What are my options for providing Cheetah cap files?

[Quasar92]

I am a veteran captioner who recently "went freelance." I bought the "desktop" version of CaptionMaker, which I find very awkward to use relative to the proprietary software with which I'm familiar. But (that criticism aside) I still need to be able to provide all possible exports for various clients, so I'm on the verge of upgrading (for another 5 grand) to the "pro" version of CaptionMaker, which will let me import and export Cheetah cap files -- and also embed certain captions.

My question is: is there any cheaper (and possibly better) way for me to achieve my goal? I need to be able to import and export Cheetah caption files -- but I'm none too keen about spending 5 grand, especially since I'm not crazy about the program in the first place. But CaptionMaker (from Telestream) seems the only player out there, when it comes to import and exporting such file types (and when it comes to embedding captions, too). There's also Swift, which seems even more expensive, however, and does not featuring auto-timing (calculating caption display times based on surrounding caption "hard" times), which was a staple of all of my previous software.

To repeat and sum up my question: What's the best way for me to be able to offer and work with a full gamut of caption file types -- including Cheetah? Should I bite the bullet and invest another 5g in my existing software, or are there better options? A Cheetah employee said something on this forum (back in 2012) about modestly priced conversion software -- but Cheetah now appears to be completely out of business. At least their website is gone and there's no longer a phone listing for them in Boulder, Colorado.

[poisondeathray]

Lemony is the other option you might want to have a look at

[Quasar92]

Thanks!

At first glance, it looks like Lemony works exclusively with subtitles, but I've e-mailed them to ask about support for Cheetah cap files and other captioning formats.

[poisondeathray]

cheetah cap is listed as a supported format

http://www.mainconcept.com/products/applications/lemony.html#product_page-4

[Quasar92]

Very interesting. Thanks. I've e-mailed a Lemony contact for more details. It looks like it could meet my needs. I'll post back when I find out.

[Quasar92]

I reached a Stan at Main Concept, who passed me off to a Maria -- but that was two hours ago. I wouldn't be so impatient, except that I've got a potential job coming in tonight that might involve Cheetah cap files. It's been a mixed bag trying to research Lemony online. I get broken links to a company called Sonic, and I found a few dodgy-looking download sites. Nowhere are there any obvious (or even non-obvious) prices for the software. But the Main Concept website certainly "talks the talk" in terms of my requirements. (I'm not sure if Lemony will embed captions, but that's less a priority with me than being able to work with a wide range of files, including Cheetah caps.) I found a discussion thread that spoke of a $175 price -- which would probably make it worth at least trying in my case, since my current alternative is going for 5 grand.

[Cornucopia]

Lemony was owned by some small company back when, but then it was bought by Sonic (which owned Scenarist BD/DVD creation software). It was a natural match to their suite. Sonic was later bought out by Rovi (formerly Macrovision), and Rovi also bought MainConcept (kind of cornering the commercial encoding/authoring IP market). They later killed off Scenarist (which luckily is being resurrected by a small independent company that bought Rovi's Scenarist assets, in prep for 4k BD), and they made Mainconcept a semi-independent subsidiary. It looks like they're the ones who now have the Lemony IP.

Scott

[Quasar92]

Wow! And Shakespeare thought that the course of true love was circuitous! Thanks for the info.