Vegas Keyboards? Anyone use them?

[Stephen Mann]

Waste of money.
I have a Bella DV Keyboard and I can’t configure the macro keys or the scroll wheel. Since most of my editing is by mouse, having the multi-colored keytops with the normal (unshifted, no CTRL or ALT) key functions on them has been marginally useful.

When it dies I will probably go back to a $15 throw-away keyboard.

I do also have the Contour Pro, so the wheel on the keyboard is never used.

(Come to think of it – the Contour Pro and a cheap throwaway keyboard are still cheaper than the Bella keyboard).

Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com

[Phil Seymour]

I agree with Steve. I have a Shuttle Pro too, and with its shuttle wheel and programmable keys plus a mouse, they do 90% of the work in Vegas. The keyboard is very much secondary, and an el-cheapo one is fine.

[Dave Haynie]

I have the Bella DV keyboard with Vegas keytops and the jog shuttle. I love the shuttle for certain kinds of editing, though I’m not a big fan of the fairly goofy arrow keys on the Bella. I haven’t had any problem with the Bella software properly supporting the extra functions of the keys. I also like the USB hub in the keyboard, room for a mouse and one other device to connect without separate wires running to the PC or a hub.

I’m also a bit annoyed at the build quality. Don’t get me wrong, this keyboard has a great feel, real keys with a good but no excessive spring force, etc. But all the key labels are silkscreened on — a real quality keyboard (if you can still find these) will have molded-in printing. As a result, my A, S, D, C, W, E, and L keys are essentially blank now. Not such a problem for typing (if you’re reasonable at touch typing, which I am), but it kind of defeats the purpose of the Vegas keytop feature. Next time around, I might go for the separate job shuttle device, and a normal keyboard. Not that I expect the Bella to fail anytime soon.

-Dave