ON MAC How to HARDCODE .srt subtitles onto .mp4 using VLC or Handbreak

[syrus11709]

I am attempting to add subtitles to various .mp4 files so that when I load them into iTunes and sync them with my iPod 5 Generation or iPhone 5s, I will see the subtitles.

Similar to previous post:

This really shouldn't be so difficult, but apparently it is. Handbrake lacks this functionality, despite having a specific feature to add subtitles via SRT file. VLC supposedly has a conversion option that allows hardcoding of SRT files, but when I tried that...the subtitles still were not in the video.

All I want to do is take the MP4 video file and hardcode the subtitles into the video so that it will play without issue on anything that can play an MP4 video...

When I do this:

"The "Import SRT" button on Handbrake's Subtitle handling section actually allows you to load an SRT file without having to mux it in to your source" handbrake only allows me to select "default" the "burn in" option is grayed out. I have read else where that you have mux the MKV source file with .ssa after converting it from a .srt. I did this using the combination of MKVtoonix 7.2.0 and jubler but the result was the same no hardcoded subtitles. The closes thing I have come to an answer on this issue has come from this guy:


puppetworx
Gerbil XP
Silver subscriber
Re: Harcoding SRT subtitles onto MP4 video
Postposted on Thu May 15, 2014 9:18 pm

If you're using an srt file as a source you cannot burn in, the only supported subtitle formats for burning in according to the Handbrake wiki are sub, pgs and ssa. Given that info I googled and found this: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/345198-Burned-in-subtitles-help. You have to first convert the .srt to .ssa using SubtitleEdit, then mux the .ssa with your mp4 using mkvmerge, then you can finally encode and burn in the subs with Handbrake. I checked and this method definitely does work, it sounds lengthy but the first two steps are very quick.

This issue I am having is that I am attempting to do these on a Mac and it seem like all the instructions I am reading is for individuals who have PCs.

If someone could give me a step by step walkthrough for a mac user, with good competent computer skills, and who is very interested in finding a solution to this problem, it would be greatly appreciated.

[johns0]

Please do no not post in an old thread and then post the the same message in a new thread,i deleted the other post.

[syrus11709]

I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. I posted that previous post before I realized that I could create a thread of my own. My apologies.

[Zvezke]

Hi!

I too was looking for software to hardcode subs. I found this Submerge by Bitfield: http://www.bitfield.se/submerge/
The UI is nice, simple and very user friendly, but the hardcoding takes forever and is quite demanding – 45 min. of video takes 3-4 hours and uses 150%-200% of my computer's CPU (dual core). Maybe my computer is just too old/weak: MacBook Pro, mid 2008, dual 2,5 GHz.
The time and the overburdening of the computer is annoying, but I haven't been able to find anything else.

Zvezke

[Selur]

Harcoding requires a full reencode of the source, so it will always take a lot of time on slow systems depending on the encoding settings.
(Hybrid can be used to hardcode subtitles, but it's not aimed at newbie users. Handbrake might also be able to hardcode subtitles.)

[Zvezke]

Harcoding requires a full reencode of the source, so it will always take a lot of time on slow systems depending on the encoding settings.
(Hybrid can be used to hardcode subtitles, but it's not aimed at newbie users. Handbrake might also be able to hardcode subtitles.)

Hybrid looks interesting, but Handbrake is a no go: You are not able to hardcode srt-subs with Handbrake. Handbrake is suppose to be able to burn in ssa-subs, but I can't get it to work on Mac.

[videobruger]

On Windows the latest version of HandBrake (0.10.0) can hardcode (burn-in) external SRT subtitles.

[The Riddle]

Hi, finally someone with the same problem as I have. Ive used Handbrake for years on Windows but now with Mac Yosemite it just wont work. It doesnt matter if I use ass subs or srt, HB just Will not make it work. Why this is on Mac I have no Idea but now I know for certain that I'm not crazy. Lol

Happy new year pal!

[MilMascaras]

Couldn't get this to work on Mac until I decided to encode as .mkv.
I had to experiment a bit, as occasionally, I would get double titles,
and sometimes toggling the "Foreign Audio Search - bitmap" choice finally got it to work

[FordGuy61]

To OP regarding Mac tools: Use Subler. https://bitbucket.org/galad87/subler/wiki/Home

With Subler you can mux the subtitles into your mp4 file.

Note: You do not have to burn in the subtitles (where they show all the time). They can exist as soft subtitles, which you can turn on/off in the movie player on your iPhone or in iTunes.

I use Handbrake to encode my movies, then load them into iTunes and use Home Sharing to watch via AppleTV or on my iPad2. Works great.

A couple of notes (which may or may not apply...):

First, Apple likes files to end with a .m4v suffix instead of .mp4. There is no difference other than the suffix. If you use .mp4, things still work, but you will not see chapter markers and names. No idea if this has any effect on subtitles.

Second, Apple likes text subtitles. Formats like VOBSUB from DVDs are ignored. So ... when you transcode a DVD with Handbrake and end up with VOBSUB subtitles they won't display in iTunes. Subler is your friend. Make a copy of the movie (movie_copy.m4v). Delete the VOBSUB subtitles from your main movie file (movie.m4v). Now mux the subtitles back into the main movie from the backup. Subler will convert them to text based subtitles and iTunes will be happy.

That only works with VOBSUB subtitles. For PGS and others, check out SUBtools at www.emmgunn.com (along w/ his other tools). They are all Mac based and can help with muxing, etc mp4, mkv, etc files.

For a PC, look at Subtitle Edit (https://www.videohelp.com/software/Subtitle-Edit). Very good. Actually a little nicer than SUBtools. However, it is Windows only.

Subler, SUBtools, and Subtitle Edit all use the tesseract OCR engine, so accuracy should be about the same. SUBtools & Subtitle Edit both provide a spell check during translation so you can correct any errors.