How do I use the Keyboard to Control Videos?

Question

Level 1

97 points

How do I use the Keyboard to Control Videos?

In Photos, used to be, you selected a video, hit Tab, the video opened, and you had the universal control of Spacebar to start/stop the video, and the arrow keys framed through backward and forward. In Photos on Sierra, Tab does nothing and Spacebar only opens and closes the video and there's no way to frame through. There appear to be no editing tools whatsoever. Where are the keyboard video controls in Photos on Sierra? Thank you.

macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Nov 5, 2017 9:02 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,897 points

Nov 5, 2017 9:57 AM in response to James at 118

The keyboard shortcuts page does not list any keyboard shortcuts for videos.

https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.2/?lang=en#/pht6e593112

If you are viewing a video enlarged and move the cursor into the video, you can access the control bar.

Click the gears icon and you can add the frame stepping buttons to the control bar:

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Answer 2

James at 118 Author

Level 1

97 points

Nov 5, 2017 10:18 AM in response to James at 118

Thank you Léonie. I had looked through the shortcuts and found nothing, but the shortcuts page doesn't seem to contain all the shortcuts. Why they would take out useful and universal functionality is a mystery. So this isn't what I wanted to hear, but what is, is.

Thank you again.

James

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Answer 3

balsa2

Level 4

1,402 points

Nov 6, 2017 9:25 AM in response to James at 118

Not perfect but:

Spacebar on selected video thumbnail, then using Tab & then the L key, starts playing a video.

I have found it more reliable to use the left or right keys to pause, & the L key, to continue.

Spacebar sometimes pauses play, or reverts the video back to the thumbnail browser.

Pressing the L key while playing will scroll through the scanning controls (2x, 5x,10x & 30x)

Spacebar in this play mode should pause the player, Spacebar again will resume play at normal speed,

or use the left or, right arrow, then the L key.

For any paused video you can use the left, or right arrows to scroll back, or forward through the frames.

L key, or Spacebar to resume play.

When the video has ended, Spacebar to begin playing from the beginning, though this does not work

every time.

Tab then Spacebar to revert the selected video back to the thumbnail view.

Nb. Using OS High Sierra (10.13.1), Photos Version 3.0 (3231.11.210)

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Answer 4

James at 118 Author

Level 1

97 points

Nov 6, 2017 2:45 PM in response to balsa2

Thank you, balsa2. I will try this next time and report back. James

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