Stream Deck XL Setup

[Joe_Carrick]

Here's my Stream Deck XL Setup:

 

It's taken quite a bit of time to get it setup the way I want.  It includes a complete set of Hotkeys for all Basic Chief Objects and a lot of organization.  Each Chief Object category is a different "Folder" so when a button is selected on the main Chief Folder, the corresponding id Folder is opened.

I've also included a Custom Cabinet folder that works for Rabb's Kitchen Tools (won't work unless you have that package) and several buttons that lookup things in the Library.

 

I need to put together a package that includes some of my user libraries (which are used by some of the buttons), the Hotkeys and a few instructions for importing the entire system.

 

The price for this setup if you want it ---- $200 USD ---- PM me and I'll provide you with payment instructions.

 

       

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DRAWZILLA]

Joe, all I have to say is "wow", this is perfect for me. you have done a lot of work on this. thanks

[Joe_Carrick]

Yes, I've been fighting with too many toolbar items and the StreamDeck makes it infinitely easier to see.

[Joe_Carrick]

Assuming that Chief X14 and ChiefTalk are both to be buttons on the Default Profile:

What other Buttons would you want?

• Apps such as  WORD, ACCESS, EXCEL,....(they can have Smart Profiles assigned so that when active their Hotkey buttons would be displayed on the Stream Deck)
• Control Panel
• Task Manager
• Edge
• Email
• Windows Explorer

are some that come to mind.  I can set those up in a "Miscellaneous Buttons Profile" which can then be copy/pasted to your Default Profile.

 

Let me know what you would want.  Basically the things you use often and want quick access to from your Stream Deck Default Profile.

[OkcDesigner]

Joe this is great! I could not figure it out, so I took it back. Now I will have to go buy another one and get your setup...

 

Would like to see you demonstrate this in the round table on November 5th if you can make it. I posted in under user groups and General Q / A

 

Maybe I will get it by then send people your way if you cannot make it.

 

Very Nice, looking forward to getting this.

[CharlesVolz]

3 hours ago, DRAWZILLA said:

Joe, all I have to say is "wow", this is perfect for me. you have done a lot of work on this. thanks

Ditto!

[Joe_Carrick]

FWIW, I know some will think that my price of $200 is too much.

But I can assure you if you try to replicate my setup it will cost you more in billable hours than my fee.

I wouldn't do this for anyone as a custom setup for less than $2000.00

If I get 10 users to purchase it I still wouldn't recoup my costs.

[Joe_Carrick]

36 minutes ago, M-Reed said:

Is not nearly $500.00 for a device that acts like a keyboard and a custom setup a lot of money for such?

 

It's the cost of doing business.  That along with inflation is why the cost is what it is. 

 

I can remember buying gas for 29 cents per gallon  and a good hamburger was just 19 cents.

but that was 1958. 

 

40 minutes ago, M-Reed said:

any way to rid the buttons of the "cartoony" icons?

 

Yes, but generally the "cartoony" icons are easier to recognize - most of those I use are directly from Chief.

[VisualDandD]

Joe,

Very cool.  Neat to see the way you set your up.   I did my arrangement very different from yours.  But stopped on my progress.

 

I integrated a 10-key in mine  common edit commands.  Makes doing things very easy.  And I can 'flip' to the 10key (with ft and inch something normal 10 keys dont have)  page easily while drawing.

I took all the chief icons and brought them into photoshop and used some shaders to make the keys have depth. 

Here are just a few pages for ideas, but obviously our work flows are very different.

 

 

 

 

[Joe_Carrick]

Hi Justin,

 

I concentrated on Chief's Architectural Objects.  I didn't include any of the "Edit Menu" buttons because they are specific to the current active object and  would only work if an object was selected.  IOW, my buttons are primarily "create" vs "edit".

 

For editing I use the mouse and keyboard.  

 

Basically I tried to eliminate the Toolbar search for a command which I find particularly time consuming and a strain on my eyes.

[VisualDandD]

Joe

As I said, our approaches are different. (which is cool and neat to see how others approach).    I have my goal to never take my right hand off a mouse (unless typing text).   My left hand operates the steam deck (formerly used a Logitech G13 keypad)  and my 3d mouse.

 

I have gotten so busy that I have not finished my layout.

I have color coded mine.  I have a screen for normal floor plan drawing (which included some common edit functions that I used most)  and a roof/cad (along with edits).   But with the expanded capability the the stream deck over the old game pad I have,  I have not fully thought out all my layouts.   

 

I need to get some clear Mindspace to see how I want to go forward with it.   Very cool to see how you approached it.  Yours goes into more detail than I would use in some very specific areas, but I can see how that may be useful to some depending on what you are drawing.

 

I first stated by making tons of buttons and then approached my layout.  I think the button part took me the longest!  To get good images, I went through the chief manual in PDF and got as high res captures of the icons that I could.    Attached are an example of some of mine.  But I never got quite around to finishing!

 

Just always fun to see others approach.  I pretty much work in a vacuum and dont come around here enough.

 

If you want anything, I would be happy to share any with you.  

[Joe_Carrick]

This is my Default Profile:

 

 

Notice that Chief X14 is on a Button that provides access to all the Chief Folders which provide the tools available on Chief's Drop-down Toolbars.

My setup required that I have Hotkey assignments for almost everything.  There's simply no way I could remember hundreds of multi-key shortcuts.  The Stream Deck allows each of those to be accessed with just a single button press.  Each Folder has all of the tools for each category available at a single glance.

 

I also have used several different keyboards including the G13 but the number assignments were just too much for me to remember and they were too limited.

 

Yes, the Stream Deck is much more than a keypad.  It was designed for "Streamers" having the ability to access any Application, WebSite, etc.  In addition it can access multi-media files.

The cost of the XL is over $200 but what it can do is well worth that.

 

The number of available keys is almost unlimited.  I've assigned well over 4000 keystrokes to about my setup.  But I only need to press 1 or 2 buttons to get any of the Chief create tools.

The fact that I can see the tools so much quicker than using Chief's Toolbars makes it totally worth the price.

 

BTW, most of the buttons on my Default Profile automatically switch to the appropriate Hotkeys for that App.  You cold never do that with a keypad with "stick-ons".

[Smn842]

4 hours ago, M-Reed said:

This one used hardware to allow windows to differentiate two keyboards. I am sure this explains some of the cost involved with the Stream Deck.

 

The cost of the Stream Decks is basically the LCD behind the whole front panel for the buttons.  The benefit of colourful icons that can change to different layouts and have multiple states (so show a toggled feature state or values etc)  is what makes Stream Decks so much better for many use cases than additional traditional keypads/keyboards with custom caps/labels. 

 

I have two Stream Decks XLs that I use in a number of other applications with many hundreds of key actions configured.  It does take time to setup (as per this thread) but its well worth it.

 

In fact I use these these so much I invested the time to write a utility to extract icons from certain applications configurations, use existing shortcuts in those apps (or create unique custom shortcuts automatically) and then allow me simply to arrange any of these I want to use in that utility which then does all the heavy lifting of assigning/modifying keys and their icons without using the Stream Deck GUI. 

[Joe_Carrick]

3 hours ago, Smn842 said:

I invested the time to write a utility to extract icons from certain applications configurations, use existing shortcuts in those apps (or create unique custom shortcuts automatically) and then allow me simply to arrange any of these I want to use in that utility which then does all the heavy lifting of assigning/modifying keys and their icons without using the Stream Deck GUI. 

How much do you want for that utility?

It would definitely be nice to have.

[Joe_Carrick]

Another very cool feature is the ability to assign a typed text string to a button.  Then in Chief wherever you need that particular text you simply press that button and it's automatically typed for you.  It will work in:

• Labels
• Text
• Rich Text
• Notes
• etc.

It can even contain a user macro so that the result is retrieved from the Chief Object.  

[VisualDandD]

@Joe_Carrick

Love it!  You have motivated me to get back to messing with it.  I got it to where it handles 90% of what I wanted, and then lost motivation.

 

The stream deck is a great tool.  I use it control my 'fancy zones' move windows around and alter setups on the fly.  Launch programs and arrange desktop in a certain fashion...etc.  Windows mover and resizer is a great plug in.

Great to see your approach!  Trust me, try making a 10-key w/ ft in and see how easy it makes drawing.

 

 

[Joe_Carrick]

55 minutes ago, VisualDandD said:

Windows mover and resizer is a great plug in.

I'll need to study that.  I'm not sure how I could/would use that with my setup.

I generally just position things where I want them and let Windows 11 control that.

[DRAWZILLA]

@Joe_CarrickJoe, do you see any problems moving to X15 when it's ready, is there any changes needed with your system. Thanks

[Joe_Carrick]

4 hours ago, M-Reed said:

I would be happy with a classic flip phone that simply made calls! LOL - Maxie

I have a friend who has to get a new phone because his old flip phone is not going to be supported any more.

[Joe_Carrick]

4 hours ago, DRAWZILLA said:

@Joe_CarrickJoe, do you see any problems moving to X15 when it's ready, is there any changes needed with your system. Thanks

No, but if Chief adds some new tools they would need to be added along with the Hotkey to access them.  An example might be if "Automatic Truss Framing" is added - then a Hotkey would have to be assigned along with a button icon.

[CharlesVolz]

19 hours ago, VisualDandD said:

I have my goal to never take my right hand off a mouse (unless typing text).

That is what I do.

[CharlesVolz]

6 hours ago, M-Reed said:

I am a far more frugal person than many and have a tendency to use what I have and to create new ways to use my old items or processes. It seems the tendency of the general public to pay more for the latest and greatest is an accepted trend. Just look at the cost of new phones but yet they continue to sell! Some are $1500! I would be happy with a classic flip phone that simply made calls! LOL - Maxie

I am with you on the phone, if that meets your needs. 

I am with you on the keyboard, if that meets your needs.

 

For some of us, it is an investment that pays off big time. 

[Joe_Carrick]

16 minutes ago, M-Reed said:

I was serious about having developed an app 'Macro Pad" back around 2003 / 2004 that did everything this product does.

Macro Pad in 2003 -2004 would not have anything near the capabilities of Stream Deck.  The technology just wasn't that far advanced.

 

Note:  If you search for "Macro Pad' on Amazon - Stream Deck is the main result.

[Joe_Carrick]

FWIW,

 

My Setup is now available - Packaged.

 

Send me an PM with your email address and if you have a Zelle account.  If you have a Zelle account I will need the name and either email or phone # associated with that account.

 

I will then send you a request for payment (Zelle or Paypal).

The price is $200 and includes not only the Stream Deck Setup - but also my Stair Label Macros and a couple of Libraries that make things easier.

 

Have Fun 

[Joe_Carrick]

Here's the latest view of my Stream Deck Setup.  I've extensively modified the icons for the buttons to be as close to Chief's Toolbars as I could make them.