We each have our own favourites, and in many cases, conversations about the pros and cons of either can be as vitriolic as a demure Mac v Windows stoush. I believe however that there is nothing as fast, especially when editing video, to the good old shortcut key.

But modern day packages such as Premiere, Vegas, Final Cut, Edius and so on have so many, that apart from a favourite few - probably the same number that can be programmed into say, a Contour Shuttle Pro - only a handful of favourites can ever be remembered. Let's face it, Avid has been supplying special keyboards with colour coded keys since a caveman banged two rocks together.

The first time I saw one of these, all I could do was look on enviously. At that time I was learning and struggling with Premiere 4.2, and the idea seemed like a dream come true. I'm all grown up now (as is Premiere) and I now use Vegas; last year at CEBIT in Sydney I heard whispers there could be third party keyboards coming out for other packages, including Vegas.

That in itself was good news, but there are keyboards and there are keyboards. When I was learning to play my Casio (music) keyboard, I discovered on the 'net (where else?) a 'typing' keyboard that also had a musical keyboard attached. Ideal for practising in quiet times (it was USB based to your sound card). The music side was so-so but the typing part was absolutely horrific and this didn't last more than an hour.

So it was with a little trepidation that I plugged in the Vegas keyboard when it turned up. I had been using a top end Microsoft wireless 'board and loved it. The Logickeyboard Vegas unit is not wireless which gives it a minus one off the score, but the keys themselves are quite good. Not up to the Microsoft or Logitech level I have to say - perhaps 85% - but the coding on the keys for all the shortcuts more than makes up for it. Keys are coloured in groups to make them easily identifiable and all the necessary shortcuts are there. Vegas has a particularly large set of shortcuts, and I am sure some are missing from the keyboard, but they would be obscure ones from my checking. You know; things like "turn the first 1 minute into a TV commercial" or "turn that actress into Sigourney Weaver".

The acid test was whether two weeks on, I would still feel comfortable using this keyboard as against going back to the Microsoft one. And the answer is yes. I'd prefer a bit less travel in the keys, and they need a little more heaviness to push, but could be just me as I am used to my Acer Ferrari laptop on a day-to-day basis and this has very low travel and quite solid keys.

Keyboards are available in Classic and Multimedia styles for

Mac

• Logic Audio Preset 8 M89
• Color M89 Pro
• PremierePro CS3 M89 Pro
• PremierePro CS4 M89 Pro
• Final Cut Pro M89 Pro
• PhotoShop CS3 M89 Pro
• Media Composer M89
• Protools M89 Pro LKB-DIGIP6-M89-US
• Motu Digital Performer 6 M89 Pro
• Logic Audio Extended 8 M89 Pro

PC

• Vegas PC Classic Keyboard
• PhotoShop PC Classic
• Autocad PC Classic
• Xpress PC Classic
• PremierePro CS4 PC Classic
• PhotoShop CS3 PC Classic
• PremierePro CS3 PC Classic
• PremierePro PC Classic
• Media Composer PC Classic
• Pinnacle Liquid PC Classic
• EDIUS PC Classic
• Protools PC Classic
• Cubase Nuendo PC Classic
• Quantel PC Classic
• Sibelius PC Classic
• DPS Velocity PC Classic

Contact: Corsair Solutions

Phone: +61 3 90059861

Web: www.corsairsolutions.com.au

Prices start at

$149 for PC Classic series
$169 for Mac Advance series
$179 for PC Multimedia series
$209 for Mac Pro series

By David Hague

David Hague is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He now lives back in WA (Mandurah) on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety (he is on the Roadwise committee for Mandurah City Council), fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com, vbthedog@gmail.com via Twitter via @vbthedog. or