I need help with some subtitles that are HUGE, when set to normal

General Discussions
42

Hi there,

Sorry about the delay in my response. I created two sample files, one muxed with FFMpeg and one with Subler. I’ve extracted the subtitles from both to .ass format (as the Plex Transcoder does) and inspected the files.

Subler

[Script Info]
; Script generated by FFmpeg/Lavc58.18.100
ScriptType: v4.00+
PlayResX: 384
PlayResY: 288

[V4+ Styles]
Format: Name, Fontname, Fontsize, PrimaryColour, SecondaryColour, OutlineColour, BackColour, Bold, Italic, Underline, StrikeOut, ScaleX, ScaleY, Spacing, Angle, BorderStyle, Outline, Shadow, Alignment, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Encoding
Style: Default,Arial,54,&Hffffff,&Hffffff,&H0,&H0,0,0,0,0,100,100,0,0,1,1,0,2,10,10,10,0

[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:05.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Subtitle test
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.00,0:00:07.00,Default,,0,0,0,,First line\NSecond line
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.00,0:00:09.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Third frame
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.00,0:00:11.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Lorem ipsum dolor\Nasimet
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.00,0:00:13.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Fifth frame
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.00,0:00:15.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur\Nadipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.00,0:00:17.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Seventh frame
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.00,0:00:30.03,Default,,0,0,0,,Last frame

FFMpeg

[Script Info]
; Script generated by FFmpeg/Lavc58.18.100
ScriptType: v4.00+
PlayResX: 384
PlayResY: 288

[V4+ Styles]
Format: Name, Fontname, Fontsize, PrimaryColour, SecondaryColour, OutlineColour, BackColour, Bold, Italic, Underline, StrikeOut, ScaleX, ScaleY, Spacing, Angle, BorderStyle, Outline, Shadow, Alignment, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Encoding
Style: Default,Serif,18,&Hffffff,&Hffffff,&H0,&H0,0,0,0,0,100,100,0,0,1,1,0,2,10,10,10,0

[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:05.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Subtitle test
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.00,0:00:07.00,Default,,0,0,0,,First line\NSecond line
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.00,0:00:09.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Third frame
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.00,0:00:11.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Lorem ipsum dolor\Nasimet
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.00,0:00:13.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Fifth frame
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.00,0:00:15.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur\Nadipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.00,0:00:17.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Seventh frame
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.00,0:00:30.03,Default,,0,0,0,,Last frame

Clearly, Subler sets a rather big font-size (54) which explains why transcoded subtitles are so big.

However, in the mean time Plex Web must have updated since it now ignores the font-size set in the .ass subtitle and respects the size set by the client - however the font family is still preserved. Plex Media Player on the other hand still respects the size defined in .ass.

To my knowledge, it’s not possible not to set a default style in .ass subtitles, so the only realistic option would be ignoring the size (and probably other styles) settings on the client and use the settings that’s defined by the client.

This might cause issues with .ass subtitles that are actually formatted properly, however it’s easy to check whether the file has only single default style - in which case it could be ignored.

I can upload the .mp4 files if required, however I fairly sure that the issues is the styles in mov_text that get preserved in the .ass conversion.

43

I’m having similar problems. I generally convert MKV files to MP4 with Handbrake, and then either soft embed subtitles or just put some externals on the side, and they are all huge. BUT! It seems it only occurs on English subtitles and not Danish subtitles. For some reason the subtitles format, on the english subtitles as well, are set as UTF-8, which I generally use for the Danish ones (because they have special characters). The solution to the BIG subtitles though that I figured out is, that if I save the .srt files as UNICODE instead, the it solves the problem. Problem is I don’t want to manually have to change each and every subtitle format. It never used to be like this, so it MUST be some new change somehow. Could it be some weird Windows 10 update?

44

UTF-8 = Unicode

45

Whoops. Then why does it give you both options when you open the .srt file with notepad and save it differently? It gives you the option of saving as UTF-8 but also as Unicode. And for some odd reason that fixes the gigantic subtitles I otherwise get? Primarily when they are English and never the Danish ones for some odd reason. Considering the danish ones are also UTF-8 as standard.

46

There are different ways to store text documents which use the full unicode character table (i.e. more than 8-bit).
The most efficient and widely adopted method is UTF-8.
But there are others, like UTF-16 or the one which is called ‘Unicode’ by notepad, but is really ‘UCS-2’.

I’ve found that UTF-8 is the most widely supported one of these, and it’s also the one officially supported by Plex.
Why UTF-8 leads to big fonts in your Plex client (but UCS-2 doesn’t) needs to be investigated.

47

Subtitle Edit can do hundreds in a few seconds.
Batch screenshots

48

I understand what some are saying, and for me, even though I have a large library, what I personally started doing, is when I rip new movies, and then put it into Handbrake, I remove all subtitle tracks. I find one online, make sure it syncs up with my video file, and then add it in. Subtitle Edit is a great program, I have started using it for many things. It doesn’t help with things that are already in PLEX, but for any movies I find that have this problem, it seemed to be related to image based subtitles from DVDs, and specifically, PGS files on Blu-rays. I use a variety of programs, but Box4 v2 has been very good at removing tracks (ie the subtitle track from the .mp4 file), and then my mymp4boxgui works quickly and easily to simple insert a .srt subtitle, even though it is older. Not only then is it the correct size, but also does not require transcoding. I’m not an expert, just sharing my experiences. Also, I just recently discovered Hybrid, and it seems to work well for a lot of things also.