davinci resolve micro
| | PRICE £805 Company Blackmagic Design Website www.blackmagicdesign.com
See the portable control panel for precision colour grading
Colour grading is one task where you feel the strain of the input device. Specialist software tools, such as colour wheels, can benefit hugely from a dedicated control surface to reduce the repetitive motions you make with a mouse or tablet. With this in mind, Blackmagic Design has crafted the Davinci Micro Panel.
It’s obvious at first glance that this is a precision tool, made from high-quality materials and with fine production tolerances. The trackballs and surrounding rings are perfectly weighted, and make working in Davinci Resolve a real joy. There are dedicated transport buttons, along with controls for almost all the main tools you might need. What’s more, the panel has been thoughtfully designed, as each of the twelve rotary controls can be pressed to reset their attributes – this is great for creative workflows and experimenting with a look.
The device itself is small for a control surface, but big enough to be comfortable to use. It’s powered by USB, saving a power outlet and more cabling.
A nice touch – given that colouring work tends to be done in darker environments – is that the most commonly used buttons light up, easing the workflow further.
thoughtful Design
As mentioned, one of the inherent problems with operating Resolve using a mouse or stylus is the software needs such fine control that you end up scrubbing the colour wheels multiple times to make a small adjustment. The Davinci Micro Panel, on the other hand, enables you to spin it as delicately or as firmly as you need. Better yet, you can use multiple trackballs at once, making it far more efficient. Being able to warm your highlights at the same time as cooling shadows is something you’ll soon not be able to do without. You can also work far more intuitively.
Similarly, the rotary controls and buttons mean you spend almost no time hunting through menus, and there are even buttons to let you switch between viewer modes – meaning better use of your monitor while playing back to review a look or grade.
The whole design of the Davinci Micro Panel demonstrates the thought that went into it, from the feel and sensitivity of the controls to the fact that you don’t need drivers. Just plug it in to the latest version of Resolve, load it as your chosen control and away you go!