getting subtitles

[JeffDavis]

With SubEdit you can drag an MP4 or MKV file onto it and it will open a text-based subtitle stream that you can save as an SRT file. An SRT file is a text file with the subtitles coded like this:

1
00:01:45,980 --> 00:01:50,040
We must have walked over a
hundred miles and it's getting dark.

2
00:01:51,140 --> 00:01:54,380
We've been walking like this for
days and days. I don't understand it.

3
00:01:54,820 --> 00:01:57,800
You'd think by this time we would
run into some sort of civilization.

Those are the first 3 subtitles from a movie called The Atomic Kid. The Blu-ray did not include subtitles. I used SubEdit to create an SRT file for the movie from scratch. It uses audio-to-text conversion modules from other projects to generate subtitles from the audio stream. You can mux SRT subtitles into an MP4 file using FFMPEG or an MKV file using MKVToolnix. They can be displayed by a software player like VLC. Microsoft's players are more finicky. The older Windows Media Player version 12 doesn't play them. The newer Media Player version 11 (yes, the newer player has an older version number, at least on my Windows 10 PC) or Windows Movies & TV) will display subtitles in a separate SRT file but will not display SRT subtitles that have been muxed into the video file. If you want to display SRT subtitles using a hardware DVD or Blu-ray player, I don't know how to do that.

[JeffDavis]

Incorrect.

I've been using CCExtractor version 0.79 and it does not extract timed text in a subtitle stream. I downloaded the current version 0.94 and it does.

E:\MP4\Flash Gordon (2007) HD>d:\m\bat\cc\ccextractorwin aaa.mp4 -o aaa.srt
CCExtractor 0.79, Carlos Fernandez Sanz, Volker Quetschke.
opening 'aaa.mp4': ok
...
Track 1, type=vide subtype=hev1
Track 2, type=soun subtype=MPEG
Track 3, type=sbtl subtype=tx3g
mp4: found 3 tracks: 0 avc and 0 cc
closing media: ok
Found no AVC track(s). found no dedicated CC track(s).

E:\MP4\Flash Gordon (2007) HD>d:\m\bat\cc94\ccextractorwinfull aaa.mp4 -o aaa.srt
CCExtractor 0.94, Carlos Fernandez Sanz, Volker Quetschke.
Opening file: aaa.mp4
Opening 'aaa.mp4': ok
...
Track 1, type=vide subtype=hev1
Track 2, type=soun subtype=MPEG
Track 3, type=sbtl subtype=tx3g
MP4: found 3 tracks: 0 avc and 1 cc
Processing track 1, type=vide subtype=hev1
Processing track 2, type=soun subtype=MPEG
Processing track 3, type=sbtl subtype=tx3g
100% | 42:40
Closing media: ok
Found no AVC track(s). Found 1 CC track(s).

I only use it for extracting the closed captions embedded in the video stream when there isn't a separate subtitle stream. I prefer Subtitle Edit for working with SRT subtitles.

[theresay]

To hard code subtitle into a video you need to convert it. I use Any Video Converter (freeware) to convert my videos. It can hard code the subtitle onto the video, and the output video quality is very good. It can only embed 1 subtitle, though. It supports aac, ac3, and mp3 in audio and up to 6 channels.

For DVD/Blu Ray, if you want to add to existing disc, you need to first backup the disc with a DVD copying software (create folder, not ios file), then use video editing software like DVDFab or Powerdirector to add the subtitle. Note that you might not be able to retain the original menu and such. If you just want to turn your videos into discs, you can just create it with the software.

[theresay]

Thanks JeffDavis for recommending Subtitle Edit, I tried and the auto generated subtitles were pretty accurate. Now I can replace a bunch of misplaced and out-of-sync subtitles on Amazon videos. Next is to figure out how to auto sync and adjust existing subtitles.