resolve mini panel

A nifty console to save time

it’s safe to say that a project is rarely finished just because a render is done. Most of the time we take that image and work on it some more and Davinci Resolve is one of the most powerful tools out there for grading and colour correcting (as well as project management and editing).

That said, it can be a time-consuming process, with lots of clicking about in menus and dragging about in colour wheels, which is why Blackmagic Design offers three consoles to aid in this process.

The Mini Panel, at the middle of the range, is a solidly built and attractive piece of kit. Its satin finish makes it easy to live with and sits nicely in a grading room and reduces glare when used on location (which it does well, thanks to its variety of IOS).

The buttons logically correspond to the software, as do the order of trackballs and rings, which, it has to be mentioned, are smooth and accurate, as is needed for highend colour work.

On the angled section of the console are two 5-inch monitors, currently used for showing context-sensitive information, with rotary controls beneath. These change value in a field or can be used to set and adjust points on a curve much more precisely than can be achieved with a mouse, or even a tablet.

There are transport controls in easy reach, above which are buttons for creating nodes and switching between them, as well as deactivating/bypassing current grades.

All the controls have a nice solidity to them, with good resistance and a positive and reassuring click.

Nods to the future include a couple of buttons that as of yet have no function, so keeping an eye open for firmware updates is a good idea.

The Mini Panel is a fantastic way to improve your colour correction and grading workflow, as well as to enhance your general editing. It’s solidly made, precise and puts the right controls exactly where they’re needed.