SA Hot Keys on Steroids: The Contour ShuttlePro v2
SA hot key combinations, such as Cmd-R for action or Cmd-B to erase, are a pain to find and type on the keyboard. Think how convenient it would be, if instead these were single keys--and always under your fingertips.
This is what the Contour ShuttlePro v2 device (http://ergo.contourdesign.com/US/product/shuttlepro-v2/) makes possible. It has 15 programmable keys for your choice of app keys or combinations, and the device can stay under your non-mouse hand for instant keypresses as needed. I’ve set up a Studio Artist template of major keys and combinations for it, as illustrated above, which you can modify as you please.
The device is larger than a mouse (8 x 4 inches), so I use mine sideways under the left hand, so that the main keyboard remains close. After just a couple of weeks of use, I can’t imagine how I got by without it!
And if you need other reasons to justify the expense, it comes with templates for all of the main Adobe (Photoshop, Lightroom etc), Apple, and MS plus video, graphic and web apps, over 100 in all, not to mention a whole slew of audio apps as well. Not to be missed.
My SA template can be loaded into the ShuttlePro driver (a free download from their site http://forum.contourdesign.com, that can be experimented with prior to purchase of the device) for testing or modification--enjoy!
Attached: My SA template plus the ShuttlePro User Guide
Replies
Florence,
I have both version 1 and 2 of the ShuttlePro, have had them since they came out many years ago.
I found them very useful with earlier versions of Final Cut Pro, but haven’t used them at all in SA, and have stopped using them completely in FCP quite a while ago.
I like its jog shuttle wheel the most, useful in FCP work, but as soon as the ShuttlePro key covers started to come loose, I lost interest.
Knowing a bit about your workflow, I don’t think this would help you much, the Wacom Intuos Expresskeys are probably more in line with what you need.
Florence and Jean, thank you both for your comments. Here’s how I see your related issues with the device.
First, for me the whole point of a device such as the ShuttlePro is to provide shortcuts that are immediately available under the fingers, so I don’t see much benefit over regular typing in having to reach out to keys on eg. the Wacom Cintiq or Intuos tablets.
And second, the speed-up benefits are only achieved through touch-typing skills, ie NOT having to look at labels on the keys, but having learned which keys to press for which functions. So for me, putting labels on the keys is a step in the wrong direction. Instead, any key setup for a program can be printed out with full descriptions of each key function, as in my initial diagram of the SA keys, which is a much quicker way of learning which key to press.
Also, this way, the device can instantly be converted for use with different programs such as Photoshop or Lightroom--it automatically switches its configuration to whichever one you are using. Putting labels on the keys would immediately block that flexibility?
John,
Working in real time is very different from working in a studio setup, and I do and have done both.
The keyboard shortcuts in SA are very convenient, I can control which favorite presets I use, and from which collection of favorite presets they come from, with simple key combinations. The same is true of the Wacom Expresskeys, I have them configured so I can instantly set image to canvas and much more in SA, so I can have my right hand holding the stylus, and the left hand easily switch from the keyboard to the Wacom Expresskeys even in dark rooms, which is what my live performances are almost always taking place in (see photo below, I normally use up to 4 Macs, 5 if I am recording to disk, a video mixer, and more).
I was and am not knocking down your praise of the ShuttlePro, I enjoyed using that years ago while editing, but I was telling Florence that I did not think it would help her much given what I know of her workflow.
Also, I was not talking about the "labels on the keys”, I was talking about the ShuttlePro keys themselves coming loose, on both model 1 and 2. I guess that’s what can happen with intensive use.
Jean,
Thanks for the clarifications, much appreciated. And your live
setup is something that most of us can only dream of!
Actually John, if I had more money, I probably could do with less gear (right now I am stuck in SD, would love to work in real-time in HD, but most of my gear can’t handle that and I cannot afford the upgrades).
Here’s another shot, taken from above, during the Montréal Off Jazz festival in 2011, am working in collaboration wit another filmmaker, Pierre Hébert (you see a bit of him in the lower left corner), in what we have called “Four hands in the same frame” (we’ve done that many times). His final output and mine are mixed via a video mixer and appear on the screen as one video. You can see here a short video from the show during which the photo below was taken.