- So today, I have a new product I'd like to share with you
which I have been using for the past few weeks.
Now, if like me, you use a lot of creative software tools,
no doubt, you will use a lot of shortcut keys
to improve and speed up your workflow.
Now, what if I told you there was a product
that could help improve your workflow even more
and make the whole process of using creative software,
more comfortable and streamlined?
Well, here I have a really neat product by TourBox,
and if you've not heard of it,
I think you're going to really like this new product.
I call this the ninja controller.
So, join me as I introduce you to the ultimate sidekick
to your mouse and keyboard.
So, let's get into it.
So, here I have the TourBox NEO,
this is a little controller
that features 11 keys and three rotary buttons.
Now, it may look a little bit odd at first glance
but when you learn about what this thing can do,
you'll be really impressed.
So, let's take a quick look at an unboxing.
So, the packaging for this product is really nice.
The controller itself comes in this neat little box.
Inside the box, you get your quick start guide
and instruction manuals.
Once we lift up the plastic shelf,
we have the controller and cable,
which comes in these nice little keepsake bags here.
Provided with the controller,
you get an USB-A to USB-C cable
and the quality of this cable is really good.
So, let's take a closer look at the controller.
So, the controller has been designed to sit comfortably,
as part of your setup,
to the left of your keyboard, if you are right-handed
and to the right if you're left-handed.
The controller itself comes with 11 keys
and three rotary buttons,
has a bit of weight to it
and also has a nice matte coating,
which is real nice to the touch
and has four grips on the underside
to keep it sturdy on your desk.
It's not too large.
So, it does not take up too much space on your desk
and just sits nicely next to your keyboard.
As you use it,
you typically keep your hand on the mouse
and move your hand,
which you would otherwise use for keyboard shortcuts,
between the keyboard and the controller.
However, the aim here
is not just to make using shortcuts easier
but to improve your overall workflow.
As of making this video,
there are two versions of the TourBox.
There is the NEO and the elite.
The elite is pretty much the same
but comes with Bluetooth instead of the cable connection.
So, using the controller is pretty straightforward.
To connect the controller,
you can either use the provided
USB-A to USB-C cable connection.
However, you can also use a USB-C to USB-C cable,
which is sold separately.
The controller supports Windows and Mac
and is compatible with all industry standard
creative software tools.
Installing the software drivers from the TourBox website
was pretty easy,
and once downloaded and installed,
it will ask you to connect the TourBox controller.
Now, once connected,
you are presented with the control interface
where you can configure and assign all the keys.
And this is where it gets really cool.
On the controller, you have a range of buttons,
which you can program and customize,
where they are separated into sections.
First, we have the rotating buttons.
In the middle there is a rotating knob,
which can be both rotated and pressed.
In the top left, there is a scroll wheel,
which can also be pressed.
And in the bottom left, there is a rotating dial,
which again, can be pressed.
Next, we have what they refer to as the prime four.
This includes the Side, Top, Tall and Short buttons.
These are larger buttons,
easily pressed with a thumb and forefingers.
And last we have the kit section,
which includes the Tall button, the D-pad
and if we expand down further,
we can assign commands to 12 combos
and the C1 and 2 button.
So there are a lot of commands
this little controller can trigger.
Now, one of the nice things about this controller
is that it comes preloaded.
So you don't have to assign all these buttons yourself.
Upon installing and opening the TourBox for the first time,
you will see the default layout and configuration
of the buttons, which are all completely customizable
by the way.
Now, these configurations are bound to presets
up on the left.
Upon install, we have four default presets to kick us off.
By default, we have Photoshop, Lightroom
and two for Premiere.
With the preset selected to the right of the button,
we can see the current tool applied,
but if you wanna change the tool,
it's really easy to change.
Simply double-click on the tool
and you can choose from a range of commands.
You can also simply click the button and combination
on the controller itself,
and this will jump to the specific button or combo,
which helps to find the exact button or combo
you're looking to map.
And with the controller overview, it's super-easy.
Now, here there is a thing called Auto Switch,
which means you can tell TourBox
to switch your preset to each specific program.
So here I can add this
to Photoshop and Premiere specifically.
And when I switch between apps,
the configuration will change.
Adding new preset is easy by clicking the Plus icon,
and you can assign the program specifically for Auto Switch.
However, if you go to the TourBox website,
you can go to presets
and there are a range of additional presets
for other programs as well.
Now this can save you a ton of time.
Simply download them, import them, assign your app and boom,
you're up and running.
Now, the last thing to note is when you have TourBox open
and the controller connected,
you will also get a little button overlay on your screen.
This can easily be clicked and dragged
to a position of preference,
which works as a HUD to remind you of the shortcut keys
on the D-pad, which changes
depending on which app you're in.
And if you press the Side or Top buttons,
you can reveal more.
So this little controller is really versatile.
Now, from what I have seen
this controller is largely geared towards
photographers and video editors.
You'll see a lot of videos here on YouTube from illustrators
and video editors.
But what about us designers?
Well, as strong as it is for the video editors,
it's actually pretty good to use in programs
like Illustrator, InDesign, and XD too.
No matter what your speciality,
be that graphics, illustration, or video production,
you will find this controller really useful.
The TourBox works really well with all Adobe software
and other apps like Affinity.
So let's take a look at it in action.
So the buttons on the controller
really help with your workflow.
In Photoshop for example,
zooming and changing brush size can be a bit of a pain
when using the keyboard shortcuts,
not on the TourBox though.
The scroll wheel on the controller makes it really easy
to zoom in and out with ease.
And the center rotating knob makes it easy to change
brush size very quickly and smoothly.
The large buttons are easy to press
with your thumb and forefingers.
The Short button can act like a Space-bar to pan.
The Top button can be Shift and the Tall button Alt.
Now the D-pad is awesome
as you can assign a bunch of tools to this
and easily activate them.
And the C1 and 2 buttons can be used for undo and redo,
which makes it really easy to quickly jump back a few steps
or forward in your workflow.
So instead of having to press the shortcuts
with your fingers on the keyboard,
you can just slam the buttons quickly on the controller
without having to press Command on Mac or Control on PC
with your thumb and move your hand awkwardly
to hit the right button on the keyboard.
It's simply more efficient.
And with the heads-up display, you can keep an eye on this,
so you don't forget which shortcuts have been applied
to each button.
By pressing the Side button
you can expand the D-pad tools to another four.
And by pressing the Top button,
you could expand to another four.
As of making this video,
you can program 12 tools onto the D-pad,
which is pretty cool.
And when using the features in Camera Raw
the dial makes it really easy to toggle the sliders,
super-smooth, easy and precise.
Now, another cool thing to mention here
is that you can use the controller
to trigger your own shortcuts.
Now all creative software have shortcuts,
but sometimes there may be things you want to do
that have no shortcuts.
For example, in Photoshop,
I use a lot of actions to record sequences
that cannot be done with shortcuts.
For example, in my Actions panel,
I have an action to quickly create a new document
to a specific size,
an action to quickly duplicate a document
to quickly transform a layer into a smart object,
to use content aware, to save for web and so on.
I've recorded these actions,
which I use a lot and trigger them to speed up my workflow.
Here, you can see my Actions panel,
where I have a bunch of prerecorded actions
and on the right, you can see the keyboard shortcuts
I have applied to them.
With the controller interface open,
I can come to one of the combos, apply the shortcut
I have set to trigger a specific action
and back in Photoshop by pressing the combo
on the controller,
this is a really fast way to trigger an action.
In this example,
I'm creating a new document in Photoshop
to a specific dimension at a click of a button,
which also sets guides to the center
horizontally and vertically.
This saves me time having to go through
the entire center process each time
I want to create a document like this.
And as shown earlier,
I do this for a lot of actions I use frequently.
So this can be really handy to save you time.
Now, the TourBox is especially awesome
when paired with a tablet or pen display.
The TourBox controller is just small enough
to not get in the way too much
and paired with a tablet or pen display
it makes workflow far more seamless.
The controller works perfectly to activate tools, zoom,
and scroll through your document easily.
So if you're someone who uses a tablet or pen display,
you would find this really useful.
So I've been using this controller
for the past few weeks now,
and I can safely say it has now become a lasting part
of my setup.
When using the smooth dials,
the scroll wheel and the quick D-pad,
you really feel like you're using a proper piece
of studio equipment.
Once you get used to this
as part of your seamless integration,
you really don't need to take your hand off the controller.
And there is no going back.
Now personally, I do a lot of work in Photoshop,
Illustrator and InDesign for my design work,
and Premiere and After Effects to make my videos
and the controller works really well in each instance.
In Photoshop, it's great for editing all your adjustments
using the dial in Camera Raw comfortably.
And then once in a document,
it makes zooming, changing the brush size
and activating tools and shortcuts a breeze.
And in Illustrator and InDesign, it's more the same,
where you can use the zoom tools and trigger up to 12 tools
using the D-pad, activate shortcuts
and use the dial to edit selected parameters.
Now, this controller is amazing in Premiere,
and I imagine it is also great in Final Cut too.
The rotatory buttons,
really help to scroll through the timeline fast
and frame by frame.
Zooming in and out is so smooth
instead of having to constantly press the Z key
on my keyboard and scroll with the mouse.
And the controller is also great for
cutting my footage with ease.
Now in After Effects, like in Premiere,
using the controller helps move through the timeline
step by step and toggling parameters
and activating shortcuts and tools.
Setting up presets for other apps was easy.
As mentioned earlier,
jumping onto the TourBox website and downloading the presets
and importing them were straightforward.
However, as of making this video,
there was no InDesign preset.
So by hitting a new preset, you can choose a current preset.
In this instance,
I went with Photoshop and saved with a new name,
simply assign it to a new app
and change the individual buttons and combos
to your preference.
Now this can take a little time,
but it's well worth it for that extra functionality.
Hopefully in future,
there will be more presets available and InDesign
will be one of them.
So after using it for a while,
I found you can really use it single-handed,
and there is no need to move your hand at all.
The more you use it,
the less time you need to rely on the keyboard shortcuts.
You can work seamlessly with a mouse and the controller,
but it does take a little time to get used to.
Now, if you get one of these, you will be touching it a lot.
So I also liked the matte coating,
which was quite pleasant to the touch.
Though be careful if you have greasy or sweaty hands
as this may need a wipe down after a long work session.
The controller itself is quite weighty.
And with the four grips on the underside,
you'll find it does not move around that much on your desk.
Now the controller is also really portable
and with a little bag it comes with,
you can just chuck it into your bag and forget about it.
Now, the provided USB-A to USB-C cable
is really good quality,
but I found myself using a USB-C to USB-C cable,
which is pretty cool if you're rolling with a USB-C Mac
or Windows machine.
So no dongles and a less cluttered workspace.
However, if you go with the elite version,
which is Bluetooth,
then you won't have to worry about cables at all.
Now, if there were some things I'd say
could use with some improvement,
that would be the ergonomics.
Now this controller seems like it has only been designed
for right-handed people.
It works really well for your left hand.
Your thumb sits nicely over the big buttons,
which make it easy to control the wheel and activate combos,
but I don't think it would be as good
for left-handed people.
I think TourBox should probably look to build one in reverse
for left-handed people.
Now, this is a minor point
as there is not much to fault with it.
Overall, the buttons do feel nice to the touch.
When pressing the Side button, Tall button,
Short button, the Scroll button,
and rotating the dial and knob,
they are quiet and smooth,
but when pressing the dialer knob,
these just sound loud and plastic,
which can be a little discouraging to use them.
And when clicking some of the buttons,
specifically the D-pad and the C1 and 2 buttons,
they feel a bit plastic and cheap.
So no consistency there with the button clicks.
Not a deal breaker here,
but just a minor point that they may want to consider
for future models.
Also, it would have been nice if there were more presets,
especially for designers.
It would have been nice to have seen a preset
for InDesign and XD, for example,
but I'm sure this will come in future.
So in conclusion, in all honesty,
I did not know about this product until TourBox
reached out to me and sent me a unit to review.
I was quite happy plugging away with keyboard shortcuts,
and I had never felt the need to go out and look
for a product like this.
However, after using it,
I'd say TourBox is a really neat product
and it has now become a permanent feature on my desk.
It does take a little getting used to,
especially if you have been hitting shortcut keys
on the keyboard for years.
As I said at the start,
I called this the ninja controller and for good reason.
Overall, I did find it to be an improvement
and worth getting if you do a lot of work
in creative software tools and use a pen tablet or display.
This works really well as part of your workflow
and after a while, you won't go back.
It's really strong in Photoshop for photo editing,
retouching, illustration,
and awesome in Premiere and Final Cut for video editing.
However, for designers who use Illustrator and InDesign
or maybe even XD, it's also pretty good.
So perfect for retouchers, illustrators,
video producers and designers.
So those are my thoughts on the TourBox.
So what do you think?
Would you see yourself using a controller like this?
Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below,
and if you want to learn more about the TourBox controller,
you can check for links in the description.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, hit the Like button
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like this in future.
Also, if you have any other design product reviews,
you would like to see me discuss,
be sure to pop them in the comments and I will look into it.
Until then, have fun guys, and I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)