VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 13 of 13
Thread
  1. Newb. First post, so please go easy.

    Just bought a 4k remastered blu-ray of CYRANO DE BERGERAC in French, but learned on receiving that it contains no English subs. So, through the help of the fine folks here, I ripped the film with MakeMKV and burned in an .srt file via Handbrake, and now I've got a pristene digital copy of my original movie w/subs as a back-up. All good.

    But let's just say that now I want to go back and make a back-up of (or actually replace) my original blu-ray with another blu-ray, this one including my burned-in English subs. And let's just say that I tried muxing the original ripped MakeMKV file with a separate .srt in TSmuxeR and couldn't get past the notorious "Error 254 Can't Find TTF font for Font A" warning. What I'd like to know is if I could effectually achieve something close to the original ripped MakeMKV file (plus my burned-in subs, of course) in Handbrake by setting H.264 MKV Matroska as my output, sliding CBR to 0, passing through the original audio, burning in the subs as I did before, and encoding to a new MKV file that I can ultimately mux with TSmuxeR and burn back to a BD-R. Might this work?

    Truth is, I've spent a week alternating between MKVToolNix and TSmuxeR, trying to combine my originally ripped MakeMKV file and my new subtitle track, my intent being to replace the old M2TS file in my purchased BD's original BDMV/STREAM folder (which I duplicated on a Mac with disk utility), and re-burning it onto a new BD-R. But to date, no love. MKVToolNix successfully combines all the necessary files, but TSmuxeR simply refuses to mux them for whatever reason, the culprit seeming to be the .srt file.

    In the end, I found that the easiest way to add English subs to my original film was to rip the main video file via MakeMKV and burn the subs in with Handbrake. Thus, encoding has proven to be a must in my process. So, back to my Q: By tweaking the settings in HB to mirror the original MakeMKV file as closely as possible, will this essentially get my newly encoded file close in size and quality to original MakeMKV file?

    I know, I know. Why even bother with BD, the dead medium. Or, why not just spring for the new UK BFI release, which INCLUDES subs. Well, I like having digital files to stream via my Roku, but I still prefer blu-rays for my dedicated basement home theatre. Plus, I already paid handsomely for the BD copy I have; the new BFI shipped to the states would set me back an additional 25. And finally, I happen to have an external blu-ray burner, plenty of time, and plenty of blank BD-Rs (five of which I've already turned to coasters trying to accomplish the objective outlined in Paragraph 3 above). So, trial and error hasn't worked, and I find myself well-above my pay grade. So I'm deferring to the experts. : )

    Thanks much for letting me post here. If I've duplicated a post or broached a taboo topic, I apologize in advance.
    Quote Quote  
  2. I've never created a Bluray compliant disc in my life, but maybe BDRebuilder can help you out. It seems to do pretty much everything Bluray related.

    A thought on the subtitles. Does the srt subtitle specify a font somewhere? It could be for a single line or all of them.

    204
    00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:11,970
    <font face="Browallia New">Yes.</font>

    If it means not having to re-encode, I'd start by trying to remove the srt roadblock, and SubtitleEdit would be the program to help you there. You can open an srt, select a subtitle line, CTRL+A to select them all, and right click for formatting options, amongst other things. I'm guessing, but maybe TSMuxer wants the font specified in the srt and can't find it, assuming there is one.

    If the srt still won't play nice, try the SubtitleEdit File/Export menu to export the srt as a Bluray sup file. In the process you can specify display options. Full disclosure... I have SubtitleEdit version 3.5.17 and it crashed whenever I tried to export a subtitle. There's a newer version I haven't tried yet, but the older version on my PC (3.5.9) worked fine. Chances are it's an XP compatibility thing and not a problem with the program anyway.

    One last bit of font speculation... check to see if the MKV ripped with MakeMKV includes a font. If it does it'll show up as an attachment when you open the MKV with MKVToolNix, and you should be able to extract it with gMKVExtractGUI or MKVCleaver. I don't know if TSMuxer needs a font to be installed to find it.

    Technically, Bluray compliance requires specific encoder settings. Chances are no Bluray players give a crap these days (they all play multiple file types via USB inputs), but FYI. http://www.x264bluray.com/home/1080i-p
    And the encoder output should be a raw h264/avc file and muxed later on, rather than the encoder writing directly to an MKV. No doubt BDRebuilder can take care of that sort of thing.

    x264's CRF mode is great, if that's what you were referring to with setting "CRB 0", but you can't control the bitrate/file size, only the quality. Does HandBrake have a 2 pass mode? If so it'd probably be better to specify a bitrate/file size that'll fill a disc, minus the audio and any other stuff. BDRebuilder would probably take care of that too. CRF and 2 pass both encode the video the same way (there's very minor differences but the quality is the same), so for CRF you specify a quality and the bitrate will be what it'll be, while for 2 pass you specify the bitrate and the quality will be what it'll be. CRF 0 is lossless, at far as I know. The output file will be ridiculously huge (way larger than the original), and I have no idea if Bluray players would normally support it.
    Last edited by hello_hello; 10th Jan 2021 at 19:38.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Rancid User ron spencer's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Ish-ka-bibble
    Search Comp PM
    why use CR 0? It makes no sense and you will get a file larger than the original. I'd just do a few test encodes at different CR values (start at say 15) and using mediainfo compare the bitrates. You only need to do 10%-15% of the movie to get an idea....but just be sure it does not become too large to fit on a BD-25. As far as Handbrake's other settings go, choose framerate same as source as well as variable, encoder preset of slow, tune of film, profile high and level 4.1. Then in the advanced options box add:


    Code:
    ref=5:bluray-compat:vbv-bufsize=30000:vbv-maxrate=40000:slices=4:open-gop:keyint=24
    This will get you bluray compliant. Note that ref=5 is needed because the bluray-compat option in Handbrake always takes the ref value and subtracts 1. In this case you will end up with ref=4 in the end, which is compliant. Make keyint=framerate of your video. So if framerate is 23.976 then use 24 as here.
    'Do I look absolutely divine and regal, and yet at the same time very pretty and rather accessible?' - Queenie
    Quote Quote  
  4. All great ideas, hello_hello & ron spencer. You've given me many things to play with over the course of the next few days. Thanks much for taking the time. : )
    Quote Quote  
  5. hello_hello and ron spencer: Okay, so after repeated attempts to mux my ripped MKV file with my separate subtitle track, I've found that the closest I've come so far to achieving my goal of making a duplicate of my original blu-ray (w/added subtitles) is 1) to rip the original with MakeMKV, 2) re-encode the resultant .mkv file with Handbrake (burning the subtitles in), 3) muxing the newly created MKV file with TSmuxeR, and 4) using "Copy Files to Disk" in IMGBurn. I say "the closest I've come" because I'm still not there yet. I've managed to burn a new blu-ray that my stand-alone player recognizes, but when I click on PLAY in the menu, nothing happens. It's as though the link's broken between the menu and the newly generated m2ts file I placed in STREAM folder of the BDMV structure. Thing is, though, I CAN access the separate m2ts file of the film on the disk via my pc's bluray burner using VLC, and the film plays beautifully. Now, I'm just trying to solve the riddle of the broken path that I somehow caused in the BDMV folder structure when I replaced the old m2ts file with my new one in STREAM.

    BTW: For those interested in burning subtitles to a ripped MKV file via Handbrake without losing the quality or size of the original (referring to the heading of my original post), here's where I finally ended up after much trial and error: 1) Started with "Super HQ 1080p30 Surround" pre-set, 2) wrapped source file in Matroska container, 3) passed thru audio, 4) burned in separate srt file, and finally, 4) entered the following settings under "Video": ENCODER: H.264 (ex264); FR: "Same as Source"; CFR: checked; RF at 15; TUNE: "film"; PROFILE: "high"; LEVEL: "4.1." Oh, and I added "bluray=compat" to the command line chain. Ended up with a new MKV file that was nearly identical to the one I ripped with Make MKV. And it was this new MKV file that I muxed with TSmuxeR back into an m2ts container. The good news is that the file plays on my desktop if I click it directly (showing me that it works), but I can't get the blu-ray disk to chain-load to it from the menu. That's the last piece to the puzzle for me.

    So, any takers? Anyone know how to add a revised m2ts file back to a blu-ray's original BDMV folder structure without breaking any paths? Or, because I altered the original m2ts file, do I need to change a separate index or .mpls file too? Thing is, the new BD-disk loads and gets to the main menu just fine, and the menu even still contains its music. There's just something amiss (I presume) with the .mpls file in the PLAYLIST folder that corresponds to the m2ts file that contains the movie in the STREAM folder.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Try BDRebuilder.
    Personally, I'd encode the video while hard-coding the subtitles, output an MKV, and if you really like playing discs, burn the MKV to a disk as a data file with ImgBurn.
    99.99% of players will happily play it these days, and there's no annoying menus and Bluray video structure to deal with. Given you're already there, short of burning the MKV to a disc, why not try it to see if it'll play?
    Quote Quote  
  7. hello_hello: Finally figured it out, and yes, I ended up doing pretty much what you've suggested here. Ripped with MakeMKV, burned in subs during Handbrake encode, and simply converted back to new BDMV folder with TSmuxeR, which I burned to BD-R on a Mac using Disk Utility. Only sacrifice is that I don't get original copyright warning, BD production logo, or menu, which is fine. The film itself looks and plays great on my Panny DMP-BDT220.

    BTW: Because I don't have Windows, I tried loading BDRebuilder via Wine with Ubuntu, but it didn't work. Required the addition of too many other requisite apps and kept giving me error messages. Also why I just used Disk Utility on the Mac side to burn. Does about the same thing as IMGBurn in Ubuntu.

    Really appreciate your having taken the time to respond, and just to cover my bases, I do plan to burn MKV as data to a BD-R just to see how it works. In the meantime, I'm headed in the right direction and will now focus on seeing what I have to do to reintroduce original menus, chapters, and lead-in material. Not in any hurry to get there, though, as getting the film itself to load and play on BD-R was my initial goal, and I achieved that. Thanks again. Be blessed today.
    Quote Quote  
  8. Originally Posted by the associate View Post
    In the meantime, I'm headed in the right direction and will now focus on seeing what I have to do to reintroduce original menus, chapters, and lead-in material.
    If I were you, I'd investigate how not to burn the subs in but only embed them (in an MKV) or make them selectable (in a Blu-Ray). Hard-coding the subs by reencoding the entire video degraded the video quality unnecessarily.
    Quote Quote  
  9. manono: Thanks much for the input. Have tried numerous subtitle editors to convert my SRT SubRip file to BD PGS, but to date, haven't had much luck. The problem is that I don't have Windows. Only Mac and Ubuntu, which limits my options in terms of subtitle apps. Am guessing that once I find a way to convert .srt to PGS, I can simply MUX the subtitle with the originally-ripped m2ts file using TSMuxeR. But then my problem would be how to add an index or related file to get the blu-ray player to recognize the new subtitle track. Thing is, my original film on blu-ray had NO subtitle track, so I'm not just replacing an existing track. Guess that changes the rules a bit, as now I'd be trying to add a new sub track to a BDMV folder structure that previously didn't have one. Any thoughts on how I might go about doing this?

    Thing is, agree with you about sacrificing quality by burning in the subs. When I encoded in HB, though, I was able to keep the resultant MKV file at around the same size and bit rate. Gosh, would love to see a video pass-thru setting in future incarnations of the app, but as many posters have already pointed out, that would probably be defeating the purpose of what HB was originally designed to do. Still... : )

    BTW: If you're wondering why I don't just MUX my .srt file with the m2ts in TSMuxer, it's because every time I try, I keep getting the dreaded "Can't find font for Font A" error message, which I've tried everything humanly possible to rectify.
    Quote Quote  
  10. Originally Posted by the associate View Post
    BTW: If you're wondering why I don't just MUX my .srt file with the m2ts in TSMuxer, it's because every time I try, I keep getting the dreaded "Can't find font for Font A" error message, which I've tried everything humanly possible to rectify.
    Can't you convert the SRT to a format it will accept? SRTs are among my least favorite subs to begin with. ASS and SSA allow you to set the styles (size, font, placement within video, colors, etc.). Doing that will allow you to choose a font TSMuxer will accept.

    Apparently, easySUP can create Blu-Ray compliant subs. They can then be used in TSMuxer, I believe. It's Windows only. SubtitleEdit has a Linux version and can convert many kinds of subs back and forth and includes SUP Blu-Ray subs.
    Quote Quote  
  11. Rancid User ron spencer's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Ish-ka-bibble
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by manono View Post
    Originally Posted by the associate View Post
    In the meantime, I'm headed in the right direction and will now focus on seeing what I have to do to reintroduce original menus, chapters, and lead-in material.
    If I were you, I'd investigate how not to burn the subs in but only embed them (in an MKV) or make them selectable (in a Blu-Ray). Hard-coding the subs by reencoding the entire video degraded the video quality unnecessarily.
    While this is true, in practice there is little difference I ever see on my 80 inch display. Most video these days are encoded with far more bitrate than needed. I burn in my forced subtitles as well...why? For the simple reason that not all players will abide by forced and default flags for those subs when you build a media server for the movies (MKV). If I burn them in and choose a CQ factor that gets me to the original file size, the end result is negligible from the original.
    'Do I look absolutely divine and regal, and yet at the same time very pretty and rather accessible?' - Queenie
    Quote Quote  
  12. Rancid User ron spencer's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Ish-ka-bibble
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by the associate View Post
    manono: Thanks much for the input. Have tried numerous subtitle editors to convert my SRT SubRip file to BD PGS, but to date, haven't had much luck. The problem is that I don't have Windows. Only Mac and Ubuntu, which limits my options in terms of subtitle apps. Am guessing that once I find a way to convert .srt to PGS, I can simply MUX the subtitle with the originally-ripped m2ts file using TSMuxeR. But then my problem would be how to add an index or related file to get the blu-ray player to recognize the new subtitle track. Thing is, my original film on blu-ray had NO subtitle track, so I'm not just replacing an existing track. Guess that changes the rules a bit, as now I'd be trying to add a new sub track to a BDMV folder structure that previously didn't have one. Any thoughts on how I might go about doing this?

    Thing is, agree with you about sacrificing quality by burning in the subs. When I encoded in HB, though, I was able to keep the resultant MKV file at around the same size and bit rate. Gosh, would love to see a video pass-thru setting in future incarnations of the app, but as many posters have already pointed out, that would probably be defeating the purpose of what HB was originally designed to do. Still... : )

    BTW: If you're wondering why I don't just MUX my .srt file with the m2ts in TSMuxer, it's because every time I try, I keep getting the dreaded "Can't find font for Font A" error message, which I've tried everything humanly possible to rectify.
    Adding new tracks would requite that you also reauthor the structure to say when they should be on (forced subtitles, etc). Not sure what your goal would be.

    As far as video pass though myffmpeg can do that.
    'Do I look absolutely divine and regal, and yet at the same time very pretty and rather accessible?' - Queenie
    Quote Quote  
  13. ron spencer: I know that one can use BD Rebuilder to remove unwanted audio tracks, but can one use the app to add a sub track and re-author the overall blu-ray structure? If so, how?

    Also, anyone know of any software (other than Handbrake) that can burn hard subs into an original m2ts file without having to re-encode it? Don't want to create an MKV file that I'd just have to turn right around again and convert back to m2ts for burning to BD-R, and I don't want merely to MUX the SRT and original m2ts file together. Essentially, I want to generate a lossless copy of the original m2ts w/a new sub track burned in. Any ideas?

    What's killing me about this entire process is how close I'm getting. As I've said, I've gotten to where the player fast-plays the obligatory piracy warning and logo of the company who released the blu-ray before ultimately making it to the main menu screen. And I get sound to boot. I just can't get the menu to load the main feature when I click the PLAY button.

    Likewise, I've successfully been able to burn a movie-only backup without the aforementioned warning, logo, and menu. And the feature plays fine. I just apparently can't have the best of both worlds: warning, logo, menu, AND feature.
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!