Anime subtitle problem
#1
Big Grin 
Solution found here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=892...stcount=16

Hey there gang

I am having an issue with my subtitle displaying correctly in xbmc with the Neon skin. It is not a skin issue as I have switched between several and have the same result.

All the subtitles are hard coded (no .srt files) and the display correctly in vlc. The minute I play the files in xbmc, I ether get a completely different font for the entire show (Wakfu). Or, I get hot jumbled mess when the font changes (italics in cowboy bebop). I have attached screen shots below to show what I am experiencing.

On a mac with snow leopard with the current stable build.

Thanks for your help

Image
Image
Reply
#2
XBMC actually displays Wakfu correctly. Many fansubs contains not just the subtitles but fonts as well. Each line may even use a different font. You probably have VLC set to override the font used, which XBMC afaik cannot do for styled subtitles.

Cowboy Bebop does look wrong though. No idea what the problem is though. A sample might be useful.
Reply
#3
"Hard coded" subs mean they're burned into the video and are permeant. Even if there's no external sub file these are still soft subs.

What version of XBMC are you using? From some comments I am reading it seems [CBM] did a bad job on their Cowboy Bebop rip. There's also a remastered version floating around there that's probably a better quality anyways.
Reply
#4
XBMC version is 10.1

@Qorlax: Well that is no good for Wakfu. What a poor choice for a font. Looks like I have to stick with using VLC to watch the series (I prefer not to). I did try forcing the font in XBMC and that did not work.

By sample do you mean video sample?

@ned Scott: Thanks for the clarification on "hard coded". I was not completely sure myself. Is there a way to change font sizes/type if they are soft coded with no file? I ask for future reference. I am fairly new to the technicalities of all this.

I have the remastered version of Cowboy Bebop. I also own the original dvds I bought when they were first released (am I showing my age?!?! Smile. I every time I tried ripping them myself, they come out horribly (whole other topic).

As with Wakfu, it sounds like I am stuck with using VLC.
Reply
#5
If they are all MKVs you could go through the tedious process of extracting the subs from each file and converting them using one of the various subtitle programs to a simple srt file or to fonts that are not crazy, then remux them back in. Did I mention it would be a tedious process, even setting up the batch process to do it would probably be annoying and I have no idea if you'd be able to process the subtitle files as a batch. But if it's a rainy day and you're bored .. =) I imagine you have far too many episodes to really consider that option though. I also have no idea how I'd go about that process on a mac, so I'm thinking my input here was rather pointless to begin with, I'll wish you luck though.

*Edited*
Have you tried using makeMKV for OS X to rip your originals? I've had no problems with dvd's or blu rays sub's when using that program (in windows) to get my dvd's ripped, you may want to re-encode the video streams of the resulting MKV files depending on your storage situation. You can always use Handbrake to do the re-encodes.
Reply
#6
I also have the original Cowboy Bebop DVD release set! I guess I'm also showing my age :D

There is a way to edit the subtitles inside the files. I've got a few applications for Mac OS X that can do stuff like that, but I can't remember for the life of me what they are called (I really need to delete some of this old stuff on here... such a mess). This could fix both files to be more readable and prevent you from having to download everything all over again. At the very least we should be able to strip out the formatting and just make them plain text subs.

When I get back from work tonight I'll look for those app names.
Reply
#7
@ibixat: I could go through the process of redoing the sub files. I kind of don't mind. I have not tried it so I really don't understand how much of a pain it could be until I try it. I have access to PCs as well so that is not an issue.

Have not looked into makeMKV, I will have to check that out.

@ned Scott: HAHA, to funny. Yeah, I just recently got back into anime and trying find some quality stuff. Seems like that era was a golden age. A friend of mine that never stopped watching just lent me Dead Leaves, Patlabor, FLCL and Gurren Lagann. I have a bit of catching up to do....anywho...

I have access to a PC, if that makes things easier, through that option my way.

Thank You for all your help! I really appreciate it.

Stephan

Edit: With the exception of Wakfu. Would the jumbled mess with Cowboy Bebop be a bug with XBMC? Looking at it, it is only the same font italicized, for background voices. The non-italicized font displays just fine. Just a thought.
Reply
#8
Monro3 Wrote:@ibixat: I could go through the process of redoing the sub files. I kind of don't mind. I have not tried it so I really don't understand how much of a pain it could be until I try it. I have access to PCs as well so that is not an issue.

Have not looked into makeMKV, I will have to check that out.

@ned Scott: HAHA, to funny. Yeah, I just recently got back into anime and trying find some quality stuff. Seems like that era was a golden age. A friend of mine that never stopped watching just lent me Dead Leaves, Patlabor, FLCL and Gurren Lagann. I have a bit of catching up to do....anywho...

I have access to a PC, if that makes things easier, through that option my way.

Thank You for all your help! I really appreciate it.

Stephan

Edit: With the exception of Wakfu. Would the jumbled mess with Cowboy Bebop be a bug with XBMC? Looking at it, it is only the same font italicized, for background voices. The non-italicized font displays just fine. Just a thought.

I don't really know mac apps very well but Mkvtoolnix would be the demuxing/muxer you'd use to strip the subtitles out of the file and remux your new ones in, I don't know about gui availability for mac but for the PC I use MKVExtract GUI 2 and I think the tools had a gui for merging already. As far as editing the subs it's going to depend on the sub's format, some of the tools I use for that are subtitle workshop and a java app called BDSup2Sub, and SupRip. For making MKV's of DVD's and blu rays MakeMKV is pretty slick, I know for certain that mkvtoolnix and MakeMKV are available on mac, the subtitle apps not sure about them or even which ones you'd need. Can you download MediaInfo from http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en and see what format it claims the subtitles are in? If you open it up and go to view and choose text you'll have a subtitle area that looks somewhat like this

Code:
Text
ID                               : 3
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : English
Language                         : English

Or possibly
Code:
Text #1
ID                               : 7
Format                           : PGS
Codec ID                         : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Title                            : English SDH
Language                         : English

Text #2
ID                               : 8
Format                           : PGS
Codec ID                         : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Title                            : Fuzz Facts
Language                         : English

That can help narrow down what needs to be done to the subs to get them working for you.
Reply
#9
I poked around and think I found a sample of the file I think you're watching, the subtitle format is Advanced SubStation alpha and the odd part here is I'm not seeing any font choices made in the file itself and when I play it back in xbmc I get just plain subtitles.

I'm starting to think it's skin related rather than file at this point, can you try loading another skin temporarily and see what it displays?

Image
Reply
#10
One of the first things I did was change skins. It did not solve the problem however. I will give it a shot again. I will go even so far as to start with a fresh install. I will check back and let you know what happens.
Reply
#11
EDIT: I installed XBMC on anther Mac I have and everything works perferctly. With that said, I don't know where to start trying to figure out what is going on the other machine. I did a complete uninstall (prefrences and all starting from scratch) and that did not do it. If you guys have an idea let me know. In the meantime, I am going to try and find a solution and will get back to you when I do.

Did a complete uninstall of XBMC using appcleaner and still have the same problem. I am going to install XBMC on a PC I have laying around and see what happens. The PC is fairly and hopefully it can even play the video...
Reply
#12
I have the same issue. I've noticed it happens on .ass files that use the name 'Default' for a subtitle track and usually if the font is regular, un-styled Arial. This happens on both my Mac and PC. I've not been able to figure out the cause, as standard SRTs are set to use Arial on my setup and they display fine.
Reply
#13
Monro3 Wrote:EDIT: I installed XBMC on anther Mac I have and everything works perferctly. With that said, I don't know where to start trying to figure out what is going on the other machine. I did a complete uninstall (prefrences and all starting from scratch) and that did not do it. If you guys have an idea let me know. In the meantime, I am going to try and find a solution and will get back to you when I do.

Did a complete uninstall of XBMC using appcleaner and still have the same problem. I am going to install XBMC on a PC I have laying around and see what happens. The PC is fairly and hopefully it can even play the video...

on the plus side it's not the files causing the problem I'd imagine, something that was installed on that mac at one point is causing the issue, I don't know enough about xbmc or macs to get to the bottom of it for you though, at least you don't have to go through extracting all the subs and fixing them. That is a time saver, good luck finding a final solution.
Reply
#14
Edit: Found the culprit! I don't have the time to update what I did right this second. I will post a step-by-step when later tonight or tomorrow. It was kind of a pain in the ass. At least it is solved!


Update on my issue.

I did a complete re-install of OSX and still have the same issue. I really do not know what is going here. I wish I had a solution but I don't. Hopefully I can find out what is happening and update this thread just in case someone else comes across this issue.
Reply
#15
I'm looking forward to what your solution is!

I just encountered this same issue today with Legend of the Galactic Heroes. In my living room (mac mini) the subs are this strange capitalized font, and on my laptop (macbook) it looks perfectly fine. Same source files, same dharma build, same skin version. The only difference being the macs.

Here's a side-by-side with my mac mini (bad) and the macbook (good).

Image
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Anime subtitle problem1