Subtitle questions (mov_text)

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Yesterday, I plexed a video that had mov_text subtitles. To my surprise, it would direct stream on Plex Web (Chrome/Windows 10). No transcoding.

I’ve always associated turning on subtitles with automatic transcoding.

  1. How can I make files with this mov_text option?

  2. On Plex Web Player (Chrome, WIndows 10) is there a way to get other subtitle options to direct stream. Like Vobsub or SRT? Perhaps the profile file can be rewritten?

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  1. The most basic way using the most basic set of parameters
    ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy -c:s mov_text output.mp4

  2. VobSub’s are image based and pretty much all clients will transcode. SRT’s for the most part should play without transcoding.
    https://support.plex.tv/articles/200471133-adding-local-subtitles-to-your-media/#toc-1

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Thanks a lot! I will try that.

I have not used ffmpeg. I mostly have experience with Handbrake encoding DVDs to x.264 and the subtitles always come out as vobsub. I wonder if there’s a way to get SRTs from a DVD.

SRT streams directly. I just checked that :slight_smile:

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Subtitle Edit will convert image based vobsub’s/sup’s to SRT.

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Because vobsubs are 1itt1e pictures and not p1ain text, your goa1 of converting them to SRT wi11 invo1ve OCR with software 1ike NewP1aza 1inked. After it gets finished, you have to manua11y go back through and fix a11 the p1aces it put a 1 instead of the 1etter l.

I only typed the letter l once in that paragraph above. The rest were the number 1 like you’ll have to fix in your subs :nerd_face:

OCR software never used to like apostrophes either. Nowadays I don’t bother to OCR.
I just find a SRT on subscene.com every time I add a video with foreign language parts,
and I mux that SRT into my video using mkvtoolnix-gui before I add it to my PMS.

A Plex pass will find SRTs automatically I guess?

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Running into this exact problem. Spent the past week writing a script to re-encode all my files from h265 to h264 due to another problem that I have had. Now I see that if VOBSUB is selected the stream transcodes from the server rather than Direct Play as the OP has described. Argh. :laughing:

The thing in my case is that MOV_TEXT is also included in most of my files.

Is there a way to get Plex to automatically select MOV_TEXT over VOBSUB? I’ve tweaked with the miscellaneous settings in AUDIO & SUBTITLE SETTINGS under account, but VOBSUB appears to be selected each time, regardless.

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A very powerful feature of Subtitle Edit is Find and Replace. Also powerful is Remove Text for The Hearing Impaired, Remove Formatting and taking out a million lines of a single music symbol, cause I can hear the music, while leaving the music symbols around lyrics, cause I don’t know the words.

Also powerful is Add to Dictionary, Skip Once, Skip All and Use Every Time, like all those 1/L/I OCR mishaps.

True enough that many times Subscene is way faster than an OCR session and all those mistakes, but when you can’t get webrips to match up with DVD/BluRay rips, even with the powerful Point Sync feature, you will have to endure an OCR session occasionally.

Unfortunately, SE doesn’t do MOV subs but Xmedia Recode will.

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FWIW I have found my solution if not:

  1. Use ffmpeg to create .ass file from .m4v/.mkv. Incidentally, .ass is quite an appropriate name for this whole mess. :laughing:
  2. Download SubtitleEdit and use SubtitleEdit.exe /convert file.ass subrip to create .srt file.
  3. Place .srt file in same directory as the video used in step 1 as described here.

Turns out .srt behaves just like mov_text so Roku’s player will turn them off when you turn off CC on the player. This is basically the desired behavior and it’s pretty surprising that it’s not default as right now all sorts of hoops must be made to turn subtitles on/off.

Bleh, in any case, this can be solved by yet another script and luckily it won’t entail any re-encoding.

FWIWx2 there is a vote to fix this issue here.

Yes indeed @JuiceWSA I ended up up using SubtitleEdit, as described above. Thank you for taking the time to reply!

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Automatically Set Preferred/Default Subtitles For Videos
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Nice you got it sorted. I won’t use windows ever again in my life.
I do miss things like SE. Thanks for the tips.

I’m glad your player and server deal with the sidecar SRTs, as there are a few open issues
when the film contains PGS subs.

I lol’d

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