Loupdeck + Review with Digital Operator Myles Dicky

Review of Loupedeck + with a focus on the integration with Capture One.

Some pro’s and cons of the LD+, when using with Capture One:

Familiar setup with function buttons to the left and others to the right, which immediately makes your hands ergonomically mimic normal keyboard controls. All other function dials are situated in between the familiar buttons.
Minimal tweaks in need for plug and play.
Export button works… But, important to note, Capture One (C1) refers to the processing of RAWS as “Processing” or “Output.” “Export” function in C1 is different than “process.” This button (export) brings up the less used export function (duplicating raws) in C1
Undo and redo work without configuration.
I could not configure the deck for a reset to 0 value by pressing in one of the round dials (the others worked though, so could be an issue I am not aware of)
Colour wheels, by default, control the colour balance tool as 3-way. Hue/Sat/Lum buttons set to the right of these dials will switch between colour balance channels such as Shadow, Highlight and Mid-tones.
No default controls or functions to accommodate tether capture. C1 is tether king
P1/P2 acts across the top F1 can’t be assigned to a shortcut in C1.
Can’t create dual command with shift/ctrl/cmd.
Struggled to create rating keys. Commercial workflow integrates the art director and/or creative heads on set, and a large amount of selections covering various media are often selected via rating, on set, whilst tethered.
Left and right movements are defined by keyboard short cuts.
Control dial crop tool is quick… But default dial rotates, not pulls crop.
Proper use for colour wheels can be set if you create your own shortcuts from scratch. For example, I decided to create a fresh set and set all the keys on the LD+ to manual, in correspondence to their labels, bar a few that I felt in the default setup, would be better used elsewhere.

Here is what I changed:

The colour wheels placed middle and towards the top, by default, control your colour balance wheel in its 3 -way setting and broken down in Highlight, Mid-tones, Shadows (and obviously it controls the colour range within that tonal contrast). I wanted to set these dials as preset, but realizing the vast scope a levels tool would have ( RGB/RED/GREEN/BLUE) and then considering the scope of levels within each spectrum of colour, there are just not enough keys to define that on the LD+. Granted that C1 does not have shortcuts to define each one and setting them yourself without infringing on default or even custom shortcuts would take forever and a day. I feel that having dials like this would allow you the ability to freely mix multiple colours simultaneously in as many tools as possible.

Hitting the colour or rating key above will change the use of these keys between colour rating and stars. This would work in a general left to right ( 1-2-3-4-5)

Main Advantages in your opinion:

Advantage of using a layout deck like this is that if you are using dual view, you don’t have to look at the physical tool to make an adjustment. Sometimes dual monitor layouts would create a situation where your tool tab and/or browser are located on one monitor further away from your main screen that ideally would be showing a single full screen selected image. You would bypass a long right or left scroll between monitors to find that tool. Definitely a strong point in dual monitor workflows.
(Editor note: This application (not needing to see the adjustment tools on screen) is also useful when using a small monitor or laptop; by removing the need to see the adjustment tools on the screen you can maximize your image view for editing.)
Does have integration for colour rating using keys. Note the colour demarcation above keys. (2nd function) SHIFT- RED, etc.