Discovering MotionTools

MotionTools is a software service that runs in the background and translates mouse events into actions. For instance, it will zoom the display when pressing the Media Button 1. MotionTools manages a collections of event/action bindings for performing the translations of mouse events into actions. These bindings are configured using the MotionTools' Configurator: you will use this graphical interface for binding the zoom action to the Media Button 1.

Open the Configurator by clicking the MotionTools icon  in the system tray. You'll be asked to plug the dongle of your mouse into an USB port if is not already there.

Observe the main elements of the interface:

User profile selection: Different users are likely to use their mice in different ways: user profiles allows defining and switching between different binding configurations. Use this selection box to switch to the desired user profile.

Buttons bindings tab: Actions can be bound to mouse buttons or mouse gesture events. Select this tab for defining mouse buttons bindings.

Gestures bindings tab: Actions can be bound to mouse buttons or mouse gesture events. Select this tab for defining mouse gestures bindings.

Button event selection area: You will start defining a binding by specifying the button of interest. For this, simply left click the desired button in the button selection area (Media Button 1 on the picture). Observe that the proper binding will be selected in the binding area.

Bindings area: The central area of the Configurator displays the current bindings for your mouse. For each item, the left part displays the Event of interest (Media Button 1 for instance) and the right part displays the Action (Zoom for instance) that is bound to this event.

Actions selection area: Pick an action (Zoom for instance) from this area and bind it to the button. For this, left click and drag the action icon ( for the zoom) onto the desired button binding (Media button 1 for instance) in the central part of the Configurator. A popup opens: choose the parameters for your action (2x zoom for instance) and validate. Once done, your binding is automatically saved and ready to use: pressing the Media button 1 will zoom the display.

Application context tabs: The event/action bindings can be specialized so that a single event (Media button 1 click for instance) may perform different actions depending on the application that is currently being used. For instance, pressing the Media Button 1 can zoom the display when browsing the internet and go to the next slide when presenting a PowerPoint document. To achieve this, you can:

  • Select the General application context tab. The bindings defined when this tab is selected will dictate the default behavior of actions on mouse events. Say, by default, pressing the Media Button 1 will zoom the display.
  • Select the Internet application context tab. The bindings defined when this tab is selected will dictate the behavior of actions on mouse events when browsing the Internet. Say ,in an Internet context, pressing the Media Button 1 will open the bookmarks panel of the browser.
  • Select the Media Player application context tab. The bindings defined when this tab is selected will dictate the behavior of actions on mouse events when using your favorite media player (iTunes for instance). Say ,in a Media context, pressing the Media Button 1 will play or pause the film you are watching.
  • Select the Presentation application context tab. The bindings defined when this tab is selected will dictate the behavior of actions on mouse events when doing a PowerPoint presentation. Say ,in the context of a presentation, pressing the Media Button 1 will go to the first slide.

Settings tab: Using this tab, you will be able to adapt the behavior of MotionTools to your needs:

  • Create user profiles
  • Tune mouse settings: speed, accuracy...
  • Program MotionTools to start automatically or on demand
  • Enable or disable visual feedbacks