• AnyStream is having some DRM issues currently, Netflix is not available in HD for the time being.
    Situations like this will always happen with AnyStream: streaming providers are continuously improving their countermeasures while we try to catch up, it's an ongoing cat-and-mouse game. Please be patient and don't flood our support or forum with requests, we are working on it 24/7 to get it resolved. Thank you.

SRT subtitles download as "WebVTT" subtitles?

xamihi4878

Member
Thread Starter
Joined
Jan 11, 2022
Messages
5
Likes
1
This has been happening for the past few major versions now on basically every streaming service. I thought it might have been brought to RedFox's attention by someone else, but I haven't seen anyone do that so I figured I might as well do it.

When I download subtitles, I'll usually use MKVToolNix to merge them all into one file. On the surface, it doesn't look like anything is wrong. When you download subtitles, they appear on your system with the file extension "SRT". But when I import the subtitle files with said file extension into MKVToolNix, they appear as "WebVTT' instead of "SubRip/SRT" as they did before (image0). When merging everything together and using a media player like MPC-HC to playback the media, the subtitles are simply too small to be utilized correctly (image1) whereas actual SRT subtitles do not have that issue (image2).

This is NOT an MKVToolNix issue. This is NOT a MPC-HC issue. This is an AnyStream issue. I'm not sure if this is just me. I doubt it, but can anyone else confirm this issue? I've attached a log file for further inspection.

image0.png

image1.png

image2.png
 

Attachments

  • AnyStream_1.2.9.0.astlog
    404 KB · Views: 1
Last edited:
I use a batch file for converting other formats to srt using SubtitleEdit:
Code:
@echo off
REM save this code as "Convert_Subtitles_to_srt.bat"
set SE="%ProgramFiles%\Subtitle Edit\SubtitleEdit.exe"
%SE% /convert *.dfxp subrip
%SE% /convert *.vtt subrip
%SE% /convert *.xml subrip
pause

I always store subs externally, never download them within the mp4.
 
It's happening again then. Smart assed replies like yours don't help anyone.

Funny thing is that it was never addressed. So if he's implying it was, he's talking out of his ass. Pretty par for the course for someone who has "cartman" in their username, honestly.

I use a batch file for converting other formats to srt using SubtitleEdit:
I always store subs externally, never download them within the mp4.

Am I able to paste that code into a text doc, save it as BAT, and then drag and drop the SRT files to convert them? Would that be how it works in that situation?
 
I use a batch file for converting other formats to srt using SubtitleEdit:
Code:
@echo off
REM save this code as "Convert_Subtitles_to_srt.bat"
set SE="%ProgramFiles%\Subtitle Edit\SubtitleEdit.exe"
%SE% /convert *.dfxp subrip
%SE% /convert *.vtt subrip
%SE% /convert *.xml subrip
pause

I always store subs externally, never download them within the mp4.

This is nice. I use pysubs2 which batch processes subs without the need for a batch file. But in all honesty, we shouldn't need to process the the subtitle files after they're downloaded. VTT subs are being downloaded and saved with an SRT extension. This is little stuff not related to the larger encryption issues.
 
Am I able to paste that code into a text doc, save it as BAT, and then drag and drop the SRT files to convert them? Would that be how it works in that situation?
No need to drag and drop. Just start the batch file and all subs in the current directory will be processed using the command line mode of SubtitleEdit.

This is nice. I use pysubs2 which batch processes subs without the need for a batch file. But in all honesty, we shouldn't need to process the the subtitle files after they're downloaded. VTT subs are being downloaded and saved with an SRT extension.
I fully agree with you. Even being big fans of the AS project we shall not forget that we are paying customers. The bug handling needs enormous improvement (e.g. ticket- or forum-based). On many free software projects this is handled much better.

P.S. Thanks for the tip with pysubs2, I will have a look onto it (y)
 
This is little stuff not related to the larger encryption issues.

That's true. Of course, I have no clue how easy/difficult it would be to fix, but this seems like one of those issues that could honestly be knocked out in an afternoon.
 
I thought it would be more an issue of the used media player.
It's not an issue with MKVToolNix.
VLC is able to play the WebVTT subtitles just fine.
Emby (my prefered media player) e.g. cannot do this because they use ffmpeg for playback... see also this thread on the emby forum: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/104758-subtitles-are-not-available/

of course if it is possible for AS to download the subs as SubRip format...the issue would be solved because SubRip works fine.
 
I thought it would be more an issue of the used media player.
It's not an issue with MKVToolNix.
VLC is able to play the WebVTT subtitles just fine.
Emby (my prefered media player) e.g. cannot do this because they use ffmpeg for playback... see also this thread on the emby forum: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/104758-subtitles-are-not-available/

of course if it is possible for AS to download the subs as SubRip format...the issue would be solved because SubRip works fine.

ffmpeg doesn't support it, so any kind of trascoding with Plex will render the subtitles non-existent. Additionally Emby doesn't support it. VTT has it's own file extensiton: .vtt, so the fact that AS is downloading VTT subs and outputting them as an SRT file is misleading and requires users to double check every subtitle downloaded.
 
I thought it would be more an issue of the used media player.
It's not an issue with MKVToolNix.
VLC is able to play the WebVTT subtitles just fine.
Emby (my prefered media player) e.g. cannot do this because they use ffmpeg for playback... see also this thread on the emby forum: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/104758-subtitles-are-not-available/

of course if it is possible for AS to download the subs as SubRip format...the issue would be solved because SubRip works fine.

This is similar to my experience. VLC plays them just fine, but whatever ancient copy of MPC-HC is installed on my computer doesn't even recognize them... just has subtitles grayed out and doesn't list any available.

This is definitely only a recent issue for me. I'm wondering if in the past maybe AS was doing a conversion in the background but the latest versions have disabled that either by design or in error?
 
Funny thing is that it was never addressed. So if he's implying it was, he's talking out of his ass. Pretty par for the course for someone who has "cartman" in their username, honestly.

I think what cartman was trying to say is, use the search function. You didn't see it brought to Redfox's attention because you just didn't put WEBVTT into the search field and hit enter. This issue has already been discussed and suggestions on work arounds like using Subtitle Edit were already made in the other post which is what I think cartman meant by the issue having been addressed. Not that the issue was fixed, but that it had already been discussed.
 
maybe the solution is kind of easy (but not my preferred solution).
it works with Emby maybe also for other mediaplayers. if the subtitles are downloaded separately as *.SRT Files...just rename them as *.VTT (which would be the correct filetype) and let them stay external. Now Emby recognizes them as SubTitles.
No real converting needed. But if those VTT are put together with MKVToolNix then it stays the same. No Subtitles are shown. This is caused because ffmpeg can't handle internal subtitles when in VTT format.

My preferred solution would be that AS does download the subtitles in a format which works just fine... <-- would be the best solution.
 
maybe the solution is kind of easy (but not my preferred solution).
it works with Emby maybe also for other mediaplayers. if the subtitles are downloaded separately as *.SRT Files...just rename them as *.VTT (which would be the correct filetype) and let them stay external. Now Emby recognizes them as SubTitles.
No real converting needed. But if those VTT are put together with MKVToolNix then it stays the same. No Subtitles are shown. This is caused because ffmpeg can't handle internal subtitles when in VTT format.

My preferred solution would be that AS does download the subtitles in a format which works just fine... <-- would be the best solution.

You basically said the same thing that I did but came at it from the opposite angle... If AS wants to support VTT properly, fine. But save them as a proper .vtt file. This current practice of jamming any format into the wrong file extension is horse shit. Give us an option to ensure it's a SubRip format subtitle in a .srt file, or a VTT subtitle in a .vtt subtitle if others want.

They don't have to reinvent the wheel here. There's tons of source code examples for each of these formats out on the web. It would take minimal work to get it incorporated into their current source in a workable state. Compared to the larger encryption issue, this should be a small change.
 
The easiest way is to visit a subtitle website, search for your TV show or movie and download the SRT file. The two most popular sites for getting subtitles are Subscene and OpenSubtitles.org. On OpenSubtitles, perform a search XXXXXX and then you'll see all the available subtitles for different languages at the bottom
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The easiest way is to visit a subtitle website, search for your TV show or movie and download the SRT file. The two most popular sites for getting subtitles are Subscene and OpenSubtitles.org. On OpenSubtitles, perform a search XXXXX and then you'll see all the available subtitles for different languages at the bottom
This thread is 6 months old and we do not want torrent sites like YTS, discussed, even for subtitle, thank you for your input but please remember, no torrent sites. Thank you.
 
Back
Top