I wonder if it would be possible to add to the subtitles dropdown - A Forced option. Which can be set regardless of the other settings.
That way if in a movie file, I have marked a subtitle stream as forced, it will be played, regardless. That way no one in the family has to find the correct subtitle stream.
I prefer to watch non-English speaking films in their original language, but will leave the English speaking audio in, for other members of the family who prefer it in English.
It is not that easy. A movie file can contain several ‘forced’ subtitle tracks, in several languages too.
So you have to make a language choice for both audio and subtitle.
So the general settings for your family would be
Prefer audio tracks in ‘English’
Subtitle mode ‘Shown with foreign audio’
Prefer subtitles in ‘English’
This will automatically select english subtitles which are marked as ‘forced’.
Are you using different plex user accounts for your family?
Because you have different language preferences. And once you select your choice of audio and subtitle language, Plex server will remember these selections for the particular movie.
If your family members share your plex account, they will be presented with your language selections when they come and watch this particular movie after you did.
For me, I switch all subtitle tracks to no, and pick the specific forced subtitle track when assembling the MKV.
I have a number of user accounts, e.g. dad, daughter, wife kind of thing.
What if in a film, like Argo, you small bit’s of none English Audio, and in those cases there is a specific subtitle track which matches that situation?
@Skar said:
What if in a film, like Argo, you small bit’s of none English Audio, and in those cases there is a specific subtitle track which matches that situation?
That is exactly what a ‘forced’ subtitle track is: The translation of a few foreign language things that are either spoken or written on screen.
(btw: The term ‘forced’ for such a track is quite misleading. There is actually nothing forced about it.
If you search in the online subtitle databases, it is often called “foreign language parts” or similar.)
If you rip subtitles from disc, extra care must be taken to get those. Forced subs are often combined within the same subtitle stream that contains the ‘full’ subtitles. It is the task of the ripping software to filter only those lines that have the ‘forced’ attribute set.
The only way to mark a subtitle as forced is by muxing it into the video file in MKV format. All other video containers either don’t support the ‘forced’ flag or Plex doesn’t read it.
