Cost Effective, Totally Functonal LoupeDeck Alternative
I noticed that Skylum is now working with LoupeDeck to support Aurora and eventually Luminar.
LoupeDeck costs $175 - $210 for a glorified midi controller. You can do a better service for your users by modifying Midi2LR, which currently supports only Lightroom, to support Luminar/Aurora. Midi2lr is open source software and as thus, using the open source code allows for a convenient code base to start porting from. That done any midi controller including the $49 Behringer X-Touch Mini, which I currently use with Midi2lr for LR editing, can be used to provide 100% the same functionality of LoupeDeck and more! Also Midi2lr supports multiple, switchable profiles so you can use one system for all three applications, thus Midi2lr/lm/au, all for lot less than the price of LoupeDeck. Watch this YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5pwbY3_-Ek; then please consider providing Luminar/Aurora users an intuitive, totally functional, truly cost effective solution. Forum members, if you see value in this solution, please add you voice and request Skylum support this.
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Thanks Angela and Joerg! Skylum could also view this as a revenue opportunity which I do not believe having LoupeDeck support can provide.
As Midi2lr is open source, anyone can modify the code; but the code but must in turn be made freely available. However, app profiles and control templates can be made to be proprietary. That said, I would be happy to pay Skylum $20 for Luminar/Aurora profiles and templates for a total solution cost of $69, assuming the X-Touch Mini hardware, against a minimum of $175 for LoupeDeck.
Something that is not clear is that the majority of Luminar/Aurora users also use Lightroom. So if one has a LoupeDeck controller for Luminar and Aurora, will the same LoupeDeck controller work with Lightroom. Or conversely, if a user currently has a LoupeDeck controller for LR, can it also be make to work with L/A? If the answer is no to either of these questions, then the LoupeDeck becomes an even more expensive and absurdly cumbersome solution as two, or more, controllers would be needed. I would bet that the developers a smarter than this and it is not the case, but the question needs to be asked.
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It does, Loupedeck integrates with LR in much the same way Aurora does (there's no support for Luminar yet).
Open source software is great but there's one important caveat: user experience. With a limited range of controllers we have full control over the UX, and we can make sure that the hardware and software work work as intended in 99% of cases, and in the way we want.
It's not possible to deliver the same user experience if a controller has 4 knobs, and our software is tailored to work with 8, so that's not something we're ready to do at the moment.
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Thanks Denis and noted. It's really too bad.
First of all, before answering, you should get all the facts. Most general controllers have 8 or more knobs, including the one I mentioned, the Behringer X-Touch Mini, which has 8 knobs with a A/B layer switch providing 16 functional knobs and for around $50. A quick view of the video demonstrating the X-Touch mini would have put the knob issue to rest, and a 1 minute search would have would have yielded a number of similar options with 8 or more knobs.
As to the open source and user experience argument, Skylum would have total control over it's version of the SW developed using the open source SW. As a developer of both SW and HW digital imaging technologies and products for 30+ years (see my profile), I have often used open source SW as an expedient starting point for certain non-proprietary works or have taken an alternative paid license to the typical GNU GPL vX.X license so to include the open source in proprietary works bypassing the typical requirement to make my version available as well as other open source conditions. For this application, the midi2lr open source is a natural fit as there is no reason to keep your version proprietary.
As for the range of controllers, it could be as broad or limited as as you want. To support every general controller is obviously not practical. Better to choose a limited number of controllers, 3 or 4 perhaps, and whose HW capabilities match your requirements, ie 8 or more knobs, sufficient number of buttons, etc. This is surely possible, easy to manage and support.
So, considering the first two issues. I have been using the X-Touch Mini with midi2lr for seamless editing in Lightroom for almost 2 years and have never had a problem.
Finally, having been in the position many times before, I recognize your response in deference to LoupeDeck as political and as not wanting to upset the new Skylum/LoupeDeck relationship applecart; and, unfortunately, it's not to your user's benefit, and very little to Skylums benefit, but greatly to LoupeDeck's benefit.
But, you have stated your position, so again thank you for that at least.
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As for the question which was not answered, so I will ask it in a slightly different way: "if one has a LoupeDeck controller for Lightroom, will the same LoupeDeck controller work with Aurora and eventually Luminar, thus supporting all three simultaneously, ie switchable SW profiles or similar?
If the answer is no, then the LoupeDeck becomes an even more expensive and absurdly cumbersome solution as two or more, controllers would be needed, one for each application. I would bet that the developers are smarter than this and it is not the case; but again, the question needs to be asked.
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We (Pusher Labs) tried reaching out to Skylum early this year about this, prior to the Loupedeck announcement. After a little back and forth, we got the response:
Thanks for your feedback, it is highly appreciated.
Luminar 2018 does not have API, at the moment.
But I'll forward your suggestions for a further consideration.
It's great that Loupedeck was able to get a response and cooperation from Skylum -- at least users will have SOME kind of solution -- but it would be better if Skylum would express some dedication to a public API that would be available to all users, not just a single company.
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same here. I use the x-touch Mini with Lightroom and it speeds up my post processing a lot!
I am a documentary and corporate photographer and often have to go through +500 pics and the midi controller helps so much! The main reason for me not switching to luminar is at the moment the missing support for my midi controller.
PLEASE ADD IT ! :)
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Please add midi controller functionality! It would be a huge selling point!
Once you've edited in Lightroom with a MIDI there's no way you can consider editing without one!
My Behringer BCF-2000 was under £100 and with 8 motorised faders, 8 knobs and way more buttons than I can be bothered to count right now does far more than a loupedeck. My Korg nanoKONTROL2 was about £35 for using with a laptop. If you supported these things I'm sure people would be swarming to move over from Adobe
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