====== ffmpeg - Subtitles - Add subtitles to MP4 vs MKV ====== Different **syntax** is used for MP4 vs MKV. * In both cases you must specify video and audio codec, or just copy stream if you just want to add subtitle. ---- ===== MP4 ===== ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -f srt -i input.srt \ -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -map 1:0 -c:v copy -c:a copy \ -c:s mov_text output.mp4 **NOTE:** Notice the **-c:s mov_text**. ---- ===== MKV ===== ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -f srt -i input.srt \ -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -map 1:0 -c:v copy -c:a copy \ -c:s srt output.mkv **NOTE:** Notice the **-c:s srt**. ---- **NOTE:** If mapping is not used, then adding additional subtitles would overwrite the existing ones. To add language metadata (insert before output file) "-metadata:s:s:0 language=eng" ---- **NOTE:** .srt files must be imported with -c:s copy not with -c:s mov_text ---- ====== References ====== https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_container_formats