While doomscrolling on Twitter last year, I came across a tweet that instantly made me want to purchase something online.
That, my friends, is the 8BitDo Zero controller. When I saw how the controller was adapted for short cut keys for Clip Studio Paint, I thought, “I have to to have this NOW.”
Now I had to wait a little while because the first iteration of the 8BitDo Zero controller was gone, but they would sell the Zero2 within the next month. I got on that pre-order so fast, I couldn’t wait to have that controller in my hands.
Once it arrived, I realized how tiny it was. So cute! Then I immediately used it for video games and promptly forgot to adapt it for CSP.
Months later, I would see other artists use it, which reminds me to get on it. The instructions for adapting the hotkey buttons didn’t seem too bad, but I hate going through instructions on words alone. There’s always trial and error and frustration involved. So I kept putting it off.
Now that I’m back into attempting a regular comic schedule, I need to cut corners where I can. Using shortcut buttons can save a lot of time in the long run (I’m also in the process of doing a bunch of other time-saving tricks. I will post about those later). I mostly use shortcuts that quickly switch between my most used tools: pen, lasso, and eraser. My other buttons are undo/redo, -/+ for lasso selection, and zoom in/out. I’ll probably program more in the future, but these already save me so much time.
For instructions on how to pair and edit your short cuts for the 8BitDo, go here or here. I found myself having issues with set up.
I had to set my controller using the “keyboard” pairing and not the iOS pairing that’s available for the controller.
Sadly, the 8BitDo Zero2 can only be used for CSP and not Procreate or other iPad apps. If you want to use a similar tool on the desktop, I recommend the Clip Studio Tabmate. I got one. I’m still trying to get the hang of it. I’ll save a post for it soon.
Megan Frauenhoffer 