Best Tablet for Grading in Resolve

[Ryan Lalonde]

Best tablet (wacom seems to be the preferred brand) for grading in Resolve? I also use a tangent wave, so one that plays well with others surfaces and programs is a bonus!

Thanks!

 

[Rob Ruffo]

I like a trackball better to go with Tangent. Feels more natural, and no pen to pick up when lifting hands off Tangent.

 

[jake blackstone]

Best tablet (wacom seems to be the preferred brand) for grading in Resolve? I also use a tangent wave, so one that plays well with others surfaces and programs is a bonus!

Thanks!

It is impossible to use Wacom with Resolve. Use a mouse. That is what Resolve designed to be used with. And get an MC Color and not Wave. Better ergonomics, wider software support, networkable...

 

[craigjkharris]

It is impossible to use Wacom with Resolve. Use a mouse. That is what Resolve designed to be used with. And get an MC Color and not Wave. Better ergonomics, wider software support, networkable...

It's not impossible to use a tablet, but it doesn't make sense either. If you plan on making any money color correcting, it will take way too long to use anything except a proper color panel.
Re: MC Color and Wave, both are good. I know several colorists who prefer the Wave over the MC Color and vise versa.

 

[Dermot Shane]

Well... hummm.. lets see.. last 20 weeks, done only with a tablet;
3 features @ DCi2K
a short @ DCi2K
a music video @ DCi2K
2 Movies of the week @ HD
4 National TVC packages @ HD
5 broadcast / web promos, all about 8-12 min @ HD

One shot on a 7D (a web promo) , one on an F3 (feature in Slog444), one on Alexa (a TVC), everything else has been shot on Epic or MX

That's only the last 20 weeks.... all graded with a 12x18 Wacom Intos tablet & software designed to use it well

Caveats are that i haven't used Resolve for any of this work, due to the tools that Resolve is missing, and i don't want to do without - the tools it has are great, just not enough of them to be an ideal fit for me

Have'nt heard a single note about me being slow... always made the sched, and made it through QC cleanly, made DP's and director's happy with both the resualts & the process

One size does not fit all, some folks can't work without a surface, but that's not everyone ;-)

d

 

[jake blackstone]

Well... hummm.. lets see.. last 20 weeks, done only with a tablet;
3 features @ DCi2K
a short @ DCi2K
a music video @ DCi2K
2 Movies of the week @ HD
4 National TVC packages @ HD
5 broadcast / web promos, all about 8-12 min @ HD

One shot on a 7D (a web promo) , one on an F3 (feature in Slog444), one on Alexa (a TVC), everything else has been shot on Epic or MX

That's only the last 20 weeks.... all graded with a 12x18 Wacom Intos tablet & software designed to use it well

Caveats are that i haven't used Resolve for any of this work, due to the tools that Resolve is missing, and i don't want to do without - the tools it has are great, just not enough of them to be an ideal fit for me

Have'nt heard a single note about me being slow... always made the sched, and made it through QC cleanly, made DP's and director's happy with both the resualts & the process

One size does not fit all, some folks can't work without a surface, but that's not everyone ;-)

d

And your point in connection to the conversation at hand being...?
Unlike Baselight, Nucoda or Lustre, Resolve was never designed for use with Wacom. DaVinci has a long history of operation with just a mouse and a control panel. Never a Wacom. BM is well aware of this and they are slowly working on rectifying this. New color wheels in Version 8 is just one example of this progress. But if you feel like waisting your time and calling this exercise "color grading" no one is stopping you. You need to start using Resolve with Wacom and see for yourself the futility of this effort and then may be you could advise others on pros and cons of using Wacom with Resolve from your own experience.

 

[jake blackstone]

It's not impossible to use a tablet, but it doesn't make sense either. If you plan on making any money color correcting, it will take way too long to use anything except a proper color panel.
Re: MC Color and Wave, both are good. I know several colorists who prefer the Wave over the MC Color and vise versa.

How do you copy a grade without the middle click? Yes, I know you can program one of the Wacom's pens clicks to do that, but Resolve doesn't allow "hover clicks". You must click on the cut to use the middle click, but the moment you click on the cut, Resolve will just take you to that cut in the timeline. It's impossible to do it with Wacom pen And if you can't use Wacom for the most fundamental operation- copying grades, then what's the point?

 

[Rosario Balistreri]

Did you see my cheaper solution?
DaVinci Resolve Keyboard - Cheapest control surface

 

[Dermot Shane]

But if you feel like waisting your time and calling this exercise "color grading" no one is stopping you. But you shouldn't advise others to follow your flowed logic...[/QUOTE]
OK, i get your point on Resolve + tablet...

Here's one that a surface won't help you with.. did it this afternoon

A cam is Epic with HDR on, B cam (also and Epic) is off shooting a splinter unit, C cam is an MX, day int, windows are blown out, all good with the Epic +HDR, not good with the reverses on the MX..

Going to print, cinemascope....

many answers, the one i used is one button click to drop the clip into a composite, link to, and debayer the r3d a second time set at 125 ISO, luma key the windows in from the second pass... one button click gets me back into the color interface - took me longer to type this than to do it...

Tablet is your friend.... you know this if your playing with Flame/Luster right?

It's fast to do stuff like this on some systems, pretty much impossiable on others.. Resolve is not the most focused tool for this kind of work

Should note that i do have a Artist color now, but am in the middle of a project, and am going to wait for the dust to clear before getting comfortable with it

I don't imagine i will ever give up a tablet tho, it's just too usefull an interface


d

 

[jake blackstone]

I don't imagine i will ever give up a tablet tho, it's just too usefull an interface


d

Sure, Wacom is awesome. I can't imaging using Smoke/Flame, Baslight, Lustre, FilmMaster without Wacom. But right now Resolve is the ONLY software, that I can't use it with. The good news is BM knows it and they are working on it.

 

[jake blackstone]

Did you see my cheaper solution?
DaVinci Resolve Keyboard - Cheapest control surface

Yes, I'd been following your thread with interest. No one knows, if present way of panel operation is the most efficient way to operate color correcting software going forward. I have no doubt, that with wider availability of inexpensive high quality software, like Resolve, there will be new, innovative, less expensive, daring and outright weird devices designed to improve interaction with grading software. I like the idea of being able to customize your tools, like an ability to use the scrolling wheel of the mouse to control certain adjustments. For me personally it would be difficult to use your keyboard in it's present form. Every day I routinely use 2-3 different pieces of software and it would be difficult for me to establish muscle memory, necessary to operate your keyboard along with other panels. But I'm sure, your ideas are very useful for many present Resolve users right now. Keep up the great work!

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hmmm... I drive Resolve just fine with my Wacom Intuous 3 tablet.

The Wave is OK, but the ergonomics drove me nuts. MC Color for the win there... Currently I have a rather well-used JL Cooper panel I picked up for a song, but it's obvious why the previous owner sold it. So I don't really use it. Waiting to try out some of the new panels coming to market soon like the Tangent Elements panels.

 

[jake blackstone]

Hmmm... I drive Resolve just fine with my Wacom Intuous 3 tablet.

The Wave is OK, but the ergonomics drove me nuts. MC Color for the win there... Currently I have a rather well-used JL Cooper panel I picked up for a song, but it's obvious why the previous owner sold it. So I don't really use it. Waiting to try out some of the new panels coming to market soon like the Tangent Elements panels.

Then you're better man, than I am I'm not willing to use Wacom, just because it sounds, like a good idea. I tried... Resolve always had been designed to be used with a mouse and, personally, I find it much more productive in just about every aspect of Resolve operation- copying, scrolling, zooming, right clicking... And, boy, there is a LOT of right clicking...

 

[Ryan Lalonde]

I guess have should have put my question differently.

I grade primarily in Resolve and wish to purchase a tablet.

I will also be using this tablet for many other pieces of software but wanted to know which tablet might actually work with resolve, whether or not resolve is the best program to use a tablet is debatable (see: this thread).

Thanks.

 

[Dermot Shane]

Ryan,

i work between three finishing/color suites, one has a Intous4 12x18, one a Intous3 9x12 and one a Intous2 12x12... and 4more Graphire 6x8 tablets on Nuke workstations

after playing with the desk layout and the Artist color surface i would not go any larger than 9x12, the reach to the surface over the 12x18 is just too far for comfort on a long day...

I'm going to try the smaller Graphire in a few days, but it's closer to the size of tablet built into some surfaces... they feel a bit tiny once the muscle memory is built up for the big one...

For me... I would discount the older 12x12, and newer 12x18, as the 12" depth is more than i am willing to reach to get to the surface

d

 

[Ryan Lalonde]

Ryan,

i work between three finishing/color suites, one has a Intous4 12x18, one a Intous3 9x12 and one a Intous2 12x12... and 4more Graphire 6x8 tablets on Nuke workstations

after playing with the desk layout and the Artist color surface i would not go any larger than 9x12, the reach to the surface over the 12x18 is just too far for comfort on a long day...

I'm going to try the smaller Graphire in a few days, but it's closer to the size of tablet built into some surfaces... they feel a bit tiny once the muscle memory is built up for the big one...

For me... I would discount the older 12x12, and newer 12x18, as the 12" depth is more than i am willing to reach to get to the surface

d

Thanks!

 

[Luca Immesi]

This is the new version (updated to davinci resolve 8) of our layout with the mac keyboard shortcuts of davinci. It works really well in conjunction with a mouse or pen tablet. It's not a control surface but it's fast to work with, what I like of our ipad layout is you don't have to scroll in the menus, in our layout for every command there's a button. The only thing I miss are the trackballs, I'm thinking to buy only the 3 trackballs module of element tangent devices. http://www.tangentdevices.co.uk/products_element.asp They said Resolve will be supported.

 

[Luca Immesi]

Regarding the question of the thread I think the best "tablet" for Davinci is the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve control surface

 

[Gabriele Turchi]

I tried to use the wacom as feel with resolve and i gave up (because of the middle mouse function missing )

i use wacom for pretty much anything else but resolve

ps:also i have the resolve panel (but the wacom won't help even without the resolve panel )

g

 

[John Tissavary]

I use a Wacom in Resolve daily, in conjunction with the Resolve panels. The very first thing I do when hooking up ANY tablet is to remap the side buttons in the wacom configuration:

forward click = middle click

backward click = right click

Done & done. When I work in Resolve I use a small 4x6 tablet so it doesn't take up much space, and I have all the clicks I need, plus the added accuracy, speed, and ergonomic benefit of not trying to use a brick with buttons as an input device.

I don't use a Mac, so I don't know where exactly to remap Wacom parameters, but it works in Win & Linux.