Arabic Subtitle Support - The Only Missing Feature

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

Hello Everyone...

I really like watching anime using VLC (especially MKV episodes cuz MPC Kinda crash when doing so)...

but the biggest bug I see that VLC don't support arabic subtitle, there are a lot of arabs who uses VLC but this thing makes them use another programs

so... please support this great language in subtitles as well as translation

That's all!!

I hope you take this problem under consideration and try to solve it in VLC 1.1.8

Bye

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

VLC supports RTL and it supports Unicode. I don't see what else would need to be added. As far as I am aware, VLC has supported Arabic for many years.

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

Hi

Afraid not

In anime the subtitle in mkv softsub is *.ass file and really it's not working!!

the letters aren't matching together for example

the word: فعل

becomes kinnda this: ل ع ف

and so on....

I tried every encoding available in VLC but it still not working

here is Naruto Shippuuden Episode 203 MKV arabic softsub: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8315776/MNT-Fan ... 683%5D.mkv

it's a direct link..... please see for your self the probelm...

the font in the episode isn't installed in your pc but it will choose any standard font so it's not a problem

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

Here is a DIRECT MEDIAFIRE link if the prev one don't work

http://www.mediafire.com/?oyh82o83bzkldxc

thanks

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

You are trying on which platform?

And sorry, that doesn't help us a lot, since we don't know how it should behave.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

I don't know the state of Arabic ligature in VLC or in libass. As said, VLC has Unicode and RTL, and your (counter-)example seems to imply that both of those characteristics do work. If RTL did not work, you'd see LTR. And if Unicode did not work, you'd see complete garbage, question marks or squares instead of Arabic glyphs. The fact that we might have missed ligature only emphasizes the fact that VLC developer don't know Arabic.

You should probably test with normal (e.g. .srt) subtitles to discriminate whether the issue is in VLC or libass.

Either way, you need to understand that the VideoLAN project is only a place for collaboration, not a company. None of the main active developers understand Arabic, so they are unable to work on this. In a business environment, an competent (probably Arabic-speaking) developer would be hired, because Arabic speakers are a major market for the software. But this project is not a business environment.
With this in mind, I can only advise that the Arab community should find a developer to take on this Arabic support, and if needed, a sponsor for the developer.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

VLC on windows uses fribidi 0.19.2 for srt that should display arabic ligatures correctly, hence my question about the platform.

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

Hi

I know the hardships for you but I used VLC 1.1.7 on Win 7

but MPC behaves well on the same platform..

I have a suggestion: why don't you use Direct Vob Sub just like MPC...?

by this point you don't need any arab developer to help you

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

I just downloaded 1.1.8 and it's still the same

but I loaded a *.srt arabic subtitle and it worked well!!!!

so now the thing you should try to solve is only THE *.a s s file
(maybe libass as a prev. reply... I don't know)

please try to fix this cuz VLC is really a very powerfull player but this thing is the most annoying bug in it

I recall that DVD subtitles work well in VLC and now I tried srt so the only problem is just the a s s file ONLY

use aegisub to open this kinnda sub

I wish you luck and ease in solving this problem

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

ssa and srt are not using the same rendering engine, which is why.

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

what renderers are used ...?

anyway

Here is an issue page from libass

http://code.google.com/p/libass/issues/detail?id=13

it's about what we are talking about!

use VS Filter (at least try and compare the results or make the libass a default choice and vs filter the second one )

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

SRT use freetype+fribidi
SSA use libass

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

so A S S Uses libass...

as you know that libass doesn't support arabic at all!!!

in the previous post I've put a link to an issue written in the site of libass... and it became so clear that libass doesn't support arabic subtitles because the developer of that library wrote that himself!

anyway, he put a solution (I didn't understand it, but you will for sure!) that uses another tool... please check it or let VLC support VS Filter with Direct Vob Sub to solve this issue for sure

maybe I annoyed you by all these posts but I realy like this program!

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

VS Filter and Direct VobSUb is not an option for VLC.

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

why?

this will help supporting arabic a s s files!

then... do you have another solution>?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

VS FIlter and Vobsub are windows only. This is not a solution.

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

Ahhh Now I understand.... so the only choice for you is libass which makes the problem of arabic a s s files.....

is there any other solution you have????

I wish you have one!!

thanks

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

The only choice we have is to help libass to improve arabic support, or to tell arabic people to use srt.

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

Yes that's a good solution, helping libass is a perfect one but using srt is way too impossible

cuz a s s is better than srt and you know it... nearly no any fansub uses srt in the whole world

so I wish you ease and success in helping libass development

Thanks for your time

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

what happened to the development of libass......??

Did you start working or what...?

keep us posted

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Well, we have a summer of code project, just for this...

[Hossam-Moghrabi]

So you will solve this issue!!!

after all, the problem wasn't from VLC itself.

you will modify libass in summer????? good luck.... (If done, I'll make a thread in an arabic forum about it!!!)