MKV and subtitles in WMC - Not working

[HDRoadKing]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can shed some light on my problem and how to fix it. The issue I'm having is that I am unable to get subtitles working in WMC. Basically I only want them for non-english speaking parts in a movie. Here's my setup:

Win7 Enterprise SP1 (32-bit)
WMC
Media Browser plug-in
CoreAVC video codec
FFShow

I have the MKV file and .sub files in the same folder and they are named the same as well, but I can't get them to display.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[boohbah]

i have the same issue ,for this type of file i use vlc to play the movie you can add the subtitle folder to vlc via the vlc menu.
doesnt really answer your question but its my workaround.
VideoLAN - Official download of VLC media player for Windows

 

[Shark007]

I have no idea why people would suggest using alternate players such as VLC when the question posed is specific to playback in Media Center within the Media Center forum section.

For MKV's with subs to playback in Media Center, uninstall FFDshow (because it is included in the following suggestion), and Install the Win7codecs. If you have a 64bit operating system, you will also need to x64Components addon.

To get the MKV's with subs working in Media Center, disable the Microsoft Video decoder on the SWAP TAB of the Settings Application.

 

[boohbah]

Thanks for the info shark007, the reason I suggested vlc was as i already stated i have this issue and found a workaround,i did say it doesn't answer the question. now i have the solution and can inform people correctly in future,thanks.
i also use sharks007 codecs

 

[HDRoadKing]

Thanks Shark! One question though, will installing this codec have any impact on CoreAVC? The only reason I ask, is that my HTPC is running on an Atom board and without CoreAVC offloading the processing to the GPU using CUDA, MKV's stutter horribly.

 

[Shark007]

Uninstall CoreAVC and Haali (before installing my codecs)
On the H264 TAB, select LAVCUVID, this also uses CUDA.
IMO, CoreAVC is a waste of money these days. (poorest support on the planet)

If the subs do not work woth LAVCUVID, give ffdshow dxva a try on the H264 tab.

 

[HDRoadKing]

I'll give that a try and let you know how it goes.

Many thanks for your help so far!

 

[HDRoadKing]

Uninstall CoreAVC and Haali (before installing my codecs)
On the H264 TAB, select LAVCUVID, this also uses CUDA.
IMO, CoreAVC is a waste of money these days. (poorest support on the planet)

If the subs do not work woth LAVCUVID, give ffdshow dxva a try on the H264 tab.

No joy

I tried with both LAVCUVID and ffdshow dxva and still no subtitles either in WMC or just in WMP. I did as you suggested and removed both CoreAVC, ffdshow and Haali prior to installing your codec pack.

There is literally nothing else on this HTPC, just the OS, drivers, MediaBrowser add-on and your codec pack.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Shark007]

for some people, disabling UAC (User Account Control) can cause these problems.
If you had disabled UAC I suggest you...

1. uninstall the codecs
2. set UAC to the 'Default' setting, re-boot the computer
3. re-install the codecs (edit, use the button on the Help TAB to associate MKV's with the Windows players) and apply the settings previously suggested

 

[HDRoadKing]

for some people, disabling UAC (User Account Control) can cause these problems.
If you had disabled UAC I suggest you...

1. uninstall the codecs
2. set UAC to the 'Default' setting, re-boot the computer
3. re-install the codecs (edit, use the button on the Help TAB to associate MKV's with the Windows players) and apply the settings previously suggested

Sorry, still no luck. Here are screenshots of the settings just in case I've missed something.

 

[Shark007]

do you get playback... without subs?
if so, try the ffdshow dxva decoder on the H264 TAB

also, some mkv's contain wvc1 video (instead of h264) in which case you need to set ffdshow for wvc1 on the SWAP TAB

 

[HDRoadKing]

With all the settings changes, the video always plays. Just no subtitles. I've tried the new settings you suggested and still no subs, both trying in WMC and WMP.

 

[Shark007]

I'm guessing there is something wrong with the subtitle file itself.
open it in notepad, it should look similar to the following:

{82}{135}Ragesh 3|Centauri Tarým Kolonisi
{140}{185}Dünya Saati ile 10:00
{305}{365}Nöbetçi Subay Ayla|nöbeti devralýyor.
{370}{412}Gidebilirsin.
{453}{565}Dur. Olaðan dýþý bir durum var.|Yerini tespit edeceðim.
{600}{658}Sektör 3'te|atlama noktasý oluþuyor.
{662}{712}Büyük Yaratýcý adýna.
{795}{820}Mayýnlar aktif!

 

[HDRoadKing]

Well, I'm not sure exactly what was the problem, but I decided to just to a complete re-install on my HTPC just in case some old codecs or something was causing the problem.

Now that I have everything installed again (clean OS with just drivers and Shark007 codec pack) I've started testing again.

Good news: Subtitles are working in movies. Tried an MKV (with the associated .srt file) and subtitles work great both in Media player and WMC.

Bad news: Subtitles are on all the time! I know I can turn them off by right clicking the FFDShow icon in the systray and un-checking subtitles, but this is a HTPC with no mouse or keyboard and boots straight into WMC.

Please tell me there's an easy way to toggle subtitles on and off in WMC or with the remote.

Thanks again for any help!
Mike

 

[mjf]

When adding subtitles to BD format I use MkvToolnix: run mmg.exe (GUI for MkvMerge) and mux the subtitle in with "Export only forced". This forces subtitles only for foreign language segments.

 

[Shark007]

Please tell me there's an easy way to toggle subtitles on and off in WMC or with the remote.

Thanks again for any help!
Mike

download and use Media Control (http://damienbt.free. fr/index.php - remove the space before fr/index.php)
also, get the x64 version when you have an x64 operating system.

Be sure a video is playing, and using ffdshow for decoding, (icons in the sytem tray) before accessing the Media Control configurations. An important setting is 'apply minimal ffdshow settings' or something worded close to that.

 

[HDRoadKing]

Shark007 you were right on the money. Media Control was just what I needed! Now I can turn on and off subs with my remote

All your help with this is greatly appreciated sir!

Mike

 

[HDRoadKing]

One last issue that just cropped up though. The subtitles come back even after I've shut them off. For example, I start a movie, disable the subtitles. Then if I start it where I left off the subtitles are back even if I've never restarted WMC.

Is there any way to just set it to have no subtitles shown except the forced ones for non-english dialog by default?

 

[Shark007]

Is there any way to just set it to have no subtitles shown except the forced ones for non-english dialog by default?

google is your friend.
search for, download, and use, subtitle files that only contain the forced subs in the language you wish.
this way, you can just leave them on