Apple Shuttle Xpress 5-Button Multimedia Control

Great controller, I think it could have a couple more buttons, but this is the xpress version so it keeps things simple and streamlined. The buttons are few, but they are big and really easy to find, there is one for each finger. The other thing I miss is a clickable center dial. But anyway is a great controller and a very good price compared to things like tourbox or blackmagic official tools.

This is the gadget you need if you wanna add a programmable wheel, +-7 step shuttle, and 5 buttons to your input layout. Particularly well-suited to video editing, but also handy in most other programs as well. The app for programming it is nice and works well enough, though you can spend a few hours customizing it to all your favorite applications. It uses different settings depending on which window has the focus, so you can customize it to do different things in different software. It comes with a bunch of presets for various software (mostly video editors), but you’ll likely end up making your own presets.

I see no bugs at all with it, running W7x64. It just works.

Mechanically, it seems pretty well-made, and the right size at about 4.3 inches across. The knob in the middle rolls around with a finger dimple that’s a bit too shallow, and on my copy, the #5 button doesn’t make contact when it clicks unless you press just a bit harder. It’s otherwise perfect and does what I bought it for, which is moving through video frames and setting markers for editing. It has 5 tacky-rubber feet and is heavy enough to stay still as you use it.

Don’t make it compete with your mouse for space — put it on the left, use it there, and get used to it. You’ll be glad you did.

“Will it work with my software?” Well, what it does is, it sends keyboard and mouse commands. If, for example, you can move frame by frame in your software with arrow keys, then yes, it will work. And if it doesn’t have a preset for your software, it’s easy to make one. It took me a little while to set it up for Cyberlink PowerDirector 10 Ultra, and if you have PD set to arrow-move by frames, the Shuttle will move it by frames. If you set PD to arrow-move by seconds, then the Shuttle moves it by seconds, etc. Anything you can control with keyboard keys or mouse buttons, you can control with the Shuttle. You can set the jog knob to send repeated commands left and right, and you can set the shuttle knob to send keys, 7 positions left and right. Then you can send keys (or mouse buttons) with each of the 5 buttons. What you can’t do is add functionality to software that doesn’t already have said functionality as keyboard commands — although you can add custom macros by using AutoHotKey and then assign AHK macros to some key combination, then assign that to some action on the Shuttle. Beyond that, well, you’re gonna need to install a digital jack in your head!

Is it perfect? Well, it can actually send keyboard signals faster than your computer, or software, can eat them, and thus may present undesirable behavior. Your software doesn’t expect you to send 60 left-arrows per second, which the Shuttle can do, so just don’t get upset if you program it to out-run your software. Keep your repeat rates reasonable (like 30 or less) and it’ll work fine.

The only minor negative I’d give it is that it’s just a little too expensive at $45 — $25 would be more in line with what it is, as there’s really nothing in it more complex than a wired wheel-mouse. But if you need this type of control, it’s the thing to get. I’d recommend it for anyone doing video editing, as it save you a bunch of time, and the more you use it, the better you’ll like it.

–kv5r

I am running this on Windows Pro 64-bit and using simple editors (Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Premier Elements 9.0). This device has to be configured for a particular program and neither of the programs I am using is on the standard list. It takes a bit of time to configure it as you have to go through all 15 shuttle positions and assign a keystroke and repeate rate as well as for the middle wheel. The buttons are optional.

This was find for Windows Movie Maker. Use “J” for go backwards and “L” for go forward and set the repeat rate to 1,2,5,10 15,25,60 or something similar. Likely a limitation in the program or hardware, the fastest speed is only a little faster than normal speed. I was hoping to be able to speed through video quickly and then slow down when I got close to something interesting, but that isn’t possible. It is still very useful for finding the exact spot for a split, just not as useful as I hoped.

For the Adobe Premier Elements, I was unable to set this up. There is a software shuttle tool in the program but I could not find the keyboard equivalent, so I could not get the ShuttleXPress to work.