[macvoiceover] VoxKeys 1.2 released, includes GarageBand support
- From: Bryan Smart <bryansmart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:47:05 -0500
Hi everyone.
I've just posted release 1.2 of VoxKeys. As always, you can get it here:
http://blog.bryansmart.com/voxkeys-project/
The new version fixes a problem with the Netflix support, as well as resolves a
few installation issues that some people were having.
The big new feature with this release, though, is the GarageBand support. I
know that a lot of people on this list are interested in GarageBand, so I don't
doubt that you'll be very excited once you discover what you can do with the
latest VoxKeys. I'm posting the portion of the help file that discusses the
GarageBand support below.
Quickly moving to parts of the screen
Most of the GarageBand user interface for a song is gathered in to a single
large song window. The many hierarchical layers of this interface are
time-consuming to navigate with the VoiceOver cursor. However, with the
following shortcuts, you can quickly move the VoiceOver cursor to important
areas of the song window.
Most of the special areas of the song window, such as the Track Info group or
the Editor Group, can normally be hidden or shown by pressing a key while
holding down the Command key. Once one of these areas is shown, you can move to
it by pressing the same key that is used to hide and show it, but by doing so
while holding down the option key instead. You can, therefore, hold down the
Option key while pressing I to move to the Track Info group, e to move to the
Editor group, l to move to the Loop Browser group, or r to move to the Media
Browser group. If you attempt to move to an area of the song window that isn't
currently visible, the shortcuts will let you know. Additionally, you can move
to areas of the GarageBand song window that are always shown. Hold down the
Option key and press t to move to the Timeline, or b to move to the track
preset browser.
Shortcuts that report status
Several shortcuts have been added to provide a way for you to quickly hear
information about the current song and track. However, for new users that
aren't ready to be overwhelmed with many shortcuts, they can simply press
Control-tab to hear information about the current track, or Control-Shift-tab
to hear information about the entire song. Control-tab will announce the
current track's track name, type, stereo mode, volume and pan settings, and
will tell you if its mute, solo, or lock controls are active. Control-Shift-tab
will tell you the name of the song, how many tracks are present, how much
processing power is required to play the song with its current settings, and
will tell you if any tracks in the song are muted, soloed, or locked.
For experienced users, shortcuts are available to specifically enquire about
the status of the current track or song. These shortcuts that report status all
require that you hold down both the Control and Shift keys while pressing
another key. While holding the Control and Shift keys, you can hear information
about the status of the current track by pressing n to hear its name and type,
v to hear its volume level, p to hear its pan position, m to hear if it is
muted, s to hear if it is soloed, l to hear if it is locked, or r to hear if it
is record enabled. While holding down the Control and Shift keys, you can also
press u to hear the processing power that is currently being used by the active
song (the CPU load), or c to hear the status of the Cycle Mode. You can also
press Control-Shift-Command-v to hear the current level of the song's master
volume (think of the shortcut used to get the current track's volume, with the
Command key added).
Shortcuts to change track settings
While GarageBand already provides hotkeys for changing some track settings,
including mute, solo, and lock, it doesn't provide ways of quickly changing
others that people frequently need, such as volume and pan. VoxKeys adds the
capability to change additional GarageBand track settings by holding down the
Control key in combination with other keys. You can increase or decrease the
volume of the current track by holding down the Control key and pressing the up
or down arrows. You can pan the track from left to right by holding down the
Control key while pressing either the left or right arrows. To make significant
changes to volume or pan, you can hold down both the Control key and the
appropriate arrow key, releasing the keys when the volume or pan setting has
reached the appropriate amount. If you'd like to hear the value of the new
volume or pan setting while you adjust it, simply hold down the Shift key in
addition to the Control key while you use the arrows.
GarageBand already includes the Command-up arrow and Command-Down arrow hotkeys
for adjusting the level of the song's master volume. However, you can also hold
down the Control and Shift keys while pressing these hotkeys to hear the new
value of the master volume announced as you change it.
Other shortcuts
You can quickly set the tempo of the current song by pressing Control-t. When
you press this hotkey, a window will open where you should type the new tempo
value, followed by the enter key.
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