Workflow for adding 300+ simple titles

Question

Hi,
I'm about to start a new project that involves adding about 300+ kids names to each 1 minute video segment of each child. When it's finished I'll deliver on 4 DVDs.
I'll occasionally need to move sections of kids between sequences so that each DVD is about equal in length. I want to make sure the title stays with the child.
I know how to do this in the simple case -- place my segments in the timeline, add a second video track. Then repeat x300:
In the viewer choose Generators->Text->Text.
Click "Controls"
Click in the "SAMPLE TEXT" area.
Type the kid's name over the words "Sample Text".
Click "Video"
Move the wireframe down so that it's in the lower third.
Click on the duration.
Change the duration to 3 seconds.
Apple-2 to bring up the canvas.
Apple-F10 to overwrite (Don't ask me why it's not plain F10 as the mouseover hint implies, I can't figure that out)
' ' to move to the next edit point.
My question is, is there a way to improve this workflow and make it more efficient? I intend to also name the segments with the child's name, so that I can find them easily if that parent requests an individualized cut. (Right now they all have names like "Segment 39 from Saturday Tape 02") Ideally I'd like to pull the "SAMPLE TEXT" text from the name of the segment, so that I only have to type each name once, while naming the segment.
Is there a way to save my text settings and bring them up quickly with keyboard shortcuts? I can't figure out how to get a keyboard shortcut to get to the "Controls" tab of the Viewer window.
Thank you,
--Beth

Answer 1

I asked our PowerPoint geek about this and he said:
If all you have is a hammer...
Thanks for trying though.
The solution posted eariler is much simpler, creating the list in word still requires the TAB keystrokes to get to the next entry, and it doesn't have the integration of "What am I looking at as I title this?"
The solution above is basically "Do some setup, then:
Type the kid's name.
Tab.
F10.
Cmd-1
Tab.
Type next kid's name, 5 keystrokes, type next kid's name, 5 keystrokes...
It's very easy. I've even re-mapped "bring up the viewer" (previously Cmd-1) to the semicolon to mimize multi-finger keystrokes.
Speaking of minimizing multi-finger keystrokes, I attempted to re-map "Edit Marker" in the browser (orignially some combo involving M) to a single keystroke, but nothing I tried worked. I tried the letter 'g' and 'y' and 'r' and a few others, but most seemd to jump me either ahead or back in the browser list. I found a workaround while searching for a solution, but I'm still wondering if anyone knows why this is?
For completeness, the reason I was doing this is that my original footage is captured as one complete chunk then markers added with DV start stop detect. I wanted to make sub-clips and have them have reasonable names, but there was no keyboard shortcut to do that (or so I thought) so I was editing the marker names using a re-mapped CMD-G, but I wanted it to no longer need the CMD in front.
When seeking a solution for that problem I learned that hitting the ENTER key on the numeric keypad will allow me to edit a subclip name directly, which is actually better for my purposes.
Thanks again for all the help!! (Even in forums where I didn't ask the question, only searched for answers)
--Beth
PS. People reading this far into the thread are probably efficiency nuts like me, so I thought I'd share that the reason I used CMD-G to edit the marker is that I name each one with the reel and segment number followed by the text name. For the reel and segment number I cut (CMD-C) the first one, then paste it as the default name in the field for each subsequent marker, changing only the last digit. i.e. "01-003 Firstname Lastname" I cut-and-paste the "01-00" portion. I'd hold down on CMD and hit 'gv' and type the digit and the name.