Am I the only carrara user that wishes there were transport controls ( Shortcuts)

Box8068_31c338ee4b

As I have recently come down with a awful bout of carpel tunnel syndrome, so I 've delved more into keyboard shortcuts.
I use Carrara 8 mostly for animation. So I am constantly playing, sliding keyframes moving the scrubber hitting play and stop.
I am a bit surprised there are no keyboard shortcuts available for these functions.

I would LOVE a key command for play/pause. If there were another for move forward one frame and back one frame ( not keyframe)
there would be so much less mousing around. In fact if those features were in ( and to my NOT code savy seem not difficult)
you could even use a shuttle pro controller to scrub and play in Carrara and load in a bunch of keyboard shortcuts as well?
( shuttle Pro is a common controller for video editing, it's programmable so it can be used for any application)

Is this just me or do others have this wish? Is this something that could be written as a plug in, or does it have to be in the program code?
I would pay for it. Anybody else? Please don't laugh, is there a way to submit this to Daz?
8068

BrianP21361

I'm pretty sure that almost any menu item or command can be assigned a keyboard shortcut. Go to Carrara preferences and there's a drop down menu for setting them.

Good luck.

Box8068_31c338ee4b

Nope Not play or pause, only saw next keyframe and previous Keyframe, but not next frame, or previous frame.

Dartanbeck

8068 said:

Nope Not play or pause, only saw next keyframe and previous Keyframe, but not next frame, or previous frame.

That's a bummer, and should actually be reported as a "Feature-Request" bug in the bug tracker. If you call it some other kind of bug, they might just test it and say that it works as planned. Be sure to include what you wrote here about carpel tunnel syndrome, as it may help. I would also suggest copying the report number and pasting it here in a new post to this thread, and I'll link it to the wishlist links, so I can find it easy for my requests letter. By posting the number in here, when I direct people here for adding more keyboard control options, they can easily add to your report by clicking (or copying) the number.

My wife, Rosie, had surgery (one of the many kinds) for hers on both wrists, and it got much better - but the recovery period is quite sore and action very contained. She had the kind where they slice the tendon tubes and let them heal to a larger size to accommodate the tendon within. Cheaper than other options - luckily it worked well for her. She used to just start crying from the pain at any given time of any given day.

No matter how severe, I really feel for you - and hope the condition improves for you.
Good luck and best wishes,
Dartanbeck

Garstor

Dartanbeck said:

My wife, Rosie, had surgery (one of the many kinds) for hers on both wrists, and it got much better - but the recovery period is quite sore and action very contained. She had the kind where they slice the tendon tubes and let them heal to a larger size to accommodate the tendon within. Cheaper than other options - luckily it worked well for her. She used to just start crying from the pain at any given time of any given day.

Glad to hear that Rosie's surgery helped. 8068, I hope that your own situation involves a rapid recovery (preferably surgery-free).

I very nearly ended up with a repetitive stress injury myself during my first year in college. I worked the summer in a candy factory and I was taping up the boxes of candy packages that were being fed to me by 4 other people. I also had to stack them on a pallet and haul the pallet away when it was full. Oh yeah, and don't let the line stop because of backed-up boxes to tape-up... After a single 8 hour shift of that, I started to get pins-and-needles tingling in my hands; especially when I was riding my bicycle to and from work. Not cool for someone who was expecting to get a job writing computer code all day...

Back to Carrara -- I concur with Dartanbeck. This sounds like a bug to me and should be reported to DAZ. At best this is a half-baked feature. Put as much detail as you can into report -- few things torque-off a programmer more than a bug that simply reads, "Thing X doesn't work right." ;-)

BrianP21361

8068,

You're right. I'm very surprised. Fenric created a simple program that adds a new keyboard shortcut (http://fenric.com/wordpress/store/products/selection-changer/) to Carrara. It doesn't do what you need, but maybe he can help.

Dartanbeck

I started to get pins-and-needles tingling in my hands; especially when I was riding my bicycle to and from work. /quote]Wow. is that a sign of carpel tunnel syndrome? I get that a lot from cutting stone. The effect will last for months and gets really strong sometimes. But I was told a few years back that my entire skeleton is being coated with arthritis. "What do you do, swing a sledge hammer all day every day?" I nearly dropped when they asked that, but simply replied: "Yeah... that's pretty much what I've done since I was 14"

Luckily, I had an accident with one of those big pay loaders which left me with three slipped discs in my spine. One in each; Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar. By the time I completed enough physical therapy and localized steroid injections to get the screaming pain to stop waking me up every night, I felt better that I did when I was 20 - and I still feel great. No surgery, just physical therapy. Now I'm a bit anxious to have another full skeletal x-ray done again and see what it says. I am on a lifetime prescription to pain meds that I take all day every day... but I do feel better and have great stamina. Stronger, too.

Garstor

Dartanbeck said:

Luckily, I had an accident with one of those big pay loaders which left me with three slipped discs in my spine. One in each; Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar.

You have a very odd definition of the word "luck."

I am on a lifetime prescription to pain meds that I take all day every day... but I do feel better and have great stamina. Stronger, too.

Isn't that just masking the problem while you continue to pour on damage? From G.I. Jane: Pain is your friend. It will tell you when you are seriously hurt...

What does this have to do with incomplete keyboard shortcuts again? :-P

tbwoq

I think part of why Carrara doesn't have better animation controls is that, at the time, the Storyboard room was used for manipulating frames and has not been updated, or removed, in favor of newer hardware/ram using the OpenGL scene preview(imho). It also has a few major bugs if I recall. In years on the forum I've only seen a very small number of posts about the Storyboard room being used.

I searched in the Bug Tracker and found similar requests for animation shortcuts;

-0032426 acknowledged.
-0024359 assigned.
-0026986 assigned.

These are older version requests but can be updated to C8.5 beta by adding notes there.

Box8068_31c338ee4b

I submitted a feature request in the Bug Tracker, and dropped a note at Fenric's web site.
Right now ice, and a splint plus laying off carrara are helping. I've ordered one of those Monoprice Drawing Tablets, I'll see if that helps.
Thanks
8068

Garstor

8068 said:

Right now ice, and a splint plus laying off carrara are helping.

Good luck with all three efforts.

Not nearly so serious; but last night one of the dumbells at the gym bounced as I dropped them. It jammed one of my fingers. Nothing broken, but ice will be the order of the day today...

Box8068_31c338ee4b

Garstor
That stinks....in my search I did find USB foot pedals to control mouse clicks :)
8068

Fenric

It would not be a probelm to do rewind, fast forward, previous frame, and next frame. I think I see how to do Play and Stop.

I've put it on the list of things to do as soon as my rent-paying job gives me some time to get back to Carrara stuff

Dartanbeck

8068 said:

I submitted a feature request in the Bug Tracker, and dropped a note at Fenric's web site.
Right now ice, and a splint plus laying off carrara are helping. I've ordered one of those Monoprice Drawing Tablets, I'll see if that helps.
Thanks
8068

I haven't tried my Wacom Tablet in Carrara... I'll have to give it a whirl. In the old forum, Dimension Theory asked if anyone uses a tablet for Carrara and most tablet users said that their mouse works much better. DT ended up buying a Monoprice and loved it. For everyone who didn't like using their tablets in Carrara, all of them said that drawing is not the same without one.

I keep trying my tablet. A friend gave it to me a few years ago. I found it so awkward that I put it away - so it's still like new. I pulled it out recently (amazed at how new it is! lol) and just love using it. When I have to run from one side of the screen to the other, however, or other such large motion without actually drawing, I tend to grab my mouse temporarily and forget to go back to my tablet as it sits on my lap :smirk:
I know... right? Screw loose is right!
I'll get accustomed to this wonderful tool yet. Now you've inspired me to try it in my favorite software ever - Carrara Pro!!! ;-)

Box8068_31c338ee4b

Fenric said:

It would not be a probelm to do rewind, fast forward, previous frame, and next frame. I think I see how to do Play and Stop.

I've put it on the list of things to do as soon as my rent-paying job gives me some time to get back to Carrara stuff

Fenric
If you were ever able to do this it would make me very happy, and I would be happy to pay for these features.
I hope it works out.
I would be sweet to add my contour shuttle as well. ( which would be easy once if transport keyboard shortcuts were available)
Thanks
8068