The DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel, a new and more affordable control panel

Dedicated control surfaces for color grading have traditionally been both big and expensive. The DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel is neither.

Beyond the cameras and the new Resolve, beyond the switchers and everything else that was announced in Grant Petty’s mammoth pre-NAB 2024 briefing, Blackmagic also announced the very cool looking DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel.

This is billed as a new and more affordable color panel for DaVinci Resolve, and, at $495, it certainly fulfils that promise. Blackmagic says it has been designed in collaboration with the world’s leading colorists, and features high quality trackballs and precision machined control knobs for fine tuning primary grading parameters, as well as navigation and transport keys for shortcut commands. It’s also got a mounting slot for an Apple iPad Pro,  features an internal battery, and connects via Bluetooth or USB-C.

So, why would you want one when you have all those keyboard commands committed to muscle memory? Simply put, whether you’re just getting started or are a professional colorist, a dedicated control surface lets you work faster and be more creative. The panel allows fluid, hands on control over multiple parameters at the same time for more creative options. Customers can work much much faster than anything possible with a mouse. 

The panel features three high resolution weighted trackballs and 12 precision machined control knobs which give direct access to the most powerful primary correction features, making it easy to experiment and try new combinations. The primary knobs can be used to control Y Lift, Y Gamma, Y Gain, Contrast, Pivot, Mid-tone Detail, Color Boost, Shadow, Highlight, Saturation, Hue Rotation and Luminance Mix. All knobs, dials and buttons are high quality and have been custom designed to produce the right amount of resistance, so customers can accurately fine tune any parameter.

It also has a range of transport and grading control buttons on the left, top and right side of the panel that put the most important and commonly used commands at the customer’s fingertips, so they can work faster. Many of these controls, such as wipe still, cursor and select have to date only been available on the much larger Mini or Advanced grading panels.

Entry level pricing

And compared to them it is definitely entry level. The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel will set you back over $2000 and the massive three-module DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel comes in at over $25,000. As well as price though, the new Micro also has the handy benefit of being portable. When not being used with an iPad Pro, it’s ideal for placement next to a laptop or computer keyboard so editors or colorists can easily move between the keyboard and control panel as they edit, allowing simultaneous grading and color correction.

Customers who have used the DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel will find the shift keys on the DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panels familiar. Many of the controls are in the same position and the trackballs are designed with a similar professional feel so existing DaVinci Resolve colorists can feel comfortable on the new panel. The shift up and shift down keys triple the functionality of the panel. DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel even lets customers adjust a power window shape, size and position, even its softness, or resize the input image, all with the same trackballs and rings customers use for grading.

“The old DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel model has been popular with customers wanting a compact grading panel, but we wanted to design an even more portable and affordable solution,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “Now the new DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel gives editors and colorists more features than the DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel and even some features that are only available on the Advanced panel! We are also producing localized panels in multiple languages so you don’t need to learn another language to use it. We can’t wait to see where this panel will be used and the cinematic work our customers will create with it!”

We don’t usually feature other people’s stuff here on RedShark, but because Darren Mostyn is a mate of ours and he really knows what he’s talking about, here’s his take on the new panel from the NAB show floor.

Current release schedule is to ship in May.