Using The Keyboard


Animation Control

Almost any setting can be triggered from the keyboard. This allows you to hide the controls window and control the animations from the keyboard alone. Some triggers MUST be preceded by a series of numbers. Only the last needed digits will be processed. The help window identifies the keyboard shortcut for each particular feature. You can obtain a printable diagram (PDF) of all the keyboard commands by going to www.vusic.com/support and clicking on Keyboard Shortcuts Chart.


Entering Text When Assigning File Names

If a text entry field is displayed, the keyboard no longer triggers changes to the screen, allowing you to type letters into the text entry field. Once the number of letters reaches the maximum, then no more characters are allowed. Pressing Enter or Return will save a file with the entered name. The program checks to see if the file already exists and if so, then asks if you want to replace the file. Pressing Enter or Return is equivalent to clicking the "Yes" button.


Keyboard Shortcuts

A (Afterimage) will toggle brush stroke trails.
B (Brush) will trigger a brush change. Set a specific brush by typing 1 to 6 first.
C (Color) will trigger a change to the brush gradient color. Set a specific color by typing 1 to 120 first.
D (Distance) will update the movement spread. Must be preceded by typing 1 to 120 first.
E (Enter beat) to tap in beats manually. Pressing the shift key will apply the new tempo.**
F (Fill) will trigger a fill change. Set a specific fill by typing 1 to 6 first.
G (Gradient) will trigger a gradient change. Set a specific gradient by typing 1 to 8 first.
H (Hold) will disable the automatic triggering of animation changes, effectively holding the animation.**
I (Insert) will manually insert a beat.*
J (Jiggle) will update the color kick setting. Must be preceded by typing -50 to 50 first.
K (Kolor) will trigger a change to the fill gradient color. Set a specific color by typing 1 to 120 first.
L (Listening) will toggle the "listening" feature.
M (Movement) will trigger a movement change. Set a specific movement by typing 1 to 6 first.
N (Number) will set the number of sound samples. Must be preceded by typing 1 to 11 first.
O (Overall) will trigger a change to both the brush and fill gradient colors.*
P (Play/Pause) will play or pause the current song.
Q (Quit) will quit. Macintosh: Command-Q will also quit the program.
R (Rotation) will update the color speed. Must be preceded by typing -60 to 60 first.
S (Speed) will update the brush speed. Must be preceded by typing 0 to 120 first.
T (Tempo) will update the tempo. Must be preceded by typing 0 to 240 first. Decimals are allowed.
U (Universal random) will randomize everything (brush, fill, movement, gradient, and color settings).
V (Vusic) will toggle (hide or show) the animation window.
W (Wipe) will wipe the screen of all brush strokes.
X will update the first parameter, if any, of the current movement. Must be preceded by typing a number first.
Y will update the second parameter, if any, of the current movement. Must be preceded by typing a number first.
Z will update the third parameter, if any, of the current movement. Must be preceded by typing a number first.
Space Bar will toggle (hide or show) the controls window. Same as clicking the animation window.
? or / will toggle (open or close) the help panel.
= (equals sign) will save the current rave to your hard drive. The rave must have already been saved once.*
; (semi-colon) will allow you to save the current style (with beat counters set to off).*
TAB will re-align a manual beat or a patterned beat. Added 10/10/01.
Right arrow will skip to the next music track. Go to a specific music track by typing a number first.
Left arrow will skip to the previous music track. Go to a specific music track by typing a number first.
Up arrow will increase volume. Set absolute volume by typing 0 to 255 first.
Down arrow will decrease volume. Set absolute volume by typing 0 to 255 first.

*New feature or changed feature as of 9/26/01.
**New feature or changed feature as of 11/19/01.


Enter and Return Keys

The Enter and Return keys are used three different ways. If a text entry box is visible, pressing Enter or Return will accept the typed input. If an OK or Yes button is visible, pressing Enter or Return is equivalent to clicking the button. If all other cases, pressing Enter or Return will apply any cued settings.

Using the Keyboard to Load Components

To load a component by name, you can use the keyboard. To begin a loading sequence, hold down the control key and type a number to indicate the type of component to be loaded. For example, to begin a loading sequence for a brush, hold down the control key and type the number 4. Use the following chart to designate the type of component:

Style = 1
Gradient = 2
Fill = 3
Brush = 4
Movement = 5
Brush Color Effect = 6
Fill Color Effect = 7
Brush Effect = 8

Next, type the first few characters of the name of the component as it would appear in the popup menu. You do not need to hold down the control key. If you type one letter, then Vusic will look for the first component that starts with that letter. Type as many characters as necessary to uniquely identify the component. You complete the loading sequence by holding down the control key again and typing a number to indicate the position to load the component. As soon as the final number is pressed, the component is loaded. For example, if you are loading a brush into the second brush position, you would hold down the control key and type the number 2 after typing a brush name. For styles and effects, you can type any number to complete the sequence, as position does not apply. If you wish to load a component into the currently selected position, hold down the control key and type zero to complete the loading sequence. This will ensure that the loaded component will always be displayed on the screen immediately. If you wish to clear a component, type a single hyphen as your typed input. This will unload the current component and replace it with "(None)". If Vusic cannot find a match to your typed input, an alert sound will play.

It should be noted that once the loading sequence is started, most keyboard commands become disabled in order to allow you to type in the name of the component. You do not receive visual feedback while you are typing, which prevents you from seeing your typing mistakes. You are allowed to backspace if you typed an incorrect letter. If you want to start over again, press the space bar twice. An alert sound will play to inform you that the sequence has been aborted.


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