Is there a way that a button on a peripheral mouse can act as an input for Kaleidescope, for instance, to activate a layer?
I do a lot of 3D CAD modeling where I need to put my right hand on my mouse and I also want to use my left hand for a lot of number dimension inputs. I currently use the left FN key to active a numpad layer on the left half of my keyboard. However, I find that holding the left FN key limits the use of my thumb to help type in numbers. I’ve also experimented with moving the numpad key to one of the thumb tip buttons, using LockLayer, and plugins like the OneShot, but nothing seems as natural or efficient as I’d like. So I wonder if activating the numpad by holding a mouse button is possible and might work better.
You could rig something up using the virtual serial port and writing a small program that gets triggered when you press the mouse button. check out this plugin https://github.com/keyboardio/Kaleidoscope-Focus
I’ve been wondering something similar about building a foot pedal. Will try this.
I do a lot of work in Photoshop also with a hand full time on the mouse. I have had a lot of success with a mirror-mode ShiftToLayer (I trigger it by holding the innermost thumbkey). When held down on a qwerty board the asdf is replaced by ;lkj - your index handling the F and J respectively. It’s surprisingly easy to do. A foot pedal will make this a bit smoother.
Thank you both for the responses. @Kipples, I’ll also check out the Focus plugin. I’m not very fluent in coding, so it may take me a while to interpret what’s going on with the Focus plugin and how to use it. Once I get something, I’ll share it.
@arley I like the mirror-mode ShiftToLayer idea. It hadn’t occurred to me, but would make some of my CAD program mapkeys easier to do one-handed!
@Kipples I have a similar issue: I’m going to build a foot pedal for my keyboard.
I just checked the plugin: everything looks clear from the keyboard side (e.g. receiving messages), but I don’t quite understand how to send messages to the keyboard.
As far as I can see keyboard can send and receive messages via it’s virtual serial port. Correct?
I the above is correct:
I have an Arduino Beetle connected to a pedal. Can I it configure to connect to my keyboard and send messages to it via serial port. there an example of such arduino sketch?
You will either need to connect the two directly, or send via the host, using a small program to “proxy” between the two. Connecting directly and using the virtual serial port is… complicated. You’d have to plug the keyboard into the pedal, and proxy stuff towards the host… complicated and messy. There are some pins on the keyboard, for use with extensions. You might have better luck using those instead of the Focus plugin and the virtual serial port.
On the Model01 side, you’d just read from the pins every cycle, and send state there from the pedal. It sounds fairly simple to me. Hopefully it is simple too. O:)
There are some pins on the keyboard, for use with extensions. You might have better luck using those instead of the Focus plugin and the virtual serial port.
I see. I think this fits better. I saw this port in the board.
Are there any docs for this or examples how to use this extension port?
Have you figured out how to map a button on a peripheral mouse to activate a layer? I’m looking into doing just that with a Logitech G600 but the Focus plugin is over my head.