Handbrake + MP4 + Subtitles

Discussion in 'Other video questions' started by faustiano, Apr 28, 2010.

  1. faustiano

    faustiano Member

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    Hi,
    I am new to this forum, and I have been doing some research on Handbrake. For the past several years I have been using AutoGK to convert my DVDs to AVI for my digital library. This has been working since I mainly play them back on my HTPC or XBOX 360; however, recently I have picked up an iPhone, which requires me to transcode to MP4. So instead of adding the additional step of transcoding and adding the additional file to my server, I figured I should change formats.

    Since I am using the XBOX 360, Windows Media Center 7, and the iPhone to play back most of my movies, I figured the common format between theme is MP4, which theoretically works fine, except for one little problem... Subtitles.

    My girl friend has problems watching movies in English (it is not her native language), so she typically wants to have subtitles turned on. I on the other hand don't like to have subtitles (unless it is a foreign film). So I would like to be able to turn them on and off.

    So here is what I have found:
    o MP4 will allow you to add one Subtitle to it; however, it requires you to "burn-in" the subtitle (bitmap).

    o MP4 will allow you to add Closed Captions which do not require "burn-in"

    o iPhone and Quicktime will allow you to enable or disable the Closed Captions; however, XBOX 360 and Windows Media Center 7 will not allow you to enable them (they are always turned off).

    Does anyone know how I could either:
    Create a subtitle/closed caption, that can be turned on and off using XBOX 360 or Windows Media Center 7, or is their an add-on (at least for Windows Media Center) that will allow you to enable or disable MP4 closed captions/subtitles?

    Thank you :)
     
  2. cyprusrom

    cyprusrom Active member

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    You can mux regular subtitles, srt or sub/idx in an mp4,don't have to be burnt in. However, not sure if your players will recognize them.
     

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