The MIDIGrade Controller for DaVinci Resolve on a Budget

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by Richard LackeyFebruary 10^th, 2016

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The innovative new MIDIGrade Controller is the latest answer to the need for an affordable hands-on grading controller. It is a solution created by 25-year-old award-winning filmmaker Julius Koivistoinen from Helsinki, Finland. Currently, it is only available for Resolve on OSX.

Some of the most innovative solutions to problems that established manufacturers seem to ignore often come from frustrated users with an idea and a desire to drive change by themselves. The MIDIGrade Controller is the result of exactly this scenario.

By repurposing some existing hardware and software, and painstakingly creating the mapping for a variety of screen resolutions and setups from scratch, Julius was able to program the Midi Fighter Twister by DJ TechTools to control various DaVinci functions.

It functions by momentarily taking over mouse control. “The function of the knobs is basically ordering your mouse to move clicking and dragging pixel-accurately on your screen lightning fast so please keep in mind that manipulating multiple knobs even slightly at once or moving your mouse while adjusting a setting may result in unwanted jerkiness or make it seem like the functions aren’t working.”

It is important to keep this method of operation in mind when considering this solution as other turnkey controllers operate by interfacing directly with Resolve, allowing simultaneous inputs, and possibly a finer resolution of control as well as working at any resolution and display arrangement.

However, with the plugin priced at €49.95—not including the Midi Fighter Twister hardware panel and ControllerMate software license—it’s a far more affordable hands-on solution in total than anything else to appear on our radar yet. Everything you need will set you back somewhere around the $300 mark.

Requirements for this MIDIGrade Controller:

Note: this is for MacOS only.

• Midi Fighter Twister MIDI controller [NOT INCLUDED] (https://store.djtechtools.com/products/midi-fighter-twister)
• ControllerMate software full license [NOT INCLUDED] (http://www.orderedbytes.com/)
• DaVinci Resolve 12 [NOT INCLUDED] (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve)
• Correct screen resolution (see the list below).
• Up to an hour of spare time for setup

Check out the MIDIGrade Controller webpage here for more information.