Handbrake: Subtitles become bigger when burned in

[Hakunamatata67]

Hi,

I have an issue that never happened to me before: when I convert a 1080p MKV to 720p MP4 with ASS subtitles burned in with Handbrake, in the output file, the subtitles are much bigger than in the original ASS file. I already converted plenty of videos without issues.

I changed the subtitle font recently, could it be the cause of the problem?

[Budman1]

Check your ASS subtile file for PlayResY and PlayResx settings. They may not have them but if they do, these will affect font size when resizing. Not sure how your have Handbrake set up but the font is usually set by the ASS subtitle file as well as the size. Check you Subtitle file for font and size of font.

[Hakunamatata67]

Thanks for your reply.

I checked the PlayResY and PlayResx settings, they are setting up at 100% (I use Aegisub for ASS files).

The weird thing is that when I watch the videos with the subtitle in a separatly file, I don't have any bigger size issue.

[Budman1]

Not I'm not sure if you are using the same specs on you ASS subtitles but the playresxy affects subtitles in the was icon are affected by screen resolution. 1080 icons are one size, if you got to 720 they are larger. Subti effy led do the same. You might try reducing playres settings and see if that affects them

[sneaker]

Is the font loaded correctly? Check mkv file attachments.

[Hakunamatata67]

Yes the font is loaded correctly.
In the end, I had to reduce the font size in Aegisub so it displays correctly when I watch the video.

[Budman1]

Did you try reducing PlayresX and PlayresY? They should do the same thing. I would be interested in knowing if they do not.
PlayResx/Playresy(resolution), scalex/scaley (percentage), Font and font size all affect subtitles differently in different players and encoderrs.

Also when hardcoding them, the software you use can also make a difference. E.G. If you use FFMpeg and scale before you add the subtitles sequentially in your script, The subtitles are added as the same size to a resized video, but if you add them and then resize the video, they become larger. This is the effect seen by many players and encoders, depending how the are set up or designed.

The best bet is to find a combination that work for your preferred software and use that combination/algorithm in the future.
Thanks