How to make subs turned on in VOBs default to off

[robmason]

I just found my first instance of a subtitle that seems to be turned
on in the main movie video files instead of in IFOs. It annoyingly
defaults to "on" (English). It can be turned off (i.e., it's not
burned in) but is nonetheless a nuisance.

I learned this by making a movie-only rip of the disc (after banging my
head against IFOs in PGCEdit for hours, to no avail.) The movie-only
still defaults sub to 'on'.

Is there software available that can control subs that are turned on
in VOBs? I don't want to remove them, just default them to 'off'.

[AlanHK]

Does this work?

http://download.videohelp.com/r0lZ/pgcedit/third_party/2cool/subtitles/subtitles_off_d...lt_pgcedit.htm

If not, then surely ripping to primary streams: video, audio and subtitles, and reauthoring will let you set that as you want.

[manono]

I just found my first instance of a subtitle that seems to be turned
on in the main movie video files instead of in IFOs.

That's incorrect. Maybe you mean to say they've been turned on in the movie commands rather than in the menu commands. But it's all still in the IFOs (I think). You said you've played around using PGCEdit trying to figure out where it is. So you did a full trace looking for the command that did it? Doing a trace is about the only way to track down the command.

However, even if you don't find it, you can still do what you want. It will make sure the subs won't play unless you turn them on using the remote control after the movie has started playing. The subtitle menu will no longer work to control the subs before the movie starts (while still just in the menus). The guide to which AlanHK linked shows you what to do, but I'm suggesting you do it as the last pre command before the movie starts, rather than in the menus, because the menu commands can be overridden later on. Click on the movie to see the movie commands in the right screen. Add a NOP as the last pre command (right-click the last pre command of the movie and "Add after"), double-click on it, hit Alphabetically in the new PGCEdit Command Editor screen, followed by SetSTN in the new screen. Then SubPicture->not set. Save and test. But remember, anything you do in the menus won't affect that because it's happening just before the movie begins and will override anything else you set.

By the way, I've seen some French DVDs that force French subtitles when you may not want them for an English language movie, and you have to perform a similar procedure. But I don't know of any DVDs that force English subs for an English language movie (is this the case here?). Is it possible you have your DVD player set up to play English subs even if not commanded in the DVD itself?

[AlanHK]

Is it possible you have your DVD player set up to play English subs even if not commanded in the DVD itself?

My player will always activate the first subtitle unless it's explicitly turned off, which is why I use PGCedit as above to do so. The authoring app I use lets you set them "on", but not "off".