Wireless Keyboard Review

Beth Zarkosh

Author: Beth Zarkosh

Published 25th April 2016

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 112 - April 2016

Knowing all of the shortcuts can really help you become much more productive and saves you from getting a sore hand from all of those additional mouse clicks you\'d have otherwise needed to make. (Thank us later!)

You may know a few of the shortcuts already, however this handy list shows off just a small selection of the 200+ shortcuts that can be normally found on an Adobe Premiere shortcut keyboard.

If you\'ve looked at those short-cuts to the left and thought of ripping the page out and sticking it above your workstation then you\'ll be forgiven and I am sure you won\'t be alone, it\'s probably how most editors start out, especially those of us that are not full time editors and have to juggle edit time with production and running a business.

An alternative to destroying the magazine it may be time to look at an editors keyboard and see how it can make a real difference to the speed and efficiency in which you edit. In the same way as learning the piano there are key overlays for most laptops and keyboards but if you swap laptop then you need a new overlay or your keyboard maybe slightly different to the standard spec with it not quite fitting and slipping about.

We tried one out the slimline Adobe Premiere Pro CC Wireless Keyboard from Editors Keys which allowed us to continue using the normal keyboard (USB or laptop) at the same time which is useful if your edit machine is also your office work horse. It\'s important to say at this point that the editing keyboard will work as a normal keyboard, not just editing, but depending on your typing skills you may find that using it for day to day emails, spread sheets and documents takes a bit of getting used to initially.

When office based I work with a Macbook Pro on a second screen using a USB keyboard, a tracker pad and now the additional wireless editing keyboard-as pictured. We\'re not editing full time at KitPlus but when we do we are using Premiere Pro for extended hours at a time so post BVE with over 50 interviews and shows to edit it was a thought a good baptism of fire to explore the plethora of shortcuts!

The thing I have noticed about using any edit package, and it\'s probably true of most software (and washing machines) is that I only use about 30% of the functionality either because that\'s all I need to do that job or that is all we have had time to learn to do the job. Once the edit is done I move on until the next job when the cycle is repeated.

The wireless Keyboard from Editors Keys is shipped for both PC or Mac. If you\'re like me and rip open boxes and plug and play without reading anything then this is where you may come unstuck-as I did! For a PC then go ahead and plug the USB dongle in to your machine, insert two AA batteries in the keyboard and off you go. If you\'re on a Mac then you need to visit the Editors Keys website, download the Mac driver and install, if you don\'t then you will become one of those annoying customers needing support when you haven\'t read the instructions-sorry. The plus side of all this is that you could share the keyboard with colleagues on either operating system, just so we\'re clear now though, I won\'t be sharing.

As a self taught Premiere Pro user I have spend a lot of time exploring menus using my tracker pad (my preference to a mouse) to find the option I need, there are a few regular short cuts I use of course but more often than not I take the long route which takes time and can be frustrating. There are three things that sprung to me on first using the keyboard, firstly how many options there are, how professional it looks

(I didn\'t want to look like an amateur in front of a client) and thirdly why I hadn\'t used one before!

At first it was actually slower to edit as I was locating the right keys, the colour coding helps but my left hand was initially being drawn to my tracker pad by habit. Kicking this habit was taking time and I ended up hiding it in a drawer! Like all things it is faster to do it the old way in the short term, as soon as you look to change then you slow down and find yourself looking down all the time instead of at the screen. Fast forward about twenty 3 minute interviews later and I now have quick access to the effects panel, media browser and discovering that I can jump 5 frames at a time with shift > arrow, all without going via 3 menus to get to them!

I\'m sure for those pro\'s out there the keyboard is a valuable tool (Editors Keys reports over 30,000 users) but for anyone just touching the surface of Premiere Pro or other package (there are lots of versions available from Editors Keys) I would recommend trying it out. If for nothing else but to see first hand all the options at your finger tips and once you break away from your mouse or tracker pad you will edit faster, leaving the client sat next to you mystified how you can do what you do so fast!

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