Jimco Software Reviews - ShuttlePRO V.2 (continued)
Operation
The ShuttlePRO V.2 works in conjunction with its Control Panel, shown in figure 4. The Control Panel allows you to easily reprogram any function of the ShuttlePRO V.2 for your favorite application. I have seen other reviewers comments that the configuration of the ShuttlePRO V.2 is quirky and difficult. I found the configuration to be straight-forward and had no difficulty at all.
Figure 4 - The ShuttlePRO V.2 Control Panel
The ShuttlePRO V.2 allows for different configurations on a per application basis. I appreciate that because my video editor of choice is Sony Vegas, and Vegas uses a different application for video capture and for video editing. The ShuttlePRO V.2 reprograms itself on the fly based upon which application has the focus. This is truly "set it and forget it" operation. Contour Design has included pre-defined configurations for many applications. Creating your own is quite easy as well and you can start from scratch or base your own off of one of the existing configurations.
The ShuttlePRO V.2 reprograms itself on the fly based upon which application has the focus. This is truly "set it and forget it" operation.
The ShuttlePRO V.2 is programmed to enter key combinations for you. It can enter the combination once, a specified number of times, or at regular intervals. For example, you can configure the shuttle wheel to enter Ctrl-F2 for you at 40 times per second if that's what you need. In addition to a single key operation, the ShuttlePRO V.2 also allows you to program macros. This comes in handy more often than you might think. For example, in my video capture application, you can move forward or backward one frame at a time using the arrow keys. However, for some reason, this doesn't work correctly unless you hit the Esc key after each frame. I was able to easily program that into the ShuttlePRO V.2 using the macro feature. Programming of macros is quite easy and you can get as complex as you'd like.
Once you've finished defining your configuration, the ShuttlePRO V.2 will allow you to print a full-screen template that shows what each button is for. This is a great feature because it's easy to lose track of what some of the unmarked buttons do in a specific application. After referring to the template a few times, I can easily remember the button functions without referring to it again.
I did encounter one problem with the version 2.6.4 driver. When the icon was displayed in my system tray, double-clicks on other icons in the system tray were often not recognized. I isolated this problem to the ShuttlePRO V.2 driver and resolved it by stopping those processes. I reported this problem to Contour Design and they have been diligently working with me to resolve it.
The operation of the ShuttlePRO V.2 while editing was superb. Not only does this device make editing more convenient (and more fun), but it also saves me a lot of time. In fact, I never used the scrub control in Vegas before because, let's face it, scrubbing is not meant to be handled with a mouse. It's just plain easier to click to a point in the timeline and then search for the spot you want.
I do a lot of my video editing on my laptop, but if my ShuttlePRO V.2 isn't with me, I won't even bother.
After connecting the ShuttlePRO V.2, I scrub all the time. The combination of scrubbing and jogging is how video editing is supposed to work. In my opinion, without the ShuttlePRO V.2 or a similar device, you're not going to get as much as you should out of your NLE. Gone are the frustrations of trying to hit small targets with my mouse or scrolling through long bits of video with arrow keys to find the right frames. It's quite hard to describe the pleasure you get from using the ShuttlePRO V.2, but I am confident that once you get one, the experience will be better (much better) than you imagined. In fact, I do a lot of my video editing on my laptop, but if my ShuttlePRO V.2 isn't with me, I won't even bother. I can no longer do video editing without it.