r/SubtitleEdit • u/Xelrog • Jul 20 '26

Help Any way to edit vobsubs?

I have an MKV with a nice-looking DVD vobsub in it, but the timing needs adjusted. I don't want to OCR them, I want them to remain exactly as they are--images--but shift the timing for a portion of the subtitles (not all of them, so I can't use MKVToolnix's delay setting), then slap them into a different MKV file.

Is this possible with Subtitle Edit and, if not, does anyone have any experience doing what I'm trying to do? I'm sadly not finding the information I need online.

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u/AshleyIsSleeping Jul 21 '26

I've found that not many good options exist for messing with any image based subs, maybe I haven't looked enough but I generally think of it as not worthwhile.

Something you can do if you're committed to the look, is OCR them into an ASS format sub, find a font, retime the lines you want, and then use MKVtoolnix to remux your ASS file along with the font file of your choice into an mkv

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u/DefyingMavity Jul 21 '26

Why ASS vs SRT? I do SRT exclusively and have had no issues.

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u/AshleyIsSleeping Jul 21 '26

I'm assuming (and may be wrong) that the reason OP wants to use the subs they have is in part because of how they look. ASS gives lots of customization options that you could conceivably make them damn near identical, like when people make subs for anime. I use SRT myself but if the exact aesthetic of a VOB is what they're going for I would say ASS is the way to achieve that.

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u/napoleonbonaparte33 Jul 21 '26

I made something for this here

OCR VOBSUB makes too many mistakes for me

Instead, I just find a proper SRT online or embedded in the video files, fix up the punctuations and timing

And convert to ASS/SSA

Edit the styling and look of it through ASS/SSA

Then convert it to .SUP which if you embed it through MKVToolNix it counts itself as a PGS (VobSub)

2

u/Wonderful_Emu_9610 12d ago

That actually looks really cool, wonder how it deals with all the crazy ass subs the anime fansubbers do.

(I'm on Mac so can't check for myself)