Film Editing Controls
A deep dive into the hardware and settings for more fun and efficient video editing.
This is probably longer and more technical than most posts, but I'm asked semi regularly: "What are those strange controllers that you're using?"
I use a combination of buttons and knobs to try and speed up my editing. It also helps feel more connected to the footage - and more fun to play with.
So without further ado…
Currently connected to my Mac are the Razer Tartarus v2, the TourBox Neo, a Logitech MX Master 3, a LoupeDeck Live, a Mode New SixtyFive and an IBM Model F (F77). The daily drivers are the MX3 and the Mode SixtyFive. The Tartarus and the MX3 are the video editing controls.
90% of the time I’m cutting my hands are on the MX3 and the Tartarus.
The Best Bit Of Advice I Have…
If you use any editing software with a QWERTY keyboard and want to make your life easier:
REMAP THE EDIT SOFTWARE SHORTCUTS TO THE STANDARD AVID LAYOUT
THEN TWEAK IT A LITTLE AS YOU CUT TO MATCH YOUR WORKING STYLE AND SOFTWARE
This will make your cutting much faster. That's 80% of the improvement you can get from all of this stuff.
In addition, once you have the muscle memory - everything will be much easier no matter what edit software you are switching between.
When FCP7 became popular way way back I ended up doing some features on FCP. For ages I used the stock key layout and it drove me nuts. It was designed to be mnemonic not ergonomic.
Tools you never use were right under your fingers on the keyboard taking up expensive real estate. Common things (like making an edit…) required multiple keystrokes or were hidden away completely. However, when I redefined the shortcut key layout to the Avid one FCP7 suddenly became much faster to work with.
So, look up an Avid keyboard shortcut layout and redefine your keyboard to that (don't pick the ones preloaded - weirdly they're never right). Premiere, FCP, Resolve, any software can benefit from this. It's a well designed shortcut layout for editing on a qwerty keyboard.
It only takes about 20 minutes (and a little learning). It will save you hours. And best of all: it's free.
Whoever designed the layout back in the 90s did a great job and it has barely changed in 30 years. Broadly, the layout has large movements/jumps/actions on your left hand and fine/trimming movements on your right.
The Avid layout prioritises speed of access to common functions. It doesn't aim for quantity of functions (some functions are duplicated), and isn't interested in making it easy to learn the keys quickly (almost nothing is mnemonically placed).
For example, there are two sets of mark in / mark out keys. One set for each hand so your fingers are always close to them (E and R as well as I and O).
THE SOFTWARE CONTEXT
Avid and Resolve
The software I mostly cut with is DaVinci Resolve and Avid Media Composer (on a Mac).
Historically, I would cut offline in Avid and then export and online in Resolve. Resolve, however is now a great cutting tool and getting better every few months. Avid is still as much of a pain to roundtrip to as it always was.
This means I'm cutting more and more in Resolve.
The marginal advantages of Avid's editing become less attractive when you could just do everything in Resolve to start with and avoid the fiddly timesuck of jumping between software.
Avid probably wins on a few UI elements and stability (the trim tool is still better, so is media management reliability), but it's at the margins on most projects.
Resolve can now do pretty much everything Avid can, and often better. Avid is £400 a year or so. Resolve is basically free.
THE HARDWARE CONTEXT
TARTARUS V2 & MX MASTER 3
The Tartarus and the MX Master are by far the most important parts of the hardware setup. Game boards like the Tartarus are a nice way of creating your own ultra fast ideal - while not interfering with the muscle memory on the standard Qwerty Avid keyboard layout.
There are other game boards, as well as things like the LoupeCT and TourBox. However the problem I've found is that they require larger movements, and some simply don't have enough buttons. Sometimes you have to move your hands, or you have to use both hands. You often have to look at them. With the Tartarus my left hand barely moves and my right hand works the mouse. I never have to look at either, both have minimal movement with more control, which makes me faster and more comfortable.
The Tartarus has an advantage over other gameboards with the thumb control and scroll wheel. The scroll wheel gives you the option to simulate a jog wheel. I use it for trimming. It's not as good as a true shuttle and jog wheel: it doesn't have quite the same flexibility (you can't infinite scroll). However, it is still very nice for trimming because it does provide that analog feel.
The Logitech MX Master 3, is an important part of this setup. The logic is that all edit functions are on my left hand and software interface and timeline functions work through the mouse. For instance, Timeline Zoom and Source/Record Timeline switch are on the mouse. I've used a load of mice and the MXMaster series is the nicest I've found in terms of ergonomic and extra buttons.
I did spend a couple of years editing with a MMORPG mouse with 20 something buttons (I had 9 macros set up under the thumb) and it was good but ultimately I found it was overcomplicating things. I could put all those features under my left hand fingers without much difficulty. There is a nice simplicity to have simpler interface functions on the right hand.
TOURBOX NEO & LOUPEDECK
The Neo and the LoupDeck are minor additions that might even slow me up - but are nice to use.
The TourBox is the last piece which is a nice addition because it provides the long sought after jog and shuttle control. Much like the mouse I have timeline manipulation set up on that so my right hand switches between mouse and TourBox depending on the kind of editing I'm doing. It's not ideal, but it's pretty good.
HARDWARE SUPPORT AND DRIVERS
A long time ago now Razer dropped support for MacOS which was annoying in some ways, but the Razer software was always terrible so in most ways it was a relief. Other software filled the gap and I have switched to a combination of SteerMouse and Karabiner Elements. Karabiner does almost everything though.
One item I came across when I purchased the LoupeDeck is Keyboard Maestro. It's a fantastic bit of software that allows you to lots of workflow improving things across the whole system. Anything that has a menu item in any bit of software can be mapped to a button or a key and you can create very complicated macros.
PERSONALISATION NOTES
As I have said, you will still want to tweak things from the base setup. Not everyone cuts the same way and some tools are more important in some software than in others.
For example, in Avid there is no real need for a pointer hotkey, your cursor is active most of the time, with Premiere and FCP a pointer hot key is essential; in Avid not so much. However from those days on FCP I like selecting clips that way. You can do that on Avid by holding Option - so I have that hot key under my index finger on the Tartarus.
The only thing about personalisation is that you should not to stray too far. I did for a while and it became too confusing when switching to another computer in another edit suite (or someones laptop).
You don't want to have to spend 15 minutes reconfiguring settings every time. I can tell you from experience, it's embarrassing when you're on a job.
HOW DID I FIND THESE PRODUCTS?
What is better than doing work? Obsessively trying to improve the tools that you use to do that work.
I've bought and tested a lot of products with a lot of different tools. Sometimes I use the new setup for years, usually the novelty wears off quickly.
The IBM keyboard and the Mode SixtyFive are luxury items that make life on a keyboard more pleasant, but they’re not necessary - and a different rabbit hole all together.
THE FULL KEYMAP DETAILS
Below are the keymap for that I use for Avid. I prioritise precise control of frame trimming and for speed, my frequently used commands.
What fits my hand and way of working may not fit yours. Take what you like and throw away the rest. I have always found useful ideas in the ways other people use tools.
This layout will have a similar feel on Premiere without much adaptation. You will need to look up a few of the equivalent tools in and tweak slightly for the way you like to edit. FCP is a little more complicated due to the different timeline interface but it’s still very useful. Weirdly, I actually find FCP more reliant on hotkeys than it used to be because they try to hide too much of the inescapable complexity of a professional tool set.
Razer Tartarus V2
Basic OS Bindings
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
[Tab] [q] [w] [e] [r]
[CapLk] [a] [s] [d] [f]
[Shift] [z] [x] [c]
[Thumb] - Option
[Scroll Up] - Mouse Scroll Up
[Scroll Down] - Mouse Scroll Down
[Up] [Down] [Left] [Right] are [Up] [Down] [Left] [Right].
The above inputs are what the OS sees when you plug in the Tartarus into MacOS without software. Use those as the Karabiner inputs. The main issue is that, Karabiner does not recognise the scroll wheel inputs. This is why I use SteerMouse in addition to Karabiner. Unfortunately they can clash so make sure SteerMouse ignores all the inputs except for the mouse wheel. In addition, there is an intermittent bug that causes windows to become sticky. Just turn SteerMouse on and off and everything is fine.
Avid Keybindings
[`] [n] [p] []] [LOpt]
[\] [y] [u] [v] [b]
[f4] [f8] [t] [e] [r]
[Es] [Opt+Z} [z] [x]
Thumb - [Shift]
Scroll Up - [.]
Scroll Down - [,]
[Up] - Option-Command
[Down] - Command
[Left] - Option Shift-J
[Right] - Option Shift-L
[Space] - Space
This translates, using the below Avid keymap to the following commands.
[Undo] [ClearFX] [LHS Trim] [RHS Trim] [LOption]
[QTrns] [Add Cut] [TrimMde] [Insert Mde] [Overwrite Mde]
[MatchFrme] [LinkSelTgl] [Clip In/Out] [In] [Out]
[S/R Switch] [Copy+Lift] [Lift] [Extract]
Thumb - [Shift]
Scroll Up - [Trim +]
Scroll Down - [Trim -]
[Up] - Option-Command
[Down] - Command
[Left] - Dynamic Play Reverse
[Right] - Dynamic Play Forward
[Space] - Play
With Shift:
[Redo] [EffectsE] [PrevEdit] [NextEdit] [LOption]
[Keyframe] [Add Cut] [ExtendEdit] [Insert] [Overwrite]
[RevMtchF] [FXMode] [Clear Clip] [Clear In] [Clear Out]
[AudioScrb] [Copy] [Tail] [Top]
MatchFrme= Matchframe
S/R = Source / Record
EffecctsE = Effects Editor
LinkSelTgl= Link Selection Toggle
QTrns= Quick Transition
TourBox
The TourBox layout is going to be even more personal, and I make minor tweaks depending on project.
However, I don’t change the Knob, Dial and Scroll wheels. The key is to keep Timeline movement for the right hand.
[Knob] - Dynamic Play - Alt+Shift+J / Alt+Shift+L
[Scroll] - Zoom In/Out - - / =
[Scroll Press] - Trim Mode - u
[Dial] - Jog Wheel - 3 / 4
[Side] - Play - Space
[Top] - Trim - U
[Tall] - Shift - Shift
[Short] - Switch Srce/Recrd - Esc
[Tour] - AudioScrubbing - Shift+f7
[Up] - Undo - Command+z
[Down] - Purple Marker - F1
[Left] - Green Marker - Shift+F2
[Right] - Red Marker - F2
[C1] - Goto Last Edit - Shift+A
[C2] - Goto Next Edit - Shift+S
[Knob]+[Tall] - Dynamic Shuttle - Alt+[J]/Alt+[L]
[Knob]+[Top] - Trim Side L/R - [p] / []]
[Dial]+[Tall] - Trim -/+ - Shift[,]/Shift [.]
MX Master 3
Middle Button - Toggle Source Record in Timeline
Top Button - Show Whole Timeline
Forward /w.Shift - Zoom In / Zoom Tool
Backward /w.Shift - Zoom Out / Zoom To Whole Timeline
Thumb Scroll Wheel - Generic: Horizontal Scroll
Gesture - Generic: MacOS Mission Control
Edit Software Keymap
You do of course need to go into Avid (or whichever editing program you are using) and make sure the keymap is as below. This is only a minor modification of the standard layout so it won’t take long to update.
You may have to look up some of the icons if you’re not familiar with Avid.
Additionally: `/~ is Undo/Redo and -/= are zoom in and zoom out / zoom tool, show whole timeline. These are remapped in Avid from menus not the Command Palette.
The first image is without a modifier, the second is with Shift held down.
If you want to continue the search for your perfect edit controller and other gadgets then Jonny Elwin has a great overview here.