Loupedeck Needs the Lightroom Queen

[drmikeinpdx]

I haven't used Loupedeck before. https://loupedeck.com/

The original version was said to be cheaply made, although there were some enthusiastic reviews claiming huge acceleration of Lightroom workflow. I spend a large amount of time with Lightroom and could really use something to help speed things up. A new version just came on the market a couple of weeks ago called Loupedeck+. Quality was claimed to be better and there were some minor changes in the layout of keys and dials.

I ordered one from Amazon for $230 and have had it for a few days. For those who are interested, I can report that the physical quality of the new version seems quite good. The dials, keys and buttons have a nice feel and the overall appearance is nice.

It's a fairly complex device that comes with its own fairly complex software which allows you to customize virtually any function you could want. I think this could be a wonderful workflow aid for me.

With this kind of complex system, it would be really helpful to have a series of well produced video tutorials, or maybe a guidebook by Victoria Bampton, the Lightroom Queen.

Sadly, I haven't been able to find an good tutorial videos for the old version and none at all for the new version. The existing tutorials on the Loupedeck website aren't really tutorials at all. They are slick marketing videos that give you a general idea of what the device is capable of doing, but don't walk you through the steps needed to integrate your Loupedeck into your Lightroom workflow.

There is a PDF owners manual that is helpful for technical details, but doesn't provide guidance on how to get started integrating the loupedeck into your workflow.

If any of you happen to be big Loupedeck users and have some video skills, I think you could make some money offering video tutorials. Or perhaps an E-book? If there is already a tutorial available somewhere that I haven't found yet, I'd appreciate a link to it.

For now, my new Loupedeck+ is going to sit in a cabinet until I have the time to undertake a major unaided education project using endless trial and error. Or I forget about it entirely, whichever comes first.

 

[slclick]

I thought that was Julieanne Kost?

 

[drmikeinpdx]

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/about-victoria-bampton/

Apparently Ms. Kost is called the Principal Digital Imaging Evangelist.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I thought that was Julieanne Kost?

She works for Adobe, Victoria Brampton, AKA The Lightroom Queen is independent, but certainly has access to information before we get it. She writes and sells Lightroom books, and also posts here occasionally. She helps anyone who has a question, a very nice person.
I've had the new Loupedeck+ for a week, and started going thru my editing workflow documenting what I can do with the deck, and where it lacks. I'm disappointed so far, I still have to use my keyboard and mouse more than I use the deck. I want to examine, cull, and edit about 2500 images, so far, it has not been of much use. The process is slow because I have to search for a way to perform a task at each step. The operators manual is worthless, or nearly so.
I plan to publish a review, but so far, I'm only now to the actual editing process. For example, at the stage of cropping and leveling a image, I found that the Adobe auto level function could not be done(no button could be assigned to it), but I could do it manually with the control dial. Thats not a time saver.

 

[drmikeinpdx]

Thanks for the input, Mt. Spokane!

I wonder if the lack of independent Loupedeck tutorials is because the professional tutorialists have looked at the device and decided it isn't worth the trouble?

I may wait for your review before I invest more time in learning to use the Loupedeck+

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Thanks for the input, Mt. Spokane!

I wonder if the lack of independent Loupedeck tutorials is because the professional tutorialists have looked at the device and decided it isn't worth the trouble?

I may wait for your review before I invest more time in learning to use the Loupedeck+

If you use it for the actual editing process, it seems to be a excellent tool. I'm coming from a different angle, looking at the total work flow that I use, from importing to printing, and the functions that I use. I'm unlikely to want to change my workflow just because a tool can't do it my way, but if it saves time, than I have to consider it. Unfortunately, I'm swamped with a lot of work outdoors right now, I just don't have time for the editing.
I'm trying to find something that does not hurt my hands like using a mouse does, turning the knobs is definitely less painful, but the little wheels are difficult for my hands. This means my review is very much slanted.

 

[drmikeinpdx]

One thing I don't like about the little color wheels is that you have to spin them a lot to get a noticeable change. I'm hoping the rate of change per rotation is customizable, but I haven't run across that yet.

So far it looks like the Loupedeck doesn't really replace any other hardware. You will still need to have your keyboard, mouselike device and your Wacom tablet if you use one. I may have to get a bigger desk.

One thing I'm not happy about is that you can't easily select a row or block of images with the Loupedeck alone. I think you still have to do that with the shift key on your old keyboard and mouse. I have to do that a lot in my workflow.

One thing is for sure, the PDF manual and the silly tutorial videos on the Loupedeck site are not very helpful.

 

[drmikeinpdx]

UPDATE

I'm still not up and running with my Loupedeck+.

After my last post, I realized that many of the controls on the deck no longer did anything. I thought this was probably due to some error of mine and put it aside to await the publication of better online tutorials.

A few weeks later, the Loupedeck people put a couple of tutorials up on Youtube that were actually somewhat helpful. After trying to follow the tutorial, I came to the conclusion that my Loupedeck+ was probably broken. I contacted the Loupdeck support person and began a dialogue. She was very helpful, but there was always a 24-48 hour delay so it took a long time to figure things out. She asked me to do two things, save some data on my computer to help them debug their software and install the loupedeck software on another computer and try my Loupedeck+ on that computer.

I wasn't interested in being a software debugger, but I thought it was smart to try my Loupedeck+ on another machine. I tried to install the software on my big Dell laptop, but after several failed attempts, I gave up. I've seen some online reviews that described an inability to install the software, so this may be a fairly common problem at this time.

The service person then offered to send me a new Loupedeck+ and a shipping label to send the old one back. I gladly agreed to that and will let you all know how things work out.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Installing the firmware originally was a pain, I did several install / uninstalls, finally, I managed to get it going, but it hung up occasionally when I apparently did something that wasn't supported. I finally returned it during the 30 day return period.

It was not what I'd hoped for.

 

[drmikeinpdx]

Update - OK, I got my replacement Loupedeck+ today and it actually works! I've used it for a couple of hours along with my usual keyboard and trackball/mousie thing. I can see where the Loupedeck might be rather handy, but it doesn't replace the keyboard and mouse. I will update again when I feel I'm close to reaching the potential of this device.