Ripping Just Subtitles with Handbrake

[lokie56]

The reason I am specifically asking about handbrake is because when I have ripped a video and selected the default mode for subtitle rip with a video it rips it in the srt format directly, and not as an .idx/.sub files but it also encodes it into the video data and I cant figure out how to rip only the subtitles, and not the video.

Why I ask I am trying to rip about 75 subtitles, but I already have the videos for these files on my PC and dont want to waste time double ripping. Secondly I need raw .srt files since the player I am using needs the files to be separate to begin with. And also I like that handbrake doesn't force me to use that annoying subtitle converter where I have to manually enter the words to help it read and "convert" the subtitles to an srt format, it just does it by itsself.

I have been able to rip the file with the subs encoded in the video and then extracted the srt from that video, but I really do not want to have to do that for 75 videos.

Any help appreciated.

[usually_quiet]

It isn't possible to use Handbrake to create SRT subtitles alone with no video. The only output options Handbrake allows are MKV and MP4 files.There are no output options that would create a SRT file.

I don't know where the SRT subs you are seeing are coming from, if the files you are converting only have subtitles composed of images (DVD VOBSUBs or Bluray PGS files). Handbrake's documentation indicates it does not convert those to SRT form. They will be either burned in for MKV or MP4, or optionally multiplexed in, for MKV only.

SSA subs remain in SSA format, or can be burned in.

Handbrake can convert CEA-608 Closed Captions to SRT format, or burn them into the video. (I have only used Handbrake with CEA-608 Closed Captions as the subtitle source.)

Handbrake can also accept SRT subtitles as input, and either multiplex them or burn them in.

[lokie56]

Thanks for reply just FYI what I did to get .srt from one of the videos:

1.

Select Add Track and then click "Default" not Burn In.

At this point the subtitles were embeded in the video and were a selectable option in VLC, and could be turned off and on.

2. Then after video was ripped, I used "My MP4BoxGUI"
Used Demux and extracted the timed text.
It provided the subtitles in .srt format.

What I tried to do to speed up process was make the video 1x1 and removing the audio track, and then rip hoping to make it faster, but it still takes 3 minutes to rip each video (same without changing resolution and removing audio)

It still works but I still have to manually go into each video with MP4 Box to get the subtitle out, which at end of day is almost the same as ripping as an .idx/.sub and then converting each one.

Hopefully in future version they will add an option to output just the .srt.

[usually_quiet]

Your initial post was misleading. You said you were using idx/sub subtitles, but that isn't the case. You are using CEA-608 Closed Captions as the subtitle source, which are not anything at all like idx/sub subtitles.

CCExtractorGUI can produce SRT subtitles files from video containing CEA-608 Closed Captions in moments.

Subtitles files composed of images like idx/sub subtitles, DVD VOBSUBs or Bluray PGS files require OCR to convert them to SRT format. The OCR software available for freeware is not perfect, so if Handbrake did convert those types of subs to SRT format, assistance from the user would surely be needed.

Handbrake is a video converter, so adding the ability to export just subtitles in SRT format is probably not on any of the developers' to-do list.

[lokie56]

Thanks again, can you explain how to get CCExtractorGUI to rip the srt directly from the dvd, maybe I misread your post but that is what I think you said I can do.

In the past whenever I have had to rip subs from dvds I always had to do what you said which is rip the subs as .idx/.sub and then use OCR software to convert to .srt, it was what I was trying to avoid in this case.

[usually_quiet]

Thanks again, can you explain how to get CCExtractorGUI to rip the srt directly from the dvd, maybe I misread your post but that is what I think you said I can do.

In the past whenever I have had to rip subs from dvds I always had to do what you said which is rip the subs as .idx/.sub and then use OCR software to convert to .srt, it was what I was trying to avoid in this case.

Sometimes CCExtractorGUI can work directly with the VOB files on the DVD. For it to work, the DVD must have no copy protection and the DVD needs to have been authored in titleset mode.

You would drag each of VOBs in one titleset to CCExtractorGUI's input files window in numeric order, and perform the steps below. (You would repeat the process for each titleset.)

Next click on the "Input Options" tab. For "Input type", select "Autodetect correct format". For "Split type", select "These files are part of the same video.They were cut with a generic tool." For "Mode", select "This is a complete recording". "Start of processing" should be "Process the input from the start.", "End of Processing" should be "Process the input up to the end." ""Screenfulls" Limit" should be "No limit". For "Elementary stream" choose "Select the stream most likely to contain data".

Click the Output (1) tab and select "srt(SubRip) for "Output type", then choose the option that you want to use for "Output file".

Finally Click on the execution tab and then click the "Start Button".

CCExtractorGUI also works well on DVDs that have been ripped to MKV format with MakeMKV, but for "Split type", select "These files from individual, unrelated files. Produce a subtitle file for each input file." Other settings would remain the same.

You should check the VOBs on the DVDs with MediaInfo to be sure they contain CEA-608 Closed Captions before using MakeMKV or CCExtractorGUI.