Subtitling Workflow: Is LiveType Just Not the Right Tool?

Question

I just finished a project that required subtitling a 7-minute video that was in another language, with about 120 subtitles.
This was an in-progress video edit where we were going back and forth between subtitling and other edits, not a finished video done by someone else where we were leaving it as is and just adding subtitles. So adding markers and just taking the whole thing into LiveType to create one, huge, long LiveType subtitle track was not an option. We needed the 120 separate subtitle clips that we could tweak for timeline length and timeline position.
An ideal workflow would have been to feed LiveType the 120-line text file and have it produce 120 separate -- what are they called? -- files, using an initial file as a model for font and positioning, etc., naming the files according to an algorithm that would involve numbering, the first X characters of the subtitle, etc. However, LiveType doesn't handle that, as far as I can see.
So we made a subtitle and then made new files and copied the track into the new files, one by one. First annoyance: when you paste in a track, the default track still remains and must be deleted. Second annoyance: We have to name and save each file.
The big annoyance is that the window eventually runs out of tab space for all the files and you can't even easily access them. I'm using the word "file", but what I'm referring to are the things that contain one or more tracks that to the Mac file system are saved as files, but which display inside one, uh, master file (?) in tabs in LiveType.
We just barely were able to do a 7-minute video with this duct-taped-together mess, but I'm not sure we'll try it again, and it would be impossible for a 2-hour movie.
I assume that subtitling requires special purpose software? It's a pity, since subtitles are usually so ugly, even in theatrical releases, and it would be nice to use the design control that LiveType gives you to do them.

Answer 1

Some other annoyances that come to mind:
You're annoyed? Think how we must feel.
This is my usual response to such inquiries as yours that clearly indicate a gap in your comprehension of subtitling and captioning. It's a very confusing field and producers know as little about this as clients. These sites may help get you up to speed and help you find a more efficient way of building subs without struggling with tools that are simply not designed for the job:
http://www.captionmax.com/faqTechProb.php
http://www.ccaption.com/nccwork.shtml
http://www.robson.org/capfaq/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Video-Subtitles-Or-Video-Captions?&id=1195664
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31486
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/26479
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/33168
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/23578
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31000
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/32086
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8026
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/subtitles_dvdspstone.html
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