FMiguelez wrote:BTW, I'm finding my new Trackpad unusable with DP (and most other apps). Not only because it just doesn't work (the scrolling is so clumsy), but because it involves a lot of extra movements to operate... Instead of clicking (the click area is hard), I have to tap twice to "grab" something, move it where I want and tap twice again to release it. That's 50% more "clicks" right there. And not only that, but there is NOT enough precision for things like CC editing, or grabbing those tiny MIDI bars in the GE.
The moment I switched back to my wired mouse, I was 100 times faster and more precise. Scrolling works perfectly in DP with a regular mouse. At first I was a little disappointed thinking DP was not fluid enough, but then I was flying in it with a normal mouse.
For the moment I have them both, so I can still try the trackpad for certain things and take the mouse for DP-related stuff.
Hey, 'Nando, if you want to get better on the trackpad, I can help you. Please don't scan; read. (yeah, I do it, too.
)
Your problem is three-fold: 1) partly the settings. 2) partly your technique, and 3) partly just giving it some time and letting your muscles learn their jobs on this totally new [to your hands] kind of input device. I forced myself to use nothing but the Magic Trackpad for a few weeks. After that, I never wanted to go back. I have a closet shelf full of Kensington Expert Mouse Pro wireless trackballs — which I hold in the highest esteem as "best trackball ever made" — so I could go back at any time if the Magic Trackpad slowed me down. But... I love this thing too much to switch back!
So, here are some practical suggestions:
• #1, and probably the most important thing of all: use a high wrist rest. You do not want to be flexing your hand backward at all when using this. Your fingers should feel very relaxed. My wrist rest is 4.2 cm tall, and doesn't sink in more than 0.5 cm.
• Turn off "Tap to Drag" in the Trackpad Prefs. That will fix your dragging problem. You can then click, drag, and release to move an object where you want it. When you get comfortable with it, it feels like one movement.
• Grabbing tiny things: move the cursor as close as you can get without having to correct a lot, then rock your finger in any direction for fine-control. I CC edit every day. My speed at the MIDI Graphic Editor has not slowed any, and has probably gotten a little faster when compared to a trackball.
• For the most precise moves that require perfect releases as well as perfect clicks, use the thumb to click (or to hold down) the corner (button) and position the cursor lightly with the forefinger, lifting it before you click, and raising it before you release the "mouse button."
• Get JiTouch. Set up custom gestures for each application. Learn to use the "alphabet" commands, which also can be customized per app. It will take some time to get proficient at the alphabet commands, but they are fantastic. I haven't counted them all, but I think you could easily have 50 or more gestures available per app. Maybe a lot more.
• Commit and practice. If you are a proficient keyboardist and decide to pick up the violin, do you really expect to be 100% as fast on it as you are on your keyboard? No. And the way to get there is practice. It goes pretty quickly.
SCROLLING
The latest versions of DP and OS X scroll well, now that I've figured out the problems. Keep in mind that until Mavericks, scrolling on a Magic Trackpad was probably the most amazing thing EVER. Now, in DP 8.06 and OS X 10.9.2, things are pretty much back to normal. No more hesitation. But there were some problems that had to be fixed.
1) In the preference folder(s), do a search for "Trackpad" and throw out all the Apple prefs that come up. I found three prefs for the Magic Trackpad, one of which was a .exe file. Throw them out and reset your prefs manually.
2) Do the same for JiTouch if you've had it a while, but
keep only the one with the most recent date.
3) Magic Trackpad Prefs / More Gestures / Swipe between pages: turn OFF
This will fix scrolling and page swiping in Safari. The "swipe" in Mavericks is not right. Apple has to fix it, but they haven't admitted to a problem yet. Maybe yours won't be a problem. I don't know. But after I did this, everything cleared up.
4) In JiTouch, replace the page swiping in Safari with non-swiping gestures. There are plenty to choose from so that you won't miss swiping. Other apps can use a swiping gesture for page control. Safari, for some reason, can't.
5) Magic Trackpad Prefs / Scroll & Zoom / Scroll Direction: Natural - turn OFF. If this is ON, it reverses the scrolling direction in OS X (they call it "natural" scrolling). Unfortunately, in Digital Performer it will cause faders to run backward. Turn it off and DP faders will return to normal.
When I turned off page-swiping, the last remaining problems in Mavericks cleared up. I don't know why it's working that way, but all these problems started only in Mavericks. Prior to Mavericks, the Magic Trackpad was like the input device from Paradise.
So, if you make some changes in settings, work with your technique a little, and give yourself time to practice and learn the trackpad, you can use it as successfully as I. My guess is that it will seem too much, and you'll go back to your more comfortable and familiar mouse or trackball.
Whatever works for you is great. But if you want to use the Trackpad, what I've written here will help you.
Shooshie
