How Do I Test Embedded Subtitle?

[4evrplan]

Hello everybody. It's a great day to be involved in this hobby, because I know you geniuses will solve my problem quickly!

I've made a four minute mocumentary starring my eight year old, and for the first time ever, I'm delving into the world of authoring subtitles. I'm using Handbrake to embed subtitles from an SRT file, and I need to test them out as I go, but neither Windows Media Player or Quicktime will display them. I've turned on the relevant options, as far as I can tell. In QT, under View > Subtitles, there's only one option: Off, which is checked and grayed out. However, MediaInfo shows that there is a text stream with the following attributes.

Text
ID : 3
Format : Timed Text
Muxing mode : sbtl
Codec ID : tx3g
Bit rate mode : Constant
Delay relative to video : 83ms
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2013-08-23 14:36:58
Tagged date : UTC 2013-08-23 14:36:58

I've also tried the Direct Play option in Plex Media Server/Client. It didn't show subtitles either, but I read it's not yet supported. I have no other Plex clients available at the moment (I do at home, but I'm not there). This is my end goal, however, to have it set up to stream properly, with embedded subtitles, to a Roku.

Can anyone recommend a free player which will support the text stream and/or another way to test it out? Perhaps a utility to rip the subtitles back out and compare it with what I'm putting in?

[jagabo]

Use a player with built in subtitle support. MPCHC, VLC, SMPlayer.

[jman98]

What jagabo said.

Just so you know, QT and WMP are the WORST media players ever. To be fair, QT isn't really intended to be a "plays anything" kind of player. WMP sort of it, but it's incompetent. I have seen a fully patched and up to date WMP refuse to play unencrypted WMV that VLC handled without a hitch. That's just to show you what a POS WMP is. All you did was prove that the crappiest media players available can't play your file correctly.

[videobruger]

and I need to test them out as I go

If I understand your MO correctly it seems rather cumbersome to me. I normally use Subtitle Edit (SE) for this sort of thing seeing the subtitle, the video and the waveform of the sound as I create the subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvMb5MEpQDs

(And in SE I use VLC. ptiions -> Setting ... -> Video Play -> VLC Media player)

[manono]

I've also tried the Direct Play option in Plex Media Server/Client. It didn't show subtitles either, but I read it's not yet supported.

I play MKVs with embedded SRT subs through Plex all the time. When you set up the Plex to play videos, you turned on the subtitle feature, didn't you?

How did you create these SRTs? My money is on them being bad in some way. Maybe you did it, maybe Handbrake (don't use it myself).

[4evrplan]

I've started using VisualSubSync for authoring and VLC to test. VLC displays the subtitles very nicely. Thanks!

[4evrplan]

I play MKVs with embedded SRT subs through Plex all the time. When you set up the Plex to play videos, you turned on the subtitle feature, didn't you?

How did you create these SRTs? My money is on them being bad in some way. Maybe you did it, maybe Handbrake (don't use it myself).

You may be right about my SRT being bad the first time, because after switching to VisualSubSync (from Notepad++), it now plays fine in Plex. Maybe I was using the wrong character encoding or something. I still can't get them to show up in WMP or QT though. Not a critical issue, just a minor annoyance. Plex is what I really want to work, so I'm happy.

[jagabo]

SRT subs are plain text. You can open them with Notepad to check them. For example:

1
00:00:01,714 --> 00:00:06,981
I had talked with my wife
on the phone just before her accident.

2
00:00:08,855 --> 00:00:10,823
She died just after our quarrel.

3
00:00:12,825 --> 00:00:16,921
That's why Satoru
feels so bitter towards me.

[4evrplan]

SRT subs are plain text. You can open them with Notepad to check them. For example:

1
00:00:01,714 --> 00:00:06,981
I had talked with my wife
on the phone just before her accident.
 
2
00:00:08,855 --> 00:00:10,823
She died just after our quarrel.
 
3
00:00:12,825 --> 00:00:16,921
That's why Satoru
feels so bitter towards me.

Yes, that's how I was authoring it (at first), but once I encode my video with Handbrake, the subs are embedded, not a separate file anymore.

[Budman1]

If you have DirectVOBsub installed and the Video and Subtitles named the same, in the same folder (e.g. Video.FLV/ Video.srt) Media Player and Potplayer for sure will display the subs as a test. Just be sure if you have FFDshow installed and your codec is AVC that ffdshow isn't used to play the AVC format as it will stop the subtiles from showing. All other formats do not seem to care.
Right clicking WMP while playing and selecting properties shows the DirectVOBSub as the automatic Video codec.: