Subtitle Track Audit

Analyze subtitle tracks for issues including missing fonts, timing problems, format capabilities, and proper tagging.

Subtitle Formats

ASS (Advanced SubStation Alpha)

Capabilities:

• Full styling (fonts, colors, positioning)
• Complex typesetting (signs, karaoke)
• Multiple styles per file
• Precise positioning

Requirements:

• Fonts must be available (embedded or installed)
• Only MKV container fully supports ASS
• MP4 does not support ASS (must hardsub)

SRT (SubRip)

Capabilities:

• Basic text with timing
• Limited styling (some players support HTML tags)
• Wide compatibility

Limitations:

• No font specification
• No precise positioning
• No complex typesetting

PGS (Presentation Graphic Stream)

Capabilities:

• Blu-ray subtitle format
• Image-based (pre-rendered)
• Perfect styling preservation

Limitations:

• Cannot be edited easily
• Large file size
• Text not searchable/selectable

Audit Workflow

Step 1: List Subtitle Tracks

mediainfo video.mkv

Look for Subtitle sections showing:

• Format (ASS, SRT, PGS, etc.)
• Language
• Title/name
• Default/forced flags

Using ffprobe:

ffprobe -v error -select_streams s -show_entries \
  stream=index,codec_name:stream_tags=language,title \
  -of csv=p=0 video.mkv

Step 2: Extract for Inspection

# Extract first subtitle track
ffmpeg -i video.mkv -map 0:s:0 subtitles.ass

# Extract by language
ffmpeg -i video.mkv -map 0:s:m:language:eng output.srt

Step 3: Check ASS Font Requirements

Using Aegisub:

1. Open ASS file in Aegisub
2. Go to View → Fonts Collector
3. Lists all fonts used and availability

Manual inspection: Open ASS file in text editor, look for Style lines:

Style: Default,Arial,48,&H00FFFFFF,...

The second field after style name is the font.

Step 4: Verify Embedded Fonts

For MKV files, check attachments:

mediainfo video.mkv | grep -A 20 "Attachment"

Should show font files (TTF, OTF) if fonts are embedded.

Extract embedded fonts:

mkvextract attachments video.mkv 1:font1.ttf 2:font2.ttf

Step 5: Timing Analysis

Check for issues:

• Subtitles appearing too early/late
• Overlapping subtitle events
• Very short display times

Using Aegisub:

• Open subtitle file
• Check timing column for irregularities
• Look for negative durations or overlaps

Common Issues

Missing Fonts

Symptoms:

• Subtitles render in wrong font
• Missing characters (boxes or blanks)
• Wrong styling/positioning

Solutions:

1. Install required fonts system-wide
2. Use font manager (FontBase) for temporary activation
3. Embed fonts when muxing MKV

Wrong Language Tag

Symptoms:

• Player selects wrong subtitle track
• Language filtering doesn't work

Fix with MKVToolNix:

mkvpropedit video.mkv --edit track:s1 --set language=eng

Timing Offset

Symptoms:

• All subtitles early or late by same amount

Fix:

# Delay subtitles by 2 seconds
ffmpeg -i input.srt -itsoffset 2 -i input.srt -c copy output.srt

Or use Aegisub: Timing → Shift Times

Container Compatibility

MKV: Full ASS support, can embed fonts MP4: No ASS support, SRT only (basic), or must hardsub WebM: Limited subtitle support

Muxing Subtitles

Add to MKV

# With MKVToolNix
mkvmerge -o output.mkv input.mkv subtitles.ass

# With ffmpeg
ffmpeg -i video.mkv -i subtitles.ass -map 0 -map 1 -c copy output.mkv

Set Language and Default

mkvmerge -o output.mkv input.mkv \
  --language 0:eng --default-track 0:yes subtitles.ass

Embed Fonts

mkvmerge -o output.mkv input.mkv subtitles.ass \
  --attach-file font1.ttf --attach-file font2.ttf

Quick Reference

Font Collection

When distributing ASS subtitles:

1. Collect fonts using Aegisub's Font Collector
2. Embed in MKV as attachments
3. Test on clean system without fonts installed

Tools

• Aegisub: Subtitle editing, font collection, timing
• MKVToolNix: Muxing, track properties, font embedding
• ffmpeg: Extraction, basic manipulation
• FontBase: Font management without installation

Additional Resources

• ${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT}/references/tools.md - Tool recommendations
• ${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT}/references/encoding-commands.md - Subtitle extraction/muxing commands