Subtitle controls suck

[namooth]

so...... can you place the subs under the video?
If so, how can you do it

[Arite]

You cannot place subtitles under the video since subtitles are overlayed on top of the video canvas, and that is the size/shape of the video only (would require video output rework to do that).

The only way it can be done is by having a video with black bars added. To do this in real-time it can be done by transcoding with added black bars to the vout - a test I did a while ago:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=41695#p130174

Not the best method however . This feature has been requested for a long time too so it is not a new feature request:
viewtopic.php?t=3041

Arite.

[namooth]

That's the only reason i don't use vlc as my main player.
Thanks anyway.

[frantisek]

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. IS osd menu shows time and position why not moving text? I;m not a programmer so I can free my fantasy

BTW OSD menu position settings on Mac X version does nothing. It sits still down there.

F.

[VLC_help]

With VLC, subtitles are rendered directly to video. They aren't external movable objects like in Media Player Classic. So currently the only way to render stuff outside of the video, is to add black around the video before subtitle rendering.

[MartinGugino]

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.

[Safir]

If I've understood this correctly, the subtitle not being able to move outside the video border to the black below and that it gets severely pixelized when maximizing the window are both results of the subtitle being rendered into the video before the video itself gets altered in size or shape.

I really don't mind the subtitles not showing outside of the video itself, but the pixelized subtitles when maximizing a video drives me crazy. I have some hearing problems and use subtitles to most of the videos I watch. But it is truly a pain to stare at a bunch of pixelized letters instead of a subtitle you read almost uncounciously.

Just felt I had to add to the debate since I've been tryin' to get a font lookin' proper in VLC for quite some time now...

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

If I've understood this correctly, the subtitle not being able to move outside the video border to the black below and that it gets severely pixelized when maximizing the window are both results of the subtitle being rendered into the video before the video itself gets altered in size or shape.

I really don't mind the subtitles not showing outside of the video itself, but the pixelized subtitles when maximizing a video drives me crazy. I have some hearing problems and use subtitles to most of the videos I watch. But it is truly a pain to stare at a bunch of pixelized letters instead of a subtitle you read almost uncounciously.

Just felt I had to add to the debate since I've been tryin' to get a font lookin' proper in VLC for quite some time now...

You are right, but you have to understand that development around VLC is limited in time an power and we are working on it.

[rhode]

That's the only reason i don't use vlc as my main player.

x2

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

That's the only reason i don't use vlc as my main player.

x2

What do you want?

[rhode]

I discovered the settings that makes VLC work for me with subtitles, even better than other players.
Just select the font Arial Black - C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\arialbi.ttf - and voilá! Auto-resize according to the resolution is an awesome feature

[Sleck]

4. The font size in pixels seems kinda odd: the text becomes larger if I maximize the window. Isn't a font size in pixels supposed to be, well, the specified size in pixels?

You can change font sizes in Tool > Preferences > Subtitles & OSD.
I am a Juggalo too!

[syrdax]

That's the only reason i don't use vlc as my main player.

x2

What do you want?

x3

I want to be able to double click on a video with subtitles and just watch the movie with the subtitles "out" of the movie, not on top of it. This feature is on GOM, you can position the subtitle anywhere you like.
I know you people work a lot for free and I understand that maybe there's too much to do and of course, people have life; but this seems (at least to me) a simple task and something that is comes as default in other players. I really like VLC, but sadly I just can use it as a music player because just this "annoyance" with the subtitles.

[hoak]

I'd like to see this addressed in a future release of VLC Media Player as well as it is otherwise my perferred media player... I was surprised that this works on Media Player Classic Home Cinema but not on VLC Media Player. Perhaps as MPCHC is OSS, the VLCMP Developers can glean some trick or repurpose source to get this working VLC Media Player...

[VLC_help]

Subtitles outside video plane would require some rewriting. But there is already workaround for it.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=43034#p135744

And MPCHC display code isn't really usable in VLC, because MPCHC is Windows only and subtitles are treated as separate graphical object where in VLC subtitles are blitted over the video.

[hoak]

Yes, but it's a lot of gymnastics and quite hoop dance to go through to make it work, and the end result does not play smoothly and is awkward to configure. I dobt any but the most technically adept among us are likely to try this. More problamatic is the current subtitle controls not working gives VLC Media PLayer the appearance being a 'broken' feature -- and while this is clearly not the case, it's still a sore point for what the best media player made, with the toughest PR road to hoe.

[frantisek]

You can make the outline wider by changing the effect to "Fat Outline". To do this go to:
Tools >> Preferences... >> Subtiles & OSD

And change the "Effect" to "Fat Outline". Press "Save" and try a video.

Arite.

That is true but would not be better when VLC would be user friendly and idiot proof out of the box?

how some dummie would do that when I had a problem to manage subtitles well. I was fidling with preferences and could not get desired results. Or I got them after a long time. I do not remember already. And thanks to Perian QT is now more viable player. With Snow Leopard and Perian there will be probably even less reasons for specialized players for normal movie watchiing.

[blackthorne16]

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



Pic. 1: VLC as it is now - the subtitle text covers a considerable part of beautiful Zooey's scene, especially when there's a two-line dialog.

Pic. 2: This could be the future: VLC has kept in mind the actual frame size, but as subtitles for the movie are found, VLC defines a new frame size (blue frame not drawn, only for demonstration purposes) that can accommodate two lines of subtitles comfortably.

Pic. 3: As soon as the subtitle area is activated, VLC displays a short message and/or draws a frame there (1-2 sec).

Pic. 4: The result is clear. Please judge for yourself the change to picture 1.

[Twylight]

Is there a solution for this yet?

Like now i have a movie with a resolution of 1280x536 but my display resolution is 1680x1050 so there are black bars on the bottom and enough space for the subtitles to be moved into.

[VLC_help]

Is there a solution for this yet?

Only the workaround given earlier.

[razor813]

you guys are argueing too much and silly. of course this feature is a needed one. the team are just to lazy or busy to implement it. MediaPlayerClassic got it (you can move subtitles anywhere you like), just switch to it if you want. This thing is just too advanced and not user friendly, yet it is advanced but it lack a critical "advanced" features..

[berekin]

Hi to all. First i wolud like to say that VLC is a great peace of software and only thing that bothers me is font size. It would be more usefull to be in pixels. As someone said before me for now it can only be set in 5 sizes. Is there a chance for this in next version?

Tnx

[VLC_help]

You can already change the size in pixels.

--freetype-fontsize=<integer>
Font size in pixels
This is the default size of the fonts that will be rendered on the
video. If set to something different than 0 this option will override
the relative font size.

[nobones]

Suckstitle issue is the main reason migrating software. I have migrated from 17" to 50" screen. Watching 2,35 : 1 on 16:9 50" subs on movieframe just scream for software that will move'em visible below. I bet this is an issue for MAJOR part of non native english viewers. Transcoding is a joke for a solution. Is there someone awake there, haha ???

Put me on a mailing list should there emerge a [button] to do this on the interface of VLC.

Grand effort, was better than BS for couple of years. Dunno now what to choose.

[DGMurdockIII]

http://gnome-subtitles.sourceforge.net/