Customer Reviews

CONTOUR DESIGN ShuttlePRO V.2

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Easy to set up, and intuitive to use, the Contour Design ShuttlePRO V.2 is a must have for video editors, digital music composers, or others who need to do a lot of shuttle and jog work. The driver software provides application-sensitive control that switches input functions depending on the program in use (Photoshop, Excel, etc.) as well as allowing global control settings. Reconfiguring the buttons and dials is both straightforward and simple to do: launch the configuration program, and click or move the control that you want to reassign; the ShuttlePRO configuration program automatically selects the right input, and you enter the keystroke and modifiers (shift, control, alt).

The hardware is generally well-designed, having a low profile that fits comfortably under an average sized hand. With a jog dial constructed of aluminum, the action feels smooth and certain. Several of the button-tops snap off and on easily for adding custom labels.

On the negative side, and the one reason I couldn't give the product 5 stars, is the construction of the housing. For a device needs to lie solidly on the desktop, my unit had a slight convex warp (about 1/16" over the length of the footprint). It may not sound like much, but this was enough to cause an annoying rockiness under my hand. The problem was easy enough to solve by peeling off the middle two rubber foot-pads and sticking them to the bottom of the front two pads (see my customer-submitted picture above).

Final verdict: A nice unit with software that performs well even if the hardware construction quality isn't perfect. I'd buy another if I needed one.

If you are a Photoshop "power user" and thinking about buying the Shuttle Pro, don't even think twice about it. This is an awesome addition to a graphics tablet. The two center wheels are worth the price of admission alone. Don't use their PS defaults, though. I set the inner wheel to adjust my brush size. Being able to do this on the fly is wonderful. Set the outer incremental ring to zoom in and out. Remember, in PS you should be viewing at 100% or even increments thereof. The built-in stops on the ring really facilitate this. I set the four bottom keys up as my modifier keys with the fourth one being space bar with hold down activated so I can move around in my zoomed photo. If you're a PS professional you'll find that this device really speeds up a digital workflow and will easily pay for itself in a short amount of time.

The ShuttlePRO has made a great improvement in my productivity using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Although not specifically designed for this, the programmable buttons make it perfect for dispensing with most non-typing keyboard work while designing images and pages, allowing me to keep one hand on the mouse, and one on the ShuttlePRO. Since each button can be programmed individually for different applications or globally, it allows for excellent flexibility.

The ShuttlePRO comes preprogrammed for many video and sound editing programs, as well as Illustrator 10 and Photoshop 7, necessitating individual programming if you use Adobe's Creative Suite 3. I haven't been using it long, but I can already tell I'll be using it for a long time to come.

My reason for not giving it 5 stars was that, unlike my Wacom pen tablet, it doesn't automatically sense my open programs for programming the buttons. Otherwise, I enjoy it a lot, and I'm glad I bought it.

It may be unfair to dock the hardware for what is essentially a software problem, but...

On the mac, at least, this acts as a keyboard wedge (is this the term I'm looking for?), meaning it sends a keystroke, a combination of keystrokes (through a nifty macro writer) or a few mouse functions (scroll wheel, click). So if you can do it on the keyboard, you can do it on the ShuttlePro.

This works great for the buttons, but can be problematic in the shuttle and jog functionality. I was hoping for a driver that would treat the shuttle ring as a unique piece of hardware; instead I need to assign keystrokes to 15 shuttle positions (-7 to 0 to 7) and potentially 28 transitions (-7 to -6, -6 to -5, ... 6 to 7, 7 to 6, ... -6 to -7). To be fair, I'm not certain how or if the transitions are ever used, the documentation is super vague on this.

You then assign the frequency of keypresses per position - from "hold down" to "ten times a second" to "once every thirty seconds". (Or, if simulating a mouse scroll, assign the frequency AND the number of lines/pages you want to scroll.)

Problem is, the effect of sending these keystrokes can overwhelm the software and make it unresponsive - you release the shuttle wheel, the ring snaps crisply back to zero, and the video keeps zooming forward or backward, making accuracy (in some software, at least) impossible.

The laborious nature of tweaking the settings (14 or more tweaks to, say, see what happens if I change the frequency from "Hold down" to "As fast as possible"). Thankfully, these tweaks do take effect instantly, no restarting.

This is likely an unfair gripe for something like final cut pro, which has well implemented keyboard equivalents for shuttling (which the shuttlepro can utilize) and so doesn't suffer from this bogging down. But in my case, it made me still need the mouse... It would be a five star product darn it all!

If I figure a way around this, I'll definitely update my review and give it the deserved bump.

At first, I balked at the price of this thing ---- $100??? for an editing wheel???

However, through an Apple promotion, I managed to get one for a discounted price, and now I'm kicking myself for not purchasing one earlier

If you're a Final Cut Pro, Avid, or iMovie editor, then you're really gonna love this device! Its especially useful for cataloguing a footage ---- on mine, I have set the buttons to mark 'ins' and 'outs', as well as 'markers'

Most importantly, I have found this wheel to make my editing much more productive and time efficient, as so many controls are now at finger tips, instead of having to have my mouse be dragged over everywhere

For serious FCP/Avid editors, I really recommend this device! After using it, the price just can't be beat!

I haven't yet been able to tap into the full functionality of this baby, but I love it. I have been using it on Final Cut Pro Studio for the past few months. It feels sturdy, the buttons have a nice 'spring and pop' feel. The wheel is precise (and is my favorite feature).

Settings selected and stored for individual applications (a list of programs a page long) makes it very dynamic and versitile.

Super easy setup. It has basic default settings already assigned to button & wheel functions, so you can use it out of the box (after do a simple software install of the ShuttlePro).

This baby has greatly increased my productivity, and I've been getting a kick out of the mechanics of editing video. It's been a lot of fun. I use it with my left hand, while I still do a few things with my mouse.

It is more than worth the money- just get it.

I've owned one of these for years and recently bought another one (to use with a laptop). While the "shuttle" part of the unit is definitely useful, to me the best aspect of these is the ability to assign functionality to any of the 15 keys on the unit.

There's hardly a program out there that won't benefit from the assignment of hot keys. Often a program will have hotkeys that require you to use your right hand and thus you need to take your hand off the mouse (assuming you're right-handed -- reverse this for you lefties). With the Shuttle Pro you can move all hot keys so that your left hand can stay on the Pro and your right hand can stay on the mouse. This alone can make you so much more productive it's incredible.

I use it for animation (2D as well as 3D) and am able to create about 300% faster this way. It's also great for sound editing (it comes with a great keyset for Sony's Sound Forge) and, of course, video editing. Unless the program you are using requires a lot of typing (like Word) I can't think of anything that wouldn't benefit from the use of the Shuttle Pro.

(And as for the gentleman who got two "bad" units -- I can only say that mine are practically indestructable. I've banged around one of my units for over a decade now and aside from losing one keytop it still works perfectly -- and even *that* key works).

Great little tool for video editing and a suite of other programs. Works great under Vista 32, no trouble with installation. Configuration is very easy and flexible. I use it for Premiere pro. Lightroom so far and it can really be used for just about any program you choose. The build quality is good, the metal wheel feels solid and smooth. The shuffle ring has a good spring action. It really makes video editing more precise and just more fun! Over all highly recommended.

At first, I balked at the price of this thing ---- $100??? for an editing wheel???

However, through an Apple promotion, I managed to get one for a discounted price, and now I'm kicking myself for not purchasing one earlier

If you're a Final Cut Pro, Avid, or iMovie editor, then you're really gonna love this device! Its especially useful for cataloguing a footage ---- on mine, I have set the buttons to mark 'ins' and 'outs', as well as 'markers'

Most importantly, I have found this wheel to make my editing much more productive and time efficient, as so many controls are now at finger tips, instead of having to have my mouse be dragged over everywhere

and yes - it comes with software that allows one to customize all buttons, for any application on your computer

For serious FCP/Avid editors, I really recommend this device! After using it, the price just can't be beat!

I'm making one of my periodic forays into video editing and came across this device. I was dubious, thinking that operating this with my left-hand and the mouse with my right would challenge my manual dexterity skills. Wrong. Within a minute or less, everything felt comfortable and two-handed operation was a reality - and a wonder. This gadget really makes video editing a lot more efficient and fun. (As a hobbyist, I suppose I can see as fun what might be tedium for someone who does it day in and day out.)

The ShutlePRO V.2 is well made, surpassing my expectations. The unit is fairly light, but six well placed pads on the bottom keep the unit in one place. The unit has a very low profile and fits easily under the palm. The nine upper buttons are arranged in two rows and fall naturally under the fingertips. There are four additional buttons below the job and shuttle controls. Two of these fall nicely under the thumb, but my little finger isn't dexterous enough to deal with the other two. Maybe with some practice.

There are two other buttons, one on either side of the jog, usable with thumb and middle-finger.

In all there are 15 buttons, all of which can be programmed by the user. Talk about power! Presets are provided for many popular packages. Labels are provided for common functions and I presume, but have not confirmed, that the caps on the upper two rows of keys are removable. One small drawback: only one set of pre-printed labels is provided and no mention is made on the instruction sheet of how to get more, including blank ones for your own sets. Small item which I suspect a call or email to tech support will resolve.

The jog and shuttle wheels are marvelous. The jog wheel, in video editing gives you frame by frame control. It has three indentations for your fingertip. For my fingers, I would have preferred slightly deeper indentations, but that might make the jog wheel feel like a bowling ball for others. Anyone who done any video editing with pro equipment knows that a jog wheel is indispensable. The shuttle wheel is spring-loaded and has seven positions on either side of center. Depending on your video package, this will speed up your forward and reverse scrolling through your video material. The jog and shuttle controls are also programmable giving the daring (and perhaps mad) the opportunity to program up to 45 more functions.

Programming the keys with the included utility is simple and straightforward.

So far, I am definitely the kid with a new toy. Some of the tedious parts of video editing, such as single frame navigation using the keyboard are banished hopefully forever. I still have to decide what functions to assign to the buttons and which buttons to use.

The ShuttlePRO V.2 is not limited to video editing. It can be used with audio programs, Photoshop, even Outlook, Word and whatever else you have on your machine. It is a very powerful adjunct to your mouse. (I don't think it would replace a mouse or tablet.)

On the whole, I am very pleased with the purchase. I bought for use in video editing and don't know if I will ever use it for any other purpose. Doesn't matter to me since it does what I want and more within the confines of video editing. A very nice product.

Jerry