How to easily burn in/hardcode srt subtitles to mp4/mkv with VidCoder

[Zeggo]

@Zeggo
Perhaps attach the srt together with MediaInfo (View -> Text) for the MP4 file to a post.

Here's MediaInfo - SRT file attached:

General
Complete name : E:\--- Movies to burn to DVD ---\Matador\Matador_1978_S01E01-DenRejsende.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 1.03 GiB
Duration : 45mn 19s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 3 250 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-05-10 05:48:37
Tagged date : UTC 2011-05-10 06:45:37

Video
ID : 1
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Advanced Simple@L5
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : 20
Duration : 45mn 19s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 3 164 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 4 831 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.323
Stream size : 1.00 GiB (97%)
Writing library : em4v 4.1.6.5
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-05-10 05:48:37
Tagged date : UTC 2011-05-10 06:45:37

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 45mn 19s
Source duration : 45mn 19s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 80.4 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 95.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 26.1 MiB (2%)
Source stream size : 26.1 MiB (2%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-05-10 05:48:37
Tagged date : UTC 2011-05-10 06:45:37

Menu
00:00:00.000 : Chapter 1
00:05:43.720 : Chapter 2
00:14:13.320 : Chapter 3
00:18:29.680 : Chapter 4
00:23:42.720 : Chapter 5
00:31:58.800 : Chapter 6
00:35:30.960 : Chapter 7
00:38:49.080 : Chapter 8

[videobruger]

Your .srt is Unicode encoded while Vidcoder (probably) expect UTF-8. Open the .srt in Notepad and change the encoding at the bottom of the Save-As Window.

[Zeggo]

Thanks videobruger - that did the trick

[blueflowerhp]

I have the same trouble as @Zeggo. I have an MP4 file and a separate SRT file. I need to hardcode the subs in for streaming.

The subs work when playing on a local media player with sub file selected.

I run VidCoder 1.5.33.0. I've checked "Burn in" but no matter what I do, no subs are being written into the new output MP4.

Any suggestions on what could be the issue? And how to fix?

I attach here the .srt and Media Info. of the mp4.

General
Complete name : C:\Users\tiendq\Downloads\LEGO® Youngest Builders - Let’s Build Happy.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 9.65 MiB
Duration : 1mn 0s
Overall bit rate : 1 347 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf54.63.104

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1mn 0s
Bit rate : 1 217 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.053
Stream size : 8.71 MiB (90%)
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 126 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Frame rate : 43.066 fps (1024 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 922 KiB (9%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

[Baldrick]

I have the same trouble as @Zeggo. I have an MP4 file and a separate SRT file. I need to hardcode the subs in for streaming.

The subs work when playing on a local media player with sub file selected.

I run VidCoder 1.5.33.0. I've checked "Burn in" but no matter what I do, no subs are being written into the new output MP4.

Any suggestions on what could be the issue? And how to fix?

I attach here the .srt and Media Info. of the mp4.

General
Complete name : C:\Users\tiendq\Downloads\LEGO® Youngest Builders - Let’s Build Happy.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 9.65 MiB
Duration : 1mn 0s
Overall bit rate : 1 347 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf54.63.104

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1mn 0s
Bit rate : 1 217 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.053
Stream size : 8.71 MiB (90%)
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 126 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Frame rate : 43.066 fps (1024 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 922 KiB (9%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

Try rename your subtitle file....remove the special characters and just name it lego.srt. THen import it in vidcoder.

If that fails try hardcode with Xmedia Recode.

[blueflowerhp]

@Baldrick: Tks for your help. I've renamed the srt file but it doesn't work.

I've tried with Format Factory, the subs are perfect but the video quality is not as good as with Vidcoder.

[blueflowerhp]

@Baldrick: I've tried with Xmedia Recode, it works perfect. Tks you a lots.

[Baldrick]

Be sure to use h264/avc video in format factory or xmedia recode. And decrease the constant quality/quantizer value for better quality or increase the bitrate under the video encoding settings.

[blueflowerhp]

Be sure to use h264/avc video in format factory or xmedia recode. And decrease the constant quality/quantizer value for better quality or increase the bitrate under the video encoding settings.

Tks you a lots. I will try

[exwoll]

Thanks for the great software guys!

Is there a way to change the color of the subtitles when hardcoding?

I'm trying to sub a black and white video and the default (white) color isn't adecuate for it

The program itself lacks this configuration, but maybe I can add a line in a cfg file or something?

[videobruger]

.srt has font color as a formatting option.

[Baldrick]

But will Vidcoder use the srt font tags?

You can instead try xmedia recode, not as easy but https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/373379-How-to-burn-in-hardcode-srt-with-Xmedia-Recode

[Baldrick]

Updated the guide with:
You can use Subtitle Edit to change the color in your srt subtitle, In Subtitle Edit open the srt, Mark all (Ctrl+A). Rigth click. Select Color. Save as a new srt. Import it in Vidcoder.

Thanks to videobruger.

[exwoll]

thanks!

[Mr_Anderson]

Is there a way to automatically burn .srt when there exists an .srt file with the same filename as the movie being re-coded (e.g., mymovie.mp4 is being re-coded and there exists a mymovie.srt file)?
I would like to burn subtitles during re-coding of a list of files without having to go through the addition of subtitles manually.

[Baldrick]

Is there a way to automatically burn .srt when there exists an .srt file with the same filename as the movie being re-coded (e.g., mymovie.mp4 is being re-coded and there exists a mymovie.srt file)?
I would like to burn subtitles during re-coding of a list of files without having to go through the addition of subtitles manually.

I don't think so. But you could try click on Picker:None (at top right in latest vidcoder beta) and choose Subtitle selection: First or All and see if it autoloads any subs.

[Mr_Anderson]

Thanks--I could not get it to work (tried some other picker settings as well).

[HOK1N]

is it possible to change the subtitles' settings? (size, font etc) because they are not very easily readable if ur bed is not close to the pc..

[videobruger]

is it possible to change the subtitles' settings?

Even though some players/software may support formatting in .srt beside the basics bold, italic, underline, color you should
never expect it.

Instead convert your .srt to ass (Aegisub/Subtitle Edit), do the formatting and mux the .ass with the video with MKVToolnix GUI and you can hardcode it in VidCoder/HandBrake.

[HOK1N]

is it possible to change the subtitles' settings?

Even though some players/software may support formatting in .srt beside the basics bold, italic, underline, color you should
never expect it.

Instead convert your .srt to ass (Aegisub/Subtitle Edit), do the formatting and mux the .ass with the video with MKVToolnix GUI and you can hardcode it in VidCoder/HandBrake.

unless i just make everything bold by adding the bbcode. that will work for me, thanks anyways.

[Arbok]

My srt file is ANSI. Can I change the settings in VidCoder? From UTF-8 to what exactly: there are several ANSI options...

[Baldrick]

My srt file is ANSI. Can I change the settings in VidCoder? From UTF-8 to what exactly: there are several ANSI options...

Wont it work fine with default ASCII? Or do you get strange characters?

[Arbok]

Actually, I get some character missing.

[Baldrick]

Try ISO-8859-2 then.

ISO-8859-2 Latin 2
Latin-written Slavic and Central European languages: Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Slovene.

Or maybe try convert your srt to utf8.

[Arbok]

I tried with ISO-8859-2 and now only 1 character isn't showing, "ž"!
It's definitely an improvement, but I'm still opened for suggestions.

[Arbok]

Ok, I tried converting the subtitle file to UTF8 and worked just fine, so that's sorted. Now I have another question: why is my output file significally larger than the input file? Input file is 1.49 GB and output is 2.75 GB! I didn't touch anything in Vidcoder settings. Is there a way to avoid such change in file size? Here's the Mediainfo slip from the input file, if it helps.

[Arbok]

And here's the output file:

[Bernix]

You didn't do nothing, but since vidcoder has not direct stream copy for video, your compression settings gets almost twice bitrate. Check overall bitrate in last post. 4611 and in first it is about 2500. You will hurt quality size when reencoding video, which is must be when hardcoded subtitles. To keep same size, use 2pass encoding with same video bitrate as original video has. And it has around 2000 Kbps in your original post.
And do nothing actually spoiled your audio quality. AAC codec in vidcoder isn't much great, if you want your original quality keep, so in audio tab set it to auto passthrough.
Bernix

[Arbok]

Bernix, that nearly did the trick, although I couldn't find 2pass encoding in the settings. All in all, the result is more than satisfactory! Tnx!

[Bernix]

Hi,
glad it helped. Two pass encoding is in Video encoding tab. It is above average bitrate. You can set final size of video in MB. Two pass is much more better than average bitrate in terms of quality at same size. I suggest next time use this with turbo first pass, and of course switch to constant frame rate instead of variable bitrate that is default(lots of trouble) and frame rate same as source.
If you have no trouble with Variable frame rate VFR it doesn't mean others can't or your other devices can have problem as well.
Bernix