Keyboard

[Bryan Sutton]

I thought I would pass this on to the group. Cadalyst mentioned this key board in their online newsletter. A secondary programmable key pad that you can put some of your short cuts on. As a tablet user this looks good to use on my left hand - it would be better if it had a numeric pad built into it.

http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/gamerskey.htm

The nice thing is that the price is reasonable.
cheers
Bryan Sutton

[Scott Hopkins]

I use the A4-Tech left handed keyboard to enter all my commands. I love it! It works great for numeric entry.

Check out this post...

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=3094

I have mine totally tricked out with a keyboard customization program. I can send you the file if you are interested.

[gbrowne]

Does anybody use one of those keyboards with a scroll wheel on the left?
Would it work with revit?

[Bryan Sutton]

It looks good and is a consideration, but it is a bit big. Because I use a tablet I am looking for something small that can sit beside it and has a num-pad with a few programmable keys. Interesting to see your + Scott D's comments on the Targus pad moving around too much. Currently I am using my Mac keyboard sitting above my tablet. It is nice and compact.
The new Wacom Intuos3 tablets look good with their programmable buttons and scroll bar on each side. The buttons can be programed as chords - as a musician, I can hear some Revit Rock and Roll! ;-)

Cheers
Bryan Sutton

[gbrowne]

Yes I use a wacom tablet as well, but I just slide the keyboard over to the left.

Actually, if you move the mouse over to the left as well, and use the scroll wheel, it gives you the zoom function.

[robert.1.hall72202]

I use the A4-Tech left handed keyboard to enter all my commands. I love it! It works great for numeric entry.

Check out this post...

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=3094

I have mine totally tricked out with a keyboard customization program. I can send you the file if you are interested.



That looks like a great keyboard....not necessarily right for me though.....know of any others out there?? Im basically looking to get the number pad on left too.

[Scott Hopkins]

That looks like a great keyboard....not necessarily right for me though.....know of any others out there?? Im basically looking to get the number pad on left too.
There are a many others you can find on the internet but I don't think they are as good as the A4-tech.

http://www.fentek-ind.com/modular.htm

[robert.1.hall72202]

Thanks for the info.....I just put in a request to get one of these bad boys, Newegg has them around 40 bucks. Any hopes of posting your customizations?
I run AutoCad 2004 and am awaiting an upgrade to 05. Ignore my previous post, you are right, there isn't much else out there.........

[Scott Hopkins]

Thanks for the info.....I just put in a request to get one of these bad boys, Newegg has them around 40 bucks. Any hopes of posting your customizations?
I run AutoCad 2004 and am awaiting an upgrade to 05. Ignore my previous post, you are right, there isn't much else out there.........Ok, here you go - everything you need to turn your A4-Tech keyboard into a left-handed Revit powerhouse machine...

I have to warn you, it is a little idiomatic to my way of working. Consider my shortcuts as I have put a lot of thought into them, but you may want to change them to what you are used to.

Also this version of Revit Keypad incorporates the Revit Inchworm which changes the default entry of Revit from feet to inches. I have a version of Revit Keypad without Revit inchworm floating around somewhere I just can't find it at the moment.

It you want to change the source code to remap your keys be my guest, but be careful. The program I used to make Revit Keypad can be found here...

http://www.autohotkey.com/

Included in the attached zip file you will find:

Revit Keypad 5.0 - The program that will remap some of the keys on your A4-Tech keyboard
Revit Keypad 5.0 Source Code - Use Autohotkeys to recompile it if you change the mapping
Revit Keypad 5.0 Label maker - A word file with the labels sized and ready for cutting
Revit Keypad 5.0 Users Manual - It will tell you what to do and how to do it.
A Photo of the current RVT layout - This will tell you what keys go where
A copy of my personal keyboardshortcuts.txt file - use it wholesale or change it to suit your needs

[robert.1.hall72202]

Thanks alot, however as stated, I am merely an AutoCad user, not Revit.
I do have one question though.....what to do about the labels???
What do you print them on? Is that blank printer ink?

[Scott Hopkins]

Check the user's manual - everything is there.

[gordie_v]

I Just ordered This keyboard as well as a Graphire tablet.
I have always thought The key Pad should be on The opposite side.
for the Past year I have been using Revit on a Tablet PC and haven't used a Keyboard at all Instead i used an on screen Keypad called Message ease.
It has worked good for me So far, but next week we are finally implementing Revit at the office.
I have gotten So used to using the pen for input I had to get a tablet for work.

[Scott Hopkins]

I Just ordered This keyboard as well as a Graphire tablet.
Way to go! It's a powerful combination!

[tomm]

Scott: I just downloaded your zip file, looks great, I am installing it now. Do I just put the exe file in the start menu or the source code as well?

Thanks

[Scott Hopkins]

Tom - Put the Revit Keypad 5.0.exe file in the following folder....

"Documents and Settings/your name here/Start Menu/Programs/Startup"

That will make Revit Keypad start automatically and run silently in the background. Let me know how it goes. I am happy to help with any other questions you may have.

[gordie_v]

Included in the attached zip file you will find:

Revit Keypad 5.0 - The program that will remap some of the keys on your A4-Tech keyboard
Revit Keypad 5.0 Source Code - Use Autohotkeys to recompile it if you change the mapping
Revit Keypad 5.0 Label maker - A word file with the labels sized and ready for cutting
Revit Keypad 5.0 Users Manual - It will tell you what to do and how to do it.
A Photo of the current RVT layout - This will tell you what keys go where
A copy of my personal keyboardshortcuts.txt file - use it wholesale or change it to suit your needs


Any chance you have an update for 8.1

Also is it Possible to use this Program to Map The Scroll wheel to be a Mouse middle button. for Some reason my Scroll wheel has never quite worked right.

[Wes Macaulay]

Gord - if you're using Logitech or Microsoft mice, you may need to ensure you've got their mouse control software installed and you've configured your middle button to function as one.

[Scott Hopkins]

Any chance you have an update for 8.1

Also is it Possible to use this Program to Map The Scroll wheel to be a Mouse middle button. for Some reason my Scroll wheel has never quite worked right.
Gordie,

Revit Keypad version 5.0 is just an arbitrary number that is totally unrelated to Revit's version number 8.1. If there is a specific problem you are having or enrichment you would like to see let me know.

I think Wes has got you on the right track with the scroll wheel issue. Is the scroll wheel working correctly in other windows programs?

[gordie_v]

Revit Keypad is working fine now. when I first installed 8.1 it didn't Seem to work but the next day it Worked fine. must have been a reboot thing.

about The Scroll wheel I was referring to the wheel on the keyboard.
I installed the latest Driver from A4 Tech but it still dose not respond.
and I think it is Programed different than a middle mouse mutton anyway

even on a mouse there are different options for Scroll and middle button and auto desk functions Seem to be programmed to respond to middle button and not the Scroll option. Since I use a Wacom tablet it would be nice if the Scroll on the keyboard could be Programed as a middle mouse button.

[Scott Hopkins]

Gordie,

Sorry I can't be much help as I use a Logitech mouse. I didn't care for the mouse that came with the A4tech keyboard.