Editing videos has almost become part of my daily routine. On top of capturing and posting gameplay of just about every game I review, I also edit a lot of GT’s other videos like reviews and many of those monthly upcoming games lists. Some recent work I’ve been proud of are the video reviews of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Pikmin 4, and Starfield. I also make a ton of thumbnails for those vids and even some of the holiday graphics. It’s great to really get in the zone and have a video just flow together, but when working on tight deadlines you can’t always take the time to scrub through dozens of hours of footage and only pull the best clips. Enter the TourBox NEO Speed Editor, a handy little tool intended to speed up tasks like video and image editing.
First up, the packaging. The device comes in a sleek black box, but is a bit hard to open. Once you finally get in there, you’ll find the TourBox itself, a USB cable, a quick start guide in multiple languages, safety instructions, and a card with links to a help center. The TourBox also includes a 1 year warranty just in case, though I don’t see myself dropping and breaking this as it has a permanent spot on my desk.
Setting up the TourBox is super simple, just plug it into a USB port using the included USB-C cable, download and install the software, and chances are it’ll already have a profile for whatever application you use. Right off the bat it comes with profiles for Photoshop, Lightroom Classic Advanced, Premiere Color Grading and Editing, Capture One, Clip Studio Paint, PaintTool SAI, and finally DaVinci Resolve, the only one on that list I use. For image editing, I tend to gravitate towards an open source program called Krita. Rather than creating a profile from scratch though, I was able to easily find one on the internet (by Reddit user REMCodes), import it, and point it towards Krita to automatically swap to that preset when the program is focused.
If I wanted to change a part of a preset, it’s just as simple. Just go to the button you want to alter (or press the actual button to automatically get to it), double click, and input the new shortcut you want with the handy interface. You can also just search for a command you want if you don’t know the keyboard shortcut, and chances are it’ll know the keys already. You can even create different functions for double pressing a button or pressing two buttons together. As someone who was initially daunted by the number of buttons and functions, it’s incredibly intuitive and user friendly, though it did take a minute to get acquainted with the software.
The TourBox has 14 buttons, including pressing down on things like the scroll wheel. There are three spinny bits: a large knob in the center, a scroll wheel in the top left, and a flat dial in the bottom left. Having big buttons in the bottom right, a big top button, and a D-Pad under the knob make them easy to reach while turning the knob, but the scroll wheel and dial do require some hand movement to use comfortably. In the top right, there are two much smaller buttons which work great as undo and redo, there’s another small button next to the knob that I often forgot about, and, finally, there’s a button on the side, which I find functions best as a “shift” key to change the function of other buttons while it is held down with your pinky. (I should note I’m using this with my left hand, and my mouse in my right, my left hand moving to the keyboard when needed.)
Something super handy is a toggleable overlay to remind you what each button on the D-Pad does. While I’m editing on my larger monitor, I usually keep this on my smaller one to glance at if I need it. The display will also change if you have any shift functions set up. You can of course turn it off when you don’t need it, but with so many buttons and functions I looked at it often.
The biggest projects I have used this for were our Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Alan Wake 2 reviews, and while it certainly sped up the process, I still found myself using the mouse to do things like switching to cut mode rather than the shortcut I set up on the TourBox. Instead, I used it mostly for scrubbing video. The knob will play the video in whatever direction you turn while it’s in motion, and the dial jumps forward or back in intervals. I’m certainly keeping it around for that, but I was hoping I would make more use of it. It may just be because of my process, where I assemble video as I go along with voice over, cutting out flubs and inserting the occasional joke or game clip. Occasionally I’ll challenge myself with something more intense, like synching up clips to Pikmin 4’s intro music or only starting the voiceover when V picks up the phone in Cyberpunk.
I definitely found the scrubbing to be far more accurate than hitting play and pause on their own or just cutting and praying with my mouse, but again I’m only using two functions for the majority of my time. On the image side of things, I stuck almost entirely to the scroll wheel to zoom in and out, which I can already do with my mouse. I set up hotkeys to switch tools, but I would constantly forget to use them. This is a good product and I think I just need more time to incorporate it into my workflow, but honestly I just don’t have a use for this many buttons – yet.
David is the kind of person to wear his heart on his sleeve. He can find positives in anything, like this is a person who loved Star Fox Zero to death. You’ll see him playing all kinds of games: AAAs, Indies, game jam games, games of all genres, and writing about them! Here. On this website. When not writing or playing games, you can find David making music, games, or enjoying a good book.
David’s favorite games include NieR: Automata, Mother 3, and Gravity Rush.
Fully integrating a new tool into your workflow takes time, and while I will still need more time with the TourBox NEO Speed Editor it has proved itself instantly useful in a few aspects. It may only save a few seconds, but over several hours of editing video that builds up quickly. It’s interface is easily understandable and powerful, with shortcuts for just about anything at your fingertips.
PROS
- Great software
- D-Pad shortcut reminders
- Great scrubbing tool
CONS
- Almost too many buttons
- Takes a while to get used to
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