Lleuallen
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Have not used Loupdeck but am using auxiliary keypads along with macros. I use a Logitech G13 which is great for speeding up processing. Unfortunately it has been discontinued and used ones on Ebay cost a fortune. I also use a Genovation 48 key control pad. It is easy to write macros for it. I also use Autohotkey to give me keyboard control over commands which do not have shortcuts in Lightroom or PS. Autohotkey has learning curve but it is not too bad for the simple type macros we need. Once you get an Autohotkey macro which works there are many other macros which can use this macro as a template so that you are changing only a few things for the new macro.
My control pad sits on my left so that I do not have move my arm to control it. It sits so that the fingers on my left hand can easily reach the keys without moving far. I do not like to raise my arm and reach across the keyboard to execute a command. It may seem like a minor thing but if you put in long sessions, it tires you out. Basically my left arm rests on the arm rest of the chair and the keypad is located such that I barely have to move my arm to select a key. I am lazy.
The type of commands I use macros for are those which are used frequently, those of the "claw" type (ctrl,alt,shift + ?), and those for which LR or PS have no shortcut but are frequently used. The first category would be something like undo/redo or curves. The second would be something like Stamp in PS which is Ctrl,Alt,Shift +e which is awkward to execute and I use frequently. The third would be a macro to turn Filters on and off.
Many of the macros are very simple. The macro for reject is simply "x". Using the macro simply allows me to change the location of the command so that it is more convenient. The Genovation allows you to label the keys so that you do not have to rely on memory to know what the shortcut commands are.
Another slightly more complicated macro but which is still easy to write is the macro I use when an image is finished processing. The images I am working on have any color other than red. When I finish an image the macro changes the color to red, sets it to two stars, flags it, copies the development settings, and moves to the next drawing. I can tell at a glance which images are finished, and select them by color, flag, or rating. I can paste the develop setting to the new image. This might be the same as using previous except previous includes cropping and my paste does not.
I have a very efficient set up for culling and need it because I am a heavy shooter and come back with 800 to 3000 images from and event and want to cull that down to 100 to 200.
I use two identical monitors. The left main monitor shows the grid view and the right monitor shows the loupe view. The keypad has the following keys grouped close to each other. Shift, Ctrl, a macro for selecting the Survey mode, a macro to reject and image, and a macro to select the grid mode. The grid view is usually set so that eight images are in a row. With the mouse select the starting image, press the Shift key and select the end image. Press the Survey macro. This is a simple macro which sets the color of the selected images to some color different from the current color in the grid view and then invokes the survey mode. The color change is necessary so that you can differentiate the selected images from those to be examined.
Now we have the Survey mode on the right monitor with the images we wish to examine and the full screen image in Loupe mode on the left monitor. Set the left monitor to Live mode so that when the mouse pointer is on an image in the grid it will be the one shown on the right monitor. This way you can swipe the mouse pointer along the grid and see the changing images on the right monitor. To compare two similar images simply move the mouse over one and then the other.
Unfortunately there is a bug in LR 12.4 which did not used to be there. Before if you rejected an image only that image would be removed from the survey. The bug is that now all images are removed and you are back in grid. So before if I saw obviously a bad image I could remove it from the survey. I would remove images that I did not like until there remained only good images. Then I would hit the key to return to grid and select the next group.
With the bug the method has to be changed and is not as efficient. Now when I look at the images I pick the ones I want to keep and select them by using Ctrl+mouse click. This removes them from the survey but keeps them in the grid. I select all that I want to keep until only rejects remain in Survey. Then use the grid key to return to grid and then use the reject key to get rid of them. The filters are set to show only flagged and unflagged images. Rejects are not shown. This method is not as quick or flexible as the non-bug method.
Checking focus. You can quickly check focus in the above methods by clicking the 100% button on the Loupe view. Then the area shown in the Loupe view will be the area the mouse pointer is over in the grid view. Then by moving the mouse along the images in the grid at the desired point of focus you can see if is good or not. The bug has made this more difficult because when you find an out of focus image you can not reject or mark it in any way. You just have to remember which images are out of focus.
Generally I do not have to check focus this way very often. I can usually see at the size of the images in Survey and Loupe if an image is sharp or not. If there is a question as to sharpness, then I check.
A big advantage of the non-bug method is that when an image was rejected and removed from Survey the remaining images became larger and easier to compare.
The number of images selected for selection is usually eight but can vary. If there is a sequence of similar images then I might select the sequence be it 3 or 15. If I were using sequential mode or Pro Cap (m43) on the camera and had 50 or 60 images such as from trying to capture the peak moments and expressions of a drummers solo then I would select half or all of them and have many small images in Survey. I would move the mouse quickly along the images and when I saw a good one I would Ctrl+mouse click to select. Then move along to select others. When done Grid/Reject. I might end up with only one or two selections from this sequence. This is pretty fast. If I have two or more images that are good and I only want one, I will select all of them and then do a second cull to make the final selections. The first cull is rapid, the second is deliberate. I usually do two culls.
This could all be done without the keypad but it would be slower and more tiring. I am a big advocate of customizing and automating.
In reference to Loupdeck I tried a system called Paddy some years ago. It used custom programming to control a Middi. A Middi is similar to what Loupdeck is except that it is larger. I found it cumbersome because the Middi was too large and awkward on the desk. I did not find using slider controls on the Middi or the circular knobs to be of any advantage. I don't remember if you could write your own macros but I seem to remember that you could not or that it was limited. It is important that you can write your own macros and lay out your own setup as you like because everyone has different needs, ways of doing things, and preferences.
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