The Wonderland of Export Automation
Geek-o-meter: 1 2️⃣ 3
If Homer tripled his productivity by making two of three letters in the word 'yes' redundant, you can imagine the epiphany I had when the Stream Deck was released. Actually, nothing changed for me. I'd been using a Logitech G13 for several years and always felt limited in what I could use a dedicated macro-keyboard for. Having a giant one seemed like a decline in ROI since navigating it could be cumbersome.
I initially got into it with the Stream Deck XL. With this larger version, I could understand the appeal of having around 30 actions and browsing buttons that could navigate to new pages or folders! It's something that mechanical macro keyboards could never do. With the Stream Deck, I could build my macros in their desktop software and have them immediately available on the device. A macro is one execution of a series of commands. A macro can be as simple as pressing the escape key. It can also be as complex as pressing the escape key, then Ctrl, F, E, P, D, S, O, O, and finally, closing the window.[^1]
That's where I found the real value for me! If you haven't noticed, this is the hotkey sequence for printing the score as a PDF. Now, you might ask, why not just use hotkeys then‽ There are two reasons. First, I use this sequence the most on the final day of a project. On a film I'm wrapping up 40 cues to send to the printer. Repeating this action 40 times in a short span inevitably results in misfires. Second, I can insert other commands in between.
This workflow is set to geek-level 2. In reality, it's not that difficult, but it does require you to have a Stream Deck. If you do, you're already more than a level 1 geek and probably aspiring to be even more! Although Stream Decks are awesome, there are cheaper alternatives for both tablet control and Mac software that we'll delve into later.
All Hands on Stream Deck
I compiled a list of all the keys pressed, documenting the journey from the score to having the PDFs in my folder, and created a Stream Deck Multi-Action button for it.
It begins with pressing Escape (⎋) just as a safety measure. Then, it proceeds to simulate all the necessary hotkey presses to navigate to the filename (with a small delay inserted to ensure Sibelius catches up).
Once here, it selects all text, and Stream Deck then inserts ‘%f - %n_%p.pdf’,[^2] and tabs to the next field 'Save to folder:'. Again, it selects all the text, so I arrow to the right and insert the text ‘/PDF’ since Sibelius already points to the folder with the Sibelius file itself. The navigation of the cursor to get to specific places is the game-changer for macros.
For final actions, I export, save, and close the score. If I don’t close the score and need to re-export, Sibelius retains the /PDF folder in the pathname. Firing this macro consequently has the effect of creating ever more PDF folders within PDF folders. By reopening the score, it resets, and I avoid the inevitable folder-ception.
Instead of using hotkeys and nudging cursors around, I've calibrated it so I can press the Stream Deck button and not worry about anything for 5 seconds while it does the job for me.
A similar macro could involve first exporting a score, waiting a few seconds, exporting an MP3 (both with correct naming), and placing both in a demo folder. I use this when sending an arrangement off for approval.
The Stream Deck macros aren't limited to keystrokes alone. You can incorporate various actions such as opening a specific URL in the middle of a macro, closing an app, triggering a MIDI note, or moving a window.
Stream Decks
There are different versions of the Stream Deck. I immediately bought the largest one, and for a long time, it was challenging to populate all the buttons. Now I have 6 profiles, some of which have several pages. Where Stream Deck shines compared to the macro keyboards of the middle ages is that its buttons are screens. If you're in one application, you can have one set of commands, and it switches (along with the buttons and icons) when you switch to another application—if you choose that feature.
You can search YouTube for many tutorials showing you how to create custom icons to make the buttons stand out from each other. For this purpose, I've found the Button Creator easy to use, allowing you to create nice-looking buttons using gradients and SF symbols.
Keyboard Maestro
I've since migrated these and similar macros over to Keyboard Maestro ever since that application became part of my setup. However, the macro is still executed from a Stream Deck button, saving me shortcuts. Keyboard Maestro (or KM for those in the know) is much more powerful—and much more overwhelming—and I'll delve into how I use it at a later date. Stream Deck was what got me into macros, and Keyboard Maestro was what took me further down the rabbit hole. If you'll indulge me, Alice, you'll see we're all mad here.
Footnotes
1: Not the actual physical window, though.
2: Please, for the sake of your librarian, number your parts according to score order.