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Prior to vlc 0.9.2 there was the section Subtitles-OSD -> Text renderer -> Font Effects and it was possible to choose Fat Outline.
Now in vlc 0.9.2 there is the new section Mac renderer and the Fat Outline it is disappeared.

Will be back in future version.

Good to hear that. Though I've noticed that when enabling subtitles (from an mkv for example) the video stops for a couple of seconds and then the playback is ok. I remember that before it was almost instantaneous. Also the fact that it ignores the font type (maybe I'm doing something wrong, I've tried with subt and ssa and both keep the fonts, I though that only ssa would keep the fonts).

Ah, and the most problematic one is that when subtitles are enabled, if I jump to another part of the video it takes ages for it to start playing, whereas without subtitles the jumping is almost instantaneous.

PD: Also something interesting to add would be an option to make subtitles stay on screen when the video is paused.

Hiya j-b, hello everyone else.

Similar to the missing Font Effects I can't change the actual font for text based subtitles (I've tried .dfont, .otf-, and .ttf-fonts with .srt subtitles). It appears VLC is always using the same (thin) font. Also the selected font differs in advanced and basic preferences screen.

Lynxx

To change the font type in the for the subtitles simply write the desired font name without specify the full path to the font file. For me worked

In 0.9.3 there will be a fatter font, native Font Chooser in the preferences, a border and a shadow. It should be significantly easier to read.

When Mac version get back Fat Outline Font Effects? I even try latest VLC 0.9.8, but even that not support Fat Outline Font Effects.

In VLC 0.9.8 subtitles are unreable if they compare to VLC 0.8.6i where is support excellent Fat Outline Font Effects.

Any updates on this issue? It is really difficult to read subtitles rendered with white text without outline when they are displayed against a bright background.

Does this issue have any trac-number?

I'm using 0.9.9a. On Mac OSX latest Leopard.

Problems with subtitles continue..

1. Font is always "Regular". Even if I choose Bold.

2. Font Effect called "Background" does not work, shows up as an outline. In "Mac Text Renderer" the option of font effect is not there at all.

Whats up? When will this be fixed?

We switched font rendering routines. (From Freetype to Apple native fontrenderer) The quality of subs is much better now, but as a side-effect, we lost the effects. Atm, no one is working on bringing them back.

Patches are welcome.

Is there a way to disable the font shadows and to make the font color true white? To my eyes it looks blurry and grayish, I would very much like to have subtitles like the ones on TV, sharp, white, with a black border. Something like what was in 0.8.x.

Regards

No, not unless you submit a patch

Having had the same problem, i have been using a work around that seems to be working for me, in VLC prefs on my mac, i set the OSD Font Renderer to be Freetype 2 - now, my text effects work again, i can set my own font size in pixels, everything is as it should be.

I suspect leaving the font renderer as default means it uses the Quartz one, which is lovely, but no effects

Ok just to explain a little more clearly, im using 1.0.0 RC3 Goldeneye for Intel. Also noticed in the past that effects stopped working, but didnt investigate why. Today, knowing the GF is going to want to watch films, i thought id try and make it work.

In the Advanced preferences, in the main Subtitle / OSD tab - i played around with selecting different renderers and settings -eventually, selecting Freetype2 got my effects working again. My ideal settings and effects?:

Font - Arial
Size - 18px
Colour- White
Effect - Background

Works great - don't know what id do without the background effect - ps. are there any settings for it somewhere?

I switched to Freetype2 and got the old subtitle style back, crisp and clear white. Gorgeous.
Thanks, DeUcnt. Cheers

Hi All,

Quick note to let you know i am DeUcnt - my nick was SUPPOSED to be DefUnct as in definite uncertainty - of course fat fingers here was in a rush to post, ages ago when i first set up the account i made a mess of the nick.

So now, seeing as im actually posting more, i thought id sort out a proper account with a proper nick DeUcnt is no longer active - but of course i cant delete the account, so...there you have it.