Contour ShuttlePro Controller
If you regularly edit video or audio on a Mac or PC, stop what you're doing right now. Well, finish reading this article first, but then get together $99 and buy the Contour ShuttlePro controller. This is one of those items you'll thank me for recommending. It takes what can sometimes be an awkward exercise -- dealing with video footage on a computer -- and turns it into a tactile and enjoyable experience. When it comes to the Contour ShuttlePro, all I can say is, where, oh where have you been all my life?
Open the ShuttlePro's box, and here's where the fun begins. It's a low-slung, beautifully designed device -- one of those objects that's so well-designed, it's apparent that someone must have made a clay model of at first, and actually put their hand on it to see how it felt before finalizing its blueprint. This is what is meant by the term "ergonomically designed." It fits your hand perfectly, whether your hand is big or small, or if you're right- or left-handed. It has little flat rubber feet on the bottom that keep it firmly anchored on your desktop, making the thing feels like it's heavier than it really is.
Plug it into a USB port on your Mac or PC (Mac OS X, too), pop in the installation CD, and in less than a minute, you're ready to go. Included are settings for Adobe Premiere (two different sets of settings), After Effects, Ulead Media Studio, Vegas Video, Final Cut Pro, Boris RED, Cubase, and even games like UnReal Tournament. And, the company is regularly releasing customized settings on its Web site, so if you're looking for a particular set of button assignments, it's probably available. But if you're one of those rugged individualists, this device will accommodate your every whim with its near-infinite customizability. Each of the 13 buttons and the inner and outer rings of the jog/shuttle wheel can be assigned to any function your keyboard can do.
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| Click for enlargement -- Here's the setup window for ShuttlePro, where lots of presets are included, or you can easily create your own for any PC or Mac application |
When you first get the device, you'll probably feel like taking off some of the keys and placing the included labels underneath. I started doing this, but then realized that it wasn't even necessary, because it was so easy to get used to where the buttons were and what they did. If you do want to take off the keys, it's easy to just slip a fingernail underneath and they pop off with just enough effort to get them off, but it's not so easy that they'll fly off at inopportune moments. After you've placed your label underneath, they pop right back on and all is back to the way it was before. The buttons have a good click-feel with just the right amount of travel, and the jog/shuttle wheel has exactly the right amount of tension. It reminded me of the jog and shuttle wheel with the finger-well in the middle on those old Sony 1-inch tape machines I used years ago. You can still tell you're dealing with digital information with the jogging, though -- where each incremental click of the wheel is equal to pressing the right- or left-arrow -- but it feels good and is highly tactile nonetheless.
I'm not usually so gung-ho and gushy about any product, but this time, I can safely say that I highly recommend this little device, without any reservations. It's one that's built to exceedingly high quality standards, will save you time and effort, and is downright fun to play with. I'm hooked. Unlike ShuttlePro's predecessors made by other manufacturers, jog/shuttle wheels and devices that did a good job but were too bulky, too expensive, or not customizable enough, this product is cheap enough to be an impulse item but not so flimsy and unprofessional-looking that you would be ashamed of it. It looks great, works perfectly, and I can't say enough nice things about it. Buy one, now!
Charlie White has been writing about new media and digital video since it was the laughingstock of the television industry. A technology journalist and columnist for the past eight years, White is also an Emmy-winning producer, video editor and shot-calling PBS TV director with 28 years broadcast experience. Talk back -- Send Chazz a note at cwhite@digitalmedianet.com.[an error occurred while processing this directive]
