Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard

[DP-Mike]

I've been looking into a new keyboard for awhile now. From gaming I know you can get programmable keyboards where every key can be a different keystroke, or combination of. And since I am an old school hotkey user who has modified my pull down menu's to be only keys on the left hand portion of the QWERTY keyboard, a custom keyboard sounds awesome.

So I came across the Logitech G13 keyboard. Its for your left hand, has a joystick on your thumb (which can be used as a mouse driver) has 25 programmable keys with 5 different layouts, so in truth I will have five possible key strokes for each key.

My questions are;

Does anyone use custom keyboards with programmable keys?

Does anyone use the G13 keyboard?

And if you do, how do you like them?

Thanks

Mike

[pendean]

So "programmable' hardware simply direct keyboard strokes to specific keys: you know, like F-keys, CTRL+ and SHIFT+ things and more.

Do you actually use all of these in AutoCAD right now that you feel you need to "automate"? Do you have many custom LISP or VB or .NET routines mapped to these keys that you need to automate? That's what these do for the most part, they will not create these automation routines for you.

[DP-Mike]

Dean,

It has been to long!

To answer your question simply, yes; I have lisp routines, custom commands, and other macros that I would use the custom keys. I also have some shortcuts and commands in other programs as well; excel, word, outlook.

For the most part, the custom keys would be set up like the left part of a QWERTY keyboard; A S D F G etc... That way my cutom pull downs would still work. The reamining keys would become custom macros, other commands, text strings for word or outlook, etc... I would also make a three of them for volume control.

In otherwords, I have the automation routines, macros, etc... The custom keyboard would allow me to access them easier and faster...even if faster by one ot two keystrokes.

Mike

[pendean]

Sweet: then before you buy you should download the driver for this keyboard and see what bit allows you to map from the keyboard and see if it appears to do what you want.

Then double-check the return policy before you buy it should it turn out to be something more tangible that you dislike, like the feel of the keys or ergonomics etc.

[DP-Mike]

That's really good advice Dean.... Especially the driver.

Thanks,

Mike

[Anonymous]

This is late   but i use this keyboard and love it i have one basic profile and change a few of the keys to match what i am working on at the time, i could probably setup other profiles as a copy more or less with the changes, but the ones that change are always moving pieces anyway

[Anonymous]

Hi!

Could you share how did you customize the Logitech G13 for CAD? Please, thank you in advance!!!

[Anonymous]

Ich benutze nun seit 3 Monaten die Logitech G13. Ich werde Montag auf der Arbeit mal die Liste meiner Befehle, sowie die Tastenbelgung posten. Ich benutze drei Layouts und habe damit sämtliche Funktionen der Tastatur ebenfalls auf die G13 gelegt, sodass ich die Tastatur nurnoch in Ausnahmefällen nutze.

Ich würde mich freuen Erfahrungen anderer Nutzer zu hören, falls es diese gibt.

[Ron_113]

I use a keypad; Logitech standard numbered keypad and use HID Macros software to run a script for each key.  Each key is basically typing a string of characters so it comes in handy for other software too.  If I want to type today's date I hit key #2, it works in MS word, Acad, Excel... I type the same notes into my CAD drawing and when checking into the Vault so a couple of keys are used to type my notes. 

The main keyboard I use has a few programmable keys that I set up in the CUI to activate some on snap settings such as Perpendicular and node.

The Keypad I got off Kijiji for $5, It's a wireless Logitech keypad I do't see a model number on it but I think it in the N305.

[DP-Mike]

So... I ended up getting the Logitech Gaming G105 keybaord. It has 6 additional keys to the under three memory setting, basically giving me 18 extra keys with the disadvantage of having to switch between M1, M2 or M3. However; the keyboard has been great for increasing my efficiency. I have one key that simply is a the text string; "@-1/4,-1/4" that I use to set the corners of my viewports. I use another key for certain snaps that I don't like running, like Quadrant and hitting the one key is quicker than holding shift, right clicking and hitting Q. I set another key to be "Copy with Basepoint" and another to "Paste as block." In terms of cad, it has been extremely useful!
What really surprised me was the software that came with the keyboard. The logitech Gaming Software recognizes when I switch from program to progam, which means all my command i Created for Cad are saved in a CAD profile and go away when I switch to Excell or WOrd or Outlook. And I can create a profile for each of those programs with custom keys. What has been even more useful, especially in Excell when you are copying from one cell to another a bunch of times, has been the MR key. ALthough you have to leave a custom key open for change if you use this, but you hit MR, punch you key sequence, hit the custom key you want then MR again... now when you hit that custom key, it does that sequence.
All in all, it's been a good investment towards my efficiencty with Cad as well as other programs.

[Anonymous]

Hey so I've been using a G13 for the last 8 years, as well as a Logitech g19 keyboard for the last year. I have spent a lot of time and error figuring out how I want it set, but at this point I use all 3 memory banks, with all buttons used, for my AutoCAD work. As you can imagine, I don't use the regular keyboard much.

Basically, I have it set up to have my most used commands (Line, Polyline, Match Properties, Move etc) are closest to the WASD equiv buttons in the middle, as well as four or five around my thumb. The rest of the commands are mapped in expanding circles to the edge. I have one memory bank for 2D work, one bank for 3D work, and one bank for views/moving/plotting.

I'm happy to answer questions if you have any; see below for a screenshot of the 2D bank for reference.

 

[Anonymous]

I appreciate that this is late, but I've used a G13 with AutoCAD for about 8 years - it's the best choice I ever made. Honestly, being able to run macros, LISP routines, multi-phase commands, etc all with a single button push saves me so much time.

Happy to answer questions if you still have any.

[-FDC-]

The 3Dconnexion Space Mouse Enterprise is a great alternative.

https://www.3dconnexion.eu/products/spacemouse/spacemouse-enterprise.html

[natkins01]

I was curious if anyone is using the GS13 with Revit or are you just using it for AutoCAD?

[Anonymous]

Hi sorry i didn't upload my layout yet. I wanted to work on it a little bit
more before publishing but didn't find time.

For revit: press "ALT" and use the letters that appear on the menu tabs to
navigate to any command you wanna use. Then program a makro. That is how I
use the g13 with revit. Also for selecting layer e.g. I use the explained
way to navigate to the tab and then use the "pos1" key.

Other keys I use on my g13 are ESC, DELETE and shift on the same positions
they are on the keyboard to not have to switch between keyboards all the
time.

What's you experience with the g13 and revit ?

[natkins01]

We are trying to determine if it is worth it to buy one for our drafters for our company, so just doing research right now.

[Anonymous]

Even if you are just using one layout it is 28 commands you'll be able to
program. Those you can access without moving your eyes and concentration
away from your drawing.
One of the 28 buttons is leading me to layout 2 where I have my numpad and
some numbers like 500, 1000, 10.
Layout 3 I use to have some commands I only use temporary.

Also I use the g502 mouse which fits perfectly to the keyboard. It has 9
programmable buttons. For autocade I put F8, F3 and pan as well as "move"
on it.

[Anonymous]

if you are using cad its worth every penny. I use it for cad and arcGIS,
the thing is awesome. Each profile can essentially have the board set up
four different ways, I use two, cad and gis click of a button and you are
on the other

[Anonymous]

-##You can also connect a .exe file to your profile and it will
automatically change. I use that for revit, autocad and windows explorer.

[Anonymous]

can you explain this more?