The VideoLAN Forums

Hi there all,

There are generally two kind of subtitle files. One (like MicroDVD format) format contains both begin and end of current sub display time. Example:

{923}{983}MATRIX

While the other one (like TMPlayer format) contains only start of sub display time. Example:

00:00:42:MATRIX

Point of begin and end of display can be described in both frames or seconds, which is not important here. What is important is that some sub files contains only start time for subs while other ones also contains end time.

Why VideoLAN (like nearly any other reasonable video player) still doesn't have such option like "default sub display time". In most players, which has this option it is set to three or four seconds. This way subs without end display point / time would be displayed for a period of time defined by user NOT UNTIL NEXT PHRASE CAME IN. This is so anoying, watching speachless scene for sometimes even ten or fifteen minutes (take final fight scene in Matrix: Revolutions as one of many, many examples) with all the time sub displayed that coresponds to phrase said many, many minutes ago.

I'm sorry if you feel frustration in my first post but it is really frustrating that number one player in the world, one of most recognizable programs in Internet, after many years of development still lacks of such obvious function / setting.

Best Regards to all forum community,
Trejder

You can easily convert those start-time-only subtitles to format where you can define the duration/end time. AFAIK no scene group is using start time only subtitles so I really suggest the home subbers really start using proper subtitle formats.

My opinion is based on assumption that there are probably millions of subs with start time only out there in the Internet. Therefore:

1. Forcing user to convert owned files only because VideoLAN developers refuse to and common add obvious option isn't an argument that will give VideoLAN much positive reveceive. Imagine people having more than thousand of movies in his/her collection with more than thousand subs, who is migrating to VideoLAN from another player only to find out that he / she has to convert all his subs. Mainly because his / her new player doesn't have option his / her old one had. I wouldn't be too much happy if I would find myself in such situation. Would you?

2. Even if your assumption is correct. What about all these subs made since early nineties, where video and sub sharing started? Let's don't check how many scece group is using MicroDVD format but better check number of subs in MicroDVD vs. number of subs in TMPlayer format in one of biggest on-line repositories of subs. If you find that this comparision is 90:10 in favor of MicroDVD then OK. But I believe that you will find it a bit more in favor of TMPPlayer.

3. Let's not make ourself a gods or ultimate oracles of what kind of subs is being used in Internet, ok? If there are so many video players that has mentioned option, then it means (at least to me) that millions of users of these players decided that such option is required. Now, coming with VideoLAN saying that this option in not reqired, we are standing in position of at least some kind of small revolution, which AFAIK had never been to good to any revolutionery.

4. How much time will it take milions of users to convert millions of TMPlayer format subs to MicroDVD format? On the other hand - how much time will it take VideoLAN developers to include such option that will solve all these problems at once? I saw at least a few posts / topics in feature request forum where reasonable requests (and I belive that mine is such) were introduced (to nightly bulids but were) within a few hours or days after feature request was reported.

Above are all my own / personal arguments or assumptions and I believe that there are many people that might disagree with me.

File a bug.
And use a clever subtitle format.

File a bug.

Ticket created - bug filed:

http://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/4061

And use a clever subtitle format.

Tell this to Polish translator community where somewhere between 40-50 percent of subtitles are still existing in TMPPlayer format due to using old-fashioned software for translation / subtitles creation. There is sometimes no other option: either you use subs in TMPPlayer format or you don't use at all.