Number Pad / Macro Pad / Stream Deck / Loupedeck

[E|FA]

@LarryO Let us know if you ever figure it out & get it running with VW.

[LarryO]

Unfortunately that doesn't look like it will happen. My employer refused to sell me their parked perpetual license. He would rather see me tied to the office to use the current version than working a day or two per week at home easing into retirement. I'm nearly sixty now and there is no way I could afford the cost of VW subscription(s) to toy part time with my limited programming skills creating things that couldn't come close to covering their costs. It'll be cheaper to build bird houses, read books, play Civ and dream about what could of been if I were rich enough to throw money at everything that stimulated my mind.

[Mark Aceto]

On 12/28/2022 at 7:26 PM, Mark Aceto said:

In the meantime, I'm waiting for my fancy custom cables and wrist rest to be delivered... I'll post pics when it gets a little further along.

 

The further I go down the custom keyboard rabbit hole, the more I want to return to an Apple Magic Keyboard, and replace the numpad / macropod with a Streamdeck XL. I'll be testing that setup next weekend...

 

I expect 5 years from now there will be better options for Mac users but right now, it's still very Windows-first, so I've run into all manner of compromises and caveats. In a nutshell, the only thing worse than Apple's keyboards are all the other options.

 

Anyway, below is the latest WIP (just started throwing random keys to fill in the blanks around the perimeter). BTW the OG Wired Cadmouse is back because I realized 3DC cut corners (literally) on the shape of the new one, causing my hand and wrist to cramp.

 

[zoomer]

13 hours ago, Mark Aceto said:

The further I go down the custom keyboard rabbit hole

 

 

I never came to the idea i could use an extra key pad on the left side ....

 

i bought these for Laptops or for Apples Magic wireless keyboard (w/o Num Pad)

in the past, but just put them to the right side.

Just as I was used from my (always) full size keyboards.

 

Will try this too.

Let's see if my left hand is sensitive enough for number input ....

 

 

Currently I use my old weared down Apple Aluminum USB keyboard,

especially because of it having Num keys.

That's why you see so many typos and missing types in my posts

🙂

 

If it works with Num Pad left I could reuse one of my Apples Magic wireless

keyboards again, which are in much better shape for typing reliability.

[Mark Aceto]

33 minutes ago, zoomer said:

 

 

I never came to the idea i could use an extra key pad on the left side ....

 

i bought these for Laptops or for Apples Magic wireless keyboard (w/o Num Pad)

in the past, but just put them to the right side.

Just as I was used from my (always) full size keyboards.

 

Will try this too.

Let's see if my left hand is sensitive enough for number input ....

 

 

Currently I use my old weared down Apple Aluminum USB keyboard,

especially because of it having Num keys.

That's why you see so many typos and missing types in my posts

🙂

 

If it works with Num Pad left I could reuse one of my Apples Magic wireless

keyboards again, which are in much better shape for typing reliability.

Numpad on the left is great for Standard Views. Programming it with QMK/VIA also gives users the ability to add keys / shortcuts they normally wouldn’t use (because their hand is on the mouse or some other awkward obstacle).

 

However, the slippery mushy Streamdecks can be programmed for so much more, and for multiple Apps, so we shall see… 

 

Also, the Trackpad / Touchpad on the left is great for gestures, zooming… to round out the full Minority Report experience.

[trevorgooch]

My Stream Deck XL arrived as I was leaving town for the last show, and I'm in the busy, all-too-brief in between time before the next show, filled with things I have neglected whilst on the road (bills, relationships, etc). 

 

I'm ashamed (and entertained) to share that it currently shows me the current CPU load in the top left button, and that's all.

 

Updates when I have a minuted to dive in!  @Mark Aceto, let me know if there is anything that you're curious to have play tested, and I may move that up the list...

 

 

[Mark Aceto]

22 minutes ago, trevorgooch said:

My Stream Deck XL arrived as I was leaving town for the last show, and I'm in the busy, all-too-brief in between time before the next show, filled with things I have neglected whilst on the road (bills, relationships, etc). 

 

I'm ashamed (and entertained) to share that it currently shows me the current CPU load in the top left button, and that's all.

 

Updates when I have a minuted to dive in!  @Mark Aceto, let me know if there is anything that you're curious to have play tested, and I may move that up the list...

 

If you really wanna have some fun, search Stream Deck on Etsy (lots of DIY risers, mounts, and doodads):

 

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=streamdeck

[Mark Aceto]

Super rough first pass WIP update on the Stream Deck XL... 

 

First of all, high res Standard Views icons attached here, so nobody else will ever have to suffer the pain of fishing for them:

 

 

My goal is to never take my hand off the mouse to press these keys on the Stream Deck. I plan to experiment with the best layout of the standard views. In the past, I've lined up all of the lower views in a row on a numpad, and that worked pretty well (easy to cycle through them). This is also why I wish there was a Stream Deck that was 5 rows instead of 4. That said, the Stream Deck can be rotated 90 and 270 (depending on where you want the rake and USB cable path), so it can either be a grid of 4x8 or 8x4. I may experiment with that too because it's a space hog with fat bezels.

 

Also note that the glossy keys reflect light like little mirrors making the keys unreadable when laying flat (if lit from above). So you either have to have a backlit keyboard with shine-through keycaps, or put the Stream Deck in an awkward angled position where you poke it in the ribs vs touch type. Also, after going down the rabbit hole of custom keyboards, the Stream Deck keys feel slippery, mushy and easy to accidentally press adjacent keys. The device is purely utilitarian.

 

I initially thought I was gonna test this Amazon purchase and return it if I didn't like it but I think it's gonna be more of a keep it and experiment with it journey (like a 3Dconnexion Space Mouse but with less despair).

 

In the screenshot of the Stream Deck software, I left the "Titles" on the keys to show that shortcuts are not needed for the views mapped bound to the numpad. I'll have to re-add the lower views because they were lost. I'm gonna try new simpler logical shortcuts using the CTRL key because I'm on a Mac (godspeed). Note: it's shocking how many shortcut key combos (not just hotkeys) are already used by VW, leaving only the weirdest illogical gymnastic combinations for gold medalists in the Carpal Tunnel Olympics.

I'll turn off the titles (Numpad 1 and so on) after I assign shortcuts to the lower views. The red key legends came from a pack that I downloaded for a few bucks but you can make your own (even animated GIF's):

 

 

Everything in Its Wrong Place:

 

 

Space Hogs:

 

 

Keychron Q0 Plus compared to Idobao Montex:

 

 

REDRUM:

 

 

Edited February 6 by Lunar Waneshaft

[Mark Aceto]

47 minutes ago, Mark Aceto said:

I'll have to re-add the lower views because they were lost. I'm gonna try new simpler logical shortcuts using the CTRL key because I'm on a Mac (godspeed).

 

It worked!

 

The cool thing about this is not just for Standard Views--Mac users have a whole other modifier key available: the CTRL key! That means CTRL+(any key) on a Mac is available (because CTRL is analogous to CMD on Windows, so it's reserved for that).

 

The caveat here is that if you use both Mac and Windows, this will probably hose you if use the same workspace stored in a Workgroup Library.

 

Anyway, instead of this quagmire:

 

 

I have this:

 

 

BTW if you add the shortcuts in macOS Sys Prefs, not only will they not replace the shortcuts in the Workspace Editor (somehow fully functional yet non-destructive), they'll appear in the View Bar dropdown and in the Menu Commands (pretty sure I bet someone tacos that it would do this but I can't remember whom, and even if I did they've probably spent hours if not days mentoring me, so it's "a wash"):

 

 

 

And then after disabling Show Title:

 

Here's the result IRL (now I just need to find or create better icons for those red keys):

 

 

 

Edited January 31 by Mark Aceto

[Mark Aceto]

BTW this is only scratching the surface of the Stream Deck. There can be multiple layers for VW, other apps, and a rabbit hole of other controls... so even though I love a good numpad / macropod... they're starting to seem like a starting point.

 

The other thing I love about that is instead of going in for invasive surgery to replace lots of stock shortcuts, I can leave as much stock as possible, and then just add this catchall device for everything else. Much less muscle memory... 

[Mark Aceto]

Thinking about what other keys I want to add along the lines of viewing / navigating, possibly losing the system keyboard keys (arrows, home, end, etc.).

• Projection - Ortho
• Projection - Narrow
• Render - Wireframe
• Render - Shaded
• Clip Cube
• Working Plane stuff... 

[trevorgooch]

@Lunar Waneshaft I don't know if I share it: I got my streamdeck xl, added a mechanical keyboard (minus 10), and my space mouse on the left.  I played with two vwx profiles that I found on the web, while many have been pretty great, I tend to keep it to two layers:

• Views and Navigation (which links directly to..)
• Temp set of useful today tools: ie, move by points, rotate, select (so I don't move to the keyboard), duplicate along path, to name a few.

I found that is was not very functional to have every menu and tool option replicated in the deck (looks cool, tho!), but rather, I think about it like a moving light programmer, who quickly moves the dozen or so buttons or views that are really imports *right now* to a place that I can leverage the value of a hard button without looking.  

 

I can't wait to see the wizardly you land on... 

 

 

 

[Mark Aceto]

1 hour ago, trevorgooch said:

move by points, rotate

 

I may have to add these to a 2nd SDXL:

 

 

 

1 hour ago, trevorgooch said:

select (so I don't move to the keyboard)

 

I have a surprise for you (think Text tool, or when your cursor is active in an OIP field). Credit goes to @michaelk for the inspiration:

This is my current VW layout:

 

I'm tempted to throw my SD in between these guys (possibly rotated 90)

 

 

1 hour ago, trevorgooch said:

mechanical keyboard

 

I've fallen down the rabbit hole of this hobby, so let me know if you have questions about switches, keycap profiles, etc.

 

Edited March 8 by Lunar Waneshaft

[Mark Aceto]

BTW I had to add a few of those shortcuts using the CTRL mod on a Mac (that would certainly cause issues when crossing over to Windows):

 

[Mark Aceto]

Does anyone know if there's a shortcut to go to the Shape, Data, Render tabs in the OIP?

 

I was able to assign a shortcut to open and close the Shape tab but not cycle through or select it.

 

I may just tear off Data and Render once and for all (and split them vertically).

[trevorgooch]

@Lunar Waneshaft

Here's today's version: with meeting friendly play/pause and system wide "Mute Microphone".

 

CPU usage is an attempt at: did vwx crash, or is it "working"?  

 

1 hour ago, Lunar Waneshaft said:

 

 

I have a surprise for you (think Text tool, or when your cursor is active in an OIP field). Credit goes to @michaelk for the inspiration:

 

 

Clever!  I think leave the button looking like "selection" and change what it does under the hood...

 

I understand Panic Panic Panic... I have questions about at least one other key.. 😉

[Mark Aceto]

1 hour ago, trevorgooch said:

CPU usage is an attempt at: did vwx crash, or is it "working"?  

 

If you're not crashing, are you even drawing hard enough?

 

I used iStat Menus for system monitoring but that would free up some menu bar space, especially if you have a Tim Notch 🤣

 

1 hour ago, trevorgooch said:

Clever!  I think leave the button looking like "selection" and change what it does under the hood...

 

I have a physical Panic button on the mech keyboard at home (see above), so it makes sense to me.

 

Then again, I'm also working on a "F*** Off" Data Vis rule... 

 

BTW you can hide the "Titles" on the buttons if you only want to see the tool icons.

[Mark Aceto]

7 hours ago, Lunar Waneshaft said:

Then again, I'm also working on a "F*** Off" Data Vis rule... 

 

If you've ever wanted to isolate specific objects but were limited by classes, layers, whatever... the trick is to say it out loud in the voice of Logan Roy:

 

 

 

Edited March 9 by Lunar Waneshaft