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TourBox Lite, this will change your workflow forever

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Does the TourBox Lite change your workflow?

Last week we received the TourBox Lite for a review. In this blog, you’ll read how it changed my workflow.

Workflow importance

One of the things I always teach during workshops is workflow.
It might sound boring but having a proper workflow is essential to get not only consistent results but also to simply save time for other important things in life 😀

When we talk about workflow we often talk about settings and the order in which you edit in Lightroom, Photoshop, or your favorite editor.
But there is a lot more.

With the release of the iPad Pro I (and many with me) thought the world would change forever and we would not need laptops anymore… well a few months later I sold my oversized iPhone and closed that chapter. But many years later I bought the 11″ iPad Pro and that changed my workflow forever.

iPad Pro 12.9″

At the moment I’m using my iPad Pro 12.9 for almost 99% of my sessions in combination with Cascable to shoot tethered, and let’s be honest, especially on location, you can shoot all day with the iPad, it has more than enough light output for outside, it’s well protected against the elements and… well it’s not about the iPad today, but it’s a game changer. The iPad Pro is an important part of my workflow.

Retouching with the iPad and a laptop

For me, most of the time is spent on retouching. Like most of us, I love taking photos but retouching… well it has to be done. Don’t get me wrong it’s a lot of fun in most cases, but in a lot of other cases it’s something you have to do and the faster it can be done the better.

In the studio (and at home) when I work in a static setup I use my MacBookPro 14″ M1Pro connected to a 32″ BenQ monitor and retouching is done via an XP-pen drawing tablet (with screen), which works like a charm. But I have to sit behind my desk.

Sometimes I also want to edit on the couch. When traveling, in a hotel, and sitting behind a desk is not always ideal. Having a laptop with a touchpad is doable but not for everything. You just need more control sometimes, especially with selections or skin retouching.

Luckily Apple has a great solution for this.
You can connect your iPad to your MacBook and use it as an input device. In fact, I’m having my MacBookPro on the table and holding my iPad and Apple Pencil on my lap.

Full Photoshop on the iPad

Well ok, there is an app on the iPad called Photoshop. Although it gets better every release, it’s a far cry from the desktop version. So to do proper retouching I still need the full version of Photoshop (at the moment). This is where the connection between the iPad screen and MacOs works like a charm, there is however one HUGE disadvantage.

the iPad is an important part of my workflow

Where are my keys…. oh there

As you can see in the image the iPad mirrors the MacBook and when using an Apple Pencil retouching becomes really close to using a real drawing tablet. Some things are a bit “wonky” but overall it’s a huge improvement over using the touchpad and especially on location this is the biggest improvement in your workflow in years.

But…. we all know that for Photoshop we also need key input.
Try to use Photoshop just with a pen and you will within seconds find out that you can’t do anything. For almost everything, you need keystrokes. Now luckily Apple knows about this so they offer a floating “keyboard” with the most used keys like COMMAND, CRTL, SHIFT, SPACE, etc.

I don’t know about you, but I like it because there is nothing else. But it’s far from perfect. You don’t feel the keys, they take up space and on the iPad screen size is something I don’t want to sacrifice.

Hardware solutions

Over the years I’ve tried several input devices and although they all promise that you will speed up your workflow 10-fold and everything is easier and…. well you know what I mean. In real life, I never really found something that stayed.

Most of the devices I tried are too light, meaning they “walk” over my desk, adding some anti-slip feet helps but it’s something I have to add myself. Other devices were not well-formed which meant I had to move my hand too much and because most buttons had the same form I still needed to look at the device, which made the device useless for me because I could as easily just use a keyboard.

The TourBox Lite changed my workflow

The TourBox Lite changed my workflow

TourBox Lite (2024)

I think I found the perfect solution to improve my workflow.
A left-handed device (yes, read on if you’re like me right-handed). that just hits the nail on the head.

The TourBox Lite is the newest addition to the TourBox family and retails for just under $100 which in my opinion is a very critical price point.

When unboxing the first thing that caught my attention was the weight.
You expect something from that size to be a lot lighter, now I’m not saying it’s TOO heavy, in fact, it’s perfect.
It doesn’t move around on my desk and it’s light enough to carry around easily in your backpack.

At first glance compared to some other products you might think “There are not a lot of buttons there”.
But let’s be totally honest with each other.
This is NOT a keyboard replacement, it’s a workflow device, and when you look closely at what you really need I have to be honest that I don’t really miss any buttons.

 

TourBox Lite workflow advantages

One of the cool things about the TourBox series is that you can add app 100 actions to the buttons.
They make this possible by using combinations and also double clicks.

I’ve been testing the TourBox Lite for a few days now and for example, in Logic Pro I’m using the double click on the play button. One time means STOP/PLAY but double click means GO BACK TO START. This is an action you use all the time and having it under one button is just genius and feels very natural.

For Final Cut Pro and Lightroom/Photoshop, I’m using the scroll wheels to zoom in and out and change the brush size and that speeds up your mobile workflow a lot.

TourBox lite console

More options

I started this blog post with a story about how the iPad changed my workflow and the TourBox Lite is for me a huge upgrade. I can now just leave my laptop on the table (or floor) and use the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and the TourBox Lite to work through my whole session without ever needing to touch my laptop. This is huge 😀

But when I’m not using the iPad Pro for retouching I still have it next to my MacBookPro and use it for almost all software I use. The fun thing is that with the other devices I tested I always found out after a few minutes I was using the keyboard and actually forgot that I also had another input device.

The TourBox Lite is designed for left-handed use, and that’s genius.
I’m mostly holding my XP-pen or Apple Pencil in my right hand and my left hand is free to operate the keyboard. But also when adjusting parameters when using Logic Pro and holding a guitar, having the right hand free to hit the strings and the left hand to adjust is really comfortable.

Of course, you can use other devices also with your left hand. But this is I think where I like the TourBox Lite more. Because I don’t have to move my hand. I position it and it hardly has to move. Another huge advantage is that all buttons feel slightly different. My other device uses mostly the same buttons where you have to put stickers under to see what you’re doing. Well in a dark studio, this already doesn’t work and often ends in frustration. And that you only use the dials and buttons on the keyboard, which I think is not the way it should be 😀

So many options, so little time

You probably already picked up that we can program A LOT of combinations but how do you remember everything?
For me, that’s always been a problem.
When I start with a new software suite I try to first learn the most important keystrokes. And luckily it’s often pretty straightforward. But even with a normal keyboard, especially at the start, you have to sometimes look up the keystrokes.

With these kinds of devices for me, that’s always a problem. On the keyboard, I can mostly find my most used keystrokes but when you use several suites at the same time it can become really messy with input devices.

The TourBox software has a really nice option where you can link software to the TourBox. This means as soon as you open the software it will open the preset on your TourBox too. This makes it easy to switch between software but doesn’t solve my problem of remembering what is what.

You can of course just try or maybe even have the editor open on another screen, but I actually love the way TourBox chose to use a HUD solution that can be customized, moved around, and setup exactly the way you like.

When you press a button it will also show up in the HUD.
Now in most cases you will probably only use the HUD for a few days or weeks, after which it should probably be a matter of feel and muscle memory.

In conclusion, did the TourBox Lite change my workflow?

The new 2024 TourBox Lite is a very interesting input device.
It’s small enough to be used on the couch with your iPad. But it has enough buttons and combinations to even help with more complicated workflows.

The price point is spot on, but you sacrifice a bleutooth connection and some extra buttons that you can find on the Elite. But if you have no problem with working with a USB-C cable, I don’t see an issue there.

Are there things to improve…?

Yes of course 😀
I would love to see a small backlight at the buttons. I mostly work in light-controlled areas which means that the TourBox is located next to my keyboard in the studio and there is hardly any light hitting that area. Because all the buttons feel different it’s not a big deal, but it would be nice, and shouldn’t be a problem seeing the TourBox Lite is connected via USB-C anyway.

For me, the TourBox Lite hits the nail on the head.
It has enough buttons, the right price point, great software, auto switching apps, HUD, and of course well designed so you can use it with one hand and minimal movements (great for long hours of work).

I lost my interest in this kind of devices but this one has shown me that it can be done right.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Also, want a Tour box?

When you use this link for your order, you also support our work: TourBox Lite

For BenQ we have a 10% discount code for European customers, if you are in the market for a new monitor, drop us an email for the discount code.

 

Disclaimer:
I was sent the TourBox Lite by TourBox to check out.
ALL reviews I make are 100% my real opinion and not motivated by manufacturers, our readers demand and deserve a real and honest review and that’s what I do.

Tourbox NEO review

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How often did you think.
“man I would love something that replaces my keyboard for shortcuts”
If that’s you, this might be of interest for you.

As you guys know I’m always 100% honest in my reviews. So let’s start by stating that this product was send to us for review, but that will not for even 1% influence my opinion. So let’s start.

What is it?
Tourbox is a small but very well build (and heavy) external device with buttons and dials that can be “freely” programmed to replace shortcuts. Now there are several solutions out there and some fall in the catagory “total junk” and “genius”. Let me start with stating that the tourbox is very close to the segment “Very usable to genius”. Let me explain.

These kind of devices are a mixed bag for me and a lot of people.
When we have a keyboard in front of us we can learn the shortcuts and for example order a small keyboard that you lay on your lap or next to you while working, or one can just chose to operate everything with a mouse/trackpad, and in all honesty for a lot of software this is still my prefered way of working, for example take lightroom, I’ve never found a product that actually speeds up the trackpad/mouse workflow, for the simple reason that Lightroom has a very clear structure and you can work from top to bottom setting everything up and seeing you also skip certain settings working with the mouse/trackpad is just very very easy also because when you use local adjustments you already need a mouse/trackpad/tablet.

So although it does work flawlessly in Lightroom I would probably never use it myself for this, no matter what others say 🙂
Now let’s look at Photoshop.

The more you work in Photoshop the more you are almost using shortcuts blindely, for the simple reason you use them all the time, and also Photoshop is a totally different program than Lightroom. For me Lightroom is really based on a mouse/trackpad workflow where Photoshop is really aimed at a tablet/pen control surface PLUS shortcuts on a keyboard, you actually hardly to never touch the mouse/trackpad, and in that case…. man this is genius.

We all have our favorite shortcuts.
For me it’s always the following I program.
Brush size, Rotate canvas, switch for/background (X), Curves, Levels, Saturation, zoom in and out, 100%, fill and of course the usual Space, CRTL, SHIFT etc.
And those can all be programmed in the Tourbox, and this makes it very usable for Photoshop and other software that is really based on shortcuts and non mouse/trackpad operation.

So let’s take a look at the software itself so you get an idea about what’s possible (and it’s a lot)

First of all, don’t worry that you have to do a lot of work before using the tourbox, there are several presets available in the software right after the installation. So when you use Photoshop and Lightroom you’re already covered. But what about if you want it differently (what I would do without a doubt). Well that’s very easy.

It’s very easy to create a new preset, and after that the fun really starts.
Of course you can emulate the normal keystrokes, but also combinations with SHIFT, CRTL etc.
But… and that’s actually very cool, you can also combine keys on the tourbox, for example the normal dial changes brushsize, but if you hold the side button you can use th same dial for screenzoom for example. And that makes the tourbox A LOT more usable, you are literally not limited to the keys you see (well actually you are, but you can also combine the keys making it a lot more usable).

Now this sounds awesome, but it also brings in a problem I experience almost everyday, “where the heck did I …..”, and with so many options it can indeed very quickly become very confusing. It also doesn’t really help the device is black including the keys (later more on that).

Now loads of people will program the Tourbox the way that they use it, and the nice thing is that you can download those from the TourBox website. Just search for the program you want to use and download the presets.

 

Luckily you can always call up the hub and see what’s programmed.
And if you don’t know all the shortcuts, don’t panic, the TourBox software helps you out by the build in functions menu. This makes programming literally a breeze.

 

Conclusion
Ok, so how does it work in reality.
Let me start with the positives.

First off all the device is build very nicely, it’s heavy enough to not drift around the table or your lap, but not too heavy you can’t travel with it. Also size wise it’s a very smart size, it’s not too small and certainly not to big, plus a BIG plus…. it uses USB-C, I still don’t understand why manufactores still release gear with other connections than USB-C.

Also there is so much flexibility that it’s almost impossible that there is a situation where you can’t use it.
So overall I’m very positive about the TourBox. But let’s also take a look at the negatives.

First of all one could argue that it should be wireless, and I start with this one because I agree and disagree. You do have to realize the price point of the TourBox, compared to some competitors the TourBox is A LOT cheaper and when you add wireless you will need a battery and of course BT or WiFi board which will drive the price up and also the stability, I’m actually mostly a fan of devices that also have the option to be used with a wired connection because I hate batteries that run out, or connections that are instable (and yes that happens a lot).

Ok so what can they improve
Now do realize that some of these options will add some costs or are not possible in this product.

First off all I think the TourBox is genius for Photoshop but also when recording and editing video and music, and especially for music it’s awesome to be able to start recording/punch ins with just a quick tap on a button instead of reaching out to the keyboard or using the mouse/keyboard, and while editing zooming is just plain awesome…. “Hey Frank this is positive, not negative buddy…” yeah I know, now when I record music or edit photos/videos I’m a bit of “batman” I’m editing in a dark area and in most cases there is just not enough light to see the pure black TourBox, this is also the reason I’m using keyboards with backlit keys. I would love for them to add a light behind the keys, just to see where the keys are and not having to trust my fingers in the dark. Now not everyone will be editing in a “batcave” but if you do this is really a negative thing about the TourBox, I love black gear, but man it’s hard to see in the dark.

Now adding backlights would be pretty easy I guess, just place a ledstrip in the housing and it will show through the side of the keys, it doesn’t have to be disco ball but just outlining the keys would help a lot. The next step would be a small display that shows what you programmed under the keys, I don’t see a lot of products that use this but in all honestly it would make it worth double the price for me personally, because especially when you use the TourBox in 4-5 apps it can be VERY confusing where what is. In all fairness on my XP-Pen tablets after hours and hours of use I know most of the buttons, but still…. I’m using console tape next to the keys with the functions because the most used keys I know where they are but keys you don’t use a lot can still be confusing, and these kind of devices are build for speed and easy workflow, the fact that most keys are shaped differently does help a lot, I’ve tested several solutions that use the same buttons (just a lot of them) and I never really used them for the simple reason I just lost track and eventually interest. By using different shapes it makes it 10x easier to remember.

The thing that I would LOVE to see, and I really think it should be added is support for iOS.
Now bare with me for this one.
I know most of you still edit on desktops or laptops, but you can’t deny that the iPads are making huge waves at the moment and for me the iPad pro 12.9″ M1 actually fully replaced my laptop and for 90% my desktop, and indeed that means I use the iPad for everything from photography to video editing and media consumption.

Now on a desktop and laptop you already have a keyboard an a mouse/trackpad connected but not on an iPad, the only reason I have a keyboard connected when editing is for certain shortcuts which I find easier than using the touch interface, and for that I would not connect a keyboard but would literally LOVE a solution like the TourBox, in fact I would use it almost daily seeing more and more app makers are adding loads of shortcuts, and editing with a keyboard next to me is possible but I would love the TourBox (or another solution) connected to the iPad.

When talking to manufactorers I often hear they don’t look at the iPad pro as a serious device and I strongly feel they were right 2-3 years ago, however when we now look at what Adobe is doing with Lightroom and Photoshop, but also apps like LumaFusion, Cubasis, Beatmaker3, affinity photo etc. I really feel they are very wrong to not take the iPad pro serious, and luckily soon Capture One will be released on the iPad pro M1 which I think will break open the way for more software makers. And let’s be honest with the new M1 it should be pretty simple for TourBox to port their software to the iPad.

So should you run out and buy a TourBox?
Well if you compare it to the price of a normal keyboard… no absolutely not.
BUT…. that’s not fair, it’s a totally different product and well worth it’s price especially when compared to other solutions.

So when you find yourself looking for shortcuts in software and would wish there was a way to have this all easy accessable the TourBox might be the perfect solution for you. I’ll keep using it behind the desktop we record music on and do the editing when I’m home, and this has nothing to do with the quality but the simple fact in the studio we use XP-Pen tablets that already have more than enough shortcut keys. But if you are using a tablet that doesn’t have enough hardkeys (most don’t have enough) combining your tablet with the TourBox I can HIGHLY recommend and I mean HIGHLY, it will make your life a lot easier. But do make sure you have a little but of light in your workarea. Or wait for TourBox to release a special Doorhof white version with backlighting (just kidding).

If you also want a TourBox, get them (or anything else :D) via this link and also support our work.
https://amzn.to/3wTPihQ