Controller buttons are user definable to handle most any task, from mouse clicks to keystroke combinations. Each controller comes with driver and control panel software including presets for many popular A/V software packages including Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Premiere, After Effects, iTunes, Cubase, and Lightwave 3D (just to name a few). Contour is also making new settings files -- including support for new versions of Final Cut Pro and Digidesign's ProTools -- available for download from their website. While the presets may not represent the ideal combination of feature control and button placement for you, they are often a good place to start. Changing presets is easy enough to do via the control panel, and you can save your own customized settings for virtually any program you own. Also included with each controller is a sheet of button labels pre-printed with common commands ranging from "Play," and "Stop," to "Toggle Edit," "Scroll" (Up/Down/Left/Right), and menu commands such as "Save," "Copy," and "Paste." The labels can be torn off the sheet and affixed to the buttons via handy button caps that snap off and on the buttons themselves -- a nice design that allows for labels to be changed over and over again as you move from one project to the next. A sheet of blank labels is also included so you can let loose with your customization.

Contour was nice enough to send all three models for review, so let's see how they compare:

Contour Shuttle Pro (left) - $109.95 and Shuttle Pro V.2 (right) - $129.95

The 15 button Shuttle Pro V.2 is the flagship model of the Shuttle family. The Shuttle Pro V.2 is a sleek black unit that is about the size of a fairly large man's hand (line mine). Buttons are translucent silver, as is the jog wheel -- this is a nice looking unit. My review model is extra special, as it features a polished chrome jog wheel and not the standard matte silver fitting. Sorry, this is a limited edition, "Press Only," number (ahh, the perks of publishing). The V.2 feels very nice under one's hand, and should work equally well for righties or lefties. The jog wheel is made from a metal alloy, while the rest of the unit is plastic. Everything feels very smooth while in use: the jog wheel spins easily while providing good tactile feedback via frame-by-frame clicks; the spring-loaded shuttle control moves nicely from slow scans to fast, and auto-centers upon release, and; the buttons respond to being pressed with a satisfying click.

15 buttons is a lot for one controller to offer, but power users can certainly makes the most of them. Contour suggests using the unit in concert with your mouse, almost as a keyboard replacement (save, of course, for when you need to input text). This makes a lot of sense -- 15 programmable buttons can offer a lot in the way of rapid access to the commands you use most often. With this baby under one hand and a three button scroll-wheel mouse under the other, it's easy to think you could edit an entire movie without ever touching the keyboard. Of course, you'd have to be a little more coordinated and much more trainable than I am ... then again, most people probably are. Eight of the buttons are laid out above the jog/shuttle wheel for fast fingertip control, and four more lay beneath the wheel where they're readily thumb-accesible. One more button can be found on either side of the wheel, which proves to be another great spot for thumb (and even pinky) clicking.

The original Shuttle Pro is essentially the same unit, minus the two extra buttons and a few cosmetic touches -- one very important note is that the original Shuttle Pro works with pre-OS X Macs; the V.2 requires 10.1 or later. This controller features 13 programmable buttons, a plastic (not alloy) jog dial, and a very slightly not-as-sleek design housed in a silver casing. For all intents and purposes, this unit functons the same as the V.2. The difference lies in those extra 2 buttons and alloy jog wheel, both of which are nice touches you might not have missed if Contour hadn't added them. But they are nice.

Summary: Both units are great jog/shuttle controllers best suited to editing professionals and power users. Most people won't use all of the buttons, but if you do, you can do almost anything without touching your keyboard. They look cool, too. If you're a pre-OS X user, the V.2 is not an option. If you're using OS X, it's hard to say if a couple of extra buttons and an alloy jog wheel are worth the extra $20. Me, I like the sleek black look of the V.2 ... and if you're going to pay $110 for an editing wheel, what's another twenty?

Contour Shuttle Express - $59.95

This is a great product for the home enthusiast. The Shuttle Express is smaller than its big brothers, and "only" has five programmable buttons (which lack the snap off labelling feature of the Pro models). It still retains a high-quality plastic jog wheel surrounded by a spring-loaded shuttle control, and comes with software that is both pre-configured with settings for your A/V apps but also fully customizable. Five buttons is plenty for most users -- again, if you do a lot of editing work, it's probably well worth training yourself to utilize all of the keystroke shortcuts you can program into one of these babies, but most people will probably stick to the wheel control and maybe three distinct buttons (i.e. "left mouse," "right mouse," and "command" or "option"). The housing of the Shuttle Express is shaped much like a domed, over-sized hockey puck, and while it doesn't support your entire hand/upper wrist like the Pro models do, it is still quite comfortable. Contour does a good job of designing ergonomics into all of their products -- or at least the ones I've seen.

Summary: Jog/shuttle controls make a/v editing fast and fun. For $60 you can feel like a pro while working on those iMovies of your vacation, and probably get them done faster, at that. Five buttons will be quite sufficient for most users, and scanning through footage with the jog/shuttle wheel is much easier than using that mouse. If you're in the market for something like this but don't want to spend $100+ on a pro-model, the Shuttle Express is a great way to go.

All products are available online direct from the Contour Store, and from other distributors.