You Won’t Believe How Effective This Keyboard Layout Is
I thought I’d do a little look at my 34 key layout. Hopefully there are some tips and tricks in there that might be of use when creating your own layouts.
Watch next:
36 Key Layout On Moonlander
• My CRAZY 36 Key 5x3 Mo...
Designing A Keyboard Layout For Ergonomics
• Designing A Keyboard L...
Layout Files:
34 Key Layout for Moonlander in Oryx:
configure.zsa.io/moonlander/l...
34 Key Layout for QMK:
github.com/benvallack/34-QMK-...
34 Key Layout for ZMK:
github.com/benvallack/zmk-con...
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Already did! Actually Ib came back to ask what was the fix you did for the rolls using a macro that someone suggested in discord? I can't find it..
@@lpanebr good question. It’s essentially just putting a &sl toggle inside a macro for your layer switching. You can see it in use for my 18 key layouts here on the second layer and second caps layer switches github.com/benvallack/zmk-config-piano/blob/main/config/boards/shields/piano/piano.keymap
@@BenVallack thank you so much for the quick reply! I'll give it a try!
It feels very gratifying to have such high quality content laser targeted at you for what feels like such a niche interest. Great stuff Ben
@DevMug should look into steno for optimal minimization
@DevMug Did you end up doing the 34 key build? How has it been?
2022: Ben Vallack: "my superior 1-key configuration!"
And 128 layouts XD
There just was a16 key keyboard uploaded, so you are closing in XD
Congratulations, you re-invented Morse-code...
Looks like you’re on your way to 6 keys and added feet tapping for layer switching. Keep them coming
Haha!
At that point he’ll compose a march while doing a march, and that’ll be quite a feet!
Ultimate goal - 1 key and morse code
Don't know why you need 6 keys if you have 10 fingers (you have, aren't you?). And there are 10-button keyboards. Take a look at Ginny.
I'm told it's actually quite hard to sync your foot taps with your key taps (with your fingers). As humans we're quite good at syncing up our finger movements, but our feet aren't included in those neural pathways.
I’d love to see you something along the lines of a typing test on this, especially where we can see how fast you are using this method. That’s my biggest concern about switching to a smaller key layout, is losing my speed of typing.
I love seeing people actually sharing in depth details about how they're implementing their builds, not just "how to." Some great ideas in this, even if I don't go down to 34 keys myself.
absolutely love your videos exploring ergonomic keyboards; it’s always interesting seeing how other people approach layouts, layers, and keyboards and I think i’ll be implementing some of these ideas in my own qmk config.
Thanks so much.
Absolutely 2nd Josh's comment. You're blazing a path for me that I've been reticent to take.
@@BenVallack Would you be willing to share your ZMK file?
@@DanielASchaeffer Link’s in the description :)
I love videos like these, it gives me a lot of ideas on how to set up my own layout on my moonlander.
I managed to actually build my Ferris Sweep and I love it. My productivity dropped massively for now, but I expected that and I'm still figuring out the right layout for me. Anyway, I'd be highly interested in your VIM setup/workflow. Thanks for the quality stuff you're doing! Cheers!
I've finished my 36 keys and started with home row mods. My switches are kailh black so I'm experiencing fatigue and roll mistriggering modded keys just as you've described. I'm now waiting for blue switches and will experiment with switchable lawyers. Your journey and videos have been a great companion! At first I didn't understand all but as I experimented and came back to them more and more made sense. I'm very grateful to you. Thank you. PS: I'd love a vim video with your current keyboard!
This is nice! I recently bought the ZSA Moonlander and although it has taken a few days to get used to, I'm already loving it. This 34 key layout would make a nice super portable version of that.
I'd like to hear more about the "IRST" layout you mentioned!
I'm loving my ferris sweep, mod-tap, tri layer activation all help to give me every single key I'll ever need in such a tiny form factor, looking to make a wireless version soon with the leftover pcb's I have to make it super easy to travel with
Great video! I arrived at very similar conclusions with my (36key) layout. I have Ctrl and Shift on dedicated thumb keys and Alt+GUI in other layers. (I use mostly windows and Linux) I don't like home row mods, because the letters on modded keys are send to OS on key up vs key down and my brain just didn't like the inconsistency in delay between regular and modded keys. And your previous video inspired me to organise layer switchich in a way that I can always come to baselayer regardles where I am.
Thank you for getting me into this rabbit hole :), finally finished my first build of ferris/sweep
This was quite elucidating. I'm quite focused on layouts that can do everything - general use, terminal, Vim, gaming, etc - across all three major desktop OSes, so the idea of using ultra-compact layouts like this always seems like a bridge too far. It was really interesting to see how you approached life with 34 keys. I love the design of the dual-thumb "there's no place like home" incantation - very intuitive and elegant. You also helped me realise there is value to having separate layers for "fire once" commands and repeated ones such as backspace.
The Atreus was my first introduction to reduced-key split keyboards, and it blew my mind how much you can do with so few keys. Recently I've wanted to build an even more ergonomic keyboard, and your videos are full of amazing insights that I've been looking for, very inspirational. Keep up the awesome work :D
Got a prebuilt Atreus, love the thing to death. Honestly don't think I want to bother with something smaller.
I just got a Sweep, and I am loving it so far. This video has a ton of usefu info, thanks a ton!
Also holy shit I am surprised at your subscriber count. This is million view level quality man.
That is an interesting layer switching style. Line up the layers sequentially under the same key, with a different key serving as return-to base-from all of them. Number of taps is the layer you want to go to. No need for additional keys. I will give that idea a try.
You continue to inspire me to try new things. My 36 key modded Planck keyboard is my pride and joy.
Brilliant keyboard!
Please note the Z on the little finger as shown on layer 1 should be backspace. Doh!
Where can I get that cute jack 3.5 cable?
Very interresting. Could you please explain how you select text (either per character or per word), I do not see a shift key on the arrow layer (I am coming from windows, where you do shift left to select text from your current position to the one on the left). Following that, I would do a Ctrl+X or C (for cut or copy), then some navigation, then Ctrl + V. It might be good to type some programing (we can slow down the video if we can't keep up) to demonstrate the layout in different scenarios. Very interresting video. Thanks for sharing.
@@alexdubois6585 Yeah will cover all this in a vid for sure. Basically you trigger shift first, then jump into the system layer as a toggle with three finger combo on top row right hand. From there you can use alt (combo on left hand) or cmd (right thumb) to modify the arrows too. Copy and paste are both in the system layer too. Top row index for copy, hold it down to paste. cmd+tab can also be invoked in that layer and the arrow keys can then be used to switch apps. So a select from one app and paste into another is quite nicely supported actually.
Took me ages to work out why there were 27 letter keys. :(
I'm a miryoku / colemak addict but this looks pretty rad. Manna Harbour has an old branch where it only activates home row mods when you hit a key on the opposite side so rolling is no longer a problem. Very cool.
Yeah I recall reading about the opposite hand thing, it’s a feature that should be merged I think! Thanks for reminding me.
I love using my Corne, not miryoku, but I stole a bunch of ideas from that layout.
Is there any update on this idea? Sounds like a working one!
@@MichaelAye there is a brilliant user-space QMK add-on called Achordion. it completely solves the HRM problem.
Thank you! I didn’t think about that I config the keyboard like this. I will still use full TKL keyboard, but this open up more option to configure the layout for different purpose.
Thinking to try this out on my Iris. Well done video. Liked those overlays. They explain the motions really well.
Cheers!
I can't believe it, but you've done it again, Ben; I am attempting to teach myself yet another keyboard layout. lol. I think that qwerty is probably still going to win out for me, but I am attempting IRST because it seemed like an interesting idea and, after a few preliminary lines of text, I think I could find myself looking forward to learning it, unlike ColemakDH.
This is an amazing video about layouts, have always wondered how to layer mine
Tap for shift is such a good idea Ben.
My 34-36 keys layout is a modified version of miryoku layout which I moved mod-tap keys to 3rd row, and used 2 keys combo on top and home row for Esc, BS, Tab (left hand) and some common symbols (right hand) like quote, dquote, question mark... Mod keys appeared in all of my layer for 2 hands and at the same position. Left thumb 1 is Space + Number combined with Nav in the same Layer, left thumb 2 is Esc + Media Layer. Right thumb 1 is BS + Symbols layer, Right thumb 2 is Enter + FN layers. It may be slower for hold switch compare to tab switch layer, but I feel it is more natural to memorize the functions of all layers.
Ya, designing layouts is a very interesting thing. Thanks for making this video. Your video is very imformative and useful. I've got my 1st crkbd (on last Sat), and it's my 1st 40%. Now I am designing the layouts (and learn). In this video you tell me the principle of designing a good layout. Very helpful. (I don't understand the content before I go my crkbd (a.k.a. the hardware), even using Anne Pro 2 and Gk64XS have a concept of layer. Having a crkbd on hand now and even I've just used it for 3 days, I am able to understand the contents of the video , lol.)
I just built the ferris sweep and I'm using your keymap to type this! Thanks!
now imagine a key cap with the characters you are typing, with 2 color LED, the transparent character filter the color of each LED, when you switch layout it changes the color of the LED so you now have a dynamic keyboard with interchangeable character on.
Whoa, great idea for the color switching Also, I've seen some tiny split keyboards like this but wireless. I haven't had a wire on a keyboard for 10 years and I'm not looking to go back to wires.
I really appreciate your videos documenting your journey & your thought process on workflow optimization with keyboard interface / layouts. So far, I type on Dvorak and have used different versions of Microsoft's ergonomic keyboards. I'm wanting to take the next step - going for an Ergodox. What advice do you have for folks getting started following down the trail of learning layers / optimizing layouts & ergo's for simplification & minimizing finger travel?
Thanks, learned a lot in this video and the quality of your production is great! I was thinking to ask about the typing experience and a comparison of GergoPlex vs Sweep, but after reading the comments I think I'll wait for the next video! :)
discovered this channel from the barefoot shoes video, now seeing you are a pretty invested keyboard enthusiast! that's great as I was researching the low profile keys and custom builds on my own for a while now. currently using a regular 65% keyboard and not finding browser tab switching hotkeys hard to press, once I realized I can use ctrl+pgup/pgdown that is , very convenient with two hands
Yes lots of keyboard content here and on my keeb specific channel!
Check out this one kzhead.info/sun/g9xpj5yCZ4mYYKs/bejne.html
Noooooo! I just got to 25 wpm on Colemak DH on the moonlander… further down the rabbit hole I go ;) Hoping you create a video on ISRT in the future. So many people seem curious as to that layout. Thank you for all the fantastic content you provide Ben. My slowly dissipating RSI appreciates you.
I think the combination of not knowing where my keys are with VIM would be pandemonium. Do you not suffer a massive drop in productivity when you’re switching layouts all the time?
in my experience I tend to adjust to symbols/mod key changes more quickly than changes to the overall letter layout. I think that's because the symbols and other function keys are used more rarely and that allows you to place them in nice logical groups. But there is still a small adjustment period.
I have found that once I learn a new layout, if I leave most of my vim bindings on the same letters it’s actually pretty easy to just use the new location for them. I remap the hjkl positions so they’re in the same place obviously but the rest I just use them in the new position. Changing layouts is a big deal though and not something I want to do again. I used holidays to blitz learning them previously to avoid the productivity hit.
@@BenVallack Do I get that right, that now with this layout, you set up vim to use PNEA instead of HJKL instead? Thanks for the inspiration!!
Hello Ben! Really enjoying the ISRT learning process and progress. Thank you for helping with my keyboard journey. I'm curious about how you handle vim commands with numbers in front of them. Do you hit one layer switch to symbols, another layer switch to numbers, hit the numbers, switch back to base layer and type the command? Example: 23J (go down 23 lines).
Very interesting to see your approach. I use linux mostly, currently with xmonad or dwm as window manager so I need to consider accessing the keyboard commands. I also dual boot the computer into Windows for work, so I need to consider how to make a layout which also works with Windows. Many thanks for sharing!
Glad to see you enjoying the Ferris Sweep (and that I may have been the one who alerted you to it). I love the simplicity and accessibility of the build etc.. Your thoughts and principles of layout design seem very logical and inspiring. Personally I'm still held back by the lack of TrackPoint. I feel crippled without one, having to leave the keyboard for mouse activity. Perhaps one day I'll integrate one into a Ferris. Though I wonder if I could be comfortable with a Ploopy Nano trackball.
Yeah moving the hand away for mouse/ball/trackpad is a real hassle, would love to get a mini trackball in there.
Great video & production quality, something I think would help at around 7:40 would be highlighting each set of keys as you talk about them to make it easier to follow
Thanks! Good point, will do that in the future!
My solution for home row mods is the combo home row mod. The idea is that you press the home row key on both hands simultaneously and then you release it on one hand, but still keep it depressed with the other hand. This means that there is no accidental rollover and no forced delay.
This sounds very interesting!
Stuck at home, whole family got COVID, so this vid really brightened my day, thx. ISRT is a nice choice. Intrigued to see your 24-key experiment next
Oh no, get well soon! You can see my progress on my ZMK config commit history actually, I have added some keys back now (26 total now) but will go into all that in the video.
@@BenVallackWe’re ok, esp. mild for kids. Thx for sharing your zmk history. Your idea of moving Z to comma is unassailable. Moving Y is trickier because of potential SFBs but I wish you every success - its left-pinky position in ISRT isn’t great; but I suppose it’s the same position as in MTGAP, which some have long enjoyed
@@dflynn Yeah moving Y has been surprisingly natural actually. E on the thumb is still a bit of an effort though!
@@BenVallack Cool. Thx again for sharing all your your keeb adventures
Very welcome!
The video I've been waiting for 💙
There’s a shout out to you in my next vid too!
@@BenVallack Another video to wait for then! 😄 Thank you!
Thanks. I finally figured out what a "Via" is, thanks to your description.
Your videos are excellent. Thank you!
Shame the LED doesn’t change color to show the layer. I’m currently working on a 34 key version of my 30 key unsplit Hummingbird keyboard, and will definitely try out your layout when it arrives.
Great video! Love seeing people's different approaches to small layouts, I'm very curious to see what this 24 layout looks like. I would recommend taking a look at caps word (basically a self cancelling caps lock) if you're not already aware of it, but it sounds like you're moving to ZMK and their PR for that seems to be on the back burner for now. Either way I think it would work well with your reduced holding philosophy.
I like the sound of that!
Have you considered that instead of double tapping on the enter key that you use the ctrl + M key for enter? I have been wanting to change my backspace and enter key to ctrl + H and ctrl + M. I look forward to the time I get a minimalist keyboard :D
Learning new keyboard layouts is always hard and i wish there was a solution that makes it easier. I thought about it for a while and when i saw this video, your editing, to explane the layers you used, was the solution i was looking for. Do you know of a way to overlay your keyboard layers life in mac or even vim?
This is very well done, I do have a ergo dash and I love split keyboards. I'd like to ask a question. Would you know a way to make the layout JIS and not ANSI like it usually is? I work in Japan, and that would help me to use my keyboard at the office, without having reboot windows when I change layout.
Awesome. Everything you do is completely different from my setup and will be a reference if I ever decide to dive beneath the 42 keys line. Chiefly tap/holds. I should start using these on every special character. I suppose I'll still mostly use combos, which IMO is the most effective way to "thicken" a small layout without sacrificing usability. Note to the wise: homerow mods are a pain, but homerow combo mods (like D+F for alt, S+D for ctrl,...) work pretty well and I've never had a misfire, even when monkeytyping. PS : also congrats on the production quality. Everything from the graphics to the narration pace and the general organisation feels smooth and well put together, overall very pleasant.
Agree combos are awesome, started using them on my smaller layout, I sort of got to the 34 point based on my Oryx layouts which is why combos are absent. But now I getting happy with ZMK I am seeing the power of combos for sure. Tap holds plus combos are quite the powerhouse.
Thanks for comments on production, much appreciated.
A video on how you use Keyboard Maestro would be really interesting.
I'd love to see the vim specific video! Particularly I'd love to see how you handle keys that have a specific spatial relationship in qwerty. For instance, should I remap movement in vim to be whatever the right hand homerow keys are in my layout to maintain that muscle memory, or use hjkl no matter where they are?
He's still probably practicing, or threw this thing away for being impractical for daily use.
I have never used a non qwerty layout, but would definitely want to accompany such a drastic change with spatially remapped hjkl (to whatever the keys on my home row right hand are)
Do you understand how he is using the space bar for both the leader key in vim but also the meh key?
@@wormholecowboy my leader key in vim is the spacebar, so he probably has it set the same.
Salute to another vim user! I've been using the Planck for the last year, largely after discovering it through your videos. I'd love to try a minimal split board, but I wish they could make them totally wireless.
The dream is real. I’m currently using something a bit special. Super affordable, super tiny, split, totally wireless. Stay tuned. Will be a few videos away.
@@BenVallack Well, this sounds interesting to me!
I'm just starting with my 42 keys split keyboard for Vim. So that were very useful and sensible advices. Thank you! For now I'll try to stick only to 2 layers and 2nd layer will be activated on hold. Yeah, it'll require some combinations, but I try to arrange it the way that fingers return back home without looking at the keyboard. The thing that really scares me is the amount of time I have to spend working/training/learning with a new keyboard to start typing at least at previous speed. What if I don't like the layout ?
For me, 35 keys would be ideal. I am very happy with how I have optimized my Ferris 2 Bling. To explain it simply, the thumb keys from left to right are switch layer, ctrl/enter, shift/space, and alt/bkspc. The latter becomes delete on the second layer, which i would like available on both, hence my desire for a 35 key keyboard. On my 2nd layer, the top row is numbers, but for ergonomics, it goes 8901234567. Works quite well once you're used to it. the other keys on the left hand are arrows and below them home, pg up/dn, end. I have the mouse stuff set up on the right hand, directional on the home row then lower index, middle & ring are the mouse buttons. To drag a window you have to cheat with the thumb on the lower right index key. There are more nuances but that's the basics from half a year of trial and error. Quite happy with it. Having shift/space as one key takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have it's fine.
this is a fascinating conversation. i would like to see a typing demonstration
Plenty of that on the channel - check out my shorts.
Love your videos as always. I would like to explore this layout on the moonlander, and I really appreciate that you recreated it in oryx, except it seems to be an inverted version? Is there a regular one?
Yeah that one is inverted, don’t think I did this the right way around actually. At this size I think it’s better inverted though. Just a pain to get your head around in Oryx!
I’m just waiting on a PCB to build my own Ferris Sweep right now! Very cool layout
are you? I wouldn't know
haha so cool the layout on top!!
Cheers! Thought it might help visualise it all.
What I do is put the L1 key over ctrl on the base layer. That way you don't need to worry about outputting anything when trying to go back to L1 if you're already there because ctrl by itself doesn't do anything. Simpler than the two thumb tap.
I found this channel because I wasn't logged into KZhead on someone elses computer and saw a barefoot shoe video. Now KZhead is recommending lots of Ben Vallack videos. 😆
Amazing!!
Nice. Have you seen SteveP's Seniply setup? It's a 6-layer concept for reduced keyboards.
Tnks for inclouding the layout file, one question would you be able to show a visualization of the layouts? like an image something to help me visualizing how using these layout config would feel like?
Great video! Would love to see a video on why you prefer ISRT over Colemak and other layouts. Have you considered combos in place of home row mods? I moved to them and am liking it a lot more, less misfires. And no bluetooth on this one?
What sort of combos are you using?
Yeah combos can definitely be a good option. I’m actually using them in my 24 layout for shift but still have home row mods as well.
Your best video yet Ben. My head is still spinning. When you talk about the double tap on the thumb keys to return you to layer 1, can you explain a bit more about how you have done that. How are those keys set up in QMK?
So all I mean there is that if I hit the right thumb key followed by the left one, it just so happens that in any layer that will always get you back to layer 1. It’s more a result of the layer design than anything fancy going on.
@@BenVallack Do you find yourself using that combination all of the time rather than wondering which layer you're in?
@@DanielASchaeffer Yeah some of the time for sure, that’s what it’s there for I guess but it does highlight how it isn’t easy to stay aware of which layer you are in all of the time.
I was wondering since you are programming with Vim, if you use your IPad for programming as well? I've decided to get into changing my keyboard layout as well, but I'm thinking, that carrying around a laptop and putting an external keyboard on top of it, would be super annoying, but with an IPad it seems very easy to use it on the go as you've showed in your videos, but on the other hand I feel like the IPadOs isn't suitable for programming. So I just wanted to know if you have any experience with that. Also what I wanted to ask is if you have ever tried to have a 'layer switch layer'? I mean it in a way of that instead of using your 1 thumb key to roll through the layer, you map it to go to a layer where you then can have a key that switches to your special character layers/ mouse layer/... so instead of having to roll through your layers you push a button with your thumb and then your index finger for example and then you are in your special characters layer and then on the middle finger you have your mouse layer. I hope you get what I mean ':D Also thank you a lot for making these videos! They have been really informative!
Lovely quality
Makes me want to get a ferris wheel keyboard and learn this myself!
Thank you for the details! My question is this: are all the double taps for enter, arrow keys, etc. less or more ergonomic than just moving your hand over a few inches? Certainly the layers would be faster, but do the extra key presses wear on you? (Trying to decide on a 34-40ish key layout vs. a full size or tenkeyless)
Additional key presses don’t seem as much of an issue to me as moving my fingers all over the place. Both in terms of speed an comfort. I’m pretty happy with the small board idea. In fact I am currently way on something even smaller. Stay tuned!
Hey your videos encouraged me to get a corne keyboard. How do I set the shortcuts and keys to use a german layout instead of the US one?
I would really like to try this layout on my ferris sweep. However, I wonder if Command and Option keys that are shown with red icons on the first layers are present on all of the layers? Do you not get 'rolling issue' when you type fast alpha keys with those mods? Another question is how would I activate a shortcut that has e.g. Command, Shift + 4? Btw it looks nice and I will have to give it a go
I tried Ben Vallack's layer switching but found it too confusing. I kept getting lost. I am now using one shot layers for my number/symbol and navigation/other layers and it is working well. I did end up keeping a dedicated layer for a mouse mode with mouse navigation on the right hand and some useful complimentary buttons like copy and paste for my left hand.
So I am currently trying to learn Colemak DH. I've learned how to solder and recently found your channel. I will shortly be building a 34 key keyboard. I bought a SofleRGB as a project board. It's a work in progress tons of tiny SMD's. But feeling all the keycaps on there, just feels like there are so many keys. And I think I have finally graduated past the "gamer" approach of keyboards too. I am also trying to learn programming after numerous years of being out of the loop. Like, only using Notepad to code Java in high school on Windows XP. Terminals are finally not scary, and about to download Helix as my text editor. Vim seems great. Emacs seems too extra for a user with my experience. I was trying to set up my init.vim for nvim, then heard about Helix. I am curious how Helix/vim feels on these style of keyboards. Like, does one notice they are more productive or less productive in their editor with this style? Or is the productivity relative to familiarity to smaller styles?
This is almost as little keys as the Georgi steno writer that I have. Looks like loads of fun.
Nice. I’m still using a 32 key layout on the planck as a daily driver, so just one key per thumb. Definitely not missing a full size keyboard. In fact, I 3d printed a “shelf” that sits on top of the laptop built-in keyboard so I can set the planck on top of it when on the go. Looking forward to how a 24 key layout will work for you. I use emacs native bindings, so it might be harder for me. I might have to switch to Emacs evil mode at some point.
With a 32 key layout, what sort of layer switch chords to you have to do for the more difficult Shift-Alt-Ctrl kind of bindings in emacs?
At thirty-two keys… wouldn’t a dilly or a gherkin make more sense for you than the planck?
@@meeself My modifiers are on the home row and duplicated for each hand. So I hold the three fingers down to access those modifiers with either hand. If I hold down all four then I get the Hyper key that I use for many of my Keyboard Maestro macros on the mac.
@@bluefaolan probably so. It was a big step for me to go from a full size keyboard to the planck at the beginning of Ben's video series. It was also the most I ever spent on a keyboard, so I tried just removing some keycaps from the planck and use the wide layout where the two middle columns are not used. I'm considering getting another keyboard so I will check those suggestions out.
This is so cool! Thanks for sharing! I was wondering where you ordered you ferris keyboard from? I bought a couple of nice!nanos recently and have been thinking about switching to a minimal layout for a long time!
I tweaked the Kicad files from here then uploaded a new Gerber file to pcbway.com for them to send me the PCBs. github.com/davidphilipbarr/Sweep/tree/main/Sweep%20Compact More details on the build process in my next video.
@@BenVallack Can't wait!
@@BenVallack what's the difference between the compact and the v2?
@@idankk It has the puck support and power switches but I think is pretty similar.
Hyped to hear about your build process!
Love it! Still quite new to custom keyboards but I managed to flash the QMK files in the description to a premade ferris sweep. Although holding the semicolon doesn’t seem to output a colon for me. While holding other keys does work correctly. Don’t suppose anyone knows why this might be? Thanks
Really interesting. What microcontroller does it use? Or are there two microcontrollers?
Nice video Ben, thanks for the inspiration (I’m going to fiddle with this to improve my own keymap). ISRT is new for me, why are there two Z keys? It doesn't seem to come standard with ISRT, is it a tweak you made?
There shouldnt be, is that in my onscreen graphics?
@@BenVallack Yes, but now I’ve looked into your keymap I think it’s a visual error in the video. The second Z should’ve been the backspace on the base layer.
Ah yes well spotted! Correct, the one on the right should be backspace.
@@BenVallack is there any shift key on your nav/mouse layer? Can't find one.
wow❤❤ In spite of your help, my wrist would be alive!
I was wondering why you wouldn't put the shift to layer 1 (from all the other layers) onto the other left thumb key. This way you could change to your home layer by pressing a single button. If you are already there it would only be shift, so it doesn't output anything
Excellent video! You've (almost) convinced me that this is something just for me. I love your idea of layer switching (including the fall-back double-stroke). One thing I'd like to hear is why you've went for ISRT instead of Colemak DH. I've tried Colemak (briefly) and like the IE and ST progression. After watching a couple of your videos I'm sure there is a solid explanation - and I'd love to hear it. I'm also not getting how modifiers works (command/option) - is it long-press? The other thing that scares me a bit is how I'll get my local language diacritics like ąłżźć etc?
I tried ISRT and immediately it made even more sense to me than Colemak DH so I stuck with it. I think you will know within half an hour of testing it if you want to stick with it. Yeah home row mods are a long hold (200 ms) to get them to behave like mods.
Odd characters from other languages does seem to be a common issue with small layouts. I think it’s a case of just using another layer.
Based on letters frequency in Lithuanian, you can fit more than 98 % of the keystrokes on the first layer with 28 keys (according to "Raidžių dažnių lietuvių ir kitose kalbose, vartojančiose lotyniškus rašmenis, analizė").
do you have a similar layout for a colemak based version of this? Also, you mentioned a coding practice video, specifically selecting text video. is it coming?
I tried switching away from LT to TO/TG for layers but couldn't do it. That said, I've found aggressive tenting really makes the thumb chording have minimal effort as it's more arm based rather than finger now (like playing a piano).
How to you manage VIM with something different than qwerty??? VIM is what has been holding me back on trying a different layout.... Great videos!!!
I would like to hear more about your vim setup.
would love to see a bit more typing action / what happens on the screen as you're talking through key combinations etc. nice video.
Hi Ben, great content. I recently got into this niche hobby as well and built my own split ergo keyboard. I am still figuring out QMK/VIAL and how to setup my layers as well. As to your issues with homerows: I had a similar problem with rolling keys, but got a handle on it for now with "permissive hold" and "Ignore mod tap interrupt". This changes the behaviour of when a key is read as a mod or a key, and when a second key is added to the mod or as an individual keypress. Check it out if you haven't already
Please do a video on your vim and Keyboard Maestro setup! These videos have been so helpful to me.
Yeah will do for sure
@@BenVallack I ended up taking screen grabs of your layouts, since the graphics are so clear and helpful. Thanks so much for sharing these!
hey ben! thanks for these videos - I’ve been a 60% user for years now but you’ve convinced me to take the plunge and design my own 34-ish key board. how are you putting the really smooth key layout overlays on your videos?
Awesome cheers. I used Apple Motion to add motion blur to the movement of the graphics. 180º shutter angle to match video frame rate.
Just switched to a Ferris Sweep with ISRT from a Lily58. Really looking forward to that VIM episode. ISRT + vim is still throwing me off a bit.
This is an amazing video. You somehow hit all my niche interests perfectly :) Here's a question that I hope you can answer - if I want to optimize my "keyboard usage" (mostly for fun), what would be a good first/next step? I have some experience with homegrown weird keyboard hacks, and recently switched to a Moonlander, so now I can start taking advantage of more options. So to take my game to the next level, what would give me the biggest "bang for the buck"? 1. Switching to utilizing Moonlander layers more, home-row-mods, etc, but not going all the way to a 36 key layout. 2. Going all-in on a 36-key layout? 3. Going even more all-in on a 34-key layout? 3. Kind of orthogonal to the above, but another option - learning Colemak or something similar? Btw, have you ever considered trying steno for typing?
Thanks! I would ditch qwerty. I am using ISRT now but Colemak DH is good. I have done some other videos on those. Start using layers more to reduce awkward finger positions, you can just do that bit by bit. I have tried steno; I can’t really get past the issue of it not working on the iPad or phone so am just continuing to optimise a normal board for now.
@@BenVallack Thanks! Yeah Steno feels like an interesting thing to learn but much harder than anything else. I've taken to writing mini-text-expansions for common words (e.g. "sp; -> supposedly"), but this isn't scaling very well. Do you think it's better to learn ISRT than Colemak DH? I kind of randomly started learning Colemak without much thought cause you were using it, but if I'm doing this I might as well choose the "best" layout.
To me ISRT felt immediately better than DH. I would give it a go and see how it feels for you. There are loads of these highly optimised layouts that have materialised since DH originally appeared and they all do lots of interesting things.
Ben, this is amazing stuff; thank you! I have a question which relates to this video and the one you did on why you left the workman layout. I too did my life on qwerty (60 wpm) and was very happy to switch to dvorak. I stayed on dvorak (80 wpm) for close to 10 years and then I got my OLKB Planck and decided with ortholinear I'd also go to workman. It's been a year and I'm in the 90 wpm range on workman now, but like you said noticing the left hand ring finger awkwardness... As such, it's time for a switch again, but here's the question; Colemak DH or ISRT?
ISRT 😀
@@BenVallack okay, this truly is a fantastic layout! I'm only just beginning but already am loving the flow of ISRT! Trying out the 34 key layout too and with layer on toggle that you suggested. I'm thinking I might go back to layer hold (like the shift key is) but I'll give it another week or so... Thanks so much for this idea, and for pointing out that same finger bigrams are a big deal.
It would be nice to have key caps with little LCD displays in them that would actually slow you what each key does in each layer
It's not as nice of course, but for keyboards with per-key rgb, you can use colors to help distinguish things a bit.
Have you played with the Ginny at all? I saw it when checking out the Gergoplex, I know it's for stenography so I doubt it would be a daily board, but would be interesting to see your thoughts on it and steno. Love the vids! Much love
I have some plans for looking at steno, stay tuned :)
Not used the Ginny though
oh wow very nice custom keyboard!
Avoid the stretch - you’ll be fine with three rows :)
Great video as always, you've inspired me to get a split keyboard myself! Starting with the Lily 58, I figure the GergoPlex is a bit too minimal for me.
Hi Ben, have you any plan to make Video about vim-usage with your 34 keys layout? For me semicolon have high priority, that‘s the reason why hesitate to test this cool layout.
I mean, comma and semicolon should be on a same layer.
It would be the same principles as this one kzhead.info/sun/o7qMoqyckGR7pHk/bejne.html all my symbols are on another layer - I don’t mind it.
Hi Ben, Are you planning on showing how you use your keyboard with vim?
Yep