Control Surface or Trackball for editing

[munkeeluke]

I edit video and audio with my mouse it works ok and I've tried some control surfaces. But I hear many people rave about Trackball mice(Kenningston Trackballs) What is your suggestions and experiance?

 

[unix-guy]

I think the proper trackball can be great.

Personally, I recommend a larger ball and preferably one that can be operated with the thumb rather than fingers.

My preference for a long time was the Logitech TrackMan in various forms but I've switched to Elecom for the 6+ years and had good results.

 

[dr bonkers]

I love my Kingston trackball

 

[munkeeluke]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[AxeManDan]

I love my Kingston trackball

Same here!!

 

[Moondog Wily]

Kensington Expert Mouse trackball since 1996 under my fingers! I have one wireless and one wired that I currently use. When I am playing/recording, I am about 10 feet from my desk/monitor, so the wireless one sits next to me where I am playing and if I head back to the desk the wired one is there waiting for me. Love the custom programming of the 4 buttons and run Cubase with some of those custom button settings. Here are those settings for Cubase (have not customized the AxeEdit settings as I don't adjust much while playing):

​

BTW, started a thread a few weeks ago asking if anyone has any settings they use in Axe Edit with custom buttons, so if anyone has any good bits about things to program for Axe Edit, please chime in here or in my thread on that topic ;~))

 

[Diego]

+1 for the Kensington Expert Mouse trackball but I own and use daily all the SSL units for mix/ mastering and plugins control (I still haven’t tried with the FAS Editors)

 

[jeffgoobs]

I have several I use depending on the context. I use an Avid S1 control surface for within the various DAWs, and for mouse options, I also am a wireless Kensington Expert Mouse user, but also have Apple's Magic Mouse 2 and their Magic Trackpad 2. I really like each of them for different reasons.

 

[unix-guy]

Just curious how you guys perform an operation like click and drag with the ball placement on that Kensington unit?

With the button placements relative to the ball that seems like it would be incredibly awkward.

This seems much more natural to me:



Or my old school favorite:

 

[jeffgoobs]

Just curious how you guys perform an operation like click and drag with the ball placement on that Kensington unit?

With the button placements relative to the ball that seems like it would be incredibly awkward.

This seems much more natural to me:

View attachment 139773

Or my old school favorite:

View attachment 139774

Incidentally, I actually have a thumb trackball too (the Microsoft Optical Trackball) which can be slightly less fatiguing, or slightly more fatiguing when it comes to dragging and dropping, than the Kensington, depending on the type of activity. To answer your question though, my index finger usually sits atop the ball alone, and my thumb rests on the main click button. So it's the exact same motion as with the thumb ball, only the functions are reversed. You click with the thumb and roll the ball with the index.

ETA: The previous design of the Trackball, as pictured above, was indeed quite awkward. The design on the slimline one I use is much more elegant.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Incidentally, I actually have a thumb trackball too (the Microsoft Optical Trackball) which can be slightly less fatiguing, or slightly more fatiguing when it comes to dragging and dropping, than the Kensington, depending on the type of activity. To answer your question though, my index finger usually sits atop the ball alone, and my thumb rests on the main click button. So it's the exact same motion as with the thumb ball, only the functions are reversed. You click with the thumb and roll the ball with the index.

Pretty much the same here. Thumb is consistently on left mouse button, pinkie consistently sitting on top of right lower button, index and middle finger floating atop the ball. When I want to click and drag, thumb becomes kickstand holding down left mouse button and index/middle fingers move ball. Almost 30 years using one of these and no carpel tunnel or any other hand problems, so something must be right ;~))

 

[jeffgoobs]

Whatever you end up landing on, I highly recommend grabbing one of these gel wrist supports, as you'll invariably need to use the heel of your hand as a pivot point / lever fulcrum, and that can hurt after a while:

 

[Dave Merrill]

My daughter loves trackballs, but I hate them. I'm on a computer literally all day every work day, and nothing is better for me than the Logitech MX Anywhere 2S Wireless Mouse. I have them in my studio and my office, and when I use a laptop in the living room, on the couch there. I don't look any further than to figure out the latest version of that, they're just so good. Not the cheapest thing, but really, all day every day, they're worth it.

What's remarkable about them, besides their quality generally, is that they work reliably on literally every surface I've tried. Black desk, faux wood grain desk, real wood, patterned couch material, pants leg, doesn't matter, they always just work, way better than anything else I've tried.

Battery life is excellent enough that it doesn't matter, rechargable, usable while charging, no moving parts to wear out or clean. No affiliation, just a happy customer.