What is the best way to hardsub MKV files?

[ROBO731]

I've been trying for quite sometime to hardsub files so that I ccan watch them on devices that don't support subtitle playback. I've used programs like handbrake which work, but I think there's a better way to do it. I've tried avidemux, but it has issues with h264 video. I've tried several other ways, but I can't find one that works well for these files. I want to hardsub them and keep them in the mkv format. Here's the specifications:

General
Unique ID : 187679702404224639223690598157885901731 (0x8D31CBBEE2207A57A275275F9CD00BA3)
Complete name : C:\Users\user\Desktop\video.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 315 MiB
Duration : 23mn 19s
Overall bit rate : 1 890 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-08-10 08:04:33
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.4.0 ('Piper') built on Mar 10 2012 13:34:39
Writing library : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachment : Yes / Yes

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 9 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 23mn 19s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Title : h.264
Writing library : x264 core 120 r2164 da19765
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=9 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x13 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=9 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=7 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=130 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=18.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 23mn 19s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 9ms
Title : aac 2ch
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Title : subtitles & notes
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:Opening
00:03:13.902 : en:Recap
00:04:28.560 : en:Part 1
00:14:34.907 : en:Part 2
00:23:04.925 : en:Preview

[jman98]

From personal experience I feel that Xvid4PSP (free) is a much tool for this purpose than Handbrake. It seems that you are using English subtitles, which is good in that you should not have any problems. However, do note the following.
1) Xvid4PSP only supports a few subtitle formats if I remember correctly. You may have to convert ASS subs. Not sure. But that's not all that hard to do.
2) It does support character sets other than Latin, but those subtitles MUST be in Unicode format (UTF-8 seems to work best). This should not be an issue for you unless you want to use subs for languages like Russian, Chinese, Japanese, etc.

[Cornucopia]

Stop calling these "hardsubs". That just perpetuates the confusion with newbies. The only real hardsubs are those that are burned into the video. You are talking about multiplexing subs. As such, they are still optionally visible - depending on the player app.

Scott

Edit: unless your sample was your source and not your output, in which case, never mind.

[ROBO731]

It was the source. I'm trying to be as straight forward as possible. I thought I made it pretty clear that it was the source information.

[hello_hello]

I've re-encoded MKV files in order to hardcode subtitles many times using MeGUI.

What is it about Handbrake's output which makes you think there's a better way to do it? I ask only to find out what it is about Handbrake's re-enoding you're not happy with. I don't use it myself.

[ROBO731]

Thanks for replying. The reason I believe that there's better ways to do it is because I have tried using other programs (which have failed) that have many more options and allow me to simply copy the audio and encode the h.264 video into h.264 video again without re-encoding into a different format. They also seem to get the job done faster. If you don't mind can you post some instructions on how to do this using MeGUI?

[jagabo]

I have tried using other programs (which have failed) that have many more options and allow me to simply copy the audio and encode the h.264 video into h.264 video again without re-encoding into a different format.

You can't get hard subs by remuxing. If you want hard subs the video has to be decompressed, the subs written onto the frames, then the video re-compressed. There is no way around that.

[ROBO731]

Yes, I know that.

[jagabo]

Then why bother mentioning it?

[ROBO731]

Okay, let me rephrase. I am looking for a program other than handbrake because I believe there are programs that can complete the same task with more options and with faster speed. Can you tell me how to do this using MeGUI.

[jagabo]

Most of the free programs use x264 as the encoding engine. So the speed is determined by the encoder settings you specify. Handbrake's Normal -> Regular profile is pretty fast. No other program will get you much faster unless you switch to a program that supports GPU encoding (which will deliver lower quality). Normal -> High Profile is much slower.

[hello_hello]

Thanks for replying. The reason I believe that there's better ways to do it is because I have tried using other programs (which have failed) that have many more options and allow me to simply copy the audio and encode the h.264 video into h.264 video again without re-encoding into a different format. They also seem to get the job done faster. If you don't mind can you post some instructions on how to do this using MeGUI?

You'd open the original MKV file using MeGUI's File/Open menu. The File Indexer will open where you add the indexing job to the job queue (use the Queue button in the file indexer window). Switch to the Queue tab in MeGUI's main window and run the indexing job. MeGUI will extract the audio and the script creator window will open with a preview. The script creator is where you set up the encode. Subtitles to be encoded are added under the Filters tab. If all you're wanting to do is add subtitles you don't need to do anything else but add them and use the save button to save the script MeGUI uses for encoding.

When you've saved the script it'll be listed as the AVISynth Script in MeGUI's video encoding section. The extracted audio (or a similar script) will be listed under the audio encoding section. Each encoding section has it's own Queue button for adding either a video or audio encoding job to the job queue. You only want to add the video job as you don't want to re-encode the audio. Before adding the job select the "x264 scratchpad" video encoder preset and configure the x264 encoder. If in doubt, simply use the "load defaults" button and select "DXVA" as the target playback device, then select Okay. Once the encoder is set up, select the file format (MKV or MP4) then use the Queue button under the video encoding section to add the video encoding job to the queue. Switch to the Queue tab and start the encoding job.

Once the encoding job has finished use MeGUI's MKV Muxer (from the Tools menu) to open the MKV MeGUI created when encoding. If you seleceted MP4 as the output you can use the MP4 muxer. Add the audio MeGUI extracted from the original MKV and use the MKV/MP4 muxer to save the encoded video and extracted audio as a new MKV or MP4.

[Chug a Bug]

I use RibBot264 for hard coding subs on my x264 encodes, much easier to use than MeGui. Just feed it the video and the subs and away you go.

[ROBO731]

Thanks guys.

[fritzi93]

I use RibBot264 for hard coding subs on my x264 encodes, much easier to use than MeGui. Just feed it the video and the subs and away you go.

Yes, it's easy with Ripbot. Video Properties -> Subtitles -> Build in Picture. Select the file, preview the hardsubbed picture, okay. Done.

Selectable subs are easy as well. Use *.srt for widest compatibility.

[ROBO731]

Alright, I'll give them both a try.

[ROBO731]

Ripbot was going to take several hours to complete. Megui seems like the best way to go. Thanks everyone.

[aliensrock50]

Hey! I just wanted to know if this method with Megui is still in use or there is better software!

[TorBru]

May I ask why you mean there's a better way than handbrake to burn in subtitles?

FFMpeg is the most versatile tool for video conversion, but it can be hard to use without a GUI. If you use my GUI FFQueue and you create a preset for re-encoding and burn in of subtitles you can batch make a large quantity of files in a very simple workflow (if that is what you request).

[fritzi93]

Ripbot was going to take several hours to complete. Megui seems like the best way to go. Thanks everyone.

Again, it makes no difference, apart from the fact that the various GUIs use different *default presets*, tweaked in accord with the authors' ideas. All the popular and good tools use the X264 encoder.

If you want faster, you use a faster x264 preset or set up your own. If I use the ULTRAFAST preset in RipBot, it's gonna be as fast as using it in Handbrake, etc.