What Hardware do you use for Scrubbing?

Just curious what type of hardware people here use for scrubbing once media's downloaded. Shuttle Pro v2? Magic Mouse? Other? I get fatigued using my mouse and would like something with a knob or wheel.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Tony

I'm liking scrubbing with the track pad. One finger moves the cursor between the viewer and the canvas, two fingers scrubs the playhead. Don't even have to click or even change the active window. The position of the cursor will activate the scrubbing, much like the cursor position in roll mode in the trim edit window.

I saw that Apple has applied for a patent for a track pad that searches most of the width of a laptop. That will really making scrubbing fun.

All the best,

Tom

Thanks Tom. As a matter or fact I just found a video on the Trackpad and looks like a great alternative. [forums.creativecow.net]

Did it take long getting used to? I haven't had a new laptop in years, so I don't even have a clue as far as most gestures and I only know a couple on my Touch. How is it on the wrists? Did you end up dumping your mouse completely?

Thanks for the input.

I use the Wacom tablet.



www.strypesinpost.com

I hardly ever use a mouse. One, two, or three finger strokes, tap to click. Double tap. Your fingers are more active than a mouse, you're not grasping anything, and your hand isn't tracking so far from mouse to keyboard, which is what I use most of the time.

All the best,

Tom

Great, thanks guys. I'll probably head over to the Apple Store tomorrow and give one a try.

Strypes, I had a Wacom years ago, Graphite, and I never could get used to it, so I sold it. I'll take the Trackpad for a ride and see if it's for me before I try a Wacom again.

Tony

interesting that you prefer the trackpad to a mouse, Tom,
and yes bigger would be better, i suspect.

at the moment i'm still a keyboard and mouse guy.

along with the usual keyboard techniques, i've got a couple of lesser known ones
i know this question is about hardware, but i'll mention them anyway.


the usual suspects:

ARROW KEYS
i use the arrow keys a LOT for navigation.

up/down is next edit and/or in/out point.
to jump edit to edit on a specific track, select an edit on that track, then use the up/down arrows.

left/right arrows to jump one FRAME at a time
SHIFT + left/right arrows to jump one SECOND at a time. (i use this a LOT)



less common:

HAND TOOL
to slide the timeline view, which i saw being one in the trackpad demo,
i use the HAND tool.

i use this a lot, too, but rather than reaching all the way over to H (in the middle of the keyboard),
i use Z+Command with my left hand

Z invokes the Zoom Tool, Command changed it to the Hand Tool.
(be careful you dont hit and hold Command+Z!)


JKL = 456
obviously there is JKL, but i have a twist on that.

i found my wrist starting to hurt when using JKL.
those key are in the middle of the keyboard, and i have to twist my hand to use them:
angle it inwards, to get to the centre of the KB, then straighten it out to place 3 fingers on JKL.
that puts a LOT of pressure on your wrist.


so i re-mapped JKL to 456 on the number pad.
MUCH less stress on my hand.

and amazingly it doesn't interfere with number entry.

for the most part, when you need to enter a number, you are already in a specific field.
in that case the number pad functions as per normal.
OR, more often,
you are entering a plus or minus before the number. as in "+50" to move a selection, or move the playhead.
when you type the plus or minus, the FCP is ready to read a number.
it's actually opening a small number field at the top of the timeline.

i also mapped 8 and 9 on the number pad to Mark In and Mark out.

so my right hand is in a much more comfortable position for most of the day.



cheers,
nick

Interesting approach, Nick. I've never done keyboard remapping, so I would probably know the answer to this, but if you remap (for example) JKL to 456, does it remove the mapping from JKL (making them do nothing) or do they still operate as expected if you happened to use them?

Scott

Nick's probably asleep so I'll answer as far as the technical question. The shortcuts will remain on both unless you drag the shortcuts off JKL in the customize keyboard window. Can't speak to whether he leaves them on both.

All the best,

Tom

Thanks, Tom. That's how I hoped it would work. Sweet dreams, Nick.

Scott

What everybody said, especially Nick and Tom. But I played with the Contour ShuttlePro a while back and it has a neat jog wheel as well as an FCP template for its programmable buttons. Some pro editors I've visited use it and things like it.

I use the keyboard. ;-)

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Play from Playhead to Out Mark with Shift-P !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Nothing beats my Wacom tablet. Scrubbing with the pen is precise and natural to me. The track pad? Blech. I hate that thing. I am still on a MBP with the stupid buttonbar though so that might have something to do with it.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

If you happen to live near an Apple store, stop by and see if they have Logic Studio loaded up on any desktop with a Magic Trackpad.

The implementation of multitouch, scrolling with intertia, dragging the sequence layers up and down, is all really nice in Logic.

Not so great in FCP, but I would think that the next major release of FC will incorporate what they have done in Logic.

For simple scrolling back and forth in the timeline, I use the scroll wheel on my Microsoft wireless mouse, pushed to the left or right (not every mouse scroll wheel does this). It gets me where I want to go in a long timeline real quick, but it's not for precision moves.

Scott

I had a Contour Shufflepro when FCP first came out and it was woefully laggy. Couldn't stand it. I'm sure they must be much improved now, but I'm a keyboard user too. jkl, arrow keys, and mouse to jump to playhead for me.

Nick Meyers Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> i also mapped 8 and 9 on the number pad to Mark In
> and Mark out.

sounds very specific... since you have " / " and " * " just above, very convenient to reach at the edge of the keyboard, for direct in & out.

oh, that's very cool, Francois!
i hadn't though of that.

i don't use go to in or out too much, and i just made do (struggled a bit, really) with shift i and shift o,
but your idea is better.
i'll give it a go on my next job. (whenever that is!)


Scott,
yes i leave JKL as transport controls.


as for hardware, i tried using the Shuttle Pro,
but just couldn't get used to the buttons,
AND the fact that it was a stretch for my hand:
i'd use it with my left hand, so it sat further away than my mouse.
kind of uncomfortable.



nick

I use the Belkin Nostromo N-52n speedpad.
It's a gaming device, that you can program to do whatever key combinations you want, including scripting like:

"Cut-Copy-New-Paste-Save As" with a single click.
I use it for live performance for VJ'ing, and music as well. Best thing is: LIFETIME WARRANTY.

I put that to the test as my previous one died, and Belkin sent me a new one within a week...the upgraded model, and a keychain to go with it.

I owned a ShuttlePro for years until it died, and no one there was willing to help me. I also found it annoying that the plastic button covers kept falling off of it, and even the jog wheel itself actually sits on the pad by gravity alone, meaning it falls off in your bag and being made of steel, scratches everything it comes in contact with.
No turning back with the N-52te....


Treatment

Good points re ShuttlePro. I urged them to try making it a trackball which could lock in one dimension when needed for shuttling. Complete mouse replacement.

Love Nick's 4-5-6 idea, with Francois' In-Out on the keypad... same issue, too far in on the keyboard. Still have to try that.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Play from Playhead to Out Mark with Shift-P !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

I use a Razer death adder and I have quicksilver installed. Both of these allow for macros. I think the wacom intuos let's you map short cuts as well, but I don't need so much macros so I haven't explored it.



www.strypesinpost.com