Movie Subtitles
OK, admit it. We all do it occasionally, that is, download movies. The most annoying thing sometimes is movies with subtitles. And worse still, English movies with English subtitles… I’m still trying to figure that one out. Maybe for deaf people?
The good news is that sometimes these can be removed. Sometimes the subtitles are hard-coded into the video and you cannot remove them short of converting the movie and cropping the bottom of the film.
MKVToolNix
One program I have tried for removing subtitles is called MKVToolNix GUI.
I got rid of some subtitles, but not the ones I wanted. The movie has Asian subtitles that seem to be hard-coded. It occasionally has English subtitles for a few English-speaking parts??
So, I downloaded MKVToolNix, installed it (no bundled software to worry about at the time of this writing). I clicked on Start > All Programs > MKVToolNix > MKVToolNix GUI
It’s pretty easy. Just drag-and-drop the movie to the Input Source Files box. On the bottom, under Tracks, chapters and tags, look for the option, SubRip/SRT and if it’s there, uncheck it.
Then further towards the bottom, click on the middle Start multiplexing button. To view your progress, click on the Job output button, down the left-hand side menu and that will switch to the progress window.
Because it doesn’t convert the file to a different format, it only took 3 minutes 20 seconds to finish the job. It removed the English subtitles, but not the Asian ones that seemed to be hard-coded in. The only way to work around this is to convert it using a program that allows you to crop the subtitles as I previously mentioned.
If you’re an expert video editor (I am not), you might be able to make those titles disappear another way.
Does Your Movie Have A Subtitle File?
So, how do you know if there is a subtitle file that can be removed in advance? Just right-click on your movie file and go to Properties, then click on the Details tab. Look for a section called Subtitles. If it’s not there, it’s probably hard-coded.
If you don’t want to fool around with trying to edit your movies, sometimes you can turn them off in your media player. In VLC, when a movie is playing, across the top menu click on Subtitle > Sub Track > Disable. Again, these options may be limited depending on whether the subtitles are hard-coded or not.
Adding Subtitles
One final note– if you decide you want to add subtitles, just search online for them. Usually you’re looking for a SRT file. Download and move it to the same folder as your movie. If you followed my last tip for disabling in VLC, just reverse it.
Sorry, since I don’t look for subtitles, I can’t recommend a reliable source. For a quick search online try YIFY Subtitles. Make sure your download is a SRT file, or if it’s ZIP or RAR, scan it with your antivirus first. If it’s an EXE file, ABORT! It’s probably Malware.
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Thanks for these instructions. But in defense of English subtitles for English movies, remember that English is a second language for a huge number of people in this country, and subtitles can help them get up to speed. Those subtitles are a huge boon for my marriage. My husband prefers not to wear his hearing aids around the house and I hate loud noise. Need I say more? Also, British features can be hard for any American to understand.
Viva subtitles, even English on English!
I agree with Sharon L, VIVA subtitles, good for people with some industrial deafness but hearing aids not required, good for watching a show when a narrator has a terrible method of speaking and the most annoying are modern-day actors and actresses who do not open their mouths to speak clearly, and/or speak too quickly to be fully understood.
This I have read is due to commercial TV operators slightly increasing the speed of a movie to insert more advertising.
There are a few times when subtitles from America are annoying, the incorrect spelling of many English words which are deemed to be American English but there is no such language, it is English with misselled words.
I read a recent subtitle referring to a snow plough on a road, it was written as ‘Snow Plow’ !
Thoroughly agree with John D. there. And I think that most American films should be subtitled with proper ENGLISH spellings!
God points. Thanks for the comments.