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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1436922
A Big Deal Our first impression was, Wow, that’s big! At 23-inches wide and just over 9-inches deep, it consumes a considerable amount desktop real estate. For custom console installations, however, there is a flange that lets it sit almost flush in a cutout. The depth allows for a generous wrist-rest area and much of the width comes from not just the extra editing keys and shuttle knob, but an understanding of the importance of allowing for reasonable separation between these and the QWERTY keyboard. You’ll find that most of your time your hands are busy on opposite ends of the keyboard rather than the center. The enclosure is all metal and quite heavy; between the weight and rubber feet, slipping around on your desktop won’t be an issue. On the back is a USB Type-C port to connect to your computer and two USB-A SuperSpeed connectors for other peripherals. The feel of the keys is solid and crisp, reminiscent of the old Apple IIs and earliest Macs and reincarnated in the Matias Tactile Pro line. It’s a wonderful experience to use. The QWERTY section itself is rather compact, with key spacing tighter than normal. However the design of the individual keys, with curved-in sides giving separation to the deeply-indented keycaps make typing surprisingly accurate. The end result is that it is easy to get used to and is less prone to fat-fingering to more modern keyboard designs with full-width keycaps and minimal spacing. The relative positions of the Ctrl, Option/Alt, and Control keys are clearly biased towards Mac keyboard users. There are a couple basic keyboard design changes Blackmagic made, as well. The double-width top left key is Undo and above that, along the function key row is an even wider Escape key (a powerful, multi-purpose key in the DaVinci realm). Unlike the Speed Editor, which essentially goes dark when Resolve is not running, the Editor Keyboard’s keyboard, numeric keypad and function keys are fully functional when the program isn’t running. (Your correspondent is using it to type up this review, in fact.) Traditional extended keyboard commands like forward-delete page-up/down, and home/end are still there when the function key, conveniently placed at the lower left of the QWERTY bank, is held down. Having the keycaps labeled makes it easier to develop the best habits when working with DaVinci Resolve. Working primarily with the keyboard, the connection between mind and screen is much smoother than if you’re always reaching for a mouse and maneuvering a cursor around a screen