Adding hardsubs without re-encoding

[ROBO731]

My TV can play MKV files, but it doesn't support subtitles for MKV files. I know that you can add hardsub subtitles to a file with handbrake, but I'm wondering if there's a faster way to do it without re-encoding.

[manono]

A faster way to hardsub? By definition hardsubbing involves reencoding so the answer is 'no'.

[jman98]

No. You MUST re-encode.

[MilesAhead]

What's the TV make model? Are you sure it won't pick up an external .srt file at least?

[ROBO731]

Thanks for responding everybody. I kind of figured that hardsubbing could only be done through re-encoding. The model is a Panasonic TC-L42E50, it says in the help menu that it doesn't support subtitles for MKV files. I was wondering about using an external file as well, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Can you tell me?

[ROBO731]

I repackaged the mkv to an mp4 and that didn't seem to work either. I think that the tv just doesn't recognize subs in general.

[netmask56]

Extract the subs from the original MKV file using MKVMergeGui - just remux unticking all tracks except the subtitles track. Then you need to convert the extracted subtitle to SRT. I'm assuming the MKV doesn't contain an IDX type sub (graphic). If it is an ass or similar you can use DSRT Editor for Windows Version 3.22 by Dmitriy Kuznetzoff . Will handle SRT,SSA/ASS and SST subtitles. (ANSI, UTF-8, UTF-16). http://dsrt.dyndns.org/down-eng.htm

When you have the srt make sure it has exactly the same name as the mkv. Do another remux of the MKV file removing the subtitles altogether so you just have the video and audio as some media players only like "vanilla" files. Then pop the cleansed mkv file and the newly created file in a folder together and see if that works. On the other hand you might be able to find the srt sub on line...

Good luck

[ROBO731]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[MilesAhead]

Yeah, if it's going to work the most common external file support seems to be .srt with the same base filename as the video. I have a WD set top box Gen1 and the .srt subs are displayed so thin and small they're very difficult to read. Fortunately the last firmware they made for it supports ids/sub files. So I can use AviAddXSubs to control the font size and thickness.

Check if the TV maker has their own forum. Sometimes you can find out about some hacked firmware or other work-around from another poster with the same hardware.

[ROBO731]

I tried it out, but it didn't work. I saw some people on another forum talking about different profiles for a media server called serviio. I don't know if that will help or not. Is there a program that I can just hardsub the subs without re-encoding the audio and anything extra?

[netmask56]

Personally I would write off the TV as a media player and get a WD Live or similar, I don't think at this stage built in media players in TV's are anywhere near sophisticated enough and can only handle the most simple of file formats. If I attempt to play a mkv file off a very fast memory stick in my Samsung ES 8000 65" the poor thing just closes down and turns off the power. Stutters a bit off an external hard disk but handles network playback ok. On the other hand my Popcorn C200 plays just about anything.

[ROBO731]

I would agree. These media players are not where they should be. I was just wondering If I could make this work.

[netmask56]

Find a file that plays without issues - look at the parameters in MediaInfo and convert the MKV to that format with burnt in subs - you will lose some quality. I did that for a friend and used MKV2MP4 from memory.

[ROBO731]

Well it plays files fine. It just doesn't have support for subtitles. How did you burn in the subs with MkvTomMp4. I'm not aware that it has an option for this.

[netmask56]

You go to setup and there is a subtitle tab https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340675-Mkv%D0%A2%D0%BEMp4-v0-221a-rapid-tool-for-re...ack-Mkv-to-Mp4

But I will double check to make sure it was this program - could have been XVid4PSP (opens mkv's and mpg etc not restricted to xvid)

Most conversion programs that use memcoder should be able to do it like TEncoder

[ROBO731]

[Attachment 14601 - Click to enlarge] These are the only options I see.

[netmask56]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340675-Mkv%D0%A2%D0%BEMp4-v0-221a-rapid-tool-for-re...=1#post2119917

[ROBO731]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340675-Mkv%D0%A2%D0%BEMp4-v0-221a-rapid-tool-for-re...=1#post2119917

I don't think I'm seeing what you want me to see in this post. I don't see anything relevant to hardsubbing.

[jman98]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340675-Mkv%D0%A2%D0%BEMp4-v0-221a-rapid-tool-for-re...=1#post2119917

I don't think I'm seeing what you want me to see in this post. I don't see anything relevant to hardsubbing.

I'm going to explain this to you but I'm done here. You're not really into providing useful information. I'm not going to help you any further.

Apparently netmask56 is guessing that if you change your container from MKV to MP4 it MIGHT fix your problem. But since you don't want to tell us what format your subs are in, I'm done.

[ROBO731]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340675-Mkv%D0%A2%D0%BEMp4-v0-221a-rapid-tool-for-re...=1#post2119917

I don't think I'm seeing what you want me to see in this post. I don't see anything relevant to hardsubbing.

I'm going to explain this to you but I'm done here. You're not really into providing useful information. I'm not going to help you any further.

Apparently netmask56 is guessing that if you change your container from MKV to MP4 it MIGHT fix your problem. But since you don't want to tell us what format your subs are in, I'm done.

It's .ass. You guys never even asked, I would've gladly told you. You didn't have to be an ******* about it, jman. Also, I already tried what netmask56 was saying and it didn't work, see post #6. You clearly aren't into reading useful information. I don't want your help any further.

[netmask56]

Start again from the top!

Take a look at this program, previously mentioned.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/tencoder/


Features

Supports almost all video formats
Multithreading enables you to use all cores of your CPU
Subtitles can be hard-coded into video
Output video codecs are: Mpeg1, Mpeg2, Xvid, Mpeg4, H264, FLV, WMV, VP8
Output audio codecs are: MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG Vorbis, AC3, Mp2, Speex, Opus
Choose between FFMpeg and Mencoder as encoder
Select between different audio and subtitle tracks for each file
Skin support
Do two passes to improve quality
Pass custom commands to encoders
Preview files before encoding
Select between 840 device presets

Not sure if it accepts ass or ssa format but these can easily be changed into srt

[ROBO731]

Yes, I realize that these two programs can accomplish the task. Thanks.