Build This DIY Jog Wheel for Better Video Editing
This buttery-smooth DIY jog wheel uses an Arduino to make video editing as easy as can be.
Keyboards are great for typing but are not always so great for special purposes. Take video editing, for instance. If you use a keyboard for this purpose, be prepared to memorize a dozen keyboard shortcuts and to have a clunky editing experience overall. For cases such as this, a keyboard is simply not the right tool for the job.
A jog wheel with a macropad is a much better choice. These tools allow you to scrub through video timelines like a pro and run common functions without having to remember complicated key combinations. A maker that goes by the handle "roBOTing" was in need of a jog wheel for video editing and decided to build one to save some cash and customize the device perfectly.
Instead of ordering a purpose-built controller or even a more capable microcontroller board, the builder reached into the parts drawer and grabbed what was on hand, which happened to be an Arduino UNO Rev 3. Unlike boards such as the Pro Micro or Leonardo, the UNO cannot natively present itself to a computer as a USB keyboard or other Human Interface Device. This not-so-small caveat significantly increased the complexity of the build.
roBOTing plowed forward all the same and worked around this limitation in software. A small background Python program running on a computer listens to the UNO over a serial connection using the pyserial library, then translates incoming signals into keyboard commands via pyautogui.
The physical controls consist of a KY-040 rotary encoder acting as the jog wheel and four Gateron Brown mechanical switches for macros like Cut, Select, and Ripple Delete. Two operating modes add flexibility: a fine frame-by-frame scrub and a faster Shift-modified scroll. Getting there took effort, particularly implementing a state-machine debouncing system so the encoder would register smooth, jitter-free motion without skipped inputs.
The enclosure is a 3D-printed remix of an existing macropad case design, though the wiring remains a bit chaotic — the UNO itself still sits outside the housing in a tangle of jumper leads. Despite the improvised look, the creator reports the controller feels “buttery smooth” in daily editing work.
The full build guide, code, and printable files have been released under a CC BY-NC-SA license on MakerWorld, and the developer is inviting others to adapt the project to their own needs.
R&D, creativity, and building the next big thing you never knew you wanted are my specialties.