[Feedback]: Improving Subtitle Font Selection for HiDive #656
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Reference: Creepso/multi-downloader-nx#656
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Overview
When examining subtitle files, particularly VTT and converted ASS formats, it's evident that multiple fonts are utilized to enhance the viewing experience. Below are examples illustrating the diverse font styles and attributes applied within these files:
VTT File Example:
Converted ASS File Example:
Current Functionality
The current system provides an option to select a specific font for subtitles as documented here:
https://github.com/anidl/multi-downloader-nx/blob/master/docs/DOCUMENTATION.md#--fontnameSuggestion
I propose enhancing the system to allow users to select or match existing subtitle styles, specifically those used in the converted ASS files. For instance, seamlessly incorporating the "Swis721 BT" font would significantly improve the user experience, ensuring consistency and aesthetic appeal of subtitles across various media content. This font, among others, can be sourced from platforms like
https://freefontsdownload.net/find.php?q=Swis721+BTThe idea was to be able to add something like the existing module
module.fontsData.tsfor example:These would be subtitles found on that page for the fonts corresponding to this
VTTfile.Subtitle Downloaded: https://dve-subtitles.imggaming.com/537894/818597/vtt/subtitle-en-US-246613-1712172962745.vttAs you probably saw, we actually already have a system to parse and merge found fonts if it's in that array. The problem lies in that hidive doesn't have a way to actually load fonts, so these fonts won't even appear correctly on their website. With that said, there's no real way to dynamicly download the fonts like with crunchy. You can get all the crunchy fonts by using --dlfonts though.
I can probably add the fonts to the array though so when the user provides them, they will be included.
Tangentially related, but is the font style not preserved in the ass file if you exclude --fontName?
Yes, Hidive has limitations regarding font loading, which affects how subtitles display. While dynamic font downloading isn’t possible as with crunchy, adding user-provided fonts into the array could enhance the viewing experience. In my tests with various VTT files, I've noted the variability in fonts used by hidive, which warrants further examination to achieve more consistent subtitle appearances.
I'm experimenting with replacing some hidive fonts with equivalents from crunchy, such as swapping Swis721 BT for a similar crunchy font, to see if this can maintain visual consistency. I'll share the results of these tests and their effectiveness.
As for the font style preservation in the ASS file when omitting --fontName, it does indeed keep the font information intact, defaulting to Arial.
Adding the fonts manually via mkvmerge works.
When changing the subtitles fonts to the ones that are from crunchy, it works as well, but it is hard to tell if they really matched the initial fonts.
From asking someone that runs a font archive, there's no trend to which fonts Hidive can use. It seems to just be "whatever was on their computer" There are even some that are likely custom made or very rare like
Swis721 BT - Upsidedownand ones likexecricsthat couldn't be found at all. Overall Hidive uses 100+ different fonts (although around the 30 most common probably cover 98% of them) and the only way to actually get the rest is probably brute force getting as many fonts as possible and running font collector when muxing.So try to get those most common fonts and then you're mostly good.
Thanks for pointing out the variety of fonts used in Hidive subtitles. This discussion aims to find solutions for more consistent subtitle appearances, like replacing specific fonts with suitable alternatives from Crunchyroll or other sources.
Experiments are being conducted to determine if changing fonts can help address inconsistency.
While suggesting a brute-force font collection is interesting, it may not align with practical solutions.
Please provide the names of the over 100 fonts used in the subtitles to help identify which ones can be replaced with similar fonts from Crunchyroll, for example.
This would help focus the efforts on the most impactful changes and ensure a smoother transition to more consistent subtitles. Your insights on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
If you're using Windows, here's a PowerShell script I wrote to scan ASS subtitles for font names, which might be helpful for this task.
From searching all english subs on (almost) every show all_hidive_fonts.txt
And number of occurences in css styles (rough number, probably double counted for some)
all_hidive_fonts_occurences.txt
Thank you very much.
I compared the fonts in the fonts text that you provided to the ones available on Crunchy.