Remote Control Keystrokes on Mac (PLEASE EDIT)

Because Mac computers have well defined function keys for specific playback functions, the keyboard shortcuts that MediaShout for Mac uses are different than those used by our Windows software.  Unfortunately, some of those shortcuts are not options for use with the PowerPresenter RF remote control that we recommend and many of our customers use.

The good news is that Mac OS X allows you to easily customize the keystrokes used by any application, so you can change the keystrokes used by MediaShout to work with the PowerPresenter or any other remote.  While this article is aimed at PowerPresenter remote users, these instructions will work for any remote as long as you know which keystrokes it is sending to the computer.

Before changing the keystrokes you will need to know the exact wording of the command as displayed in the menu.  Here are the playback keystrokes for MediaShout. (The F-keys are not needed but are shown for reference. Note that the Play Previous Cue, Play Selected Cue and Play Next Cue correspond to the Back, Play/Pause, and Forward buttons on most Apple keyboards.):

With this information known, the steps to change the shortcuts are as follows:

1. Go to: Apple menu > System Preferences… > Keyboard, then select ‘Keyboard Shortcuts’
   
        
    
2. Select ‘Application Shortcuts’ in the left column.
   
         
3. Click the ‘+’ box below the right column, and a dialog box will pop up. 
   
    
4. Select MediaShout for the application, enter the exact menu name of the command you want to change, select the keystroke combination that you want to use for that command, and then click ‘Add’.  (Tip: If your remote control is connected, you can simply press the button on the remote and it will send the keystroke as if you had typed it on your keyboard.)
   
        
    
5. If you want to change more shortcuts go back to step 3 and repeat for each command you wish to change.  If you are finished, Quit System Preferences and return to MediaShout. 

These changes are made immediately, so you do not need to restart any of the software or the computer for them to be effective.  Also, if you need to restore the original settings you can either delete the settings that you added or select ‘Restore Defaults’.

Because the PowerPresenter has a limited selection of keystrokes (a full list of available keystrokes is attached below), you will need to change at least two menu commands to make the PowerPresenter work with the Mac.  If your PowerPresenter is already set up to work with MediaShout, we suggest the following:

This will allow you to use the remote on either the Mac or PC version without making any changes.  If, however, you have not set up your PowerPresenter for use with MediaShout, you wish to be able to use the remote with both PowerPoint and MediaShout, or you have another remote that is designed to work with PowerPoint you may want to use the follow settings: