Tip - Using a keyboard along with your mouse or trackball
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 1:26 pm
I don't know if everyone knows this or not, but I thought I'd post it anyway. When I'm trying to get an exact time duration for an effect using the mouse or trackball, a lot of times I end up overshooting the number I want until I get lucky and it lands on the number. I've found that when I use my trackball or mouse to open a slider and I've gotten near the value I want, I can keep the left mouse or trackball key pressed and then use the left or right arrow on the keyboard click by click to get exactly what I want and then release the button on the mouse or trackball. Some sliders allow me to keep the keyboard's arrow pressed in one direction or another and the numbers (and slider) keep progressing until I stop pressing the arrow key. These are the arrows that are usually located between the main part of the keyboard and the numeric keypad on the right. (This post refers to a physical keyboard, not the on-screen virtual keyboard.)
I realize that there are differences between the operating systems that may affect how the keyboard works along with mouse or trackball. You will need to test a bit to see where you have to click on a slider gadget to allow the keyboard to work. With some sliders you have to keep the left mouse or trackball button pressed, with other sliders you only need to left click once to activate the slider and the arrow keys will stay active on their own.
I have two Bogart machines; one with B4W 8, the other with B4W 11 – and they both work a keyboard as I've described. It seems to work with Trim, Split, time duration like the one in Transitions, etc. but as they say, YMMV (Your mileage may vary). I also realize that there are arrow buttons on the sliders that you can click to achieve the same result, however I find that fine tuning using the keyboard can be less fatiguing in a longer editing session. Try it out on a TEST project. You can also use the vertical arrows on the keyboard instead of the mouse scroll wheel or trackball to scroll through a vertical list of effects.
Hope everyone is enjoying President's Day!
I realize that there are differences between the operating systems that may affect how the keyboard works along with mouse or trackball. You will need to test a bit to see where you have to click on a slider gadget to allow the keyboard to work. With some sliders you have to keep the left mouse or trackball button pressed, with other sliders you only need to left click once to activate the slider and the arrow keys will stay active on their own.
I have two Bogart machines; one with B4W 8, the other with B4W 11 – and they both work a keyboard as I've described. It seems to work with Trim, Split, time duration like the one in Transitions, etc. but as they say, YMMV (Your mileage may vary). I also realize that there are arrow buttons on the sliders that you can click to achieve the same result, however I find that fine tuning using the keyboard can be less fatiguing in a longer editing session. Try it out on a TEST project. You can also use the vertical arrows on the keyboard instead of the mouse scroll wheel or trackball to scroll through a vertical list of effects.
Hope everyone is enjoying President's Day!
