Elgato Stream Deck XL - Advanced Studio Controller, 32 Macro Keys, Trigger Actions in Apps and Software Like OBS, Twitch, ​YouTube and More, Works with Mac and PC, Black

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He actually used an iPad app called Quadro (that is now dead), to create a custom control surface for After Effects, including using macros. When I’m making selects from an interview I usuallyadd text titles above each portion of a clip with some key words about the content underneath, and add those key words in the name of the Text title and in the text title itself, as on-screen text.

Best Elgato Stream Deck Alternatives | Digital Trends The Best Elgato Stream Deck Alternatives | Digital Trends

To be a clear a macro (in it’s simplest form) is a string of keyboard shortcuts that fire one after another. So for example my Pancake Timeline Macro is four keyboard shortcuts combined into one button press. Just to say you can copy and paste your custom keys inside the Elgato app if you want to save time replicating keys. Also once my hands are on the keyboard, I don’t really want to move them to another device unless doing so saves me time in total. With all the shortcuts I’ve memorised I’m very fast at editing, so moving to press a different button, turn a dial or adjust a slider needs to be a net positive! I’ve reviewed quite a few controllers, interfaces and devices in my time running this blog. Personal favourites include the Logitech G-13, the Tangent Element Kb, the Razer Naga Chroma and the Palette Gear Expert.Customising a button is as simple as dragging an action from the righthand side to a button placement and then configuring it’s settings in the lower portion of the screen. One great idea I’ve borrowed from the Mixing Light colorists (see below) is to take a screenshot of the part of the user interface that’s being used to create the button icon, for some strong visual cues. This really helps you to marry up what you’re pressing with the end result within the app.

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The middle key also has a little bump on it so you can navigate your way around the interface by touch if you need to. The only niggle with this is that the notch refracts the image underneath a little bit, depending on your viewing angle. To use these profiles on your own machine you may well need to update some of the keyboard shortcuts per app, that the key’s fire to whatever you’ve set them to in your own app. For example in my Premiere profile I’ve set ‘Close Gap’ to CTRL+CMD+G. Elgato updates the software with new features on a regular basis. Version 3.0 (the latest at the time of writing in 3.3), saw a re-vamp to the UI and some really useful improvements to customising the keys, and fun stuff like Gif support. My aim with my the profiles was (as much as possible) todo things that I can’t do with a straight keyboard shortcut – or things I’ve not been doing with a keyboard shortcut. The goal is to use maximise time-saving functions that are otherwise cumbersome to perform. The LCD display keys mean that each button tells you what it does and can update with both a change of context and button state (their are toggle switches that tell you if something is on or off). It’s also very easy and intuitive to set up and customise.There are folders for navigating and selecting curves (plus master reset), folder for keying, folder for windows (including inverting each window and a master reset), a folder for adding and navigating keyframes, a key to toggle scopes, C/A mode, handles, loop toggle, grab still, previous still, next still, and a folder for splits screens/wipes.

Using an Elgato Stream Deck for Video Editing and Colour Using an Elgato Stream Deck for Video Editing and Colour

It also comes with a larger magnetic, non-slip stand, which improves on the plastic and somewhat slippy stands on the previous models. Absolutely fantatic writeup, thanks for sharing that profile and summary – will come in use for us and some colleagues alike – we recently made a basic profile for adobe audition if anyone is interested – the more profiles we can all share the better and swifter our editing workflows can be 🙂 But if I were to build a new controller designed for film editing from scratch it would need to take the following things into consideration, and it would have to be beat the default process of using a keyboard and mouse/tablet. The Text Title button is also a bit experimental at the minute. The purpose of it is to speed up my logging process. Other than that it’s pretty much the same, but if 15 buttons meant you were creating a lot of layer sets, then this could be the answer.So when working with the multitude of sliders in the Lumetri Control panel it’s really fast and efficient way of working and earns that small but precious desk space because it makes colour grading faster and more enjoyable. All that’s said, it’s basically incredibly easy to set up and comes in a nice, compact form factor. Essentially all you need to do is set up one key as the ‘Next Profile’ button to cycle through your layer sets, I’ve set mine to always be in the top left corner.

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These are all excellent in certain circumstances and with specific workflows, which, by the way, are as varied as the editors who create them. I have multiple folders for specific things. For example, I have a speed folder that has dedicated buttons for Automatic Speed, Custom Speed, Freeze Frame, Normal Speed, Frame Blending, Optical Flow, and reset. This short video will demonstrate how to add alpha layers to your images in photoshop, and in this case create your own custom animated RGB gifs. Over time they’ve (hopefully!) memorised numerous keyboard shortcuts that speed up their work in different software applications and different parts of the same software. This combination of a huge range of keys (and modifiers) and the person’s memory is tough to beat for speed and efficiency. The manual says that you shouldn’t connect it via a USB hub, but it worked just fine for me through my USB-C hub for my MacBook Pro.

But the benefit of using a controller that does fulfil these criteria is that you don’t need to memorise a whole bunch of shortcuts, as the buttons will tell you what they will do, and they will update as you work in different software. You can also set up macros that will perform repetitive tasks in a fraction of the time that doing so manually would require. The top left key is always ‘Next Profile’ in my custom key set ups and I’ve left a little Easter Egg in each of the film profiles too.