WDTV LIVE SMP subtitle issues [ Edited ]

[Techflaws]

Apparently not everyone upgraded from the original LIVE to the SMP and thus did not browse the LIVE forums. For all the people who missed my original thread on WDTV LIVE subtitle issues here's the gist on what's what with the SMP:

PGS subs

• Animated subs are not displayed
  Found e.g. in the 'Men in Black' DVD and 'Lord of the Rings' BD commentary streams. When cycling through streams even the stream name of these subs is not depicted but listed as 'unknown'.
  Solution: none.
  
  
• Subs ripped with MakeMKV are not displayed (fixed as of MakeMKV 1.7.8, use WDTV profile)
  MakeMKV does not compress PGS subs with zlib which are the only subs that work on the SMP. Mediainfo lists compressed subs as 'Muxing mode: zlib'.
  
  Solution: bug Mike to add zlib compression to MakeMKV, bug WD to support uncompressed subs
  
  Workaround: remux MKVs with MKVToolnix which automatically compresses them. This is not related to the 'header removal compression' setting (which has been fixed on the WDTVs but should be disabled nevertheless cause it confuses various standalones and only saves a few MB anyway).

Sub adjustment

Unlike other players the SMP allows for adjustment of text subtitles (SRT, SSA/A SS) only. Pressing option on the remote allows you to enter a menu where you can change position & size, color, coding but not timings (which somehow got dropped from the LIVE).

[TonyPh12345]

Good thread. 

To add to this:

VobSub subs

• Animated subs are not displayed unless they're in the DVD ISO or VIDEO_TS container format.
• Transparency in subs is not displayed unless they're in the DVD ISO or VIDEO_TS container format.
• VobSubs in MKV containers may make a portion of the movie FLASH briefly when first engaged.
• VobSubs in MP4/M4V containers may make the movie FLASH briefly when every subtitle is displayed.

(certainly not an exhaustive list.)

Tech, is it worth compiling other relavent comments / additions into your top post?

[Techflaws]

Dunno. Maybe first let some more people add info concerning sub issues? I'm thinking about addind some stuff to the FAQ as well...

[BigRoo]

Hi Tech,

Sent you a PM re a subtitle issue I'm having. Hope you can help

Thanks

[Techflaws]

Just post it here in the thread so everyone can read the solution, if there is any.

[BigRoo]

Hi Tech,

Can you help me with something please?

I have a problem with getting subtitles to display in non english speaking sections of movies on my WDTV Live Streaming Media player.
I use MakeMKV for Blurays and select the English subtitle tracks.
Before using mkvtoolnix i cannot see any subs due to the compression issue that Ive read about. So i downloaded toolnix and selected the movie and hit remux.
It displays subs but the subs are on all the time for the whole movie, even in english spoken parts.

What exactly do i need to do to get it to to only show subs in non english spoken parts?

p.s. i posted this on the makemkv forum but i'm not sure how long a response will take.

Kind regards

[Pecker]

This has always worked for me.

To show PGS subtitles.

Rip using MakeMKV.

Download MKVtoolnix.

Then:

1 - Rip your DVD or Blu-ray Disc using MakeMKV.

2 - Open MKVtoolnix.  Click "file" (top left), then "options" (on the drop-down menu), look down the list of options and put a tick in the box that says "Disable header removal compression for audio and video tracks by default". Once you have a tick in the box click "OK".

3 - Now you're back on the main Windows, click the "add" button and navigate to one of your MKV files which isn't displaying subtitles, select it and click "open".

4 - By default the file will be written to the same place as the original. For example, if your file is called "Citizen Kane.mkv" the new file will be called "Citizen Kane (1).mkv". Your original will be unchanged. Click the "start muxing" button and wait. It will be 10-15 mins depending on the speed of your hard drive. 5 - Once the process is complete test the new file e.g.: "Citizen Kane (1).mkv" on your WD TV Live, and see if the subtitles display. 6 - As long as it works, delete the original file (for example "Citizen Kane.mkv") and change the name of the replacement (eg. change "Citizen Kane (1).mkv" to "Citizen Kane.mkv"). 

TA-DA! From my experience, MakeMKV will now rip all subtitles and the WDTV Live will play them all, in synch with the audio, and staying on screen for the appropriate amount of time (there were previously some issues with synching).

For me this has had a 100% success rate, both with foreign language films, and English language films with forced subs on occasional foreign language scenes like The Godfather.

If anyone tries this and it doesn't work can you please post details of the disc, etc.

Steve W

[BigRoo]

Hi Pecker,

I did see your post in another thread.

What you explained is what i actually tried but i did it with a couple of mkv files i had already ripped from bluray discs.

The thing is , i dont know if i had ticked all the english sub boxes in makemkv when i first ripped them.

I usually do except if i think there wont be any need for subtitles.

Ive just tried it on a pre ripped mkv file of district 9. When i put the file into toolnix it showed about 8 sub tracks. So i remuxed and just adding to drive and will go and see what happens

Cheers  

update: it worked on District 9. I had 6 diff sub choices and one of them is in fact forced subs for when the aliens speak.

Thanks again for your help buddy. I owe you one 

[Techflaws]

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BigRoo wrote:
i posted this on the makemkv forum but i'm not sure how long a response will take.

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Yeah, I found the thread and it already mentioned all you needed to know. Since forced subs can be authored in several ways you have to check the streams manually after ripping.

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Pecker wrote:
TA-DA! From my experience, MakeMKV will now rip all subtitles and the WDTV Live will play them all

---

Right, which is exactly what I suggested with my workaround in the first post of this thread.

[Pecker]

Sorry, I just thought a step-by-step guide might help.

Steve W