# Creating a Macro Keyboard



## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

A few months ago, well, maybe near the start of the year. I started working on creating a macro keyboard for video editing.

I've been stupidly busy over the past few months, but had time Sunday to pick this little project back up again. So with almost a year worth of editing the DW videos, I now know what actions I find myself repeating a lot (these are often differen to what I create for my own personal videos).

So with that in mind, and some notes made, I made up all of the icons I need for "button" caps. Yesterday I painstakingly cut each one out and stuck them on!





































I created a bunch of the scripts earlier this year, but since then I have moved which key I want certain actions to happen on. So I will need to shuffle that around. Then I need to create the reast of the scripts I haven't yet created.

Credit for this goes to Taran at Linus Tech Tips


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

No idea what that's all about but looks cool and very neat.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Darlofan said:


> No idea what that's all about but looks cool and very neat.


Let's say I want to add a "Pop" sound effect, rather than moving my mouse from it's location on the timeline, over to the top left of my monitor, expanding my Assets folder, expanding SFX folder and then find the "Pop" sound effect. I can now simply press the relevant button, and it runs a macro I have created in a fraction of a second and drops the sound effect right where my playhead is on the timeline....

So that 1 script basically does the following (in a simplified version)

Stores current location of mouse & playhead
Clears any In/Out points on the timeline
Sets Audio target to track 3 (usually no audio on there as I reserve for SFX)
Highlights the project panel (top left I was referring to)
Highlights the search box
Enters the relevant words (In the case "Cartoon Pop" as that's the SFX I want)
Moves the mouse down & right a set number of pixels (this is monitor specific based on resolution)
Initiates a left click and hold
Drags to the playhead in the timeline
Releases left click
Sets the timeline back to focus. (So I can seamlessley continue without having to click back into focus myself)

So whilst that may only take me about 5-10 seconds myself, it's now done in about a tenth of a second....

Some of the other actions take me longer, but now, again, only take tenths of a second.... It all adds up to speeding up the edits.


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## MrPassat (Mar 30, 2018)

Obviously a techie, very useful.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Boom! Just finished coding it..... Uploaded a video to Instagram stories about an hour or so ago. At the time it was about 90% done as a couple of asset macros were messing up.

Anyway, found what the problem was and now it's all working!

Time to start using the second keyboard - wonder if I can ever use it in a "touch type" way? (it will take a bit of getting used to)


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