Adding sub titles to Movie files

[Kenny202]

Have a whole lot of movies on my hard drive would like to watch with the missus but don't have any subs. I plug a flash drive directly into the TV and view them from there. I remember I have downloaded separate sub files before but ages ago. Is it possible to do this? From memory I used to download the subs and put the sub file in the same directory as the movie. Subs had to match the file size of the movie from memory and often had to synch them with the movie sequence / speed. 

 

Can anyone refresh my memory where to download the subfiles and how to do it please?

[JayClay]

It's been well over a decade since I used it so I don't know if it's still any good, but I used to use a program called Sublight to download subtitle files with pretty good results.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=sublight+subtitles&oq=sublight+subtitles+&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512j0i390l2.10872j0j1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 should point you in the right direction.

[Gaccha]

The sub files are .srt files. There are lots of sites to find them: just google movie name + srt. You can also download the movie with the subs with it.

 

What is critical is the srt file is identically named as that of the movie file (e.g. mp4 file) and in the same folder. 

 

What happens next depends on your player (VLC, Gom etc). But typically you simply open subs on the player. Gom Player has a 'show subtitles' option. It will almost certainly work if you follow what I've said. 

 

If the subs lag or appear prematurely you can adjust how quickly they appear on the screen to match the audio. You'll need to go to advanced options.

 

I strongly recommend Gom to keep things simple, but VLC is a good backup if the subs should fail to work on Gom. 

[Thailand J]

My fav site to download subs: https://subscene.com/

Rename the sub to match the movie name except the last extension and it should work.

ex: My.Cousin.Vinny.1992.mp4

      My.Cousin.Vinny.1992.srt

 

There are sites or apps which you can download to edit subs.

You can also combine two subtitle files, for example an English and a Thai sub file to show together.

[Kenny202]

3 minutes ago, Thailand J said:

My fav site to download subs: https://subscene.com/

Rename the sub to match the movie name except the last extension and it should work.

ex: My.Cousin.Vinny.1992.mp4

      My.Cousin.Vinny.1992.srt

 

There are sites or apps which you can download to edit subs.

You can also combine two subtitle files, for example an English and a Thai sub file to show together.

Will an SRT file have a selection of subs or do I need to find a specific sub aka Thai?

Thanks all for the replies so far guys

 

And I assume I need a player capable of advanced options with subs re speed synch compensation etc. Does VLC player have this?

[Bruno123]

4 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Will an SRT file have a selection of subs or do I need to find a specific sub aka Thai?

Thanks all for the replies so far guys

 

And I assume I need a player capable of advanced options with subs re speed synch compensation etc. Does VLC player have this?

You'll need to find specific. The languages covered will be stated in the description.

[Jai Dee]

46 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Will an SRT file have a selection of subs or do I need to find a specific sub aka Thai?

Using the example that @Thailand J used above, you can select Thai from a range of different language subtitles at Subscene.

 

 

But as previously mentioned, the .srt file must have exactly the same filename as your media file (.mkv or .mp4 etc) and reside in the same directory or folder on your USB drive.

 

eg. My.Cousin.Vinny.1992.WEBRip.Disney+.Hotstar.th.mkv and My.Cousin.Vinny.1992.WEBRip.Disney+.Hotstar.th.srt

[Gaccha]

57 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Does VLC player have this?

Yes.

 

Vlc player is by far the most advanced of all the players I'm aware of. However, it's good to have 3 or 4 players as backup (they are all free to download) because glitches will arise as to subtitles not working on some players but working fine on others. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Gaccha

[Peterw42]

Op, you may want to look at Kodi. As a player it works really well to add subs. You can automate the process as well, you can set it up so when you go to play a movie it will go off and find the subs automatically. you tell it where to look, subscene etc.

You can also set it to find English subs for you when the GF wants to watch a Thai movie.

Or, like I did recently, a korean drama, with Thai dub and English subs, everyone was happy.

[RayWright]

Hi Kenny202,

If you've got the time / patience then you can embed any Subtitles file(s) yourself into a .mkv container file.

 

The .mkv file contains the video file (mp4, avi, FLV, MPEG etc), as well as any audio files plus any subtitles and Picture files, e.g. a Cover Picture. (Plus can hold Chapter and Tag details as well.) 

 

That way you'll end up with a single file (MyMovie.mkv) on your USB drive containing the Video, Audio Soundtrack files (English, Thai, French etc), as well as all your Subtitles (English, English SDH, Thai, Korean etc). The other advantage of the .mkv file is any Commentary / Trivia tracks (either in Audio format or written as a Subtitle) can be embedded as well.

 

Players like VLC (VideoLAN), GOM, Microsoft MediaPlayer etc) accept the .mkv format. Same for SMART TV's. 

 

The Matroska (mkv) project started in 2002 and has grown globally. With the likes of Microsoft deciding to support from Windows 10 onwards. The name is derived from the Russian word, Matryoshka, i.e. the hollow wooden dolls. You can download their MKVToolNix utility via the Matroska website.

 

 

However, as with any software product, maintaining compatibility with other applications can get tricky. If you've got an older SMART TV or version of VLC, then don't necessary use the latest version. (See Older Versions on the Website)

 

In terms of sourcing Subtitles, then as other have mentioned, SubScene.Com is a good website. Also OpenSubtitles.ORG is a good second alternative.

 

Sometimes I find when playing the movie file, there isn't a perfect match in terms of voice syncing to a downloaded Subtitles file. There are a number of tools available On-line to assist with this. "SRT Editor V3" is  good tool to start with for SRT based files.

 

Only issue I have with playing a USB drive movie on my LG SMART TV, is when any SRT based subtitles use positioning or colour as my TV doesn't support this level of functionality. Way round this is to play the movie via VLC on the Laptop and use a HDMI cable. Or Cast it to the TV.

 

Hope this is of interest.

[Kenny202]

6 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Op, you may want to look at Kodi. As a player it works really well to add subs. You can automate the process as well, you can set it up so when you go to play a movie it will go off and find the subs automatically. you tell it where to look, subscene etc.

You can also set it to find English subs for you when the GF wants to watch a Thai movie.

Or, like I did recently, a korean drama, with Thai dub and English subs, everyone was happy.

I just downloaded Kodi before and reminded myself how complicated and clunky it is to use. I think really by the time I muck around easier to just do a google search on Subtitles.org and play on VLC. I do see some Thai subs come up as little squares. From memory there was something you used to have to do in settings to enable reading Thai script.

 

Does VLC have a sub synch adjustment? From memory many used to be out of synch....sometimes a lot, sometimes a little even when the sub title seemed to match the movie file

[Peterw42]

13 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

I just downloaded Kodi before and reminded myself how complicated and clunky it is to use. I think really by the time I muck around easier to just do a google search on Subtitles.org and play on VLC. I do see some Thai subs come up as little squares. From memory there was something you used to have to do in settings to enable reading Thai script.

 

Does VLC have a sub synch adjustment? From memory many used to be out of synch....sometimes a lot, sometimes a little even when the sub title seemed to match the movie file

Yes, Kodi can be a bit of stuffing around, but when you get it working its probably the best player for subs, it has a snyc adjustment. dont know about VLC.

The squares in kodi means you need to add a thai font. articles on goggle tell you how.

 

[SpaceKadet]

7 hours ago, Gaccha said:

Yes.

 

Vlc player is by far the most advanced of all the players I'm aware of. However, it's good to have 3 or 4 players as backup (they are all free to download) because glitches will arise as to subtitles not working on some players but working fine on others. 

I beg to differ, VLC has lost a lot of functionality over the years. IMO, the most advanced player at the moment is PotPlayer. It also has the capability to display two subtitles at the same time and has a very modern user interface.

[Kenny202]

49 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Yes, Kodi can be a bit of stuffing around, but when you get it working its probably the best player for subs, it has a snyc adjustment. dont know about VLC.

The squares in kodi means you need to add a thai font. articles on goggle tell you how.

 

I have added Thai script to Kodi a few years ago, It was a bit of a trial too lol. First time I did it worked after about 2 hours mucking around.....the next time I got a new version I couldn't make it work

[Jai Dee]

17 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Yes, Kodi can be a bit of stuffing around, but when you get it working its probably the best player for subs, it has a snyc adjustment. dont know about VLC.

The squares in kodi means you need to add a thai font. articles on goggle tell you how.

 

Adding Thai subtitles to Kodi was discussed in this archived topic some 5 years ago...