.

However, I'm not convinced that'll fix the problem.

When you loaded the subs into Muxman, did you make sure to load them twice, once for 16:9 playback (Wide) and once for 4:3 playback (LB)? The DVDSubEdit pic seems to say you did, but you never know.

[marukomu]

I mentioned the problem on another forum and someone said they had seen it before and sorted it by downgrading Subtitle Creator and Muxman. Does this sound right?
I'm not sure if I loaded the subs twice as I used Method 1 which does everything automatically.
I tried to load the STN commands, and as you thought, it didn't work.

[manono]

I mentioned the problem on another forum and someone said they had seen it before and sorted it by downgrading Subtitle Creator and Muxman. Does this sound right?

I don't use SubtitleCreator for this, so I can't comment, but it's possible, I suppose. It's definitely not true for Muxman (when used on its own, don't know about it being required by an older SC).

Do you still have the Muxman authored DVD, before replacing it into the original? If so, play it using PowerDVD or whatever and check to see if the subs show up. It's easy enough to reauthor it if you can't remember whether or not you loaded the subs twice (required for 16:9 video).

This time follow Method 2 and convert the SRTs to SUP so you can use Muxman directly. If you have chapters, load the Celltimes.txt in File->Import Chapter. Load the audio and video. When loading the subs, load it once and press the 'Wide' button. Then change the counter to '2' and load it again, this time pressing 'LB'. Give it a destination folder and 'Start'. Then test out the result before doing the 'Replace' step using VobBlanker followed by 'turning on' the subs and testing. Change your colors and position before burning to disc.

[Bjs]

My experimental title carries 3 x audio and 3 x subtitle streams and this is how they are controlled

VTST 1 , 1 TTN 1 (1:30:28) Title 1 - Chapters: 25, Programs: 25, Cells: 26
********** pre commands:
1 if ( gprm(0) == gprm(0) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 0 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, off }
2 if ( gprm(0) == gprm(1) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 0 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, on }
3 if ( gprm(0) == gprm(2) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 0 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 1, on }
4 if ( gprm(0) == gprm(3) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 0 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 2, on }
5 if ( gprm(1) == gprm(0) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 1 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, off }
6 if ( gprm(1) == gprm(1) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 1 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, on }
7 if ( gprm(1) == gprm(2) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 1 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 1, on }
8 if ( gprm(1) == gprm(3) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 1 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 2, on }
9 if ( gprm(2) == gprm(0) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 2 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, off }
10 if ( gprm(2) == gprm(1) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 2 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, on }
11 if ( gprm(2) == gprm(2) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 2 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 1, on }
12 if ( gprm(2) == gprm(3) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 2 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 2, on }
13 if ( gprm(3) == gprm(0) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 3 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, off }
14 if ( gprm(3) == gprm(1) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 3 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, on }
15 if ( gprm(3) == gprm(2) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 3 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 1, on }
16 if ( gprm(3) == gprm(3) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 3 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 2, on }
17 if ( gprm(4) == gprm(0) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 4 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, off }
18 if ( gprm(4) == gprm(1) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 4 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 0, on }
19 if ( gprm(4) == gprm(2) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 4 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 1, on }
20 if ( gprm(4) == gprm(3) ) then { (SetSTN) Set Audio stream = 4 ; Set Sub-picture stream = 2, on }
********** post commands:
1 Exit
********** cell commands:


It also depends on the menu or menu's included

First : Select language , subs on / off
Second : Select audio type ... stereo, 5.1, ect

And that's it ... works in vlc, nero, home player

[marukomu]

Manono... I always make a SUP file from my SRT to load in subtitle creator.
When I have a few spare hours I'll give what you wrote a go.

It could be that the DVD stucture is a bit strange it it doesn't jump to the same place when I press play all and episode 1. The picture above shows TTN 1 and 2 being a little different in time.

Bjs... There are no options for audio or subtitles on it. All it has is one audio plus the one subtitle track I added.
On the main menu there is is a play all or play individual episodes and then each episode has a chapter menu with nine chapters on each.

Could I add commands like those you have written

[manono]

It could be that the DVD stucture is a bit strange it it doesn't jump to the same place when I press play all and episode 1. The picture above shows TTN 1 and 2 being a little different in time.

That's something I hadn't thought of. If you open the DVD in VobBlanker and highlight the VTS so the various titles appear in the lower window, you'll see which titles have some actual size. If only Title 1 is listed at having size and the rest are 0 MB, then the only one to which you can add subs is the Title 1. Maybe you knew that already and maybe that's where you did add the subs.

It also means that what I said earlier about adding the STN command 5 times was wrong, as it shouldn't be necessary to add it more than once, to that first title. But since it didn't work anyway, it's academic.

[marukomu]

After a bit of checking the solution was really simple. I can't believe I missed it. The first VTST had the subpicture VOB decoding stream set to 0 0 0 0 as it should but when I looked at the other 4 it was set to none. I simply set each one so they all read 0 0 0 0 and it worked. The only thing I had to do then was make sure the colour pallete was the same for each VTST in Pgcedit as I couldn't change them in DVDsubedit.

Thank for all your help everyone