rollerball mouse question

9hrs a day 5 days a week plus work on the weekends is taking a toll on my wrist, so i'm considering switching to a rollerball type mouse and i've come across this product > [schwarztech.us] > i wonder if any other editors here have had experience with it in FCP? for extended edit/mac time rollerball type mouses seem to be the way to go - any experience response or recommendation regards the above mouse or one similar would be greatfully received,

Sincerely,
Osbourne Cox

I can't speak to using a trackball with Final Cut specifically, but a good friend of mine is an audio engineer who considers ProTools to be his second home. He uses a trackball to the exclusion of a mouse, and wouldn't have it any other way.

He does this really cool thing that seems kind of like magic the first time you see it. He's replaced the stock ball that came with his device with one about the same weight as a billiard ball. Because of the extra mass, he's able to use the audio scrubber tool in ProTools to play back in basically real time, with great precision. He twirls the ball, slows down, scooches it back, and just generally plays his workstation like a music instrument. It's a sight to behold.

The device you linked only costs a hundred bucks. I vote buy one and give it a try. Worst case, you're out a hundred bucks.

> He's replaced the stock ball that came with his device with one about the same weight as a
> billiard ball.

Veeeery nice. Extra weight actually gives extra control. And extra control means less stress on the hand. (Ever tried moving the cursor 2mm on a bad mouse? Or one with the Tracking set too low?)

But mice are very, very subjective things. Some people swear by tablets, some people swear by trackballs, some people swear by the regular old mouse. To my hand, the most comfortable mouse is the default Apple mouse with no trimmings, though the lack of a scrollwheel and real buttons is a pain. I can't stand trackballs.

So the only way to find out if you like a device is to try it. Nobody can tell you what your hand likes. And get used to setting the mouse settings (Tracking, double-click etc.) to very fast. The extra response will alleviate strain on the hand. I've worked with editors who can't deal with fast mice, and their systems are a pain to navigate, plus they're half as fast as me at doing things because they spend too much time fighting a system set for non-professional computer users.


www.derekmok.com

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To my hand, the most comfortable mouse is the default Apple mouse with no trimmings

I agree wholeheartedly. I never got into using a tablet with Final Cut, even though it's the standard input device on Smoke and Flame. The difference is that those systems were designed with a pen in mind. Trying to use a tablet with Final Cut always left me with the feeling that I was trying to do something that wasn't really meant to be. But that's just my subjective experience.

My input device of choice is the good old Mighty Mouse (which I think has been rebranded the "Apple Mouse" for trademark reasons). The scroll ball is fantastic right up to the point where it fails for mechanical reasons ? gunk, basically. My policy when I had a full-time paying gig was just to place a standing order for half a dozen Mighty Mouses every six months. I treated them as disposable; use one, wear it out, grab another from the cabinet and keep going. Ridiculously wasteful, but I replaced all the lamp bulbs in our edit suites with CFLs, so get off my back.

I'd bought a Mighty Mouse when it had first come out. Hated it then, still hate it now. (I actually smashed mine after it started acting like it ate too much cheese and wouldn't move properly) Those "virtual" buttons were just frickin' awful. Apple just loves designing things to look cool rather than work well.

I had to use a Mighty Mouse on The Jacksons and was astonished to find that not only was it still awkward to use, but they had shortened the cable to less than a foot long, meaning I was dragging the keyboard any time I moved the mouse across the screen. Why, oh why?

Ever since Jude Cotter showed me how to scroll sideways with a regular up-down scroll wheel on any mouse, the Mighty Mouse scroll ball has been completely useless to me.


www.derekmok.com

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Apple just loves designing things to look cool rather than work well.

Come on, man. That's just silly. The closest you can get to expressing that sentiment while staying honest is, "Apple just loves designing things that may not work well for everybody all the time."

I love the Mighty Mouse. It's the best mouse I've personally ever used. That doesn't make me a weirdo, and I don't think you're wrong for having a different opinion. An input device is a highly personal thing. They're like shoes. There's no work or doesn't-work, just what feels right to you.

(Written by a guy with oddly shaped feet. Maybe I take shoes more seriously than the average person.)

> The closest you can get to expressing that sentiment while staying honest is, "Apple just loves
> designing things that may not work well for everybody all the time."

Well, of course, it was a sweeping generalization designed to make a point. But the UFO mouse? The "pancake-flat" iMac keyboard? The "cl*toris" Mighty Mouse scroll ball? The buttonless iPod with no proper volume wheel? (Even Apple had to admit that was dumb...that's why newer iPods have proper buttons) And don't get me started on iTunes interfaces, which get worse with every update! Or the kaleidoscopic iTunes file-management system.

If the iPod didn't try to be oh-so-modern, with that center wheel doing the job of a proper, old-fashioned walkman volume control, I guarantee we wouldn't have quite so many joggers running double-blind into moving traffic because they're staring at their iPod screens rather than the road.

Penalties of having a customer base that does get seduced by the sleek modernistic looks, which are cool. Wish they would reconcile the looks with more functionality, though.


www.derekmok.com

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The "pancake-flat" iMac keyboard?

Are you talking about this one? Dude, I love that keyboard! If we ever have the opportunity to work together I'll welcome it with great enthusiasm, but maybe it'd be best if we didn't share a suite.

As to the rest of your points, your criticisms are all totally valid. I do not seek to diminish them in any way. But the fact that you feel that way very strongly, and I happen to feel the opposite way very strongly on many of those points, serves as evidence that things like input devices are totally personal. I say once again that Osbourne should buy one and try it out, and if he likes it he shouldn't listen to anybody who tells him he's doing it wrong.

> Are you talking about this one? Dude, I love that keyboard!

Nope, not that one. I'm not a huge fan of that one, but I used it for a RED project last year and it worked okay for me.

I was talking about this one:

[www.ccworld.co.uk]


www.derekmok.com

Oh! Yeah, that keyboard sucked. Apple has only made two keyboards that I've ever liked: the Apple Extended Keyboard II, and the current laptop-ish one.

You know why I bought aluminum Logic keyboards for my suites at the old place? Purely for the look. When somebody comes in and sees an editing keyboard, it reinforces the idea that you're an editor working on an edit system, not a generic computer guy. Drop-by got-a-seconds from people in marketing who wanted me to change the type on this Illustrator file they got from the ad department dropped off sharply after I put those keyboards in.

(Self-important? Sure. But we all have our little affectations, I guess.)

thank you very much for your initial responses, following debate and banter - not sure that the word CLITORIS need be stared out though? small print aside the word h*nd, leg, neck or b*ck do not demand censorship so why should the clit? regardless i do apologise for drifting slightly OT and once again thank you for the time you took to reply my post,

Sincerly,
Osbourne Cox

derekmok Wrote:
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> Ever since Jude Cotter showed me how to scroll
> sideways with a regular up-down scroll wheel on
> any mouse, the Mighty Mouse scroll ball has been
> completely useless to me.

OK - I give up. Is this some piece of arcane knowledge that can only be shared by lafcpug mods ? If not could you or Jude enlighten us ?

Hit shift while scrolling, but Jude will provide a better reply than I.



www.strypesinpost.com

Brilliant ! Thanks heaps.