Customer Reviews

Contour Designs ShuttleXpress

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this little gadget thinking "Its cheap enough I won't care if it doesn't work good." Now, I can't imagine using iMovie or Final Cut Express without it. The jog and shuttle controls make it very easy and quick to zip through video clips or to fine tune the position, frame by frame. The keys across the top are all programmable to issue the keys you want. You don't have to take the stock pre-programmed keys that come as defaults.

If you tinker with editing videos the ShuttleXpress is a no-brainer.

This is an excellent bit of kit. I use it for editing in Mackie Tracktion. The included software was simple to set up. There are some really great function options for the dial and the wheel. The shuttle wheel has seven turning gradations for each direction. You can also set the stationary function as well. The five programable buttons are really useful as well. All around high quality feel and sturdy construction. At this price (~38.00 USD) if you think you need it, you should get it.

I own a ProTools Digi002 system and was thinking about upgrading to the newly released Digi003 for the sole reason that they added a much needed jog wheel to that console. After ALMOST making the leap, I discovered the ShuttleXpress. What a lifesaver! I'm here to tell all of those ProTools Digi002 owners that in about 5 minutes or less, you can hook this device up to your computer, install the software, go to the control panel and select ProTools, and, just like that, you're ready to go! I literally saved $2000 on an upgraded ProTools console with the purchase of this $40 wheel! What an incredible tool. And, believe me, it works perfectly. Thank you Contour Designs. It's nice to see a company that designs affordable, useful solutions that actually work as advertised. A rare treat nowadays. If any device ever deserved a 5-star rating, this is it!

I purchased this to review video of animal behavior trials in which time-lapsed video had to be stepped through frame-by-frame and the viewer had to record the behavior of the subject in excel. This device is simply a different interface than using the keyboard. We used powerdvd and windows media player to review the video and just had to program the buttons of the shuttle express to act as the keyboard keys corresponding to their functions in each of the programs. The jog shuttle in the middle is much more comfortable to scroll frame-by-frame than repeatedly hitting the step forward key on a keyboard repeatedly for hours, causing arm pain. The outside ring of the jog shuttle could be programmed to fast forward. It is pretty easy to program, but don't toss it at your grandmother and say "here you go." There are pre-programmed functions for each button for popular programs like excel. I even programmed one button to hit ALT+Tab once so that I could rapidly switch between the video review software and excel. When the focus shifted to excel, the scroll functioned as the normal scroll wheel. You can program different button functions for different programs or make them universal. You can even specify how you want the buttons to act when you hold them down. For example, I set one to repeatedly enter the "F" key as long as I am holding it down. This is a wonderful device that could help to make repetitive computer tasks much easier. My only criticism is that the software does not allow for a sequence of keyboard inputs to be sent to the computer when pressing the button only once. For example, you can't set it to input "down arrow, left arrow, left arrow" by simply pressing one button once. Manufacturer seems to have two completely different websites and neither had this item listed.

This is a very handy product for video editing. Definitely saves time and keystrokes. Wonderful for repetitive tasks. I'm using Adobe Video Collection (Premiere PRO, After Effects, etc.), Window's XP Pro and a Dell workstation.

Pros:

- Easy to install, configure and use

- Totally customizable

- Small size easily tucks into the back of my keyboard tray when not in use

- Nothing in the market comes close in design or price

Cons:

Was not pre-configured for Adobe Premiere PRO (but was easy to configure manually and it does have preset configs for the other versions of Premiere)

A great little gadget that will live next to my computer for a long time, the price is just right, and once you learn how to program the wheel you will probably wonder how you lived without one of these. Having said that I understand that this might not be a controller for everyone, but if you scroll and scroll and scroll all day long, and use the same 4-5 commands on various programs buy it and invest some time learning to use it you won't regret it.

I just purchased this for my own HDTV editing, it's great and it is compatible with my Windows 7 X64 ( 64 bits) system. I am so glad that it supports most of applications in my multimedia ( audio and video ) editing field. Just like time returns to 1993, I was using SONY RM440 , tuning the log wheel ...

For what it is, this is an awesome product. If you edit a lot of video this makes your life infinitely easier.

The problem is that the setups that ship with the product are totally out of date and their webs site looks like it was developed by a 14 year old. Ultimately I got them to send me instructions on how to set it up to work with the latest version of iMovie. But getting this thing going took far far more time than it should have.

The build quality is excellent and it does what it is supposed to do very well. But be prepared to fuss with it for a while before you get it working properly.

The shuttle is extremely helpful in navigating and editing video in Premiere Elements. It installed easily and, with the latest software from Contour Design's website, it integrates seemlessly.

My only issue is that with the device plugged in, the screensaver will not activate on my Vista x64 PC. After searching the web, this seems to be an issue with Vista, XP, and Win 7 since the device or, more likely, the software prevent it from activating.

It's certainly not a deal breaker since the shuttle is well worth the price but it means that I have to either unplug it from the PC when it's not being used for extended periods or I have to manually put the PC in a low power mode.

Would definitely be 5 stars otherwise.

great product, however the pictures depict it as more of a dome rather that a flatish controller. besides that it feels good under the hand, response is good within the final cut studio, programming for new programs is a breeze. i highly recommend it to all video editors