How to hard code subtitles in MP4 files for Apple TV using Windows??

[Flurk]

Hi,

recently I bought an Apple TV. On a external hard disc I have a whole bunch of movies which have, unfortunately, no subs.

First problem was to sync the subtitles (.srt-files): this was easy to do with GOM-player after converting them with Wondershare Media Converter (removing the DRM and change the extension).

Problem is to hard code them so that the original m4v file on the external disc can be replaced with the new mp4 including the subs.

Any suggestions? This wpould be highly appreciated.

I thank you in advance!

Have a nice day, greetings,

Flurk

[Baldrick]

You can add soft subtitles(no video reconversion) to the m4v/mp4 with for example srt iphone( or for mac subler, muxo, etc) and they should work on the apple tv.

But if you really want hard coded subtitles(requires video reconversion) use Handbrake, load the mp4, choose a apple tv profile, under the subtitle tab add the srt subtitle and convert.

[Flurk]

Hi Baldrick,

first I would like to thank you for the quick and clear response. I do find it great that you took the time to answer!

As you told me, I did install Handbrake. For speed reasons I made a map on an external disc with the movie without the subs as well as a second map on my desktop where the new one (the output of Handbrake) has to be put in.

At the moment I'm converting one movie (8 mm). After selecting the start-button the next window did open: C:\WINDOWS\system32|CMD.exe Here in I can see that it will take some 7 (SEVEN) hours to do the converting. Little bit long I guess so maybe I do something wrong.

By the way: my RAM isn't 256 MB but 2GB...


GRTZ,

Flurk

[txporter]

You can add soft subtitles(no video reconversion) to the m4v/mp4 with for example srt iphone( or for mac subler, muxo, etc) and they should work on the apple tv.

But if you really want hard coded subtitles(requires video reconversion) use Handbrake, load the mp4, choose a apple tv profile, under the subtitle tab add the srt subtitle and convert.

Last I checked, Handbrake would not hardsub srt files into mp4/m4v/mkv. Only add them as softsubs. They haven't included a way to render images from the text subs (or at least they hadn't a week or so before 0.9.4 release).

You could use XVID4PSP to do it.

[Flurk]

Hello txporter,

also many thanks for the reply.

You were right when you thought Handbrake couldn't hard coding the srt-files. It could be that Baldrick was right but till now I don't know what mistake I eventually made when encoding with it.

Today I tried Xvid4PSP. It could do the job but it took some 6 hours to finish it. Also the contrast is of a poor quality (no deep colors) and sometimes it seemed as if the movie stopped for a split second before continue. But at least my subs were there!

I must admit that most of the setting are "Swahili" for me. Below are the setting I used.
* Format: MP4 Apple TV
* Filtering: Disabled
* Color correction: Disabled
* Video Encoding: x264 HQ ultra
* Audio Encoding: AAC-LC ABR 128k

I really don't know if changing these setting can improve the quality...

Kind regards,

Flurk

[txporter]

Well, there are a lot of possibilities here. The default settings for x264 HQ Ultra are decent. You should get a good encode with it and it really should be a fairly quick encode. It does depend, of course, on your hardware. The video stopping could be a framerate problem. You need to know what framerate your source is to tell XVID4PSP how to correctly encode your video (Video Menu --> Interlace/Framerate). Download MediaInfo and/or Gspot to analyze your video.

I am not sure what to think about the colors.

At any rate, the easiest way to improve the quality of the encode with x264 (which is what XVID4PSP is using to encode your video to mp4) is to lower the Quantizer number from 21 to 18-19 (click gear next to Video encoding pulldown). Before you do this, you need to make sure that your interlacing settings and framerate settings are correct.