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

DJTaurus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 31, 2012
1,645
1,053
After todays update on Plex for Mac subtitles on plex for ipad not always working on video streaming....?
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
After todays update on Plex for Mac subtitles on plex for ipad not always working on video streaming....?

Once or twice, they didn't work for me either with the latest update running on ML. In every other case (with both ASS and normal subs from MKV files) they worked just fine on both my iPad 3 and iPhone 5.
 

DJTaurus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 31, 2012
1,645
1,053
All my movies work fine... only some tv episodes on mp4. Dont know why.... with air video server everything plays fine.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
All my movies work fine... only some tv episodes on mp4. Dont know why.... with air video server everything plays fine.

The reason for that might be that you do transcode those MP4's, while they could be transferred to the iPad without any transcoding. Then, assuming the TV episodes are those of Apple (that is, they have Apple's own CC's and not, say, textual subs), the CC's get stripped out.

For some reason, on my iPad trying to stream https://dl.dropbox.com/u/81986513/112012/AppleCCtest.mov (more info: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1495157/ ) with all subs enabled in the Plex server (Preferences > Languages > Subtitle Mode: Always enabled), I never got any rendered subs either.

It may be an Apple CC parsing bug in the new version - dunno as I haven't ever watched Apple CC movies in older versions of Plex.

You can do the following:

- always use 1080p (instead of the defalult 720p) in settings (you can select both bitrates - I've selected the 20 Mbps one. It won't have any effect as no transcoding will take place with iOS-native video formats like MOV). This will mean the Plex server doesn't reencode the video but send over as is. Then, as the CC track hasn't been removed from the (original) video file it receives, the iPad's own CC parser will "kick in" and, assuming you did enable CC rendering under Settings > Videos > Closed Captioning.

- if the latter is not feasible (you cannot let the system transfer the original MOV's because of throughput problems etc.), read my recently-published "Closed Captioning bible" and just convert those Apple CC's to SRT's and, then, embed them back in the MOV files. See https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1495157/

Let me know if it works so that I can post an update, linking to this thread, to my Closed Captioning bible.

EDIT: I've noticed the above ("just raise the target resolution to 1080p to guarantee iOS-native MOV / m4v / mp4 files are transferred "as is"") only applies to videos outside iTunes - that is, videos that you aren't accessing via the iTunes channel in the Plex client. With videos in the iTunes channel, there are absolutely no subs, not even with the 1080p setting in place.
 
Last edited:

DJTaurus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 31, 2012
1,645
1,053
To be honest also AirVideo couldnt play the subs on those tv episodes BUT it has one more option... Play with Live conversion and it worked :cool:

Overall i prefer AirVideo for its simplicity and faster loading. I will miss Plex's poster library thought...

The reason for that might be that you do transcode those MP4's, while they could be transferred to the iPad without any transcoding.

On AirVideo H264 transcoding is by default off...
 
Last edited:

DJTaurus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 31, 2012
1,645
1,053
Great!

Regarding Plex, did your subs (CC's) work with Plex, after maxxing the resolution so that no transcoding takes place with iOS-native videos like M4V ones?

The problem is that subs are working in the beginning of the video, they stop some minutes after, work again etc the same circle until the end of the video.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
The problem is that subs are working in the beginning of the video, they stop some minutes after, work again etc the same circle until the end of the video.

OIC. Exactly what content did you try to stream? I've just tested Apple's own TV shows (the free "Revival" at https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/star-wars-clone-wars-season/id557947497 and the non-free "India Special" at https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/top-gear-season-18/id515073161 ) with my iPhone 5 and found out that Plex doesn't even list them under iTunes Video as even the free TV shows are protected. It's only manually-added, home-made, unprotected videos under "TV Shows" that Plex shows (and streams) under iTunes Videos.
 

DJTaurus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 31, 2012
1,645
1,053
OIC. Exactly what content did you try to stream? I've just tested Apple's own TV shows (the free "Revival" at https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/star-wars-clone-wars-season/id557947497 and the non-free "India Special" at https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/top-gear-season-18/id515073161 ) with my iPhone 5 and found out that Plex doesn't even list them under iTunes Video as even the free TV shows are protected. It's only manually-added, home-made, unprotected videos under "TV Shows" that Plex shows (and streams) under iTunes Videos.

Video
http://kat.ph/gossip-girl-s06e05-hdtv-x264-lol-ettv-t6816203.html
http://kat.ph/gossip-girl-s06e06-hdtv-x264-lol-mp4-t6834062.html

Subs (choose greek iso)
http://gr.tvsubtitles.net/subtitle-234039.html
http://gr.tvsubtitles.net/subtitle-234822.html
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Thanks, will test them ASAP.

Tested. You need to embed the subtitle tracks in the MP4's with Subler AND switch off any kind of dynamic reencoding. Switch to 1080p 20 Mbps mode, which guarantees the Plex server won't reencode but will just transfer the entire MP4 file, now, with the embedded subtitle, to the iPad. As the Videos playback engine in the iPad does render textual subs, you'll be able to view them too. (Just remember to tap the sub icon while in playback - NOT the standard Plex sub selection in the "info" view.)

See "3. Adding back the SRT track to the original (MOV / MP4 / M4V) video file" at https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/16353030/

In all other cases (SRT, after renaming, in the same directory as the video and selected via the "info" button), I wasn't able to see the subs.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.