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Thursday, March 18, 2021
Zoom USB Button Machine : 4 Steps (with Pictures)
Instructables: Many of us have changed how we do things during this pandemic, from work to worship. The main commonality is that we are using remote video conferencing tools more and more. The most common has been Zoom, though not the only one.
6 comments:
Alexa Janoschka
said...
I just finished up my super mini 99355 (or some course number close to that, that will change next fall) Intro to Arduino. I have never coded before that class but it was a really fun little project and a way to introduce myself to something new! It was a great little course and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn something new and cool. I made a little Morse code messenger :) wish I had more time to work on projects like that and do fun projects like this zoom controller. I think that this is a really nifty idea and would be a really great beginner Arduino project for anyone! They should make little Arduino zoom controller kits and sell them, that would be pretty cool. I think that a lot of people could use a little gadget like this; especially younger kids and older people that may have a hard time using zoom and keystroke commands.
This is an excellent idea and I have been trying to find something like this for a long time on the commercial side. It started because I found a USB footswitch that we used in highschool with the lightboard as a go button during tech. This actually turned out to be really useful because while taking notes in the script you could still hit the GO button. Unfortunately, it’s a little too finicky to use all the time, but it was useful during tech and I have used it as a mute/unmute button. That led to the idea of a gift for my mother of a 3x3 programmable keyboard that could do anything from zoom controls to the save button to any other myriad of buttons. I was unsuccessful at finding that product pre-fabbed, so maybe this will be a project for my copious free time. The great thing about this project is it’s entirely scalable and customizable.
To begin with, I totally agree with little to big problems that could happen with Zoom within this era of pandemic. There was one time that I kept my mic on during the class while playing the music out loud. Even though others could not hear them clearly because of the noise canceling function in the Zoom, it was still a pretty unpleasant experience. However, apart from that, while I think Zoom USB Button Machine is a new, fresh attempt, I am not sure if it could be actually useful to a lot of people. I think it requires too much of an effort compared to its practical function. It is just the same buttons with more apparent distinction, and I do not want to go through the whole process of re-wiring and acquiring pieces for the button; I would rather check my computer’s screen one more time rather than installing this button.
I NEED this. I always talk about needing a physical button to unmute and camera off/on throughout the class. There are so many times when I need to adjust my mic or camera during class and getting my mouse to the virtual buttons is usually pretty easy but it is definitely more ideal to be able to do these things quicker. Unmuting my mic to answer a question from a professor would be so much more unnatural if I just had a button to do it. I like that this article offers the steps on how to make it because it sounds like a super fun project that could also be very useful in these situations. I definitely do not think Zoom meetings are going away ever. The convenience of being able to log into my class anywhere in the world is extremely helpful and I think that everyone has realized this. We could have a lot of Zoom meetings for design meetings where designers cannot actually be present in the room. People live all over the world and having them come to one place to meet is unrealistic. Zoom gives a really good alternative to gatherings that is going to continue to be super useful.
Wow how cool. With everything that I have learned from the School of Drama and outside the School of Drama, I think that I might be able to build this myself. Something like this could help mitigate tons of everyday zoom issues and it could allow us a better way to do ‘zoom theatre.’ Just like the zoom mute and unmute button, actors could wear buttons similar to this to mute and unmute their mic when they need for a performance or they could use it to change their green screen background or adjust any other setting that might be needed. This would be much more helpful to productions so they can make quick and easy transitions. It would be great if you could have a button that could set you up for each scene that you are about to perform. For example, scene 1 requires red lighting and scene 2 requires normal lighting. You could have two separate buttons for scene one and scene two to help you quickly and efficiently change your set.
This project makes me think about the possibilities of what controllers zoom functions could be mapped to. I totally agree with Jake’s comment, that it could make zoom theater easier for actors. I wonder if some sort of controller could be synced up with a performance, and the movements of adjusting an actor’s zoom settings could be incorporated choreography into a play. What fell flat for me about CMU’s Production Men on Boats were the parts of the play where the actors appeared as floating busts. Although the zoom squares themselves were gone, it still gave off the sense of a zoom call, and it was a little tough to immerse myself in that scenario. If actors were able to mute and unmute themselves, or change backgrounds with a controller they have on them, this could eliminate the need for them to sit in front of the camera like a traditional zoom call.
6 comments:
I just finished up my super mini 99355 (or some course number close to that, that will change next fall) Intro to Arduino. I have never coded before that class but it was a really fun little project and a way to introduce myself to something new! It was a great little course and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn something new and cool. I made a little Morse code messenger :) wish I had more time to work on projects like that and do fun projects like this zoom controller. I think that this is a really nifty idea and would be a really great beginner Arduino project for anyone! They should make little Arduino zoom controller kits and sell them, that would be pretty cool. I think that a lot of people could use a little gadget like this; especially younger kids and older people that may have a hard time using zoom and keystroke commands.
This is an excellent idea and I have been trying to find something like this for a long time on the commercial side. It started because I found a USB footswitch that we used in highschool with the lightboard as a go button during tech. This actually turned out to be really useful because while taking notes in the script you could still hit the GO button. Unfortunately, it’s a little too finicky to use all the time, but it was useful during tech and I have used it as a mute/unmute button. That led to the idea of a gift for my mother of a 3x3 programmable keyboard that could do anything from zoom controls to the save button to any other myriad of buttons. I was unsuccessful at finding that product pre-fabbed, so maybe this will be a project for my copious free time. The great thing about this project is it’s entirely scalable and customizable.
To begin with, I totally agree with little to big problems that could happen with Zoom within this era of pandemic. There was one time that I kept my mic on during the class while playing the music out loud. Even though others could not hear them clearly because of the noise canceling function in the Zoom, it was still a pretty unpleasant experience. However, apart from that, while I think Zoom USB Button Machine is a new, fresh attempt, I am not sure if it could be actually useful to a lot of people. I think it requires too much of an effort compared to its practical function. It is just the same buttons with more apparent distinction, and I do not want to go through the whole process of re-wiring and acquiring pieces for the button; I would rather check my computer’s screen one more time rather than installing this button.
I NEED this. I always talk about needing a physical button to unmute and camera off/on throughout the class. There are so many times when I need to adjust my mic or camera during class and getting my mouse to the virtual buttons is usually pretty easy but it is definitely more ideal to be able to do these things quicker. Unmuting my mic to answer a question from a professor would be so much more unnatural if I just had a button to do it. I like that this article offers the steps on how to make it because it sounds like a super fun project that could also be very useful in these situations. I definitely do not think Zoom meetings are going away ever. The convenience of being able to log into my class anywhere in the world is extremely helpful and I think that everyone has realized this. We could have a lot of Zoom meetings for design meetings where designers cannot actually be present in the room. People live all over the world and having them come to one place to meet is unrealistic. Zoom gives a really good alternative to gatherings that is going to continue to be super useful.
Wow how cool. With everything that I have learned from the School of Drama and outside the School of Drama, I think that I might be able to build this myself. Something like this could help mitigate tons of everyday zoom issues and it could allow us a better way to do ‘zoom theatre.’ Just like the zoom mute and unmute button, actors could wear buttons similar to this to mute and unmute their mic when they need for a performance or they could use it to change their green screen background or adjust any other setting that might be needed. This would be much more helpful to productions so they can make quick and easy transitions. It would be great if you could have a button that could set you up for each scene that you are about to perform. For example, scene 1 requires red lighting and scene 2 requires normal lighting. You could have two separate buttons for scene one and scene two to help you quickly and efficiently change your set.
This project makes me think about the possibilities of what controllers zoom functions could be mapped to. I totally agree with Jake’s comment, that it could make zoom theater easier for actors. I wonder if some sort of controller could be synced up with a performance, and the movements of adjusting an actor’s zoom settings could be incorporated choreography into a play. What fell flat for me about CMU’s Production Men on Boats were the parts of the play where the actors appeared as floating busts. Although the zoom squares themselves were gone, it still gave off the sense of a zoom call, and it was a little tough to immerse myself in that scenario. If actors were able to mute and unmute themselves, or change backgrounds with a controller they have on them, this could eliminate the need for them to sit in front of the camera like a traditional zoom call.
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