The VideoLAN Forums

Hey!

I can't get subtitles to show up on mkv files, but all my other direct show players can display them.
I'm not using external files for subtitles.

Also, is there any way to change subtitle size in vlc?

1. VLC supports some 9 different sub formats and you can put either 5 or 6 in a Matroska (MKV) container. So what's the format?

2. Text based sub formats can have there properties changed (except Sub Station Alpha) Graphics based subs can't.

A follow-up question about mkv and ssa:

I am watching this anime series encoded as mkv. All episodes have subtitles embedded as ssa. Nearly half of the episodes "obey" the font-size in pixels I have set with advance options. The other half "ignores" the font-size and colour, yet, interestingly, follows the other rules applicable to subtitles (e.g. fat outline).

Well I could live with huge subtitles, but the main problem is that if the subtitle text does not fit into window, then the "out of bounds" words are cut and pasted over an existing text making long blocks of text barely readable. The same applies to situations when there are two simultaneous lines of text (e.g. two characters speaking). I assume the person encoding wanted one line to be displayed on the bottom, the other on top of the screen. Instead, both lines are displayed on the bottom, covering each other.

Is this because of ssa encoding and is there a workaround? I so got used to vlc I dont want other players/decoders.

I hope this explanation is clear. Comments appreciated.

VLC ignores settings options when Sub Station Alpha and graphics based subs are used.

ssa is not correctly supported under VLC; AFAIK.

Other than the stated. I have never had issues with Sub Station Alpha based subs. Even in a long series of anime files. But you are correct in that all of the features are not supported.