Awesome NEW Feature for Planck EZ and Moonlander Keyboards: Tap Dance
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- Four events, one key. Let's explore ZSA's new feature for Planck EZ and Moonlander keyboards. With any keyboard feature that promises to offer multiple events based on tapping/holding etc I'm always a bit cautious due to how it can negatively affect the way the keys 'feel'.
Normally we are used to keys firing their tap event as soon as the key hits the actuation point at the bottom of the keystroke, but if the key has to check if you are holding the key, or double tapping, it has to hold back that event to rule those gestures out.
The Tap Dance feature does do some clever things to mitigate this though and we'll get into these here as well as looking at how the feature could be improved in the future.
Essentially Tap Dance lets you set up four events per key: normal tap, hold, double tap, or tap and then hold. The more you configure these the more it impacts the normal expected behaviour of your keys. In this video I explore the implications of that impact and look at where the best kind of use-cases for this feature are.
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Dude! Invaluable, thank you for being out in front of this for us. After watching your vids im going to make the plunge into this keyboard. I'm coming from 20 years in construction to learning programming and my hands are prone to repetitive motion injuries. Once I get out of the baby stages of code camp, this gear will be essential.
Side note, the way you are with equipment and gear is how I was in construction. I tested out and tweaked so many products to tease out minut performance enhancements for me and my guys. Its a fun deep dive with you into these keyboards, way cool : )
Awesome, great to have you here!
Look at the iris 4 as well, it's shape is nice. Though idk about the software and whether it comes preassembled.
props to them for being able to integrate this qmk feature in a software configurator. the qmk configurator still hasn't been able to figure out a way to do it so you have to program it.
I've been using tap and hold for quite a while and it's very useful for writing a second language that requires diacritics, which is my case with Spanish. it has also enabled me to get rid of the need for some keys which is awesome for a 40%, you could for instance make the 'menu' key behave like a function key when it's pressed down.
Cool stuff!
I was also hoping to assign hold or double-tap to non-English letters or diacritics but I haven’t figured how how to assign anything but regular letters or commands to keys in Oryx. Any ideas?
@@dflynn you have to do the same thing as when setting foreign symbols to the keyboard. Set your kb to international English, find the English key corresponding to the symbol on the non English layout and set that. Macros can't be done.
@@NicincM Thanks, I'll try that, though I suspect Oryx still won't let me assign just any unicode character. Oh well, there's always autocorrect, as I describe here: ua-cam.com/video/FHjN0t9F95g/v-deo.html
@@dflynn no, the character has to be accessible from the layout in Windows that you are using. The only other option is a macro to input it if it has a shortcut in Windows/mac. But macros aren't available in tap dances.
Thanks for this vídeo! I'll share it with the people of the Keyd project to see if they can support it.
I had created a custom keyboard and now created an entry into the QMK firmware for my keyboard. I have extensively added TAP DANCE features that have really expanded on the usefulness of keys, especially for one handedness. I have utilized Single Tap, Single Hold, Double Tap, Double Hold, and Triple Tab for some truly amazing stuff.
Cool! What kind of commands have you been playing around with? Feel like whenever there’s new features like these it really helps to see how someone else has integrated it into their everyday workflow.
As soon as I had the notification I tapped on it, the video hasn't started and I liked it already, your videos are so calming that make me want to be your neighbor if everyone around you is like that, just to have a calm, quiet life.
When it comes to the keyboard feature, this will possible that the moonlander can be used as a 30% split keyboard which allows your hands to move even less and make it even more ergonomic.
Thanks so much :) Yeah I'm trying to remove some keys to reduce movement too - totally agree that the fewer movements the more ergonomic it is.
@@BenVallack you may check videos or blogs about people using something like a gergoplex keyboard, a 30% split ortholinear keyboard, that should give you an idea.
That initial delay would annoy me too much already. :) But it might be nice for the non-alpha keys, to layer additional functions in a single layer.
I thought exactly the same but persevered, I don't notice it any more at all!
I clicked at lightspeed. Notifications for your channel really are something!
Thanks so much!
Just found your channel. Really love the way that you portray information, hope this project of yours takes off in the coming year! Good luck :)
Thank you for your great explanation of all the functionality and examples of where to start experimenting.
**Ben** If I didn’t learn anything else today, learning that CMD+L will activate/put my cursor in the address bar is just awesome. I use a mac and an iPad Pro as my primary way of connecting with the world or doing work, so anything that I can do to not use my mouse for simple things, such as activating the text field where the web address lives, is such a life saver. I almost want you to put out a blog post about those little known productivity hacks like that. I say blog post because I really doubt that a whole video on it would be worth the while, but maybe?
Also, how silly are the two of us for not thinking of just using a different cable? We previously talked about charging the iPad while using our wired keyboards and I raised the question of how to get around the single usb c port being used up by the C-to-C cable that comes with my Preonic and your Planck EZ. I eventually just switched to using a different usb c-to-usb a cable and the video out dongle from Apple. (The one with power, hdmi, and a usb-a port?) That setup works out great. I even ended up snagging a different dongle that allows me to use my Preonic with my iPad mini and my iPhone while I was at it. It is just a simple one that gives me lightning and a single usb-a port, but it gives me the same functionality for those devices should the need arise. By the way, for someone like me who is (more or less) on the disabled list, an iPad mini and a swing arm is a great combo for doing work while having to lay down in bed. Let me know if you would like to chat about that set up sometime. Although, you’re a brilliant guy-you probably don’t need my help figuring out how/why that one works.
Haha! That is a great solution re. charging! Thanks for all the comments - iPad on swing arm sounds super-useful. Really glad you have a solution. I reckon I could probably fill a video with the various mac/ios productivity hacks I've accumulated over the years :) Will add to the list!
@@BenVallack Word of caution: as I am sure that you are aware, but I-myself-kind of forgot this once already, not all cables are created equal. So I highly recommend double checking to see if the cable you’re looking for has the power-throughput required for your keyboard. This one that I am linking was recommended to me recently and it is quite nice. It comes in a three pack and it has a magnetic breakaway tip so that you run less of a chance of breaking your USB port in the keyboard should it shift weirdly on your bean-bag. (Though the magnetic connector might be a downside as well, depending on your view point.)
www.amazon.com/dp/B07JYYCPZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_E4DA667273RFVF61K7KQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
@@BenVallack Do you find macos to be more efficient than windows given the work you do is supported on both?
Nice video. I found a nice use for my V key.
tap: v
hold: cmd v to paste
double tap: Keyboard Maestro pallet to chose from clipboard history, paste matching style, and a few other options.
That's awesome, will try it.
Sounds awesome! Very clever and efficient ☺️
Ben, have you looked into self-compiling QMK on the EZ? It would give you access to some missing features like combos. On my planck EZ, I can tap Q + W together to press tab, and I believe you can make custom combos for modifier keypresses as well. e.g. You could program Z + C to output command+C.
Ah cool yeah combos sound great fun! Not sure if I will find time to go down that route though! Maybe we'll get it in Oryx one day.
Good video.
THANK YOU
Great! Thank you!! Any idea if we can do this kind of thing for the OLKB planck?
Yep it's a qmk feature so should be possible somehow!
Nice to see a dedicated video covering this feature! It's nice, but I've experienced problems. The keys with tapdance will have input latency. If you set a tap dance (especially with Tap and Hold, like tap Z for Z and hold Z for Ctrl+Z), then the board starts to count the Tap input only upon RELEASE of the key press, rather than BEGINNING. It makes sense, because the board is counting the time you held the key down for. But the end result is so unpleasantly laggy
I tried to set half the keyboard to tapdance hold for Ctrl modifier, and it lagged the board out so badly I couldn't type normally, it just feels so delayed. I ended up adding an entirely new layer just for Ctrl modifier macro, for Photoshop, so the Base layer typing keys remain unaffected by the lag.
I felt exactly the same when I first tried it. Input delay was bizzare and very distracting. Blt, I stuck with it and the wierd thing is my brain has somehow learned to ignore it, and typing without it now seems strange! If you like the idea of it, stick with it and your brain adapts!
@@BenVallack Thanks for the reply and glad it works for you and so many others! I really love my planck EZ and programming it is a breeze, and really powerful. This input lag taught me to use layers, so it turned out great! Haha
Hi Ben, love the videos.
I'm thinking about getting a moonlander and also switching to something other than QWERTY (actually QWERTZ, I'm German). I'm currently on a 65% standard mechanical keyboard. Would you recommend doing both at once or one after the other?
I would suggest doing both at the same time. I changed to Dvorak about 10 years ago. It took me about a month to learn to properly touch type on the new layout. I couple of years ago I switched to ortho layout, which is much more intuitive. It’s easier to learn a new layout, as the key you want will be directly above, below or within one key. It takes a bit of time to adjust to the non-staggered layout, but not as long as learning the new layout. If you are learning a new layout, might as well learn ortho at the same time. Hope you get on okay...
Look at the iris 4 as well, it's shape is nice. Though idk about the software and whether it comes preassembled.
i love this bloke
Check out my new 36 key layout for Planck ua-cam.com/video/vv98LPMA7-M/v-deo.html AND Moonlander ua-cam.com/video/S0bBmcoVsm8/v-deo.html
Is the Planck EZ worth it for someone who only types with a couple of fingers on each hand and thumbs, or should I just accept that I am going to be forever slow? I was converted from left handed to right handed as a kid, so my dexterity is not great. Great vids. really enjoying them.
That’s an interesting question. I would think the advantage is that it might help you learn to add more fingers easier due to the simplicity of the grid. Plus if you are spending time learning new fingers you might as well be doing it on ortholinear. Check out some of my recent videos looking at learning a new layout as those tools will help your typing whatever layout you use. Mind you if you are only using a few fingers now, now might be a good time to learn a new layout too!
Does anyone else have issues with using tap and hold for "ctrl + letter key" on Ubuntu? I'm trying to set it up so that I can long press on the "a" and "e" keys to jump to the start and end of the line in the terminal and it doesn't seem to work.
so to wrap it up.. can i have this behaviour on the right keyboard but having the left without any delay (would use it for gamin though)
For sure, you could also just set up a gaming layer specifically.
Double tap works great for symbols. IE on one tap “,” on second “>” on the same key with double tap. Or integration of :/; and ‘/“ based on single and double tap (or hold)
Interesting yeah I can see the potential there for things that aren't often repeated etc.
Is that a blur artifact or is that a home row bump on your T key? I recently swapped to workman on the Moonlander and I've loved it aside from the fact that the home row navigation bumps are gone. The lack of keycap options in the third party market that keep the same sculpt has also been a bit of a downer.
I gave up and stuck the f key with the bump on there! My N is also a bumpy F on the other side (used the same ones for each board, the J keys are both on the planck!)
It doesn’t look pretty, but I find a small lump of Blu-tac at the bottom of the home keys helps you to locate home. I don’t know if the oil in Blu-tac would damage the surface of the keys, but I find it works pretty well. The stickiness of the Blu-tac goes pretty quickly.
@@benisrood yeah, I did think about that, but Blu-tac is less permanent. I guess a very thin strip of plastic which matches your key cap colour and some double-sided tape could work.
Why did you choose Moonlander over the EZ? Doesn't having more keys, especially in the thumb cluster, provide more options? Also, the lack of oversized keys on the outer columns concerns me a little, as does the hard wrist rest for prolonged use. Have you tried the the EZ with the rubber wrist rest? How do you think they compare and what was your decision process?
I actually still use them both and love them equally heh. Ultimately when I'm working at my standing desk I value having my chest more open with shoulders back and down so use the Moonlander. When I'm using the iPad on my lap on a sofa though the Planck is just perfect! I actually avoid using any kind of wrist rest now and favour 'hovering' - which is why I'm so keen on maintaining my home row orientation, so for me the wrist rest element doesn't come into it.
If you're referring to the ErgoDox EZ, I've got two of them and have now moved on to smaller keyboards myself. Personally, as I've refined my key mapping, all my keys have gravitated towards my home row. I find that with 4 layers, I can comfortably fit every key, plus extra macros and shortcuts within the bounds of a 40% keyboard, like the Planck, which I used on travels for a long time. I now use the Keebio Iris Rev 4, and love it. I'm almost ready to declare it my perfect keyboard. The only thing I really miss is ZSA's sexy configurator. Oryx is phenomenal.
For me, I feel like if you rely on an overabundance of keys in order to spread your layout out, you're probably being less efficient than you could be. You're going to type slower and experience unnecessary fatigue. Utilizing QMK's awesome features like mod tap, tap dance, macros, and basic layers should easily allow you to fit everything you need into a smaller board.
@@GirdEmUp Coldn't agree more.
Double tap shift for caps. One of my favs.
That’s interesting, I wasn’t planning to use the feature but that’s a good one since I use Caps as ESC.
This is really interesting, will try this today!
So, the software is inspired by the same software the Corne uses? I'm currently torn between the 2 keyboards..
Yep, the Oryx configurator is basically a really polished app that generates the QMK firmware for you behind the scenes. If you haven’t done a lot of experimenting with layouts yet it makes it really easy to test and change your layouts. I think given how many times I've changed mine I would have got pretty frustrated working natively in QMK all that time. There is an online tool for QMK though too, but it‘s pretty clunky!
Yes, cool feature! But sorry I can't help it ...
It sounds to me you using it to 'fix' the shortcoming of your text editor! Honestly, you might wanna have a look at vim! If you think about productivity and becoming more efficient at writing/editing text you will not regret it!
You could then use the hold function for something else, capital letter for example!
Edit: Just saw another video of you using vim. Move along, don't mind me! :)
Heh yeah I do use and love Vim! Thanks for your comments!
@@BenVallack I just build a planck. I get the keycaps tomorrow. It is my first ortho and my first QMK keyboard. I just do some research and planing how to configure the planck.
I must say, I am overwhelmed by the possibilities the QMK firmware gives you.
Vi/Vim sort of solved this decades ago :) Not saying there isn’t some interesting things you could do with both.
Mac lol windows lol
nah, use Linux
thx for the firmware tip though!