SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

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JohnHolmesII
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 7:03 pm

SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by JohnHolmesII »

Using several different nightlies (and normal builds), but still can't get this to work.

I have been trying to get subs in movies using Handbrake for years now. I encode movies with the intention of playing them on my XBOX 360. Over these years, Handbrake has improved leaps and bounds, especially now that they have profile specification suppourt.

But subtitles are still a nightmare. Between limited format suppourt, and the limitations imposed on the formats that are suppourted, it really is a sad state of affairs.

At first I used to try embedding .srt files in the file (btw, I always use .m4v, never .mkv), and the XBOX just can't seem to find them. I thought about hardcoding, but that just can't be done with .srt can it? Of course not, that would be enormously convenient.

After a dabble of research, I came to understand that .ssa files can be burned in (only if in the source container, of course! No convenience allowed!).

So I quickly downloaded SubtitleEdit, opened up an .srt, saved as .ssa, and remuxed it into the .mkv I wanted to convert.

It worked beautifully. Who would have thought?

So I tried with some other movies, and wouldn't you know it, abysmal failure. This begins the bug report.

When encoding videos with .ssa subtitles set to "burned in", the encode completes, and plays fine.

The subs are, however, broken.

All that appears is the first line, then the rest never shows up.

For example, let's say the first subtitle, as it should appear in-film is:

I love You

What actually appears is:

!Effect,I Love You□

And yes, that square at the end is included as a square. The subtitle shows up at the right time, disappears at the right time, and then that's the end of all subtitles, for the rest of the movie.

The following is the encode log for a broken encode:
http://pastebin.com/aZ95jY3C

The following is the .srt file:
http://pastebin.com/BRrZGU3K

The following is the .ssa file:
http://pastebin.com/rW44Y213

(yes, I removed the first line)



I should like to note the following lines from the encode log:
[14:37:12] [ass] [0000000004F2D2B0]: Warning: no style named '0:00:50.84' found, using 'Default'
[14:37:12] [ass] Neither PlayResX nor PlayResY defined. Assuming 384x288

The second error there is clearly stupid; I do not know what god-forsaken SubStation Alpha parser is used in handbrake, but god damn that's gotta been some of the [Censored] guesswork I've ever seen. Why not just put the information there anyway, you ask? Because it makes the text about the size of an ant, for whatever reason, in the pre-encode .mkv. So f*ck that.

The first line clearly shows another parsing error. The parser clearly can't identify the fact that it is looking at the end time, not the style section. This fact would explain the error in its entirety. The question is: why?

Looking at a line from the .ssa, we see it is formatted correctly:

Code: Select all

Format: Marked, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: Marked=0,0:00:48.30,0:00:50.84,Default,NTP,0000,0000,0000,!Effect,Did you feel it too, Supreme Kai?
Note everything lines up. I believe however that the time format may be incorrect, as I found documentation ( http://bit.ly/18MKxDX ) that says the time should be formatted H:MM:SS:Hundredths, but here it is H:MM:SS.ms. That document was made in 2000, however, and the official matroska website requests the .ms format ( http://bit.ly/jsrH8Q ).

So basically, Handbrake sucks.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the first encode I did, I have neither the .srt, the .ssa, nor the encode log. F*ck me, right?
JohnHolmesII
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 7:03 pm

Re: SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by JohnHolmesII »

Really, though? No one wants to respond? Was it supposed to be a mystery that the devs could help solve? Was I too clear? Do I have to submit a bugfix myself?
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by mduell »

That'd be grrrreat, post your patch on reviewboard.
TedJ
Veteran User
Posts: 5388
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:25 pm

Re: SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by TedJ »

Maybe starting on a belligerent and combative tone dissuaded any available developers (all 4 of them) to jump to immediately fixing it on their weekend. Perhaps if you paid them the appropriate penalty rates?
JohnHolmesII
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 7:03 pm

Re: SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by JohnHolmesII »

TedJ wrote:Maybe starting on a belligerent and combative tone dissuaded any available developers (all 4 of them) to jump to immediately fixing it on their weekend. Perhaps if you paid them the appropriate penalty rates?
>Combative
k dude

No, Me having posted this means nothing, they way I posted certainly shouldn't mean anything (as this is a bug that affects all users, this isn't just "my" problem), and I wasn't expecting a fix immediately, smart-ass. I was simply expecting a reply, or acknowledgement of any kind. Usually the devs post and say "noted, we'll look into it." considering it took them a series of months to fix the last bug, I understand that they must be more concerned with bringing the new ocl features into line (a perfectly reasonable course). But they still responded (immediately, in fact, but I'm not expecting that). But 30 hours is enough time to wait, surely?

Thank you, Mod, for not aggravating the situation.
Smithcraft
Veteran User
Posts: 2697
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:04 pm

Re: SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by Smithcraft »

It was also the weekend, and it's just possible that the developers were enjoying the weekend.

Perhaps you don't grasp the effect of your tone, but you might want to turn it down a few notches.

SC
TedJ
Veteran User
Posts: 5388
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:25 pm

Re: SSA Subtitles Don't Encode Correctly

Post by TedJ »

No one ever said it was just your problem, although you're the first to report it. You then proceeded with a personal attack on a forum moderator. I strongly recommend you take Smithcraft's advice and tone it down a notch.
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