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  1. Member JEG41's Avatar
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    Hi
    I'm having trouble converting an MKV file to an MP4. The original MKV file contains subtitles that can be turned on or off.
    Some conversion apps (e.g., VideoProc, HandBrake, etc.) include the subtitles without any problems (though sometimes you need to configure this).
    Other conversion apps (e.g., Video to Video, Any Video Converter) don't work.
    My question is, is there a specific setting I can use to get the subtitles in my movie file?
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  2. The mvk container supports way more subtitles formats than the mp4 container.
    Depending on the subtitle format of those subtitles, they need to be converted to be supported by the mp4 container.
    Like you noticed, not all tools support all subtitle conversion.

    My question is, is there a specific setting I can use to get the subtitles in my movie file?
    Some tools might support hard-subbing the subtitles (burn them into the image, so no turning them off and on), other than that you would need to look at the documentation of the specific tool and the specific subtitle format you encounter to know what to configure.

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  3. Use clever Ffmpeg-GUI.
    Load your mkv, click main page, click multiplex, set mp4 as container, control if all streams are selected (on the left) and click multiplex.
    Done.
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  4. you can try LosslessCut as well
    As always .. there is nothing wrong with my environment
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  5. Member JEG41's Avatar
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    Dear ProWo,
    I tested clever ffmpeg-GUI. It's a very good converter. Very fast and has a nice picture.
    Unfortunately, the MP4 file has the same problem as the original MKV file: the converted MP4 file also contains subtitles that can be turned on or off.
    Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but it is for me, because I need a file with the subtitles permanently embedded after conversion.
    This is necessary because I'm putting the converted MKV to MP4 movie file on a USB stick to play on my TV.
    It doesn't work with an option to enable or disable subtitles. It's a shame.
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  6. Originally Posted by JEG41 View Post
    Dear ProWo,
    I tested clever ffmpeg-GUI. It's a very good converter. Very fast and has a nice picture.
    Unfortunately, the MP4 file has the same problem as the original MKV file: the converted MP4 file also contains subtitles that can be turned on or off.
    Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but it is for me, because I need a file with the subtitles permanently embedded after conversion.
    This is necessary because I'm putting the converted MKV to MP4 movie file on a USB stick to play on my TV.
    It doesn't work with an option to enable or disable subtitles. It's a shame.
    If you want to burn in the subtitle (ever on), you have to re-encode the videostream.
    This can be done too with clever FFmpeg-GUI.
    See the tutorial:

    Image
    [Attachment 87808 - Click to enlarge]


    To test it, you could encode a short sample, g.e. 5 minutes.
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  7. Member JEG41's Avatar
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    I've tried a lot, but I can't seem to get it working. I have the latest version, 3.4.3, and your example is 3.1.8.03. There's a difference in the menu, and that's making it difficult. I select MP4, but the conversion still returns MKV. I'm doing something wrong, but where?
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  8. Clever encodes the video stream separately, and ProWo likes mkv better than mp4.
    you still need to re-mux the generated mkv [AVC] video stream and your original audio stream [AAC] into an mp4 container.

    Originally Posted by JEG41 View Post
    I've tried a lot, but I can't seem to get it working. I have the latest version, 3.4.3, and your example is 3.1.8.03. There's a difference in the menu, and that's making it difficult. I select MP4, but the conversion still returns MKV. I'm doing something wrong, but where?
    Originally Posted by ProWo View Post
    Video encoding is only a partial step and the mkv container can contain most video codecs; it also receives most tags, which other containers cannot. The final video is created during multiplexing, and there you can choose the container.
    Last edited by videoAI; 13th Jul 2025 at 17:20.
    As always .. there is nothing wrong with my environment
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  9. Member netmask56's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by JEG41 View Post
    Dear ProWo,
    I tested clever ffmpeg-GUI. It's a very good converter. Very fast and has a nice picture.
    Unfortunately, the MP4 file has the same problem as the original MKV file: the converted MP4 file also contains subtitles that can be turned on or off.
    Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but it is for me, because I need a file with the subtitles permanently embedded after conversion.
    This is necessary because I'm putting the converted MKV to MP4 movie file on a USB stick to play on my TV.
    It doesn't work with an option to enable or disable subtitles. It's a shame.
    You need to use the option to "burn in" the subs in your conversion program you are using if it has that option. Handbrake and VidCoder can do this
    SONY 75" Full array 200Hz LED TV, Yamaha A1070 amp, Zidoo UHD3000, BeyonWiz PVR V2 (Enigma2 clone), Chromecast, Windows 11 Professional, QNAP NAS TS851
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