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Last year, Logitech leaped into the content creator market by acquiring Loupedeck, which makes control surfaces for apps like Adobe Lightroom. Now, the company has unveiled its first Logitech-branded control panel, the MX Creative Console, a $200 device that includes a keypad, dialpad and plugins for popular Adobe apps like Premiere Pro. Logitech is fighting rivals like the TourBox Elite controller and even its own Loupedeck CT, but its new offering is cheaper than the latter and sleeker than the former. The MX Creative Console features a modern design and a pair of slick control dials, along with dynamic display keys that change depending on the app and page youre looking at. Ive tested a number of control panels going back to the original Loupedeck in 2017. To me, it always comes down to one main thing: Is this easier and faster than just using a keyboard and mouse? After over a week with the MX Creative Console, I found it to be powerful in some cases and too limited in others. Hardware The console comes in either pale gray or darker graphite and takes up very little space on your desk (3.8 x 3.1 inches for the keypad and 3.6 x 3.7 inches for the dialpad). A stand that angles the keypad or dialpad about 45 degrees toward you is also included. I prefer it flat on the table for speed, but the stand makes it easier to see the controls. The keypad has nine display keys, with the content changing based on the page and app youre using. There are two regular buttons below to change the pages and a USB-C port on the bottom. Steve Dent for Engadget Meanwhile, the dialpads centerpiece is a large contextual dial since its function changes depending on the action selected. Plus, theres a scroll wheel in the right top corner, two buttons on the top left and two buttons on the bottom in each corner. The bottom right button activates the dialpads Actions Ring, an on-screen circular display that gives you another way to tweak things like colors and text. The keys require a light touch and have a smooth, clickless feel. The wheel on the dialpad has a nice amount of friction for precise work and lets you easily move frame-by-frame in Premiere Pro, or shuttle quickly through a timeline. It doesnt have any haptic feedback, though, like the TourBox Elite. Theres a Bluetooth pairing switch on the bottom and a power switch on the back. It can connect to your computer either via LT Bluetooth or Logitechs Bolt dongle also used on its mice and keyboards (not included). Logitech says that the products are made with 72 percent post-consumer recycled plastics, low-carbon aluminum, micro textures instead of paint and FSC-certified responsible packaging. However, the dialpad uses AAA cells, either disposable or rechargeable. Theyll last a couple of months, according to Logitech, but its an odd choice for a product meant to be environmentally friendly. Setup Steve Dent for Engadget The MX Creative Console is plug and play for Adobe apps so you can start twiddling the dials out of the box. Its also customizable, letting you tweak settings within apps, create custom profiles and more. To set it up, I installed the Logi Options+ app on my PC (and Mac, I tested it with both), then connected the keypad via USB-C. I installed the dialpad separately by connecting it to my computers over Bluetooth. Once the devices are recognized, clicking on All Actions installs the Adobe plugins. It also has direct support for apps including VLC media player, Spotify Premium, Capture One and Ableton. You can even use it to control apps without plugins like your browser for system volume, YouTube videos, emojis, screenshots and more. I found this useful just for the system volume alone (hello, terrible Windows 11 audio control). Changing the default settings is about as easy as it gets. When you open the customization page, it shows the devices to the left (dialpad, keypad and Actions Ring), while all the possible settingsare to the right. To change or add a new setting, just grab the one you want from the list and drag it over to the virtual keypad on the left. Keys can be rearranged on the same page, but its not easy to move a setting from one page to another. As a Premiere Pro user, the first thing I did was create a new keypad page and add buttons to switch between the source, program and timelines to avoid a mouse click for those actions. That was relatively easy to do, thanks to the search function and intuitive drag-and-drop interface. If youd rather not futz around with customization, Logitech has a plugin marketplace in the Logi Options+ app. I wasnt able to use that ahead of launch, but its supposed to allow users to purchase or share plugins, profiles and icon packs. Operation Logitech I primarily work on Lightroom Classic and Premiere Pro while occasionally making use of Photoshop and After Effects. All of those apps are supported natively by the MX Creative Console on Mac and PC. I started with Premiere Pro, testing it on both Windows and Mac. After some pondering, I placed the keypad to the left of the keyboard and the dialpad on the right between the keyboard and mouse. That worked well visually and let me finetune edits and do adjustments with my right hand and press buttons with my left much as I already do with a keyboard and mouse. At first, I didnt think the console would speed up my workflow in editing mode since Ive memorized most of Premieres keyboard shortcuts. I was also worried that Id be constantly jumping between the dial and the mouse. After playing around a bit, though, I noticed that scrubbing through the timeline with the dial offered finer and faster control than the keyboard and mouse, especially when using the scroll wheel to scale the timeline (Id like to see faster scrubbing when Im zoomed out though, Logitech). Building on that, I added the split function and other click-free mouse tools I hadnt touched in awhile. With that, I could work nearly as quickly as with a keyboard and mouse depending on the task, despite my previous fears. Though Id be hesitant to use it myself for editing, I could see this being a good workflow for new Premiere Pro users as it visually shows actions so newbies dont need to memorize shortcuts. The MX Console is especially useful for color correction in Premiere. With a clip selected, you can click the bottom right dialpad button to activate the Actions Ring, move your mouse to one of the actions (exposure, contrast, whites, saturation, etc.) and turn the dial to adjust that setting. To avoid the mouse, you can also program major color adjustments into the keypad. Then, just hold the button on that setting while turning the dial. Steve Dent for Engadget Then it was on to Lightroom Classic. This app makes the most sense for the console, as youre primarily performing actions (color correction, cropping etc.) on a single image. Quick keys include Develop mode, White Balance Selector, Auto White Balance, Auto upright and rating tools. Once youve imported images into your library, you can jump into Develop, shuttle between images using the dial and then tweak colors using the Actions Ring as with Premiere. Again, if youd rather keep your hands on the MX Console, you can program common functions (temperature, saturation, highlights etc.) into the keypad. The MX Console also has keys for copying and pasting Develop settings, before and after views, as well as cropping and opening images in Photoshop. A Lightroom power user could add more shortcuts to further boost efficiency. That makes it nearly as fast as the popular Loupedeck+ panel, but jumping between pages in the keypad can slow you down a bit. Unfortunately, I found the MX Creative Console to be the least useful for Photoshop. Control panels are best for single-purpose tasks like color correction and audio adjustments, but Photoshop is designed for more complex operations. That meant I was forever taking my hands off the keypad and dialpad and putting them on the mouse and keyboard, making me less efficient, if anything. It could have been useful in Photoshops Camera RAW utility (which has Lightroom-like controls), but Logitech said that tool has no API and doesnt support plugins. Wrap-up Steve Dent for Engadget The MX Creative Consoles main competition is the $268 TourBox Elite, which has three dials and ten buttons. Designed to work in concert with your keyboard and mouse, its powerful for experienced editors, but looks a bit cheap. By contrast, Logitechs MX Creative Console is more polished, and the visual interface its keypad provides makes it better for novices. Its also worth noting that Elgatos similarly priced Stream Deck+ recently added an Adobe Photoshop plugin, despite mainly being designed for live streaming. It promises easy access to Photoshop tools and adjustments via four dials and eight display keys. Other options are more expensive, like the $529 Loupedeck CT, $395 DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor, $499 DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel and $595 Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Editor Keyboard. Those are more powerful and look more professional, but will obviously cost you more. Logitechs MX Creative Console is a quality device with a fair amount of utility for apps like Premiere Pro and Lightroom Classic. Its usefulness will no doubt increase as Adobe adds more supported apps and the Logi Marketplace grows. However, it simply doesnt have enough buttons and dials to perform tasks in many Adobe apps without falling back to the keyboard and mouse. If you do use apps where it works well, like Lightroom, it could provide a boost to your productivity and look cool doing it. It ships next month for $200 and Logitech includes a free three-month subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/logitech-mx-creative-console-review-an-affordable-entry-point-into-edit-panels-070101321.html?src=rss
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BBVA, the multinational Spanish banking group, is upping its commitment to employee wellbeing with a new sleep-tracking initiative. The bank recently launched Atrando tu sueo (Catching your dream), a program using wearable technology to analyze the sleep patterns of 100 workers over the course of a week. A wrist-worn device records various metrics, including temperature, activity, body position and light exposure, providing scientifically validated data on circadian rhythms and sleep quality. Once the week is up, the employee receives a personalized report and recommendations from sleep experts.This latest offering builds on BBVA's earlier efforts to address employee sleep issues. Those who took part in the bank's 'Time4Sleep' program which has been repeated 20 times in response to high demand reported significant improvements in sleep quality, with the percentage of participants experiencing sleep issues dropping from 48% to 25%. BBVA's emphasis on sleep reflects a broader cultural recognition of the importance of decent shuteye. As businesses grapple with burnout and productivity challenges, the path to a more resilient and creative workforce might just start with a good night's sleep.
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The days of the @[insert username] blocked you page appear to be over. X owner Elon Musk announced a new change to the platforms blocking feature allowing blocked users to see posts of the accounts that blocked them. Blocked accounts still wont be able to interact with those accounts but theyll be able to see their posts. A source from X told The Verge the new blocked access feature is being implemented because users can already see and interact with accounts that have blocked them by switching to a non-blocked account. Musk has wanted to disable the block feature on X for awhile now. More than a year ago, he first expressed his disdain for blocking on X (or technically, Twitter) except for direct messages. He wrote that blocking would become deleted as a feature as well as saying It makes no sense. Last May, Xs Engineering account announced it would implement the blocked viewer change to the platform without including a solid implementation or rollout date. The post said the change would be implemented to give users with blocked accounts the ability to identify and report any potential bad content that you previously could not view.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-nerfing-the-block-button-blocked-users-will-be-able-to-see-your-posts-214928396.html?src=rss
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