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Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
I don't think it's a problem of bdsup2sub - it's pretty much failsafe. (Just remember to set the output language!) Subler, so far, worked for me just great in OCR'ing VobSub subs, also in English so I don't udnerstand why it produced so bad results with your subs.

Are you sure you're using the latest Subler? It uses an implicit English OCR dictionary - therefore, it's not a problem if you've forgotten to download it.

Another solution would be using SubRip for VobSub OCR'ing. It requires more time (you'll always have to train all chars first) but, in general, may output better results.

Let me know if you need a dedicated tutorial on using BDSup2Sub / Subler / SubRip, I've published several articles on their OCR support and can paste them in here.

i've just checked and i do have the most recent version of subler which is 0.17 but ive looked in bdsup2sub and i cant see anywhere to set the output to english, the attached image is all i have in the preferences.
 

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Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Ok I'll give that a whirl but I'm sure it will of been...I've just tried the m4v I did earlier on my aTV and I can see the subs but what I've noticed is every time the sub text appears I also get a semi transparent rectangular strip along the bottom of the movie...as if the subs are in a box)have you any idea wether I can disable this...I can supply a image if it helps.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Ok I'll give that a whirl but I'm sure it will of been...I've just tried the m4v I did earlier on my aTV and I can see the subs but what I've noticed is every time the sub text appears I also get a semi transparent rectangular strip along the bottom of the movie...as if the subs are in a box)have you any idea wether I can disable this...I can supply a image if it helps.

BTW, I think it was the lack of setting the language explicitly that made Subler's OCR fail. It must always be correctly set before importing the MKV to Subler.
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
BTW, I think it was the lack of setting the language explicitly that made Subler's OCR fail. It must always be correctly set before importing the MKV to Subler.

No, im still getting the same results even when saving with language set to english :mad:
 

JGRE

macrumors 65816
Oct 10, 2011
1,012
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Dutch Mountains
Hi

I am using iVI from South Pole Software and have no problems converting a BD Rip for ATV3. Quality of both video and audio is fine.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
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No, im still getting the same results even when saving with language set to english :mad:

Can you put a smallish (say, 50-60M would be adequate, assuming a video bitrate of 20-30 Mbps - of course, the longer, the better) chunk of the original MKV, with subs, online? I'd check the conversion myself.

Let me know if you need more info on how you can extract parts of an MKV file w/o reconverting anything.

----------

I am using iVI from South Pole Software and have no problems converting a BD Rip for ATV3. Quality of both video and audio is fine.

I'd personally stay away from iVI - its MKV remuxing support is much worse than that of the top converters (Subler or even the current beta of MP4Tools).
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Can you put a smallish (say, 50-60M would be adequate, assuming a video bitrate of 20-30 Mbps - of course, the longer, the better) chunk of the original MKV, with subs, online? I'd check the conversion myself.

Let me know if you need more info on how you can extract parts of an MKV file w/o reconverting anything.

----------



I'd personally stay away from iVI - its MKV remuxing support is much worse than that of the top converters (Subler or even the current beta of MP4Tools).

Yes I could do that no probs, what do I need to extract part of the movie? And how would I get it to you Dropbox?
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
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Yes I could do that no probs, what do I need to extract part of the movie? And how would I get it to you Dropbox?

1, get Mkvtoolnix

2, "Add" your MKV file to it

3, switch to the Global tab, enable "Enable splitting" and select "After this size". Select a size.

4, click "Start muxing" at the bottom. After generating chunks for the, say, five-10 minutes, you can cancel the operation - after all, you'll only need one chunk.

5, of the created MKV files, select one with actively displayed subs.
 

mic j

macrumors 68030
Mar 15, 2012
2,663
156
would i need to go through each sentance and manually edit the bad text?

Yes and it's time consuming but going line by line is the only way I know of to correct OCR errors. You can open and edit in TextEdit but Jubler, IMO, is a lot easier interface to do this error correction...and it's free. I also use Subler for OCR of vobsub's and it does a very good job but it's not perfect, none are.
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
1, get Mkvtoolnix

2, "Add" your MKV file to it

3, switch to the Global tab, enable "Enable splitting" and select "After this size". Select a size.

4, click "Start muxing" at the bottom. After generating chunks for the, say, five-10 minutes, you can cancel the operation - after all, you'll only need one chunk.

5, of the created MKV files, select one with actively displayed subs.

done.

ive also included a folder called "look here" which has the chunk of video that had "S7/399" instead of "Shaggy"

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bsynmak7oif03tl/lm80XjvOQr
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
done.

ive also included a folder called "look here" which has the chunk of video that had "S7/399" instead of "Shaggy"

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bsynmak7oif03tl/lm80XjvOQr

Thanks! Downloaded all and remuxed / OCR'ed the file myself, using the workflow described at http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/a...er-recognition-and-keeping-graphical-dvdblu-r . The resulting file is available at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/81986513/0...(1)-017 - VobSub subs-default OCR Subler.mp4 - feel free to download it.

Unfortunately, it seems Subler just can't OCR this kind of sub - I had exactly the same problem as you. This also means you can't do anything to fix it (unless you manually post-fix the subs) as long as you stick with Subler only. I think I'll give a try to SubRip to see whether it's any better.

EDIT: setting the VobSub track's language to English didn't help.
 
Last edited:

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Thanks! Downloaded all and remuxed / OCR'ed the file myself, using the workflow described at http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/a...er-recognition-and-keeping-graphical-dvdblu-r . The resulting file is available at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/81986513/0...(1)-017 - VobSub subs-default OCR Subler.mp4 - feel free to download it.

Unfortunately, it seems Subler just can't OCR this kind of sub - I had exactly the same problem as you. This also means you can't do anything to fix it (unless you manually post-fix the subs) as long as you stick with Subler only. I think I'll give a try to SubRip to see whether it's any better.


Thanks for trying that.

does this mean I'm going to have the same issue whenever i get a subtitled movie which has .sup(pgs) subs? don't all blurays come with this type of sub files?
 

mic j

macrumors 68030
Mar 15, 2012
2,663
156
Thanks for trying that.

does this mean I'm going to have the same issue whenever i get a subtitled movie which has .sup(pgs) subs? don't all blurays come with this type of sub files?

Subler cannot do pgs subs. I do have a process outlined somewhere on this forum to convert .sup to vobsubs, then have subler do the OCR. Might want to search it out.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Thanks for trying that.

does this mean I'm going to have the same issue whenever i get a subtitled movie which has .sup(pgs) subs? don't all blurays come with this type of sub files?

1. Yup, you'll have to post-fix the textual subtitles.

2. They mostly do.
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Subler cannot do pgs subs. I do have a process outlined somewhere on this forum to convert .sup to vobsubs, then have subler do the OCR. Might want to search it out.

Sorry didn't word that post very well .... What I was supposed to say was the movie that I'm having trouble with has Pgs subs in that we're put through bdsup2sub with gave me a .sub and a .idx which was then OCR checked with subler. But in Menneisyys2's post he said

"Unfortunately, it seems Subler just can't OCR this kind of sub - I had exactly the same problem as you. This also means you can't do anything to fix it (unless you manually post-fix the subs) as long as you stick with Subler only."

Does this mean I'm going to have the same issue with the same or simalar content as what was in the city of god mkv
 

mic j

macrumors 68030
Mar 15, 2012
2,663
156
Sorry didn't word that post very well .... What I was supposed to say was the movie that I'm having trouble with has Pgs subs in that we're put through bdsup2sub with gave me a .sub and a .idx which was then OCR checked with subler. But in Menneisyys2's post he said

"Unfortunately, it seems Subler just can't OCR this kind of sub - I had exactly the same problem as you. This also means you can't do anything to fix it (unless you manually post-fix the subs) as long as you stick with Subler only."

Does this mean I'm going to have the same issue with the same or simalar content as what was in the city of god mkv

Not a problem. Why don't you check the process your using vs the one I outlined in this post: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15464298/ and see if you spot anything that might help your situation.
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Not a problem. Why don't you check the process your using vs the one I outlined in this post: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15464298/ and see if you spot anything that might help your situation.


Everything went ok until I did this step

-Uncheck all of the tracks except the VOBSIB track and make sure that the Action column says 3GPP Text.
-Click ADD
-SAVE (or SAVE AS). Subler will then OCR the VOBSUB track and generate an .srt file


Subler didn't generate a .srt it generated a 117k .m4v
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Everything went ok until I did this step

-Uncheck all of the tracks except the VOBSIB track and make sure that the Action column says 3GPP Text.
-Click ADD
-SAVE (or SAVE AS). Subler will then OCR the VOBSUB track and generate an .srt file


Subler didn't generate a .srt it generated a 117k .m4v

anybody?....im on a knife edge here with this last step...its killing me...lol :)

----------

anybody?....im on a knife edge here with this last step...its killing me...lol :)

whoops, it would help if i show everybody the step i'm struggling with

For those of you with waaaayyy too much time or are extremely anal, here is an abbreviated tutorial on converting PGS subtitles to srt using all Mac apps:

Need: MKVtools (beta)
BDsup2sub
MKVToolnix
Subler
1. Using MKVtools, extract the PGS subtitle track from the mkv (creates a .sup file).
2. Using BDsup2sub, convert the .sup to a VOBSUB (creates a .idx and .sub file):
-Load the .sup file
-Click OK
-Click SAVE
3. Using MKVtools, remove the PGS subtitle track from the mkv.
4. Using MKVtoolnix, add the .idx track to the mkv that has had the PGS subtitle track removed. You now have a bluray mkv with a VOBSUB subtitle track instead of a PGS Subtitle track.
5. Using Subler:
-Click NEW
-Click IMPORT and select the modified mkv
-Uncheck all of the tracks except the VOBSIB track and make sure that the Action column says 3GPP Text.
-Click ADD
-SAVE (or SAVE AS). Subler will then OCR the VOBSUB track and generate an .srt file
6. Using Jubler, correct any OCR mistakes, then SAVE.

Have fun!!!!!


its the generating an .srt i cant seam to manage.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
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But in Menneisyys2's post he said

"Unfortunately, it seems Subler just can't OCR this kind of sub - I had exactly the same problem as you. This also means you can't do anything to fix it (unless you manually post-fix the subs) as long as you stick with Subler only."

Does this mean I'm going to have the same issue with the same or simalar content as what was in the city of god mkv

Yup, OCR will always be prone to failure... will run a SubRip OCR test on the same footage (along with some of my BD discs) soon to compare the accuracy of the two solutions.

----------

For those of you with waaaayyy too much time or are extremely anal, here is an abbreviated tutorial on converting PGS subtitles to srt using all Mac apps:

BTW, there is another one (packed with screenshots), linked from https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15960792/ . It's a bit long but has a lot of info. Just start with the original article and only read the updates later, after having read, understood and hopefully followed the steps in the original article.

The updates present alternative ways of doing the same AND also elaborate on the direct VobSub playback capability of non-AppleTV iOS devices.

BTW, speaking of iOS devices, if you want to save yourself from the hurdles and problems of OCR'ing and you have an iPhone 4+ or iPad 1+ around with a VGA / HDMI cable, you can play the same M4V's - with the original VobSub tracks.
 

Spacecowboy1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
54
0
Yup, OCR will always be prone to failure... will run a SubRip OCR test on the same footage (along with some of my BD discs) soon to compare the accuracy of the two solutions.

Thanks that would be great.

Is subrip a windows program?
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Thanks that would be great.

Is subrip a windows program?

Yup, it is... I've done a demo video of using it more than a year ago; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgkCob63CE

The part that shows OCR'ing starts at 1:17. It's then that I start SubRip (decompressed previously). At 1:22, via File > Open VOB(s), I press the Open Dir button and (slowly – sorry for the speed, I use Windows emulation, which needs a bit of time to read the mapped directories from OS X) navigate to the VobSub file created in the previous step.

When I press OK, the OCR window is immediately displayed by SubRip and I start the OCR process. At first, SubRip asks me to train all the characters it doesn't recognize: T, u, l, e, h, a, n, y, t, comma, ä (clicked on the language-specific toolbar below the input field), k, I, dot and so on.

Note that at 2:16, an error message is displayed (probably because I've selected the wrong subtitle track? Dunno. My other tests with the same input TS file resulted in correctly readable subtitles.) I (slowly) get rid of the error dialog and try continuing the OCR process only to find out the source is, for some reason, indeed messed up. After having realized this, I save the SRT file (at 2:43) and, finally, at 2:51, I quickly check out (in Total Commander) the contents of the just-created (and Subler-compliant) SRT file to show you it's indeed standard.
 

mic j

macrumors 68030
Mar 15, 2012
2,663
156
Yup, it is... I've done a demo video of using it more than a year ago; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgkCob63CE

The part that shows OCR'ing starts at 1:17. It's then that I start SubRip (decompressed previously). At 1:22, via File > Open VOB(s), I press the Open Dir button and (slowly – sorry for the speed, I use Windows emulation, which needs a bit of time to read the mapped directories from OS X) navigate to the VobSub file created in the previous step.

When I press OK, the OCR window is immediately displayed by SubRip and I start the OCR process. At first, SubRip asks me to train all the characters it doesn't recognize: T, u, l, e, h, a, n, y, t, comma, ä (clicked on the language-specific toolbar below the input field), k, I, dot and so on.

Note that at 2:16, an error message is displayed (probably because I've selected the wrong subtitle track? Dunno. My other tests with the same input TS file resulted in correctly readable subtitles.) I (slowly) get rid of the error dialog and try continuing the OCR process only to find out the source is, for some reason, indeed messed up. After having realized this, I save the SRT file (at 2:43) and, finally, at 2:51, I quickly check out (in Total Commander) the contents of the just-created (and Subler-compliant) SRT file to show you it's indeed standard.
I tried Subrip, the training was just tooooo painful. Figured it would be easier to just correct the errors in Jubler. I don't do very many subtitle conversions though. Forced subs I just burn in (with HB) as I never want them turned off, regular subs I usually will want to be on so I either burn them in or if I do decide want them I download an srt. For those I can't find a good srt, I convert.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Yup, it is... I've done a demo video of using it more than a year ago; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgkCob63CE

I've played a bit with SubRip to find out how it recognizes Blu-ray subtitles. For the test, I've used several BD discs, including Iron Sky and the international version of Red Cliff I.

Unfortunately, the current (1.50b5) version of SubRip is completely incompatible with HD VobSubs - that is, not only the original S_HDMV/PGS subs, but even the (standard-format) output files of BDSup2Sub.

This is not just an incompatiblity with OCR, but even the subpictures - that is, you can't just save the contents of the VobSub as a series of pictures, which, then, you could just import to, say, OmniPage Pro (or other, "serious" OCR apps) for character recognition.

If you, upon importing in BDSup2Sub, do downsize the individual images to PAL / NTSC by enabling the “Convert Resolution” checkbox and selecting either PAL or NTSC resolution in the drop-down list (see the annotations below):



then, you can create a VobSub file more or less compatible with SubRip. Unfortunately, about half of the frames will be completely skipped (unrecognized) by the app. An example run with the beginning of the English subtrack of Iron Sky, showing just garbage for an, otherwise, completely legal subtitle page:



and of Red Cliff I:

5e41a5781cc18dc25caac422af286130-643x274.png



Unfortunately, this not only applies to the OCR mode, but also the plain image exporting mode (“Save subpictures as BMP”) - the majority of the exported images will be just empty.

All in all, you can't use SubRip to process BD subtitles in any way: neither OCR'ing nor image exporting work. Unfortunately, BDSup2Sub can't export a series of plain images for further OCR'ing in a third-party app either.
 
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