Subtitle controls suck

[mike18xx]

Requests:

1) "Toggle Subtitles" button added to main play window next to the mute button.

2) "Subtitles Enabled?" added to the Video drop-down menu. It has a checkbox in front of it.

3) If an audio track of XYZ language flag is playing, subtitles of the same language will not display even if "Subtitles Enabled?" (see above) is checked. They will only play if the user goes into Subtitles Track: and checks a specific subtitle.

[chrizoo]

OK, what's the current status of this?
Is displaying the subtitles below the video already possible?
Has there been any development on this point since 2008 (when the awkward workaround was posted)?
If not, is it planned/in the works?
thank you

To give support for the cause, I've prepared comparison pictures and a possible way how VLC could treat subtitles in future releases:



[...]

+1 from me!

yet on subtitle position. IF OSD menu can float anywhere isn't it possible to force subtitles to something like osd menu window/box? Or another video window.

Not to be too simple minded, but:
Couldn't you render the video as if there were no subtitles requested.
Then create a brand new text window for the subtitles.

What about the subtitles-in-separate-window-idea?
Noone has ever answered these postings from 2008... !

[VLC_help]

There are some video core changes in VLC 1.2.0 that should finally make implementing subtitles below the video possible (but nothing has been done in this front AFAIK).

[chrizoo]

very happy-making-news. thank you!

[mike18xx]

If there's any way to, right now, jerry-rig....

1) FORCE subtitles off (without messing in preferences)....
2) FORCE a language default (so that every vid with that language "flag" set will auto-select that audio track, ignoring the mux "default")

....for ALL files dropped into the playlist, it would be a GODSEND>

-- Freakin' things are giant pain in the butt when you're watching a whole pile of anime at a time, and want to force audio ENG and subtitles OFF.

[chrizoo]

+1 from me

[gadelat]

Lack of this feature is one of the main reasons why i consider vlc as crap.

[chrizoo]

Lack of this feature is one of the main reasons why i consider vlc as crap.

I don't think other players have that feature, do they?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Lack of this feature is one of the main reasons why i consider vlc as crap.

Being polite is too hard for you?

[mike18xx]

Does anyone know of a way to retime (PAL > NTSC) the IDX + SUP files created by VobSub? When working with subtitles numbering in the dozens, it quickly becomes time-prohibitive to monkey with each one individually, and I'd just like to retime the whole mess -- then drag n drop them into VLC while I'm playing a time-corrected x264 rip of the film.

(The inability to easily retime especially bmp subtitles -- because pictographic subtitles such as arabis and hindu can't be converted into western text fonts -- is a major annoyance.)

[lukeprog]

+1 for the request to make subtitles movable. Videos that have non-English subtitles embedded in the video track are unwatchable when I try to use an English subtitles file.

Does anyone know a great video player like VideoLAN that allows this feature? Quicktime doesn't know how to play most of the .avi files I throw at it.

[warzauwynn]

Rather than render them in the video, is there a way to send the subtitles to an external app, like growl?

In the long term, maybe it would be easier to have them appear in a floating window that can be repositioned, similar to how the video controller window is now. This seems like it could potentially easier than rendering them in the video, though I'm saying that with almost no technological insight into VLC or its libraries.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Rather than render them in the video, is there a way to send the subtitles to an external app, like growl?

In the long term, maybe it would be easier to have them appear in a floating window that can be repositioned, similar to how the video controller window is now. This seems like it could potentially easier than rendering them in the video, though I'm saying that with almost no technological insight into VLC or its libraries.

You are right, but this needs heavy modifications in VLC that we are doing those days.

[okok123]

i agree subtitles are the wickness of vlc.

i asked it many times, but i will do it again : please, add movable vector subtitles.

plus i have lots of font cache generating windows that stay more than a minute, even to play non sub videos. i'ts very annoying.

so the subtitle part must be rebuilt totaly i think, and when it will be done, the opensource vlc media player will be the one.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

so the subtitle part must be rebuilt totaly i think, and when it will be done, the opensource vlc media player will be the one.

And it is being done those days...

[okok123]

youpi !

[mederi]

Hello!
Just yesterday I was looking for solution on how to get subtitles into black area under a movie. I tried one of nightly builds of VLC 1.2 where at least bottom-padding of Video scaling filter (Cropadd) already works and it is also possible to set hotkeys to move subtitles up and down during movie playback.

I wanted to bring some ideas for programmers how to improve it:
- absolute bottom of a movie picture could be zero position for subtitles (instead of +10 as a zero and then absolute bottom at -10);
- moving subtitles down to negative values using hotkey during playback could automatically increase bottom-padding causing subtitles moving down to black stripe under a playing movie.
This could be a good start for further improvement of handling of subtitles in VLC, multiple subtitles, ...

According to latest informations I am reading here the changes are already happening these days. So if programmers decide to rebuild subtitle support totally then floating subtitles in a whole window of the player instead of rendering them in the movie pictures could be better solution. A mouse pointer could be then used to move subtitles to desired position, too.

Thanks.

[mederi]

Just some more details for inspiration:
"floating subtitles" = subtitles in an "independent" transparent stripe floating over a movie;
- to use hotkeys and mouse to move that stripe up and down;
- bottom edge of the movie picture is the starting position;
- bottom and top edge of the player window / monitor screen (fullscreen mode) are borders;
- mouse right-click on the stripe to adjust subtitles' attributes on the fly: source file, size, color, transparency, font, encoding, ...
- ability of more subtitle stripes;

[mederi]

New version VLC 1.1.8 is out and padding does not work or I am doing something wrong if I want to add a black stripe (bottom-padding) to place subtitles under a playing movie. How does it work? If I turn on "Video scaling filter" and set cropadd > pixels to pad bottom [100], this also automatically turns on "Crop video filter". I want just padd without crop.
It worked properly in VLC 1.2 I tried last time. How to pad bottom in 1.1.8 if it works?
Thanks

[mederi]

Suggestion for movie playback (not for streaming, where subtitles stay rendered into the picture) with subtitles:
> option to play subtitles in independent window that will always stay over the player, resizeable and movable, and settings (available straight in that opened window) to set its transparency and all attributes of subtitles.

[Gaba]

Hi,
the 'Kaffeine' player can render subtitles outside of the video area. It'd be great if VLC could add this basic feature.

[mederi]

MiniLyrics is able to display lyrics or subtitles for playing audio/video files. It supports many known players including VLC. It installs own plugin for choosen players. Players then automatically also opens MiniLyrics's transparent window displaying lyrics or subtitles over a player. So it is connected through the plugin to playback controls and playback time of a player.

This works exactly the way I mentioned in one of my previous ideas I posted here earlier.

If there is such known interface in VLC where other external applications can control playback and read playback time, then well skilled programmers of VLC could make own subtitle plugin similar to MiniLyrics, independent from VLC core (no changes inside, perhaps only some on/off button) but native to VLC, simpler with static text only and more CPU effective (transparent window + part of VLC's code reading and displaying subtitles).

Speaking of which, some time ago I discovered Audacity, an unique freeware audio editor. It's label track is also suitable for movie subtitles. Subtitle text is displayed in graphical timeline. I use it to record my own movie dubbings / voice overs / spoken movie subtitles. After some improvements it can really become one of the best subtitle editors. Programmer also mentioned a creation of a "bridge" to VLC to display appropriate movie scene when working with movie audio and subtitles.

Could you please pass this my ideas to programmers of VLC? Perhaps some of them will find it useful and will decide to improve the VLC's subtitling the MiniLyrics's way, so besides in-picture subtitles there could also be floating subtitles - easily positionable by mouse wherever on a monitor screen.

Thanks

[chrizoo]

And it is being done those days...

thank you

[VLC_help]

First commits are in 1.2.0 nightlies. You can e.g. have better subtitles with Direct3D video output module.

[chrizoo]

You can e.g. have better subtitles

what do you mean by "better subtitles" ?
subtitles below video (in black area)?