Can .ass subtitles be "pasted" to a .mp4 video?

[doritosman]

How can I "paste" (not embed) .ass subtitles to a .mp4 video, without re-encoding (just "copy"). I want to make a single MP4 file with two audio tracks and subtitles, but HandBrake doesn't support .ass subtitles, only .srt (and obviously that format doesn't work for me). What could I do?

[jagabo]

Note that mp4 doesn't support ass subtitles. They will have to be converted to mov_text. ffmpeg can convert ass to mov_txt and mux into an MP4 container. You can probably use ProWo's Clever ffmpeg gui if you're not familiar with the command line. The conversion from ass to mov_text will probably lose any formatting (fonts, sizes, etc.)

[blud7]

Handbrake does support importing ass, srt and ssa subs, just mp4 container doesn't as jagabo said above.
You can try output to m4v or mkv container for that.

[yepyep]

I use this in a batch file, saved into the video folder.

ffmpeg -i "%~n1.mp4" -vf ass="%~n1.ass" "%~n1-HC-ASS.mp4"
pause

Drag one of the files onto this .bat and it embeds for you.

If you drop "video.mp4" on it, it will look for "video.ass" and combine it into "video-HC-ASS.mp4"

pause makes the cmd window stay open, so you can see the results.

[jagabo]

I use this in a batch file, saved into the video folder.

ffmpeg -i "%~n1.mp4" -vf ass="%~n1.ass" "%~n1-HC-ASS.mp4"
pause

Drag one of the files onto this .bat and it embeds for you.

Beware that the subtitles will be burnt into the video and the video and audio will be reencoded. The OP specified "without re-encoding."

[johns0]

Mux the .ass file with mkvmerge and output as mkv,most devices will play mkv.Only thing is most devices won't support .ass file formatting,usually only for computer media.

[jagabo]

Keep in mind that subtitle formats like SRT and ASS were not created by international standards organizations. They were created by individual programmers or small companies to support the small set of features they wanted. They were often then extended by others to support features they wanted. But without a standards setting body or large company (Google, Apple, etc.) to formalize the specifications support will be spotty. (SRT has gained some ground as WEBVTT, now supported by the W3C, is based on it). To a TV manufacturer the ability to play media files is just a bullet item on a list of supported features. They're not going to invest a lot of time and money to support many different sub formats.