For each language the extractor builds a list with the available formats sorted (like for video formats), then YoutubeDL selects one of them using the '--sub-format' option which now allows giving the format preferences (for example 'ass/srt/best').
For each format the 'url' field can be set so that we only download the contents if needed, or if the contents needs to be processed (like in crunchyroll) the 'data' field can be used.
The reasons for this change are:
* We weren't checking that the format given with '--sub-format' was available, checking it in each extractor would be repetitive.
* It allows to easily support giving a format preference.
* The subtitles were automatically downloaded in the extractor, but I think that if you use for example the '--dump-json' option you want to finish as fast as possible.
Currently only the ted extractor has been updated, but the old system still works.
projects / youtube-dl / commit