APC40 RE – Davinci Resolve Controller kit

The Ultimate Budget Davinci Resolve controller on Steroids

— MK1 —

APC40 MK1 DaVinci Resolve Controller

APC40 MK1 Davinci Resolve Edition

Description

The nr 1 budget Davinci Resolve controller kit on the Mac platform.
If you want all the features of the 30.000$ Black Magic Davinci Resolve controller and much much more , but have only 1% of the budget, look no further. This software kit repurposes the legendary Akai APC40 MK1 midi controller (check here for the MK2, or here for a small portable Beatstep model)  to an all new level and turns it into a insanely full featured Davinci Resolve control panel. So scoop up one of the last remaining devices from the internet before they are gone and put this software kit on top. Or get the MK2 which is readily available with the exact same feature set,

 

Features

  • APC40 MK1 DaVinci Resolve Controller~99% of the Davinci Resolve color grading page controls mapped to buttons and rotary knobs of the Akai APC-40 midi controller (not included), assisted via a unique programmed visual feedback system using its lights and a convenient button callable or (new) always on wireless HUD (Heads Up Display) to help you not get lost with the mappings in all pages. This all driven by over ten thousand smart interacting objects programmed in the “Controllermate” software (remark: in combination with my unique suite of tool 100% Monterey compatible ! ). Augmented by a large set of custom developed scripts and tools that go way beyond the possibilities of controllermate alone and give rise to some unique features.The following base features of the resolve color page can be fully controlled:
    • Primary  (incl. colorwheels control)
    • Primary Bars
    • Log (incl. colorwheels control)
    • Camera RAW (autodetect and automap for different Raw codecs)
    • HDR Grading tool full control (new as of v11.0 for DR17+ !!!)
    • Color Warper (new as of v11.5 for DR17+ !!!)
    • RGB mixer
    • Printer Lights
    • Custom Curves (unique feature !!)
    • X vs Y Curves (all)
    • Qualifiers (HSL,RGB,3D)
    • Key
    • Shapes (full autodetect and control over all shapes)
    • Sizing (full control over all sizing types + selecting blanking presets)
    • Blur/Sharpen
    • Motion FX
    • OFX (unique feature, see later)
    • Dolby Vision trimming   Dolby Vision Trimming support
    • Full Tracker and stabiliser control
    • Full Magic Mask Tracker control (new as of v11.0 for DR17+ !!!!)
    • Several key global controls like among others
      • Navigation (playback/clip/node/keyframe/marker/timeline/first-last frame etc)
      • Keyframe control (add/del dynamic/static )
      • Add/del nodes (any type)
      • Version control (add/prev/next)
      • 8 memory positions access (save/load)
      • 9 qualify preset access (6 vector)
      • 16 flag colors access
      • Disable/enable grade/node
      • loop on/off
      • fullscreen / enhanced screen on/off
      • extensive reset features (entire grade / node / section )
      • split screen on/off and type selection
      • wipe on/off and wipe type selection
      • wipe position control knob
      • pan/tilt control knob
      • key / highlight on/off/type/swap
      • zoom wheel / reset zoom
      • on/off toggle of several tabs like clip/timeline/gallery/ofx etc
      • undo/redo

APC40 MK1 Davinci Resolve Controller APC40 MK1 DaVinci Resolve Controller

  • Besides complete color grading page operation also a fully loaded, dynamic and bi-directional Mackie HUI style mixer for the Fairlight and Edit page, with 8 channel strips (per bank) with fader, pan, mute, solo, rec and separate rude-solo indicator / solo reset, fader reset , jog/shuttle control knob and page navigation by bank or channel.
  • Absolutely unique to this controller, full control over a set of selected and expanding number of the best of Resolve OFX. Currently these 21 Resolve OFX plugins including the newest DR16/17 plugins are supported and fully mapped:
    • Lens Blur
    • Color Compressor
    • Depth Map (DR18+)
    • Dehaze
    • Glow
    • Lens Flare
    • Face Refinement (multimodes)
    • Halation (DR18+)
    • Light Rays (DR18+)
    • Sharpen Edges
    • Soften & Sharpen
    • Tilt/Shift Blur
    • Film Grain
    • Camera Shake
    • Lens Distortion
    • Aperture Diffraction
    • Lens Reflections
    • Patch Replacer (multimodes)
    • Flicker Addition
    • Film Damage
    • Beauty (multimodes)
  • Full control over any other non standard , incl 3rd party, ofx plugins using general automapped layout.
  • For the color grading page, a set of 5 extra banks with 16 knobs and 3 buttons each, featuring user programmable mappings, all programmed directly by you and simply with the controller itself, using smart visual feedback. These are mainly intended for mapping your own favorite not standard mapped OFX plugins, but can also be used for the Camera Raw pane for example, which is not in the standard mapping due to constant changing layout based on source material type, so a perfect candidate for user mapping.
  • For the Fairlight mixing and Edit page , 2 independent similar sets of 5 banks each, for custom mapping the 16 knobs.
  • An absolutely unique feature, never seen elsewhere besides on the Beatstep kit also available here, to control all content in the Edit and Fairlight page INSPECTOR window, like EdIt Sizing, OFX plugins and audio settings and plugins, using smart automapping and detection routines, making the panel even more suited to also do all sorts of finishing type of work.
  • A butter smooth source/timeline jog knob (featuring auto-detected screen location using custom build computer vision tools) for the edit and Media page
  • A convenient callable HUD (Heads Up Display) to help you not get lost with the mappings in all pages.
  • Extensive support in case of issues, custom requests (within limits)
  • Receive automatic and free (lifetime) version upgrades, no hidden fees or other b.s.
  • Optional recommended components (not included, not required, nice to haves):
    • A ‘single’ Kensington SlimBlade trackball (RRP ~120EU) can be triggered from and used together with Akai APC40 to control color wheel type controls (in the log and wheels panes) instead of the provided multi touch knob colorwheel control of the APC kit
    • Similarly, you can use the Akai in combination with a standalone Tangent Ripple (RRP~350EU) for example if you prefer 3 ball parallel control and use the Akai panel to control everything else.
    • For the ultimate setup you can use the Akai together with both above options for 4 ball parallel control. This is the closest you can get to a 30K Resolve controller for a mere fraction of the costs.

If still not convinced, check out the full video operation manual here (updated Feb 2021, showing MK2 but identical implementation on the MK1)

Chapters :
00:00​ – Introduction
00:49​ – APC40 MK1 vs MK2
02:48​ – General operation
08:56​ – H.U.D (v1 & v2)
11:12​ – Color page – Primaries (Wheels/Log/Bars/RGB/HDR/Dolby/Cam RAW)
19:48​ – Color page – Secondaries (Curves/Qual/Shapes/Sizing/Tracking/Magic Mask/Sharpen/Motion FX)
31:19​ – Color page – OFX (Premapped/Automapped/Custom mapping)
36:42​ – Color page – Global controls
41:02​ – Edit/Fairlight/Media page
49:39​ – Closing

Also:
Exclusive full Dolby Vision control (see also the remote always on HUD feature in action here on a little HDMI monitor, but which can be used on ANY mobile or other device with a web browser.)

 

 

Prerequisites

  • AKAI APC40 MK1 midi controller, not included (the original model , check here for MK2 version)
  • Davinci Resolve 17/18 MAC OSX (studio or free)
    (legacy versions for DR12.6/14.3/15.3/16 limited available on special request.)
  • Davinci Resolve GUI language set to English. No other GUI language supported
  • Supported hardware
    • Any Intel based Mac that can run Blackmagic Davinci Resolve
    • Any Hackintosh or OSX Virtual machine that can run Blackmagic Davinci Resolve
    • Not supported on Apple Silicon
  • Supported OS versions
    • MAC OSX High Sierra (fully supported, DR16 only)
    • MAC OSX Mojave (fully supported, minimum for DR17)
    • MAC OSX Catalina (fully supported)
    • MAC OSX BigSur Intel (fully supported , Intel version only)
    • MAC OSX Monterey Intel (fully supported, Intel version only)

Purchase options  

   Online Store

Feel free to contact me for questions/options

 

Addendum

Besides being a powerful midi controller, uniquely suited for the task of controlling Black Magics Davinci Resolve, it is also very readily customisable. The only limits are your imagination….
As an example, this is how i turned my personal APC40 into a sleek and stylish Davinci Resolve controller so that its appearance matches more closely its potential.
Feel free to contact me for tips on customising your own APC40

AKAI APC40 Davinci Resolve Controller custom paintjob
AKAI APC40 Davinci Resolve Controller custom paintjob and knobs.
Glenn Venghaus © 2018