I knew “real” colorists used panels, but since I wasn’t a real colorist I was content doing the work with clicks and keystrokes.

I started educating myself on color grading maybe 5 years ago, so obviously I’m not an expert, but I’ve gotten better over that length of time and each project was a learning experience. You also don’t get a “feel” for what you’re doing, which I’ll get to in a minute.

I didn’t realize how slow until I got hands-on with these grading panels, and speed is crucial. However, I have found that KB/M coloring takes considerably longer and is less intuitive. What’s more important is a properly calibrated, accurate monitor and color pipeline. Nothing is wrong with that and you’re not losing out on any functionality, really, by doing it. You can absolutely color in Resolve with a mouse and a keyboard. A keyboard and mouse is horrible in comparison. To get to the meat of the matter, after a few days using both panels I immediately bought the Mini Panel and I never want to grade without one again. They’re all labeled, so just have a look at the photo and you’ll see what they do. There are three wheels/balls (traditionally representing Lift/Gamma/Gain with the balls handling the hue/sat of each and the wheels manipulating luminance), a handful of knobs and twice as many buttons.

It’s been a great side-skill to have over the past year and honestly if you’re a DP, understanding these tools is crucial as your image is now decided in post and you want to make sure your name is attached to the images you intended to make, right? For those of you who don’t know, these panels are relatively simple interfaces that allow you to manipulate the color tools within DaVinci Resolve more easily, and faster than using your keyboard and mouse. I’m primarily a freelance Cinematographer and I color my own work most of the time out of necessity, but also because I enjoy it.

Davinci resolve color grading