@aukevin said:
Ok, I kind of understand what is going on. So when I converted to mp4 I lost my subtitle because mp4s can’t handle picture subs. You say I need forced subtitles, but doesn’t that mean they are there for the entire movie? But mkv files are pretty large, that’s why I convert them to mp4.
The size is not a matter of file format. You can achieve the same size reduction if you choose mKV in Handbrake.
But that is just a side remark.
I recommend you to stay with using MP4 files and “sidecar” SRT subtitles.
Because even if you manage to rip & store the bitmap subtitles, it will present a challenge: not many Plex clients can handle them on their own. Most client will request that the Plex server burns them into the video picture = transcoding = CPU intensive on the server = video quality reduction = not desirable 
I know I took the subs out of the movie when I ripped it because I didn’t think it would take away the special on-screen ones when Jabba was talking.
When you ripped the disc, you got MKV files, right?
Chances are that the forced subtitles were still in them, albeit in a ‘bitmapped’ format.
So if I only want to see the subs from when Jabba is talking, like how it is shown naturally on the Bluray, how do I do that? If I put forced subtitles, would that show subs the entire movie or just during this scene
It will show you the subtitle track that is ‘tagged’ as ‘forced’.
(There is actually nothing “forced” about forced subtitles. They are just named that way because they are activating without the user explicitly selecting them. Except in Plex you must set a preference to achieve that.)
If you are ripping your discs, make sure that the forced subs are ripped into a separate subtitle stream:
Download and install mediainfo, so you can quickly inspect your media files and see how many streams of which type are in them. This belongs into any toolbox.
download mediainfo here
(pay attention during installation, it comes with a ‘piggybacked’ installer which asks to install additional crapware. Make sure to set/clear the right checkboxes!)
Download and install Subtitle Edit
it not only allows you to convert and edit subtitles but you can also use it to take a look at the bitmapped subtitles which are included in the freshly ripped MKV.
You can quickly deduce whether you have a ‘forced’ or a ‘normal’ or a ‘CC’ subtitle from the number of lines and whether there are other textual descriptions included.
