Using the Microsoft Surface Dial to edit videos in Camtasia

One of the best purchases I ever made was the Microsoft Surface Dial – it pays for itself every time I need to edit videos on my Windows computer in Camtasia Studio. The Surface Dial is a handy interface device for Windows even without the on-screen capability you get with devices like the Surface Studio.

Here’s how I configure it and what the editing experience looks like.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11, Camtasia 2021 and earlier

Disclaimer: Though I’m employed by Microsoft, Surface devices is not my department. I’m receiving no revenue from this post or links and the Surface Dial was self-funded.

Configure your Microsoft Surface Dial

In essence, we are programming the Surface Dial to execute Camtasia’s keyboard shortcuts.
1. Open the Settings app and search for Wheel Settings:

2. Under App Tools, Create customised tools for specific apps, find Add an app and choose Browse apps. If it's not in the list. you may have to select Browse for more apps and navigate to the executable file. Im ny case, that's C:\Program Files\TechSmith\Camtasis 2020\CamtasiaStudio.exe

3. In the Custom tool settings, I configure:

Rotate right: None + .? ? ? (This moves the playhead forward in the timeline)

Rotate left: None + ,? ? ? ? (This moves the playhead back in the timeline)

Click shortcut: Ctrl + X? ? ? ? (This cuts out the selected video segment and moves other elements to the right to snap into the gap)

For a full list of supported Camtasia keyboard shortcuts, visit: https://support.techsmith.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058637951-Camtasia-2021-Shortcuts

And that’s all there is to it!

How to edit videos in Camtasia with the Surface Dial

Editing videos is a two-handed process for me, that doesn’t generally involve the keyboard (unless I’m adding text callouts).

I use the Surface Dial in my left hand and the mouse in my right hand, to move the playhead green & red bumpers and then to press down on the Surface Dial and remove the selected media.

To see it in action, you can skip to 1:30 in this video:

I hope this encourages you to try out this device if you edit videos in Windows. I wouldn’t be without it now.

-SCuffy