DONT burn subtitles?

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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azmanam
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 02, 2021 12:31 pm

DONT burn subtitles?

Post by azmanam »

Description of problem or question:
I see a lot of sites about getting subtitles to burn permanently into the output video. I have the opposite problem. I recently purchased a new blu-ray player for my tower so I can rip the last few disks I haven't been able to all this time. Now, the subtitles ONLY burn into the video. No matter how many subtitle files I include, only one gets burned in, and I don't see any other subtitle files in the Select Subtitle menu from within the video. Of course, if I remove all the subtitle files, none of them get burned in, but none are available from within the video, either.

How do I include subtitle tracks, but NOT burn them permanently into the video output?

Drive Information
OS device name: /dev/sr0
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BDDVDRW UH12NS40
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: Kxxxxxxxxxx
Firmware date: 2117-11-23 15:50
Bus encryption flags: 16
Highest AACS version: 57

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)



Steps to reproduce the problem (If Applicable):




HandBrake version (e.g., 1.0.0):
1.1.2 (x86_64)



Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Windows 10 Creators Update):
4.4.0-210-generic #242-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 16 09:57:56 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux




HandBrake Activity Log ***required*** (see https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i2jmvysx ... c0ow60b1k1
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: DONT burn subtitles?

Post by mduell »

1) Don't choose burn in.
2) Choose a container that is compatible with your choice of subs.
Woodstock
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Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: DONT burn subtitles?

Post by Woodstock »

Expanding on mduell's comment - Bluray subtitles are not compatible with MP4 as a destination. DVD subtitles (officially) aren't either, but there is a widely (but not universally accepted) way to include them.

MKV files can have PGS subtitles, so switching containers would make it possible to have them "switchable".
azmanam
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 02, 2021 12:31 pm

Re: DONT burn subtitles?

Post by azmanam »

Oh.... don't choose burn in... it's so simple /sarc

Yes, I tried that (at least I think I did). This most recent time through, In my Handbrake Subtitle Track Selection screen, I made the settings: Burn in Behavior - none, Burn in for Deficient Players: DVD Subtitles - unchecked, Blu-ray Subtitles - unchecked. When I look at the track list for the most recent video ripped, I see:
Foreign Audio Scan -> passthrough
1 English (PG5) -> burned into video
2 English (PG5) -> Passthrough
3 English (PG5) -> Passthrough

This time, the output video has no burned in subtitles, only 1 subtitle track available, and when selected, it doesn't appear on screen.

Thanks for the containers info. I didn't know that. I'll try MKV format and report back later.
Woodstock
Veteran User
Posts: 4614
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: DONT burn subtitles?

Post by Woodstock »

Versions prior to v1.3 did not enforce the container limitations within the GUI, so you could make "impossible" selections. In 1.3.x, the GUI won't allow you to select passthrough for PGS in MP4 files (the burn-in box is grayed out). (1.3.3 is the current version, by the way, and 1.1.x is years out of date.)

It's a pain to deal with, frankly, and as soon as I had players that understood PGS in MKV files, I stopped using MP4 for anything "serious".
azmanam
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 02, 2021 12:31 pm

Re: [SOLVED] DONT burn subtitles?

Post by azmanam »

Saving as .mkv worked. Thanks for the help. A couple of oddities that I noticed, even though they ultimately mean nothing...

-I'm surprised the widely adopted (and Handbrake default) .m4v doesn't support bluray subtitles. Why is it so popular and the default if it doesn't support something as fundamental as bluray subtitles?

-I'm surprised I have a version of Handbrake that's years out of date. When I first installed the bluray player into my tower a week or so ago, I kept having problems that the audio and video were out of sync. A different forum noted it's likely due to an out-of-date version of Handbrake, and I found I was running version 0.something. So I upgraded to 1.1.2, assuming I was getting the most recent version. Apparently I was not.

[edit: when I try to update and upgrade handbrake-gtk with apt, it tells me I have the newest version... Probably means my Ubuntu version is out of date. Ugh. Every time I update the Ubuntu version I have to fix all the things that break. Maybe 1.1.2 is going to be just fine with me...]

Code: Select all

handbrake-gtk is already the newest version (1.1.2-zhb-1ppa1~xenial1)
Woodstock
Veteran User
Posts: 4614
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: DONT burn subtitles?

Post by Woodstock »

The standard for MP4 moves with money. Things Apple wanted got implemented . Things Dolby wanted, got implemented (you can put DolbyVision in an MP4). Things people want, like PGS subtitle support, well, companies with money don't want that, because PGS is a standard for Bluray, not used many other places, so you obviously are doing something bad if you're trying to incorporate PGS into a file.

Checking for updates is a bit of a pain, at times, and sometimes operating system-dependent. The official update server requires HTTPS with TLS v1.2 encryption, but earlier versions do not have that implemented within the code. So, only 1.3.x and newer will get a response when asking for the current version. And if you're dealing with a 32-bit operating system, 1.1.2 IS the most current version that will run on 32-bit OSs.

The 0.9.x versions are VERY old. Lots of things added since then. And yet, there are a lot of websites, and even some "instructional videos", that are based on the pre-1.0 series.
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: DONT burn subtitles?

Post by mduell »

MP4 is the default since it's the most widely supported industry standard. It was standardized before Blu-ray was released.

MKV is an anti-standard; there's no consensus, it just works however one guy decided to implement the libraries. Where there's a conflict between the scant documentation and how the code works, MKV follows the code.
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