A Special Designed After Effects Shortcut Keyboard

[KeyMaker]

I'm going to design a specialized shortcut keyboard for After Effects and was wondering if anyone here got any ideas, thoughts or wishes to such a product?

You can see a variety of out former products on http://logickeyboard.com

Regards, Peter

[Martin_Ritter]

I'm working everyday with AFX, but I won't buy such a thing like those logickeyboards.

I keep my eyes on the screen, and don't look at the keyboard at all (I've learned to write with 10 fingers - best thing to learn on a computer!). Also, it's just a matter of days until one knows the most important shortcuts. Another downside are keys filled with icons and texts which let you hardly spot the letters when writing something. When customizing the keyboard layout in the application (which is possible with AFX), everything gets confusing. And of course, the keyboard has only the shortcuts of one application!

My wishes for a product like this would be:

- Logitech K800 styled keys (very well shaped, good pressure point, hardly need to lift your fingers while writing)

- backlight in different brightness levels and colors, or at least: white

- free programmable e-ink keys

- wireless

- full layout with num-block

- 150 Euro/Dollar max

Greetings, Martin

[KeyMaker]

Good and interesting answer!

I can see why such a product is certainly not for everybody, but I think some people would like it and find it really usefull though.

I have experienced that many video people (like Dave L maybe) tends to aim for the video-editing keyboard instead of the video post and compositing keyboards. Even if they do half or more of their work in the video post program. I'm just wondering why that is? Is it something like the chicken and the egg, like a video editing keyboard feels more baseline, like a safer investment or something?

[Szalam · Accepted solution]

A keyboard shortcut keyboard in AE is less useful because there are just too many shortcuts!

There are fewer useful keyboard shortcuts in an NLE because an NLE is not as complex as After Effects. So a keyboard for them is useful.

There are so many different kinds of work being done in After Effects too. So the shortcuts that would be useful for someone doing keying might not be the same as for someone doing a lot of roto and that's just compositing! I'm not even touching on character animation, motion graphics, etc.

[KeyMaker]

Thank you Szalam,

Very insightful feedback!

I know some AE motion graphics people (Not by any means experts, but using AE on a daily basis for a living) who would like an AE shortcut keyboard to help them in their daily work. Even though they must be considered pro users (doing it for a living), they only know about 5 or 10 AE shortcuts from the head. For those people (and I actually think there is a lot of them) a shortcut keyboard would be very usefull, especially highlighting a lot of the direct shortcuts such as timeline and the toolbar tool-functions which is used a lot - especially for Motion Graphics, I think.

I agree that a lot of AE experts are too specialized for such a product, but think it would help speed up things for a medium user. And I can also see that a shortcut keyboard for the experts easily would be 5 different products catering for each separate workflow area.

Thank you again!

[Szalam]

Glad to help!

If you need any further assistance while developing your keyboard(s), I would like to help. I think it could be good to have some of the most-useful keyboard shortcuts on a keyboard (because you obviously can't have all of them). If you need any further input on creating it, refining the layout, or beta testing them, please let me know.

[Dave_LaRonde]

I have a similar comment:  a shortcut keyboard for AE is an exercise in futility because there are so many of them.  I'd shudder to see what a half-dozen pages of shortcuts would look like on a keyboard.

Besides, I already have an Avid keyboard.  I'm not getting another one just for AE.  What a pain.

[KeyMaker]

Hi!

Just wanted to tell that the AE keyboard has hit the stores 🙂

Here is one of the first reviews: http://jonnyelwyn.co.uk/film-and-video-editing/after-effects-for-editors-part-4-useful-things/