Program to tell where subtitles are in MKV files?

[Marc_G]

Hi folks,

Is there a program out there that will show me at what point in a media file (primarily MKVs ripped from BluRay, meaning PGS subtitles) that there are subtitles? What I would envision is a graphical timeline at the top, then another line under it for each subtitle track. Along this (or these) line(s) would be indicators showing when subtitles would be on the screen for that stubtitle track. And maybe even a way to click on such an indicator and see what the text of the subtitle is.

The reason for my interest is I'm working more with subtitle containing movies and would like to make sure I understand which subtitle track is the one I'm wanting to enable.

Thanks in advance for any resources you can direct me to. I've googled a bit without success. So far...

Marc

[staknhalo]

Do you need the entire English (I assume) subtitle track? When I rip to HDD, I get rid of those and any other languages. The only subtitle track I keep are the soft subs; the ones I'm assuming you want as well (based on the other thread). This way, the only subtitle track I have is the one I need. You could just rip to MKV with only the soft sub track, disregard all the others and then you're in the same boat as me. See here:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1176923/movie ... -subtitles

[Marc_G]

Well, one purpose for the utility I'm looking for is to verify WHICH track is really the forced subs track I want. Sometimes I get multiple English "forced sub" tracks despite apparently only selecting one to be ripped... or there are many tracks and I'm not sure which to select at the front end. I'd rather have a utility that shows me how where in the movie the subtitle events are, and lets me see what the text is, so that instead of worrying what to rip, I can rip everything that is likely to be the right one in one pass. Then, a quick check with my hypothetical utility to see which is really the forced track (or, if the "forced sub" track that exists actually has anything in it... I get some that exist but are blank), so that I can decide whether to MKVMerge the excess tracks out, or just note that sub track 2 is the one I want when I play it.

As always, thanks for your engagement and input, staknhalo! You've always got great info to share, and I appreciate it. Intense thread over on AVSForum. I'm a longtime denizen of that board and will probably post something there if I don't extract what I need from the thread. 17 pages. Sheesh!

[staknhalo]

I only rip a movie to HDD if I've already seen it/just watched it and know I want to keep it. So I'll take a shot in the dark at which English subtitle track it is (I've only ever come across 3 at most on a disc; and it's usually one of the latter ones) and rip it. This way when the rip is done, if I see subs start playing right away I know that was the main English track and I just have to rip it again with the other track this time. If not, I move ahead to where there are forced subs and if they display, good to go. If it's a movie I know I want but haven't seen in a while or can't remember if there's forced subtitles; I'll either refer to that list over at AVS, Google "*movie name* forced subs", or try to watch the movie again before I have to return the disc and find out myself. It's a bit more work than your app solution, but not much. At most it's maybe 5 mins of Googling if you need to and if you have to re-rip that's another hour (disc to hdd) or 20 mins (iso to hdd folder); and you don't have to sit there and watch it rip. So if you can't find your app solution, it's still easily doable.

[Marc_G]

Yeah, I do much the same thing, though I'm looking for greater elegance now that I'm taking up the HTPC as a hobby instead of as an appliance after a few years in appliance mode.

My use case is a little different. I rip everything because my wife gets really frustrated if there's any problem when we're watching. A disc error in the middle of the movie really pisses her off. Or if there's a software glitch. Or if it takes too long to get to the movie or if I'm fussing with controls. So I want to rip straight to the movie in MKV format, played instantly from WMC. No muss, no fuss. Actually I hate watching FBI warnings and previews and ... as much as she does, perhaps more

Marc

[staknhalo]

elegance now that I'm taking up the HTPC as a hobby

You should know by now any of this only leads to scratching at the walls or pulling hair out The only part that ever goes without a hitch is getting charged for parts/software.