What is the difference between RPG and DQ Quikeys?
RPGKEYS wrote:
Hi again... Tim from RPG KEYS (Full disclosure that its me)
I wanted to answer some of the questions above and try to point out how our $590 product is different than a DIY solution. Keep in mind that RPG is just short for Riley PhotoGraphic which is the name of our studio. So.... the RPG solution was in the beginning a DIY project of our own.
6 months of programming and lots of fun and hard work and we nailed the concept for our own studio.
So why was it so hard?
The RPG application includes a library of macros that is 1,2000 strong. It includes a Hook into the back of Lightroom, Photoshop, Bridge, ACR, Aperture, InDesign, Kubota's Dashboard, Nik's Viveza 2, Portrature and more.
The point being that our macro library does include the standard shortcuts mentions above in the DIY solution, but it also offers so much more. We have written code that increases the functionality of photoshop and Lightroom.
Lightroom:
Press button controls to EVERY slider in Lightroom. (no shortcuts currently exist)
Press button activation to 110 of your most loved presets. (no shortcuts currently exist)
Press button control to all of the Library module controls
Press button controls to keyworking of your liking
Press button controls to EVERY MENU item... even those that do not include shortcuts.
And way more. :-)
Photoshop:
Press button control to up to 148 photoshop actions. Imagine having F1 to F148!
Press button control to all your most used brushes
Press button control to EVERY photoshop tool
And a library of advanced macro's we have created for our wedding workflow.
I hope this extra info helps everyone understand a little more why our system is a lot different than a DIY option.
I will be away at a trade show for the next day, but I will check back in 24 hours.
Happy editing and for those of you headed down the DIY road, I wish you all the best!...Show more →
Belkin ne52te at 60 bucks about 150 keys/macros, sliders, menu access and whatnot, vs RPGKeys at 600 better edit my photos for me. I combine mine with a Wacom tablet and am pretty much set. Time investment to program about 30 seconds per key. I use mine with Photoshop exclusively, but it is application aware meaning you can tell it to use a different profile for each application you use. Additionally Autohotkeys (freeware program) can be used to address any features that are not possible by assigning scripts including mouse clicks to keys. RPGKeys just seems like an awful lot of buck for not enough bang.
Kotasd wrote:
Belkin ne52te at 60 bucks about 150 keys/macros, sliders, menu access and whatnot, vs RPGKeys at 600 better edit my photos for me. I combine mine with a Wacom tablet and am pretty much set. Time investment to program about 30 seconds per key. I use mine with Photoshop exclusively, but it is application aware meaning you can tell it to use a different profile for each application you use. Additionally Autohotkeys (freeware program) can be used to address any features that are not possible by assigning scripts including mouse clicks to keys. RPGKeys just seems like an awful lot of buck for not enough bang....Show more →
I'm interested in how easy it is to implement macros with that set up. The Belkin does look more comfortable than the other solutions so far. Could you elaborate, and if it's done through Autohotkeys. (and record-able for easy programming?)
edit: For others reading this, I just found that Belkin no longer supports the unit for Win7 64bit.
Amonline: I am using win7 64bit, no problems. macros are pretty easy, there is a record macro function, just hit your key strokes and voila. It even will put delays in and hold key press as long as you do (remember it's a game pad) I like the 3 function profile selection on the fly, and the fact you can load your profiles into hardware (means you don't need to run the app to process the keystrokes) I use it with my Wacom and love the combo. Autohotkeys is just another solution. I used Autohotkeys about 10 years ago, and it was quite powerful. Frankly, I only have a couple macros which to to select all and copy, make new layer, paste, and a couple to select favorite brushes. You can get a lot more creative with macros however, and autohotkeys is a great tool to augment repetitive keystroke/mouse movements.
Oh forgot to mention, if there are not enough functions for you there, you can assign keys to load a profile meaning all new short cuts. Really a killer tool, hardest part is muscle memory of which key does what. But any new input method has a learning curve, and with this one, you lay it out yourself so I would hope you would get proficient with it quickly
Steve Tinetti wrote:
Great stuff here. I'm really interested in the Belkin. Boutwell has a workflow review on his blog featuring the N52Te. Looks promising.
Boutwell says he can't use it for action-shortcuts. That's a turn off for me.
Anyone knows if the X-Keys Pro can be used for action shortcuts?
Steve Tinetti wrote:
Great stuff here. I'm really interested in the Belkin. Boutwell has a workflow review on his blog featuring the N52Te. Looks promising.
Ok, decided to pull the trigger on the Logitech G13 after reading the reviews. The worst that can happen is I give it to my son to play WoW. I'll write a review once I have a chance to play with it.
Steve Tinetti wrote:
Ok, decided to pull the trigger on the Logitech G13 after reading the reviews. The worst that can happen is I give it to my son to play WoW. I'll write a review once I have a chance to play with it.
Ya, Doug's workflow (from link) looks like it's PS only. Unfortunately, you cannot program LR to adjust the develop sliders (except for the Keyboard Tamer's limited adjustments), unless you buy a program that has these commands (like RPG), as LR does not have them built in.
For Tim, I don't think anyone is questioning the capabilities that RPG offers. It's pretty well known that your system, and that of DQ Keys, has made possible the use of keyboard shortcuts inside LR for the develop settings. Most here, including myself, just find the quite hefty price tag the only complaint.
sboerup wrote:
For Tim, I don't think anyone is questioning the capabilities that RPG offers. It's pretty well known that your system, and that of DQ Keys, has made possible the use of keyboard shortcuts inside LR for the develop settings. Most here, including myself, just find the quite hefty price tag the only complaint.
I agree about the hefty price tag. I would buy it though if it were not for the fact that us Europeans would also have to add VAT, import taxes etc... that is 25-30% on top of the price. What a shame.
I'm surprised some of you peeps aren't taking the 30 day trial offer of RPG keys.
I *get* that it appears to be a somewhat large-ish investment of money... however:
1. It's still less than the premium some of you are spending on PowerMacs and the like vs say a well specd Windows 7 64 core i7 box
2. If it saves you 10 minutes per shoot on average, (3 on an esession, 15 on a wedding) and you have 50 sessions per year that's 8 hours for the year... surely it should pay for itself within a year and then it's all gravy, no?
3. You have 30 days to deicide wether it's worth it or not.
Obviously for someone with much fewer sessions it might not make sense...
amonline wrote:
All the alternatives are half the price or less and do 90% the same thing.
Just sayin'.
Wordpress and a bazillion themes are forget half price... FREE. And yet it's Prophotos after prophoto after prophoto.
I have yet to see anyone mention a system that costs half as much as RPG that:
1. Includes a keyboard
2. Allows Mac users to do the things that RPG does, including directly addressing presets
Personally I don't have RPG nor any plans to get it. I've been using Paddy for some time with remapped keys on my keyboard. Then again... since I don't have 50 sessions to meet for photograph edit deliver I had a little spare time to mess around with creating my own mapping.
