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Is anyone using a stand-alone shuttle wheel for fx, dialog or other general post-production editing in Pro Tools? I've fallen in love with the ICON and Euphonix control-surfaces at my college's studios. Interested in picking up a semi-portable controller that I can use with my own system....as well as float from one editorial station to another. Experiences? Recommendations?

Budget is small, but it doesn't hurt to put some better products on the horizon. Buy nice, or buy twice is always in full affect!

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4 Answers

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I use one of these all day in an unrelated job, they work pretty well

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how is using one "in an unrelated job" helpful? – georgi Feb 4 2012 at 12:59
@georgi.m I agree with Nelson, I also use these in a slightly "unrelated job" daily and would recommend. I use it to scroll through video material and perform other tasks and from such use feel they work pretty well, and are nice ergonomically too. So I'd say a recommendation on that basis is fair :-) – Skarik Feb 4 2012 at 13:06
Pro Tools being Pro Tools, i'd be interested to hear someone actually confirm that a ContourDesign usb jog wheel works fine with Pro Tools (like so: duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=129080 ). It's the same as saying you can use a tablet with Pro Tools. Yes, you can, but that doesn't mean there aren't problems (jumping tracks, tiny selections, anyone?)... – georgi Feb 4 2012 at 15:46
I love the Contour. I use it with Logic, not Pro Tools. But still, I do find it useful. Primarily, I use it to control my horizontal zooming, scrubbing the carat, and setting buttons as tool modifiers, and "start playback at beginning of selected region." – Joel Corriveau Feb 4 2012 at 20:16
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I've had my eye on the Artist Transport since I left my D-Command behind. I hear good things about them. But I'm also on board with Nelson and the Contour ShuttlePro v2. At 1/4 the price of the Artist series, buying twice still puts you ahead.

Also, I've seen people use the Griffin Powermate but I don't know how effective it is. Seems very single-purpose as opposed to the other solutions.

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 I've had trouble with the ShuttlePro v2 with the latest versions of Pro Tools. It just doesn't want to work. I was also never able to get it to continuous scrub/shuttle, only jump by a nudge value. It was useless for scrub auditioning. It could be I never set it up properly to do it, but I tried a bunch of different things. – Shaun Farley Feb 4 2012 at 14:08
I've used the Artist Transport and yes, I WANT ONE!!....but that's great input. $60-$70 to try the Contour could be a worthwhile investment. @Shaun By "latest" I would assume you mean Pro Tools 9 and 10? – Audiophile.2010 Feb 4 2012 at 16:14
As I just upgraded to PT10, and a continuous scrub/shuttle is what I'm looking for, this is very good to know. Thanks Shaun! – Steve Urban Feb 4 2012 at 16:15
I have the Powermate and have spent a good deal of time trying to mimic the D-Command's joy wheel with no success... and I'm certified on the damn board. Kind of a useless option for the time being if trying to get full icon style jog wheel action with modifiers. Too finicky. – Syndicate Synthetique Feb 4 2012 at 23:04
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 @Steve Urban @ Audiophile.2010 - Yeah, I've had the contour for 6 or 7 years now. It was great (minus the jog/shuttle function) up until version 9. Latest drivers for the device haven't fixed it either. I haven't upgrade to 10 yet (gonna skip it and go straight to 11), so I haven't tried it out in that version. I'd avoid right now. It's great for ergonomic editing (programmable keys), but not even that is working at the moment. – Shaun Farley Feb 5 2012 at 1:41
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Although it has more buttons, and is larger than a Griffin PowerMate or similar, I absolutely adore my Euphonix MC Transport (and the other units, to boot). Zero issues with PT9, Logic, and MacOS. Solid, huge range of button programming options, I even use it with FCP, After Effects, even Photoshop. Highly recommended if you're willing to have a unit that large, although it's pretty light in terms of weight.

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I know how you feel. After working on an Icon rig daily for several years and training others on it I was hooked hard. I've often asked the same question you are now. I'm on the visceral interfacing tip lately. Tactile interaction makes a huge difference.

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Oh, and those tough screen surround X/Y and Joysticks are such a sick tool for sound design and mixing. – Syndicate Synthetique Feb 4 2012 at 9:18
gotta agree with you on the touchscreens for panning. those things are awesome! i'm not really fond of the joysticks though. – Shaun Farley Feb 5 2012 at 1:42

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