Exploring the Elgato Stream Deck Plus with SideshowFX Color Panel Profiles

January 12, 2023

Colorist Jamie Dickinson shares initial impressions using Elgato's Stream Deck + (with SideshowFX profiles) to control Resolve's HDR Palette.


Using and customizing the Elgato Stream Deck + to control Resolve’s HDR Panel

The new Stream Deck + panel from Elgato is an interesting control surface on its own, since it combines keyboard shortcuts with mouse control. But when paired with SideshowFX’s  Color Panel profiles, we can control every parameter on the Colour Page of Resolve. And the best part is it’s completely customizable so users can configure shortcuts and dials in almost any way they want.

Why my focus on Resolve’s HDR panel?

Ever since the HDR Tool was introduced to DaVinci Resolve I’ve been using it to retain and enhance details in highlights, skies and clouds, etc. The problem I have is that, when I’m on my home setup using my BlackMagic Design Micro panel, the HDR tools are rather fiddly and awkward using a mouse. Even the Mini Panel isn’t perfect – and the $30K Advanced Panel still requires a couple of extra button pushes.

So when I saw that SideshowFX were previewing their Stream Deck Plus Color Panel  I was very interested to see if it lived up to its promise. The Stream Deck + isn’t perfect, and some might say their solution for controlling sliders using rotary buttons is a bit of a ‘hack’, but the result is something that could save many DaVinci Resolve Colour Page users hundreds of button clicks a day!

Beyond the HDR panel

Of course, this doesn’t stop at the HDR Tool – whatever tasks you find yourself doing on a regular basis in Resolve, you’ll be able to use the Stream Deck + to configure all the controls you need into a custom set of keys and dials. The Stream Deck + hardware and accompanying software, combined with SideshowFx profiles as a starting point, is a cost-effective way to speed up your colour grading workflow – without forcing you to start from a completely blank page.

About the SideshowFX Color Page Profile

In the short time I’ve been experimenting and using the Stream Deck + I’ve only scratched the surface of what users may want to do with it. The Profiles come pre-configured for all the parameters in the Colour Page, including all the Dolby trim values, and there are Custom screens built in as well.

SideshowFX have two products for the Stream Deck +:

I think the Color Panel Profiles is a good value for your money – even if it might be a little clunky in some respects and not perfect. Time will tell if there are any drawbacks in using this daily, as I’ve just started on it. My initial thought is to use the Stream Deck + as my custom HDR controller and never change it to anything else – but I reserve the right to change my approach.  

Key takeaways from this Insight

By the end of this Insight you should understand:

  • The SideshowFX mouse controls
  • How to revise the default settings provided by SideshowFX profiles
  • Using F-Keys to map custom mouse actions for the Stream Deck with SideshowFX profiles

Additional Links

Questions or Comments? Leave a comment!

Is this Insight useful to you? Let us know! Mixing Light is all about community discussions and we’re curious if you found this helpful, if you have something to add, or if you have more questions you need answered?

– Jamie

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Comments

Homepage Forums Exploring the Elgato Stream Deck Plus with SideshowFX Color Panel Profiles

  • Awesome. Thank you for featuring our Pack.

    • You’re welcome! It’s great that we’re now able to customise it so well. Let us know if you have any tips on how how to improve it further.


    • Patrick Inhofer
      Administrator

      Arbi – Do you have the answer to this question asked in the comments:

      In this Sideshow pack, are the icons on the touch strip in the background image rather than set via each hotkey as per the buttons? I can’t work out how else the icons are full height like they are!

      All my custom icons on the touch strip — set individually per hotkey — are only displaying at half-height, and putting the icons on the background is the only way I can think of to work-around this, but it’s such a pain!

      • The actual pixel count per dial is just 200×100 pixel. More than that will still be fine. And the long strip screen is 800×100 pixel.

  • Cheers for this! Mine arrived earlier in the week, so good timing 🙂

    Mapping previous and next node to a dial is a game-changing way to quickly navigate around a fixed node graph!

    In this Sideshow pack, are the icons on the touch strip in the background image rather than set via each hotkey as per the buttons? I can’t work out how else the icons are full height like they are!

    All my custom icons on the touch strip — set individually per hotkey — are only displaying at half-height, and putting the icons on the background is the only way I can think of to work-around this, but it’s such a pain!

    • Previous and Next node is a nice idea. I actually have that on my Micro but I was interested to hear about what other users want to do with this setup – my custom HDR layout is just an example of what’s possible. I do seem to remember that the touch strip takes a single wide icon, yes. Having the SideshowFX pack as a starting point definitely helped me get going with the Stream Deck Plus, I can double check what the dimensions of their touch strip icons are if you like.

      • I’ve got previous and next node buttons on my Mini panel, but it’s very slow and cumbersome to mash them in order to navigate around large node graphs. Using a dial on the SD+ is lightening fast!<div>

        I’d be eternally grateful if you could double check the dimensions of the touch strip icons! I’ve searched through the documentation on the website and can only find reference to the regular buttons. Maybe I’m just giving it a man look, as my wife loves to say 🙂

        </div>

        • @alastair-tye-samson It seems that a key in a Dial Stack has its own icon which is 350×175 wide. If you set a background for the dial strip it’s made form four of these and it’s also possible to use a single 1400×175 background. I’m trying to figure out how I’d make these from a default empty profile but now my Dial Icons get shrunk down when I add them! I’m still experimenting but I hope this helps.


          • Todd Hallam
            Member

            You can right click on the Icon tray and select Create New Background. Drag and drop your 350×175 icon in.

            • Todd! You absolute beauty! Thank you!! And thanks Jamie and Patrick for helping me get to the bottom of that, it had been driving me nuts 🙂

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