Loupedeck — How to waste money and slow down your workflow.

[Trevor.Dennis]

I thought I'd share this as I'd not seen this device before.  It would cost me NZ$250 here, and a bit under US$180 on Amazon.  It's the size of a small house, and I can't think how you'd use it along with a keyboard and tablet.

https://loupedeck.com/

https://petapixel.com/2018/12/14/loupedeck-can-now-be-used-for-photo-editing-in-photoshop/

The video made me cringe because it is so awful.  I mean don't get me wrong...  I love the single click solutions I get with my gaming mouse and keyboard, and while an analogue knob is great for fine adjustments, I am happy using the cursor keys.   (My wee tip of the day in fact, is to have my mouse sensitivity set with just two positions, normal and fine, so I can toggle instantly to fine control for the up close bits.)

So good luck to you if you have one of these on your Christmas list, but I feel there are better ways to streamline your workflow.

[D Fosse]

It's a turkey, right in time for Christmas

I don't know why, but this gives me a distinct '70s feel, an analog control device, James Bond-villain style...does it come in teak?

[davescm]

Hi,

..and yet such hardware controllers are very popular in the video world.

Me though, I'll stick with my pen, tablet and mouse.

Dave

[D Fosse]

Right. Now that you mention it, I've seen those "jog wheels" or whatever they call it. And despite appearances, those contraptions are not used to control an underwater nuclear facility, built on the ocean floor in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by a mad oligarch.

Pen and tablet is tried and thrown out here. Not enough precision - a good wired mouse beats it legs down. I have a Wacom sitting on my desk right now, giving me the evil eye. I tried to give it away to one of my co-workers, but she gave up on it too. Maybe I can use it to prop up that slightly slanting bookshelf over there

[davescm]

It's a good point you make on precision with a tablet Dag .

I use the mouse for sliders, buttons and importantly for making paths where the ability to click exactly where the cursor is pointing is important.
However I much prefer, and use, the pen and tablet for painting including with soft brushes on masks for dodging / burning / desaturating etc.

It's the old story of the right tool for the job.

Dave

[Trevor.Dennis]

Yes I do like the analogue dials/knobs, but they appear to make the same adjustments we have been managing with sliders.  I just don't see how you can fit something that big on your desk along with a keyboard and tablet.

I actually like additional hardware when it makes sense.  Looking at the mess that is my desk, I have a ShuttlePRO v2 which I only use with Premiere Pro, and mostly just the jog shuttle part of it and about half the buttons.  I have a  Connexion Space Mouse which is useless with Photoshop, but I couldn't manage without when using SketchUp.  It lets you fly through the scene without thinking about it.  I have my G910 keyboard that I so often bore you all about.   But I LOVE those G-keys.  They are so easy to program, and the Logitech software is stellar.

I have the G602 gaming mouse which has six G-keys as well as the usual fancy mouse keys.  Like I said above, I can toggle between normal and fine control with one button (actually it's two buttons, but just the one press).

The Razer Orbweaver is not the  success story I was hoping for, as the Razer Synapse software is  pants compared to LGS, so I am not using all 20 programmable keys yet.  Then the Wacom tablet.

Something that makes this possible are the monitor mounts which leave the desk free underneath them to slide stuff out of the way when not being used, but there's no way I could find room for the Loupedeck, and the way the woman in the video was using it put me off them even more.

So what are you all treating yourselves to for Christmas? 

[D Fosse]

Trevor, how can you work with the monitor jerking around like that? Or is it tracking your face as you move around all your gizmos?

[Trevor.Dennis]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/D+Fosse  wrote

Trevor, how can you work with the monitor jerking around like that? Or is it tracking your face as you move around all your gizmos?

You've got that back to front Dag.  The monitor moves away as I try to look at it. 

Jane that's 25% better than I managed.  

[D Fosse]

Ah, that makes sense, Trevor...

Dave, yes I see that of course. I don't do any painting nowadays, so my perspective is skewed. It's just that I'm a bit fed up with all those other people out there who insist you must use a tablet.

[jane-e]

Trevor.Dennis  wrote

So what are you all treating yourselves to for Christmas? 

Time with family who will be houseguests, and FaceTime with family who won’t.

[Semaphoric]

My desktop treat to myself is going to be the dual-monitor version of that arm, https://www.ergotron.com/en-us/products/product-details/45-245#/

I have my keyboard and Logitech trackball on a tray that slides under the desktop (also by Ergotron), with a Wacom on the front of the desk, with the two monitors at the rear. While I'm not old enough yet  to need large type editions, I find myself frequently bobbing my head forward to get a better look at stuff on the screen.

Those work surface type devices make sense for time-based stuff, where you need quick, real-time access to functions (there are tons of these sorts of things for controlling digital audio software like Ableton Live), but for static images, what's the point?

[jane-e]

Trevor.Dennis  wrote

The video made me cringe because it is so awful.  I mean don't get me wrong...  

So good luck to you if you have one of these on your Christmas list, but I feel there are better ways to streamline your workflow.

I’m pretty sure it would have made #1 on Dave Barry’s Gift Guide, but it looks like he may have stopped doing them. Some of his older lists are here:

Dave Barry Holiday Gift Guides

As for me, I barely made it almost halfway through, Trevor. I tried.