Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

dudecati

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2007
26
0
Hi All - I have an .mkv file with subtitles that I am trying to get to play on my ATV. If I use HB or Visual Hub to convert to ATV format I only get the movie with audio but NO subtitles. I've tried everything I can think of. Any ideas?
 

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,343
4,867
Handbrake can't presently encode subtitle files in .mkv container. I was trying to do the same thing, after research found you can add subtitles using HB but have to manually add them to the transcode in .srt format (button on left hand side of subtitles tab in HB). I haven't actually tried it yet--can find .srt files all over the net but haven't had luck finding a reliable source for what I'm looking for (English subtitles of scenes in foreign languages in English audio movies). That and it seems like a bit of a crap shoot getting a subtitle file that matches the audio of your movie.
 

The Mad Kiwi

macrumors 6502
Mar 15, 2006
421
135
In Hell
First extract the .srt file from the .mkv using mkvtools.

Add the .srt to the .m4v file output by handrake with Subler.

Make sure you set the language in subler otherwise Apple TV won't know to play it.

You have to set your Apple TV to play subtitles when it finds them, it's in one of the menus on Apple TV.
 

The Mad Kiwi

macrumors 6502
Mar 15, 2006
421
135
In Hell
From memory, I'm not in front of my mac.

Open mkv tools.
File menu, open.
Select the mkv file.
It'll load up with all the things in the mkv container in a list ie video, sound, subtitles, chapters etc .
Put a tick in the box for the.srt subtitle you want to extract.
Click the extract button.
If you're using the unregistered version you have to wait a couple of seconds and then click continue.
It'll extract the srt to the same directory as the original mkv file, it'll take a few minutes to complete so be patient.

That's just from memory so it might not be exactly right but you should be able to figure it out.
 

LinMac

macrumors 65816
Oct 28, 2007
1,197
13
mkv files usually use substation alpha (SSA or reversed) subtitles not SRT. That is why you can't extract them from some MKV files.
 

NateCook

macrumors newbie
Aug 20, 2009
22
0
From memory, I'm not in front of my mac.

It'll extract the srt to the same directory as the original mkv file, it'll take a few minutes to complete so be patient.

So, I did that, and the it claimed to have extracted in mere seconds, and when I went to the directory containing the mkv, there was no srt file there. Any ideas?
 

dudecati

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2007
26
0
OK - somehow I managed to get the subtitles to work on my iMac with extracting the srt etc... I've set my Apple TV to use English subtitles but they won't show up on the ATV. They show up just fine on iTunes on my iMac. Ideas?!
 

grantwolsey

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2010
48
0
So, I did that, and the it claimed to have extracted in mere seconds, and when I went to the directory containing the mkv, there was no srt file there. Any ideas?

Read what I wrote in my last post? :p

I had the exact same problem as NateCook here, my .mkv file in question is just sitting on my desktop (where it has been since I ripped it with MakeMKV) but when I attempted to extract the .srt file from it via MKVTools it says it completed the extraction but when I clicked on the .mkv file on my desktop (to open it, thinking I'd find a .srt file in there I could use with my HandBrake encode) it just started to play via Perian for Quicktime (the default player). So I did what Ritsuka said and tried to extract it via Subler, but couldn't find a way to do it. Could anyone tell me how to extract a .srt file with any program on a mac so I can find it and use it in my Handbrake encode? I've trawled tons of forums and so far can only find tips on how to do this in Windows. Thank you
 

pedz

macrumors regular
Jul 2, 2007
188
15
Would you mind directing me to those tips for Windows? I have been wondering how to do subtitles using windows and have not figured it out (no subler equivalent on windows). I can burn in forced subtitles, but would like to include optional subtitles.

Thanks,
peter
 

grantwolsey

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2010
48
0
Would you mind directing me to those tips for Windows? I have been wondering how to do subtitles using windows and have not figured it out (no subler equivalent on windows). I can burn in forced subtitles, but would like to include optional subtitles.

Thanks,
peter

Here is what I found, but again if anyone could direct me towards a way of doing this on a mac it would be immensely appreciated, thank you
 

JRoDDz

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2009
1,927
183
NYC
Hi All - I have an .mkv file with subtitles that I am trying to get to play on my ATV. If I use HB or Visual Hub to convert to ATV format I only get the movie with audio but NO subtitles. I've tried everything I can think of. Any ideas?

Handbrake is a transcoder, what you need is a remuxer. I believe you can run the MKV file through Subler and then save as a M4V file. When you run it through you would want to find an SRT subtitle file on the net somewhere for your movie and also add it in Subler before saving.
 

JRoDDz

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2009
1,927
183
NYC
mkv files usually use substation alpha (SSA or reversed) subtitles not SRT. That is why you can't extract them from some MKV files.

You can use "Jubler" to take that SSA file and save it as an SRT file.
 

BlackMangoTree

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2010
896
2
Handbrake can't presently encode subtitle files in .mkv container.

The latest nightly build can.

You can either convert SSA subs to srt then you can turn them on and off with the Apple TV or you can burn them into the picture which is great for anime.

SRT you can not burn into the picture only use as soft subs.

No need to use another application handbrake does it all.

Only thing that sucks is the Apple Tv wont display subs for video with a grater resolution than 1200.
 

grantwolsey

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2010
48
0
So I was asking for a way to burn forced subtitles into my blu-ray rip (i.e. the terrorist dialogue in Iron Man) and I guess Subler will do that? I just point it to the .mkv file ripped to my desktop via MakeMKV, take turns checking each the "English" subtitles one by one (there's about 4, one of them has to be the forced one I'm looking for) and have it copy a .m4v file? Will this file be the same quality of my blu-ray rip and I can just transcode it via Handbrake as I would a movie without forced subs? I'm sorry with all the questions, but I'm picking up on this pretty fast I think and I would still like to learn a lot more. Thank you
 

kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
The latest nightly build can.

You can either convert SSA subs to srt then you can turn them on and off with the Apple TV or you can burn them into the picture which is great for anime.

SRT you can not burn into the picture only use as soft subs.

No need to use another application handbrake does it all.

This a thousand times.

I've been struggling with this forever, and couldn't figure out how to get Handbrake to do it until I finally discovered the nightly builds, and everything came out perfectly.

What's even better is the option to soft-sub or hard-sub. (The soft-subs are sometimes more elegant, but can get jumbled if too many speak at once due to .srt limitations on subtitle on-screen formatting.)

Anyone needing to convert mkv to mp4/m4v with subtitles intact, download the nightly builds of Handbrake here.

I'm so happy. :)
 

newagemac

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2010
2,091
23
So with a film like Avatar, all you need is Handbrake now? I've been trying for the longest to figure out how to add the Naavi speaking parts. If you could explain your steps I would greatly appreciate it.
 

pedz

macrumors regular
Jul 2, 2007
188
15
This a thousand times.

I've been struggling with this forever, and couldn't figure out how to get Handbrake to do it until I finally discovered the nightly builds, and everything came out perfectly.

What's even better is the option to soft-sub or hard-sub. (The soft-subs are sometimes more elegant, but can get jumbled if too many speak at once due to .srt limitations on subtitle on-screen formatting.)

Anyone needing to convert mkv to mp4/m4v with subtitles intact, download the nightly builds of Handbrake here.

I'm so happy. :)

This really is good news if I understand it correctly.
Are you saying that if you rip the blu ray to an mkv you can load it into handbrake and select the sub to include as a soft sub on the final m4v file? Or do you still need to convert the ssa to an srt file outside of handbrake Ne import it into hanbrake? If it is the former it sounds like we have reached a two step process that allows for forced and soft subs (rip to mkv then convert in handbrake?)

I would try myself but am at work. Will try tonight but want to make sure I fully understand first.

Thanks
Peter
 

kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
This really is good news if I understand it correctly.
Are you saying that if you rip the blu ray to an mkv you can load it into handbrake and select the sub to include as a soft sub on the final m4v file? Or do you still need to convert the ssa to an srt file outside of handbrake Ne import it into hanbrake? If it is the former it sounds like we have reached a two step process that allows for forced and soft subs (rip to mkv then convert in handbrake?)

I would try myself but am at work. Will try tonight but want to make sure I fully understand first.

Thanks
Peter

The DVD's I own, I rip straight to mp4, so the mkvs I generally get are anime from the internet with ssa subs. But yes, with the recent Handbrake nightly builds, you don't need to convert to srt first. Just choose the mkv as the source, select the ssa subtitles in the subtitle tab, and don't check "Burned In" and you'll get iPhone/iPod Touch-compatible softsubs (I assume ATV2-compatible, too, but I don't have one). So if it's mkvs with ssa you have, yes after that it's a one-step process.

Just make sure you don't get 0.9.4, the latest "actual" release. The subs won't be there. Get the nightly builds. The one I used was svn3686, and the episodes w/ subs played perfectly on my Touch during today's flight. (I used hard-subs due to too many people talking at once, but I tested with soft-subs and they worked fine as well. As I mentioned, the only problem is if there's special formatting, like multiple lines of dialogue from different people at once, some might be lost or be delayed.) :) :D
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.