Control settings for Hot Keys

Provides controls for prompting.

Hot Keys

Hot Keys are customizable single-keystroke actions that fire in Prompt mode. The purpose of Hot Keys is to make keyboard control more convenient in Prompt mode (especially for speed changing, positioning, and supertitle scrolling).

Hot Keys are not menu shortcuts or a means of changing menu shortcuts. Use System Settings : Keyboard : Keyboard Shortcuts : App Shortcuts to set or change menu shortcuts or modifiers in an application.

The action a Hot Key performs is listed next to it. Hot Keys can be changed by selecting the field and pressing a new key not in-use. You can remove or clear a Hot Key to prevent it from firing by clicking the Clear Hot Key button button that appears next to a selected field.

Hot Key safety: If you consider an action risky or want to remove the chance of accidentally performing it, clear the Hot Key. Most Hot Key behaviors can also be performed by a related menu item with a menu shortcut. The difference is that a menu shortcut requires a modifier key and therefore more deliberate intent to perform.

Mark Text, Toggle Blanking, Previous Bookmark, Next Bookmark, Script Start, and Script End are candidates to consider clearing or changing to prevent accidental use because they move the prompter or can affect the visual on the output screen.

Unusual characters: You can set Hot Keys to unusual characters. For example, you might set a Hot Key to π or which are typed on US-keyboards with Option-P and Option-D, respectively. Unusual characters can be an alternative to clearing a Hot Key to prevent accidental use. We do not recommend using any Option+Number or Option+Arrow keys as they may impact other features. We also do not recommend accented characters as it may be treated like non-accented characters in some environments.

Special Hot Keys

Number keys set speed: When enabled, in Prompt mode numbers 0 – 9 on the keyboard become Hot Keys which set the prompter speed. On the number row, keys 1 through 9 set speed to 1 through 9, with key 0 setting speed 10, and the ` key left of key 1 setting speed 0. On an extended keyboard with a number pad, Numpad 0 sets the speed to 0 instead of 10, since it closer in proximity to Numpad 1, 2, and 3, which is more natural and less dangerous. If the Option key is held before any number press, it sets the speed to the negative of the key value (e.g., Option + 2 sets speed to –2, etc.).

Line-by-Line Scrolling: Hold the Option key while invoking the Scroll Down or Scroll Up Hot Keys to scroll in a line-by-line manner in Prompt Mode (i.e., supertitle scrolling). Defaults: Option + Down Arrow or Option + Up Arrow.

Speed Boost Key: Hold this Hot Key to add a temporary speed boost to the current scroll direction. If the prompter is paused, the Speed Boost key scrolls slowly in the direction of the speed. This can be a useful Hot Key to configure forcontrollers and remotes with limited buttons.

Hot Keys vs Menu Shortcuts

If you require an action to fire in both Edit mode and Prompt mode, find its related menu item and use its menu shortcut (for example, ⌘↩ for Start/Pause). When configuring a controller that has configuration software, we typically recommend configuring the device to send a menu shortcut for this purpose. If using a lesser controller (a controller that sends fixed key-presses and lacks configuration software, like most controllers sold as PowerPoint remotes) you may find it useful to change a Hot Key to whatever fixed key-press one of its limited buttons sends.

Mouse and Trackpad

Control settings for Mouse and Trackpad

In Prompt mode, when the prompter receives the specified mouse or trackpad action the selected behavior occurs. An action can be disabled by selecting “Do nothing” which may be better for certain trackpad users.

Primary Click: “Start or pause” runs the prompter if paused or pauses the prompter if it is running.

Secondary Click: “Switch direction” takes the current speed and adjusts it to the opposite of what it currently is (for example, a speed of 5 becomes -5 and vice-versa).

Scrollwheel: “Scroll up or down” provides default scrollwheel behavior (to scroll up or down). “Change speed while prompting” increases or decreases the scroll speed.

Mouse Prompting: When the prompter is started the cursor is “captured” and moving the cursor’s position up or down will adjust the speed of scrolling. When the prompter is paused the cursor reappears and works as usual. This setting is usually used in tandem with a hidden toolbar and scroll bar which can be turned off in the Prompter settings. Also applies to trackpads.

macOS 10.6 “Snow Leopard” users have another option:

Natural scroll direction: Scroll, gesture, and cursor actions (including “Cursor movement adjusts speed”) track finger movement in Prompt mode. The effect is that it reverses scroll direction and speed adjustment which is more natural for some users. This setting does not appear on macOS 10.7 “Lion” because the “Use natural scroll direction” System Setting affects all apps.

Speed

Control settings for Speed

Speed change rate: The amount the speed slider changes when using Decrease speed or Increase speed actions in Prompt mode.

Default speed: The 'baseline' speed you want documents to use. It is applied to new documents and also affects the next setting.

Set default speed exiting Prompt mode: Some operators want to enter Prompt mode at the default speed more often than not. Setting the speed on exit (instead of enter) achieves this while affording other changes before entering Prompt mode.

Set speed on pause: Every time the prompter is paused, it sets the specified speed. This makes pause serve as both a stop and a speed-reset so that start resumes from a specific speed. This accompanies a slider so operators can make pausing set a non-default speed value (like a lower speed to allow them to manually ramp-up the speed after a pause, if desired). Setting this speed to 0 allows a pause to perform a “full stop”. This setting is often desirable with the next setting.

Changing speed starts the prompter: When paused, any speed change starts the prompter again, which is generally convenient.

Use only positive values in Speed slider. Makes the Speed Slider only use positive values (removing its ability to set negative speeds). It does not prevent negative speeds from being applied with Hot Keys or menu shortcuts (like Switch Direction).

Limit all speeds to Speed slider values. Caps all speeds to values shown on the Speed Slider. This can be used standalone or in combination with the previous setting. Some features, like Mouse Prompting, are always capped to Speed slider values. This setting affects other actions like Increase Speed, Decrease Speed, and related Hot Keys which can normally extend outside of the Speed slider ranges.

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