In their very first episode, Bela Beier (Editor-in-Chief, Digital Production Magazine) and Christoph Zapletal (Compositing Artist & Instructor) talk about control surfaces for an artist’s workstation. They are joined by Angry Face founder Mazze Aderhold for an in-depth discussion of new and refurbished grading panels and the upgrades you can apply to a panel. They finish the show by discussing the latest news from IBC 2024.

For all the different ways to listen to this podcast, check out linktr.ee/letsfixitinpod – we have Spotify, Youtube, Libsyn, Apple Podcast and More!

Links mentioned in the show

https://www.angry-face.com/

https://3dconnexion.com/

https://contourdesign.com

https://loupedeck.com/

https://www.tangentwave.co.uk/

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vantablack

https://electricsheep.tv/

https://www.maxon.net/en/zbrush-for-ipad

The post Let’s Fix it in Pod 01 Control Surfaces with Mazze Aderhold first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Christoph Zapletal.

However, it only works with the new version 19 of DaVinci Resolve (DR19 for short), which was only available as a public beta version at the time of testing.

The new panel no longer comes bundled with a studio license at that price. Blackmagic Design (BM for short) has presumably realised that only a few buyers of a panel do not yet have one. However, even with a separate license, the price is lower than its predecessor.

Build quality

While the older model had a lower shell made of light metal and thus weighed a good 3.5 kilograms, the new one is made of plastic and weighs just under 1.2 kg. It has also become significantly smaller; at around 36 x 19 x 4 cm, it is only slightly wider than our 16″ MacBook Pro. It is obviously aimed at digital nomads, which is also emphasized in the advertising by the combination with an iPad.
There is a recess in the rear edge, which is not primarily used as a shelf for writing utensils, but is perfectly matched to an iPad in terms of tilt angle and balance. Even the additional cut-out in the centre serves this purpose, as otherwise you would have to remove the tablet to switch an app. However, iPad owners who order the panel straight away will be disappointed: there is no 19 beta version for iOS, only for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It will only work with the iPad in the final version.
The material doesn’t look ‘cheap’, unlike the older version of the Tangent Wave, for example. But the matt surface is quite sensitive to fingerprints. The tactile feedback of the keys feels even better than on the predecessor with its somewhat spongy rubber keys. The trackballs are no worse, but the outer ring has become much lower. The raised outer edge on the older model may look a little less elegant, but it prevents the trackball from being accidentally twisted. The ring is held in place magnetically and makes it easy to remove the trackballs for cleaning.

Although the rotary controls at the back have been regrouped, they fulfill the same tasks as before. They work with optical coding and therefore have no end stop. Furthermore, the respective value is reset by pressing the button, but the perceived feedback is somewhat less clear. The rotary knobs have also been lowered, which in turn makes it easier to access an iPad. Anyone who previously had a blind grip on the positions for the subdued lighting in the studio will swear at the beginning because you often miss the mark.
Compared to a Mini Panel, all secondary curve functions such as Hue vs. Hue, control of the qualifiers, the colour warper and for Dolby Vision Trim are missing. In addition, there are the small screens with the corresponding information to keep track of the wealth of functions. On the other hand, the Mini is considerably more expensive and requires much more space on the work surface, especially in terms of depth.

Power and connection

The Micro Color Panel can only be connected to the computer via USB-C (with an adapter if necessary) or Bluetooth. An iPad can only be used sensibly via Bluetooth, as the only USB-C connection is usually required for external mass storage devices. With a wireless connection, the panel is powered by an internal battery, for which there is unfortunately no main switch (as with the Speed Editor).
When DR19 is not running on the computer, the panel should automatically go into sleep mode with minimal power consumption. With the first version of the firmware, this did not really work, so that the battery was drained quite fast when the computer was nearby. With firmware 2.2, the battery lasts longer, but not as long as in the Speed Editor. In contrast, we found it easier to connect the panel to a PC via Bluetooth straight away. Under Mac OS Sonoma, we first had to delete several other connections before the panel responded.
Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to delete the entire list in the system settings, as was the case with earlier versions of Mac OS, so you will have to experiment. This problem occurred even though no Logitech devices, which are notorious for such problems, were connected. It was simply an Apple keyboard and mouse (albeit slightly older ones), a Wacom tablet and sound output devices. After successfully connecting to the panel, we were able to reconnect everything without any problems.

Operation

The confusion of experienced users applies even more to the buttons. There are now several more of them, which previously only existed on the more expensive Mini Panel. In addition, most of them have two or three assignments. The separate buttons for the trackballs have been omitted; there is now only one group in the centre with triple assignment. Switchers will often reset the wrong value here too, until it got back into their muscle memory. The remaining buttons are now arranged symmetrically on both sides, and important buttons such as Bypass, Disable, Loop etc. have been moved to the left.
Right-handers will certainly have a different opinion on this point than left-handers, but overall you will hardly have to reach for the keyboard and mouse – the comprehensive multiple assignment is both a blessing and a curse. Even the trackballs and rings have additional functions thanks to the switch buttons at the bottom left, especially when creating Power Windows without a mouse or drawing tablet. There is also no need to switch to the tab for tracking, as this can be triggered directly with the playback buttons using the Shift key. Hold down the right Shift key to control the scaling of clips (input sizing). This is extremely welcome if size adjustments transferred via XML from other editing software are not recognized correctly and quick corrections are required. However, if you want to adjust several parameters simultaneously here, or with Power Windows, you will still have to keep one finger on the Shift key all the time.
You also have to crank for far too long to adjust the soft edges or the inclination of a selection, for example. However, the sensitivity of these operating elements can be adjusted in the user settings under “Control Panels”. You will probably also want to change the brightness of the button lighting there, as it is initially set to ‘full power’. This is clearly too much for any reasonable room lighting when grading. The labelling of the rotary controls is not illuminated.
Some buttons indicate their activation by being coloured green, including OFFSET and CURSOR. Due to the lack of a fourth trackball, the right trackball becomes the corresponding controller when the offset is activated, while the other two outer rings control the colour temperature and tint. Cursor allows you to control the cursor in the display window, e.g. for the colour picker or the control points in the colour warper. The cursor is also visible on the client screen, so that you can point to something. BYPASS and DISABLE, on the other hand, light up red as a warning when activated.
Incidentally, our test device came with German keyboard labelling, and the panel is also available in other languages – we have already seen it in French. You don’t necessarily have to like this, as the German language unfortunately forces you to use rather cryptic abbreviations on the compact device. “WDHRST.” instead of REDO or “SCHLB. HINZUF.” (add keyframe) instead of the already abbreviated “ADD KEYFRM” do not really make orientation any easier. Why translate keyframe literally at all? Node is not translated either. However, we were assured that you can also get the panel in English from German dealers.
Even in English, the buttons only offer space for the standard assignment; you have to learn the respective function or hang it on the wall. The supplied quick start guide, which was translated into easy-to-understand German in our sample, should be kept in a nearby place for the time being. This is obviously the manufacturer’s intention, as it is protected by a plastic surface. You can find a very clear alternative from Simon Lamarre-Ledoux at imgur.com/mK13lkg to print out, and Mr. AlexTech has a video for beginners.

Points of criticism

Some of the mappings are a little unfortunate. For example, you have to spread your fingers a lot between the left shift key and OFFSET to switch to log wheels, as the LOG key no longer exists. This means you only get visual feedback on the screen. And why can’t you switch directly to HDR wheels with the right shift key plus offset? After all, they can be operated with the panel after reaching for the mouse.
Some people on the Internet also complain about the presence of the AUTO COLOR button, saying that it is superfluous for users of such a panel. I wouldn’t agree with that, because with a little background knowledge it can be quite useful. Examples can be found at youtu.be/NLT-Ozou20w by Alex Jordan (Learn Colour Grading).

The toggle button can also be used to copy grades from previous clips in the timeline.
But why can’t you simply hold the toggle buttons by double-clicking, like the capitalisation on iOS, and then report this back in green? When creating Power Windows, this would prevent cramps in the left hand and the rotary knobs could then do a lot more, e.g. when keying. Resetting the values for Power Windows is only possible globally, not for individual parameters.
The “USER” button still has no function; the manufacturer intends to add its own commands later. In areas other than the colour page, at least the play and full screen buttons work, even if this does not replace a speed editor. We tested the new panel under Sonoma 14.6.1 and Beta 6 with a MacBook Pro. The firmware was 2.2, and even that may still be in beta testing to some extent.

Comment

Despite some criticism, the new panel is hard to beat in terms of functionality, transportability and price, while at the same time offering good workmanship. We can recommend it even to beginners, because grading is all about speed, as our eyes adapt to color changes in a short amount of time. You have to learn to master such a panel like a musical instrument in order to become a really good color grader.

The post BMD Micro Color Panel first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

The Loupedeck Live S is very similar to the Streamdeck from Elgato – fifteen small displays, four “menu” buttons and three rotary encoders are housed in a handy device. The box is about 15 x 11 centimetres in size, 3 centimetres high (with rotary encoders) and weighs about half a pound with the stand. The stand raises the device to an angle of 45 degrees so that it is easily accessible behind the keyboard. It’s available for Windows and Mac, although some plugins and presets only apply to one of the two systems – of course FCP presets don’t make sense under Windows. Oh yes, and if you want to place the device “upright” next to the keyboard, you can of course simply rotate everything by 90° – this should be standard, but it is not the case with all competitors.

Marketplace

There is a marketplace for the Loupedeck, where free and paid extensions for the software are available. On the one hand, there are “presets” that contain (of course always customisable) command sets for various software packages – at the time of going to press, one or more sets for the following tools were included (with their own layouts and presets for the LiveS – other tools from the Loupedeck forge have others): Ableton Live, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Audacity, Blender, Cinema 4D, Clip Studio Paint, Cubase, Darktable, DaVinci Resolve, DaVinci Resolve Colour Panel, Excel, Filmora, FreeCommander, Gimp, InDesign, Krita, Luminar, Media Composer, Notion, Nuke, Outlook, Photo Mechanic, Photoshop, PixInsight, Power Director, Powerpoint, Premiere Pro, PTZoptics, Reaper, Slack, StudioOne, Substance 3D Painter, Vegas Pro, ZBush. There are also “plugins” that add various functionalities, e.g. Control and interaction with BirdDogCamControl, ChromeCast, Elgato Control (Lights), GoXLR, IFTTT Webhooks, Libre Hardware Monitor, Microsoft Teams, Nanoleaf Control, OBS Studio, Philips Hue (Bridge), Pixera, Power Toys, Razer Key Light Chroma, Spotify, Streamlabs, Teamspeak3, Twitch, Twitch Studio, VLC media player, VMix, Volume Control, WeatherWidget, WinAudio, Windows Store Applications, WorldClock, Youtube Music Desktop. But: Here the installation is usually a bit more complex – presets are installed with one click. And the Marketplace requires an account..

Software

15 keys doesn’t sound like a lot – but with the software you can extend this as much as you like – because each key can be assigned in two dependencies – once in a “profile” and once in a “workspace”. Profiles are software-specific, workspaces are “complete collections”. And within each version, you can create practically any number of “subpages” – i.e. 15 (or 14 or 9, depending on how you want it) actions and commands each. But going any deeper here would be boring for everyone except those who want to, because every workflow and every key combination can be assigned to every “place” here. The better you know your workflow and the more “muscle memory” you have here, the easier it is to reduce annoying and boring click orgies to one e-button. But you don’t have to do without the previous auto actions – as all keys and all files can be called, you can also call Python / Autohotkey commands or write quick *.bat files for the various tasks. And since the export (click on the three dots and Export next to the application) also works perfectly, nothing stands in the way of a “simplified” team-wide pipeline. And yes, a “Supervisor looking over your shoulder” button or “Video meeting, mute and minimise everything” is trivially simple.

In the centre is the graphically presented Loupedeck, on the right the commands and at the top of the list the selection of the device (yes, you can combine this, if a Live S is not enough for you, you can easily add a Loupedeck CT and control it from a software. “Main profile” refers to the selected area – for example the operating system, the general summary or the various configured software packages. For example, you do not start C4D to change shortcuts there. Instead, there are “workspaces” with which you can create and manage different “overall configurations” – for example, one for modelling, one for animation, one for streaming and so on. Once configured, everything is controlled directly via LiveS – if everything fits, you no longer need to touch the software.

Practice

So much for the possibilities – here is the result of two months of testing and “playing around”: I quickly put together the “default” controls as central tools – the handful of programmes that you need all the time (not just at work), as well as the controls for the music player and the various audio inputs and outputs (microphone and loudspeaker/headphone tests are running in parallel). I used the rotary controls in the system for the volume and in the various software packages for finer inputs – for example in InDesign to move images on the x or y axis by one pixel at a time. For most of the toolsets I use in everyday life, I have loaded available presets and then simply customised them.

This works well for the most part, even if there is a small learning curve at the beginning. And after the test period, it’s just a “workspace” with many sub-profiles – operating system and sub-applications, I haven’t configured the complete suites, at some point there are too many options and you lose the overview. Apropos; a recommendation from me would be to add the commands one by one – otherwise you configure yourself stupidly and forget exactly what it does the next day and don’t use it. I have defined the three coloured buttons (colours can of course be customised in the software) as “areas” – the main profile has the tools, the CG tools at the top right, the various scripts for everyday use in the middle and the “soundboard” at the bottom right for meetings and messing around. Speaking of getting started: setting up is completely painless – simply connect via USB (no power cable required), install the software and off you go. Icon packs and software presets are quickly installed and then you can let off steam.

After an orgy of gifs and icons, everything looks terribly confusing, flashes and flickers and you reset everything and start again from the beginning. After talking to other users, this seems to be the standard – the first attempt at a good layout goes down the drain until you get used to the device.

Pro

Now that we’ve revealed our setup, what’s the cool thing about the Loupedeck? Once you get used to it, you realise how many repetitive tasks you do day after day – and how poorly available many default settings are on our computer and in our tools. These brakes of menus, clicks, commands and inputs are completely eliminated – and even if you like to make everything worse in play child mode at the beginning (never spend 3 seconds on a task if you can automate it in 3 hours!), the time saving is clearly noticeable after the learning phase. The presets from the Marketplace help, especially with non-exotic software packages such as Blender, Premiere, Nuke and Resolve, to have all commands at hand, and if you (like me) are always looking for this one window with this one button because you’re not in a toolset all day, you’ll quickly learn to love the shortcut. Once you have the “basic configuration” up and running, which is very individual for everyone, you will quickly move on to further automation steps – in combination with Autohotkey it is unbeatable. Rotary controls are very practical – in everyday use, e.g. for moving elements, solidly built and unrivalled in “everyday use” for audio control of the system – in the software you can also use the same command several times – e.g. have the music control on each subpage (tip for all those who like to listen to music while working: Just have a few buttons in the Everyone profile to control the player / Spotify / Youtube Music).

Cons

No light without shadow – some features in the software (especially Scopes / Meters) would be very practical in different packages and should actually be relatively easy to retrofit – we hope for the future, because the software has certainly developed further – even during the test period. It is also to be hoped that the calls in different parts of the operating system / a programming environment will be easier to realise. The way via AutoHotkey works, but … it could be more convenient. Mouse movements via the macro editor are not really possible yet, and detailed actions with several dozen steps and commands are quickly very time-consuming and tend to become a bit cluttered in the normally convenient software. But hopefully something will be done about this in the future. AND programmes with system-wide overlays – or predefined global shortcuts – often ignore the Loupedeck commands – which is probably not Loupedeck’s fault. But we just wanted to say it.

The device itself is solidly built, and the screens are bright and clear to see – but due to the design, various human residues accumulate quickly, and either you accept this darkening of the corners (can be cool – otherwise more artists would keep their workplaces clean), or you fumble around with compressed air and cleaning agents.

Soundboard

The Loupedeck definitely doesn’t deny its “streamer origins” – and using it as a soundboard with various clips and overlays is almost foolproof (that wasn’t a challenge) for everyday use. If you always say the same thing in a meeting, you can record it here and/or blast Vader, a Dalek or a Mass Effect sound at 100% volume. Depending on the situation, this can liven up a meeting.

Conclusion

Is the Loupedeck Live S worth it at a purchase price of 170 to 200 euros? If you jump through the various menus a lot and have repetitive tasks, you should definitely take a look at it – especially if you’re not constantly travelling in exotic software, but concentrate on two or three packages – Adobe Suite, for example. Then it can really save a lot of time, especially as even complex actions and processes (e.g. ingest / pipeline / backups) can be simplified with relatively little effort. Or, as three of our readers told us, in a studio with “dedicated workstations” for certain tasks, and labelled buttons are easier after all. However, anyone who works a lot with “exotic” software and constantly makes precise inputs will only benefit from this to a limited extent, apart from the media control mentioned above. But it does look cool when all the gifs and images flash! But if you want to use the tool as an animator, forget all that and read Can’s article on the big Loupedeck! Here as a free download: bit.ly/can_loupedeck

The post Loupedeck Live S first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.