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great setup. I've been considering adding key lights to my setup which is pretty similar which got me looking into the ways in which they can be controlled. The idea of a Stream Deck is nice but it's one more item on an already cluttered desk.
So for mac book pro users, there's an automation possible which lets you use the touchbar like a basic Stream Deck. It requires a little basic scripting but it's not complex from what I can see.
https://vninja.net/2020/12/04/automating-elgato-key-lights-from-touch-bar/
@Velocio are you using the Stream Deck in any other ways which I might miss out on?
freddo-
@Velocio are you using the Stream Deck in any other ways which I might miss out on?
I probably push the buttons on the thing about 5-10 times per day.
Thinking of what that looks like as a % of use, I use it for:
- 70% of my Key Light Air control... pre-programmed buttons for brightness and colour temperature means I can adjust the lights in a moment between meetings as the day progresses.
- 20% Hue light control... turning lights on and off in the room I'm in, the hallway, or after making a cup of tea I may remember I need to turn out the kitchen light and can't be arsed getting up to do it.
- 10% microphone and volume control. This is mostly to mute the microphone regardless of which video conference software is fired up. If I need to mute fast then this button does it and I don't have to try and point the mouse at the right part of the screen.
The Key Light Air control is the vast majority of use though... muting is down at once or twice a week as normally I'd use the mouse, and things like volume I have a huge knob on my desk to do, and Hue lights I tend to use the Hue control at the doorway.
So yeah... you really do not need a Stream Deck, I thought I'd use it even more than I do. I also thought I wouldn't use the Elgato Control Center (Key Light tray software)... but I actually use that the most.
- 70% of my Key Light Air control... pre-programmed buttons for brightness and colour temperature means I can adjust the lights in a moment between meetings as the day progresses.
Velocio
Finally done... well, 99% done.
Desk works great, found myself standing 3 hours per day on average already, and for the most part the working environment achieves what I wanted to achieve.
What I was going for was "A long day in the office should not feel fatiguing and I should feel fresh at the end of it", balanced with "I and whomever I'm working with should feel like we're face to face in real life".
To that end:
There's a tonne of tech in here, and everything on the desk can be switched between a Windows PC mounted under the desk and whatever laptop (Linux or Mac) that goes onto the bamboo holder on the left of the desk.
The key pieces of tech:
Furniture:
End result: It cost a lot and was acquired over a very long period of time (a couple of years), but I've got a work space I don't physically feel, and a relaxed environment for long days of back to back meetings, tech work, or recording and editing presentations. And when I'm able to just work on docs I also have superb sounding music.
Edit 2023-11: lens is now the Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master, stream deck has been upgraded to stream deck +, monitor has been upgraded to a Samsung 32" 4k thing.