# Rosco Keystroke DOA



## Chris Chapman (Apr 27, 2010)

I see Rosco Keystroke is being discontinued on the Rosco Product List on their website. Has anyone heard about this? We use Keystroke frequently to drive projections in some of our shows and I was disappointed to find this out.


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## doctrjohn (Apr 27, 2010)

From what I have been told, Rosco has not sold enough of them to justify the software development required to get them to run under Vista or Windows 7.

Best,
John


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## Chris Chapman (Apr 27, 2010)

Ahhhh.... that makes a little sense. I'm a Mac guy and it has always run great on OS X for me.


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## Footer (Apr 27, 2010)

Someone just needs to write a keyboard emulator that can run with artnet or with a Enntec widget. I would pay 50 bucks for that app.


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## ruinexplorer (Apr 27, 2010)

I bet they would have good luck if they offered it as an open source solution.


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## Chris Chapman (Apr 28, 2010)

Real answer from Rosco:

"Hi Chris,

The sad truth to our dropping Keystroke is that it imply has not sold as well as we expected. I was very optimistic during this launch because I too think it's a great product. Here's the situation. Keystroke is basically a circuit board in a box with some connectors. We can certainly repair the connectors if they fail. However, we will not be able to address component level problems on the board since we will no longer be having the boards made for us. You may find, if you need, that we have a few left in stock. When we discontinue an item, there is often short runs of inventory left on the shelf. This will likely be true with Keystroke.

Joshua ALemany - Rosco Dir. of Product Marketing."


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## Footer (Apr 28, 2010)

Chris Chapman said:


> Keystroke is basically a circuit board in a box with some connectors.



Best marketing speak EVER. Isn't everything really just a circuit board in a box with some connections, maybe a button or two?


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## xander (May 1, 2010)

doctrjohn said:


> From what I have been told, Rosco has not sold enough of them to justify the software development required to get them to run under Vista or Windows 7.
> 
> Best,
> John



I just put up a show using Keystroke on a PC I am pretty sure was running Windows 7...

-Tim


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## renegadeblack (May 4, 2010)

Footer said:


> Someone just needs to write a keyboard emulator that can run with artnet or with a Enntec widget. I would pay 50 bucks for that app.



You might be on to something there with artnet. If you were to use that, wouldn't you perhaps be able to get some good feedback such as maybe a screenshot or even using the mouse (though I'm not quite sure what you'd need that for)


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## Anvilx (May 4, 2010)

Footer said:


> Best marketing speak EVER. Isn't everything really just a circuit board in a box with some connections, maybe a button or two?



Well if it is merely a circuit in a box then why does it cost ~$400. I feel like someone could hack together something that did this job for under 100 dollars.

arduino w/ dmx shield>gutted keyboard>autohotkey>...


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## DaveySimps (May 4, 2010)

Anvilx said:


> Well if it is merely a circuit in a box then why does it cost ~$400. I feel like someone could hack together something that did this job for under 100 dollars.
> 
> arduino w/ dmx shield>gutted keyboard>autohotkey>...



It is all about developing the software that goes with it.

~Dave


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## doctrjohn (May 5, 2010)

xander said:


> I just put up a show using Keystroke on a PC I am pretty sure was running Windows 7...
> 
> -Tim



I would love to have you verify that for me, and let me know what you used for a driver if it was 7. I tried using 7 for a show I just closed and didn't have any luck getting it to work. I haven't had a chance to look back in to it, but it is on my to do list. Knowing of a success story would certainly motivate me...

Best,
John


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## zuixro (May 5, 2010)

DaveySimps said:


> It is all about developing the software that goes with it.
> 
> ~Dave



Why does it need software? Why couldn't it just show up as a keyboard to the computer and send [Space Bar] whenever it receives the right DMX data. It could be programable through some buttons on the device, RDM, or even by sending certain DMX data to it. 


Anvilx said:


> Well if it is merely a circuit in a box then why does it cost ~$400. I feel like someone could hack together something that did this job for under 100 dollars.
> 
> arduino w/ dmx shield>gutted keyboard>autohotkey>...



That's not a bad idea. I might have to throw something together as a proof of concept.


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## Chris Chapman (May 5, 2010)

zuixro said:


> Why does it need software? Why couldn't it just show up as a keyboard to the computer and send [Space Bar] whenever it receives the right DMX data. It could be programable through some buttons on the device, RDM, or even by sending certain DMX data to it.
> 
> 
> 
> That's not a bad idea. I might have to throw something together as a proof of concept.



Keystroke Hardware is just converting DMX to USB. THe software is doing the keyboard mapping, channel assignments, and other goodies. Out of the box there is no addressing going on.


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## zuixro (May 5, 2010)

Chris Chapman said:


> Keystroke Hardware is just converting DMX to USB. THe software is doing the keyboard mapping, channel assignments, and other goodies. Out of the box there is no addressing going on.



I'm saying why not do that in the box instead of on the computer. It would be cross platform that way.


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## Blackfaer (Apr 29, 2011)

zuixro said:


> I'm saying why not do that in the box instead of on the computer. It would be cross platform that way.


 
It would be more limited than what Keystroke currently does. Keystroke can do stuff you can't do with simple key presses. That said, Keystroke is going away, so what you're talking about would be 90% of what Keystroke does, and 100% better than nothing at all. I'd be your first customer, except I already have my keystroke and I love it.


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## SHARYNF (May 2, 2011)

The real issue is some what subtle, Rosco is a respected supplier to the theater industry and you would have thought that they would have secured a way to maintain these units for a more significant length of time. 

Sharyn


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## cpf (May 2, 2011)

The software and hardware is incredibly basic, I could whip one up in a day with $50 of materials. The added cost comes from the man hours required to develop and support the product in a professional manner. As for repairability: it's just a circuit board in a box, "fixing it" involves a garbage can and a replacement unit, one which they are no longer manufacturing (same reason why you can't get Intel to sell you a replacement Pentium 4). They can't be expected to continue large-scale production of a product they no longer sell, especially once warrantees have run out.


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## SammyTheHand (Sep 23, 2012)

I realise the product Rosco Keystroke is discontinued.
I'm unable to find the software for it anywhere on the web.
Would anyone be able to point me in the direction for the Mac Software.

Much appreciated

Sammy


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## ruinexplorer (Sep 24, 2012)

While I have never used the product, my understanding was that it interfaced with the computer as a remote keyboard. Based on that, all the drivers would have been on the device itself (kind of like a USB drive). If all else fails, have you contacted Rosco?


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## cpf (Sep 24, 2012)

The catch is that it had desktop software to set up DMX->Keystroke mapping. I can't find any copies sitting on their server, or anywhere else online, but I'm sure it's sitting on someone's PC at Rosco.


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## Chris Chapman (Sep 28, 2012)

CPF, check your ControlBooth inbox.


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## cpf (Sep 28, 2012)

It's empty :neutral:


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## Chris Chapman (Oct 2, 2012)

Oops. Look again.


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## mbclighting (Dec 8, 2012)

Chris Chapman said:


> CPF, check your ControlBooth inbox.



Hi guys! I can't help but notice that these most recent replies are only a couple months old. We're desperately looking for the Mac version of the Keystroke software here too. Calls have been put in to Rosco, and I've been told I'll be receiving an email, but no luck yet, and as you know, time is always of the essence to us... Did you have luck finding it and can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!


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## RickV (Feb 17, 2018)

I'm trying to find a copy of the mac software for the rosco keystroke


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