Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel Colour Grading Control Panel

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel – Portable Colour Grading Control Surface

The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel puts the primary colour correction tools of DaVinci Resolve under your hands instead of behind a mouse pointer. It is a portable, low-profile control surface built around three high-resolution trackballs and twelve precision-machined control knobs, sized for editors and colourists who grade on a desk, on set or in a broadcast truck and cannot take a full-size console with them.

Grading with a mouse means adjusting one parameter at a time while watching a slider. The trackballs change that: each ball adjusts the colour balance of the shadows, midtones or highlights, and the ring around each ball adjusts the corresponding lift, gamma or gain, so both hands can shape a shot at once. Above the centre trackball sit keys for switching between log and offset colour correction modes and for calling up DaVinci Resolve’s full-screen viewer, which is particularly useful when grading on a laptop.

Key features

• Three high-resolution trackballs with rings for lift, gamma and gain
• Twelve precision-machined knobs for primary correction controls
• Eighteen dedicated keys for grading features and playback controls
• USB-C connection carrying both data and power
• Maximum power usage of just 2W, fully USB powered
• Portable low-profile chassis, 427 x 258 x 75mm
• DaVinci Resolve Studio activation key included

Primary controls without menu diving

The twelve knobs give direct access to the adjustments used on almost every shot, including contrast, pivot, midtone detail, saturation, hue, temperature and colour boost, along with shadow and highlight controls. The eighteen keys on the right side cover the most commonly used grading and transport functions, from stepping between clips and frames to still grabs, bypass and playback, so a session flows without repeatedly returning to the keyboard. Because the controls are physical and repeatable, balancing a scene shot by shot becomes faster and more consistent, which is where a panel earns its place in a working suite.

Connection and compatibility

A single USB-C cable connects the panel to a macOS, Windows or Linux workstation and powers it, drawing a maximum of 2W, so it runs happily from a laptop away from a grading suite. There are no displays on this original Micro Panel generation; feedback comes from the Resolve interface itself, keeping the surface simple and the price of entry lower than the larger panels. Note that this is the original Micro Panel, a separate model from the later Micro Color Panel, with a wired USB-C connection rather than Bluetooth.

For independent editors, on-set DIT work and education suites, the Micro Panel offers the same primary grading layout discipline as Blackmagic’s larger surfaces in a unit that fits in an equipment case and weighs 3.5kg.