{"id":1441,"date":"2022-03-14T14:42:57","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T14:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/14\/a-stream-deck-mini-is-the-perfect-little-zoom-controller\/"},"modified":"2022-03-14T14:42:58","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T14:42:58","slug":"a-stream-deck-mini-is-the-perfect-little-zoom-controller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/14\/a-stream-deck-mini-is-the-perfect-little-zoom-controller\/","title":{"rendered":"A Stream Deck Mini is the perfect little Zoom controller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/22974570\/elgato-stream-deck-mini-zoom-video-call-controls-work-from-home<\/a>
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One of my missions during the extended work-from-home transition of the past few years has been to find little ways to make the annoying parts of the experience slightly better and less annoying. Like many others, I\u2019ve found a comfortable, ergonomic chair, set up a dedicated standing desk that is only used for work, and explored leveling up my video call quality by repurposing a mirrorless camera as a webcam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But one of the most annoying things has been using Zoom itself \u2014 namely, fumbling around for the mute \/ unmute and leave call buttons. In two years, I\u2019ve not been able to memorize the keyboard shortcuts for them, and since when I\u2019m on Zoom calls, my hands are usually off my keyboard anyways. I\u2019m always the last one to leave the call because I can\u2019t seem to hit that button in a reasonable amount of time. I\u2019m not handy enough to create elaborate pull-chain systems to hang up the call<\/a>, either.<\/p>\n

Reader, I have found the solution, and it is an $80 (or less if you do the tiniest amount of shopping around) Elgato Stream Deck Mini<\/a>. The Stream Deck line of products are customizable keyboards with little LED screens for buttons that you can program to do a whole host of activities. Elgato markets them mainly to Twitch streamers and now has a range of small (six-button)<\/a>, medium (15-button)<\/a>, and large (32-button)<\/a> models.<\/p>\n

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Elgato Stream Deck Mini<\/a><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

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The Elgato Stream Deck Mini is a six-button customizable keyboard with LED screens for buttons. It can be used to control a wide variety of things, including smart lights, computer automations, and microphone and video controls when on video calls or live streaming.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Since I\u2019m definitely not a Twitch streamer, the six-button Mini is perfect for my needs. Thanks to a whole host of official and community-created plugins<\/a>, I now have dedicated controls for mute, video, and leave call always in front of me \u2014 no awkward keyboard shortcuts to remember or fumbling around with my mouse trying to find the on-screen buttons. I even have a button to bring the Zoom window to the foreground, perfect for when I\u2019ve clicked away from it to scroll through Twitter and then my boss asks me a question in a group call, and I need to quickly jump back to the Zoom call. (Nilay, don\u2019t read this.)<\/p>\n

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A second page is where I\u2019ve set up some lighting and smart home controls, as well as a folder for system media controls.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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On a third page I\u2019ve tucked away lesser used controls, including a folder for Google Meet buttons that I\u2019ve customized with the Meet icon.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

My primary use case for the Stream Deck is those Zoom controls, so they are all on the first four buttons. But the Stream Deck also supports pages, so on a second page, I\u2019ve added folders for some smart lights in my office, system media controls, and toggles for the space heater in my office. On a third page, I\u2019ve got dedicated buttons to launch specific Lightroom catalogs, so I don\u2019t have to go hunting for them on my external drive, plus a folder for Google Meet controls<\/a> I occasionally need to use when I have briefings with Google. I\u2019ve customized icons on a lot of the buttons so I can easily recognize what they are for at a glance.<\/p>\n

Programming the Stream Deck is done through its desktop app, and it\u2019s a very simple, drag and drop system, no coding required. I was up and running with the Zoom plugin and my preferred controls in less than ten minutes.<\/p>\n

The Stream Deck Mini may be small, but so long as you don\u2019t need single-button access to more than six things, you can use endless pages to control all sorts of things. You can even run Shortcuts right from the Stream Deck if you\u2019re using macOS 12.3 Monterey. (I\u2019m sure there are similar automation options for Windows that I have not bothered to explore.)<\/p>\n