Final Cut Pro vs Premiere Pro vs DaVinci Resolve: WHICH Video Editing Software to Use?

Premiere Final Cut or Da Vinci which one should you go [Music] with today we're going to go over the three big video editing softwares and see which one is the best option to go with this is going to be really helpful especially if you're just starting out in video editing or maybe you're already editing on one of these softwares and thinking about switching this is all based on on my personal opinion and experience with them in no way shape or form am I saying that one is absolutely more Superior or better than the others they're all unique they all have their own characteristics and ways of doing things and no matter which one you go with at the end of the day you'll be able to create some powerful and amazing videos and keep in mind that what might work for me might not necessarily work for you we're not going to get too deep into them we'll just cover highle things I'll point out the stuff that I liked and the stuff that I don't like and and just the overall experience with each of them towards the end of the video I will make a recommendation on which I think is the most logical one to go with especially if you are just starting out in video editing the first one I want to cover is Final Cut Pro for Max this one obviously won't cater to everyone like if you're a PC user so if you have no intention on switching to a Mac feel free to skip ahead I've used Final Cut the least of the three and the main reason why I even switched a final cut from being a premier user was because knowing that Final Cut is made by Apple the software would be most optimized for my Mac Mini and therefore getting the best performance out of it now I didn't necessarily get better performance but Final Cut never crashed on me I didn't enjoy the switch from Premiere 2 Final Cut there was a lot of getting used to and the biggest one was Ripple editing so if you're new to video editing what Ripple editing is is basically any changes or trims or clips that I make to the current clip it has a ripple effect to with all the other Clips on the timeline to kind of snap backwards so if I throw a bunch of Clips onto the timeline and start trimming Clips all the following Clips will move with your trimming to stay connected to the current clip leaving no gaps so I realized this was the case when I was using the default select tool and in order to avoid Ripple deletes you have to select the position tool where any of the gaps would be replaced with a gap clip in Final Cut You you have your main story line on this track and so it's where your main Clips would sit like your a roll the layers or tracks on top aren't considered as part of your main story line and are for more supportive assets like b-rolls captions transition clips and so on if you haven't used an editing program before and you're new to video editing this wouldn't really impact you all that much uh and starting off learning how to Ripple edit can actually be beneficial for you to really speed up your workflow if you're coming from Premier Da Vinci you'll probably be more used to just having the position tool selected in Final Cut versus the default select tool so just keep that in mind my biggest problem with Final Cut was connected Clips so if you have a clip on top of another clip in your story line Final Cut will connect these clips and if you move the clip in your main story line around the connected clip on top will move with it when you really think about it it does make sense if I have a clip on top of another technically that top clip should be associated with that clip in the storyline like if the top clip was a title clip or caption or an effect but that's not always the case because let's say if I wanted to move the main clip or rearrange my story around and move the main clip to another part of the timeline or in the story and maybe that title clip still needed to stay in that same position and no longer associated with that main clip that I moved and I want to replace it with another clip in that spot so at the time when I first started on Final Cut it was pretty annoying and frustrating knowing that every time I wanted to rearrange some things around the clips were connected coming from Premiere I have full freedom and flexibility to move whatever clip I wanted to wherever I wanted to and it would just do exactly what I intended on doing however on Final Cut I had to learn and realize that in order to move my main clip without moving the associated or connected Clips on top I have to hold the swiggle key on the keyboard next to the number one then I can disconnect these clips and move it freely I get it it Mak sense and it should be automatic but it's like rewiring my brain to remember that and making a conscious effort to hold down that swiggle key to avoid the top clip from moving as well I would have just preferred it if connecting Clips or even disconnecting Clips was an option say if I selected the clips that I wanted to connect I highlighted them right clicked and I can connect them or do the same thing and disconnect lastly the lack of adjustment layers was pretty annoying coming from Premiere adjustment layers are like the essence of Premiere that is what editors on Premiere use heavily are adjustment layers and adjustment layers are essentially blank clips that you can apply whatever you wanted to and we'll cover adjustment layers a little bit more detailed when we get to Premiere so an example of where the lack of adjustment layers was really felt was let's say I was color grading so I have my exposure my white balance my shadows and so on if I wanted to apply each effect I could separate them and organize them as individual adjustment layers however in Final Cut I would need to add an additional color board or color wheel or Curves and as far as I'm aware I can't rename them so I don't know which is which if I missing something and there is a way to rename them please drop it down in the comments below so that I know and that other new Final Cut users are also aware as well though one welcoming feature that I loved about the switch to Final Cut From Premiere was not having to worry about saving Final Cut is always Autos saving based on every change your up that I make and just pretty much every second that I'm going it's saving in real time and I don't have to worry if let's say my computer crashes or Final Cut crashes or I have a power outage whatever might the case might be my work is automatically saved and it's always up to date everything else in Final Cut is pretty much similar to the other editors in terms of just the essence of editing other than just having things in different places and getting used to the UI your clip effects like scale position and so on are found in this film strip icon color grading is found on this triangle icon audio is on the speaker icon and the clip properties is in the information or this eye icon fxs are here and transitions are here the price for Final Cut Pro is $2.99 and it's a one-time purchase for a license as I mentioned I spent the least amount of time with Final Cut and so my knowledge and experience around it is really limited but I would say I know enough to get by I've edited client work on Final Cut Is it the best one in my opinion probably not that's not to say that Final Cut Is weaker in any way this isn't a knock on Final Cut it's still professional grade you can still create amazing stuff and do amazing things in Final Cut plus it's still used by tons of YouTubers out there industry professionals and even some Hollywood films as well if you have a Mac and you're just starting out in video editing Final Cut Is Still still a really good option to learn on it's stable and I feel like it'll guide you towards getting comfortable and familiar with the video editing workflows however if you're coming from Premiere or Da Vinci and so you've already have experience in video editing switching to Final Cut almost feels like a bit of a step backwards and it just takes getting used to only because of just some of the constraints that I felt so the next is good old Premiere Pro if you're a PC user User it's either Premiere Pro or Da Vinci resolve I started with Premiere and I've used it since I started creating videos more than a decade ago and unlike Final Cut where some things just felt automatic or you just felt guided a little bit more Premiere is a bit more freehand you still have the ability to Ripple edit but by default it's more position based so if I throw Clips onto my timeline some audio like sound effects adjustment layers I can just move things around freely without having to worry about all Clips being connected if I needed to move the clips across multiple layers together then it's a simple hold shift and select them all and then I move you can see why Final Cut could speed things up but here since this is where I came from and this is all I knew this is what I was used to it's just that sense of control over everything so unlike Final Cut where you have your main story line and Premier you still have multiple layers in tracks but your bottom track here or V1 is usually your main video track anyways hence why Apple thought it would be considered as your story line earlier I brought up adjustment layers and this is what the essence of Premiere is adjustment layers are blank clips that you can apply specific effects or even when color grading you can separate and organize each adjustment that you make in your grade and you can rename these adjustment layers so you know exactly what is what then you can simply disable that track to see your clip with and without that effect applied you can drag the adjustment layer to cover multiple clips or apply another adjustment layer clip on the same track for the same effect but on a different clip it's great to have that full control of knowing where your effects are and disabling to see every little change that is being applied to your Clips the downside is while the more layers you add you can see how busy your timeline is going to start looking there's nothing wrong with that and that's why on some Advanced edits we can see some pretty crazy timelines depending on what you're doing in your edit you would get into different different workspaces so your Cuts your color grading your effects audio captions and graphics and so on the thing with Premiere unlike the other editors is that I don't have to switch workspaces I can still access and adjust for example color grades without having to go into the color workpace it's just easier though getting into that specific workspace for that specific task that's what I like about Premiere is that you have options you have freedom and you don't have to worry about Premier doing anything for you unless you want it to so having been the plat platform that I've always used and learned on you can see why switching to Final Cut felt a little bit of a step backwards for me or at least a little bit more restricted for me where Apple's doing things for me by default and I'll just have to be more conscious about things like rearranging Clips although final Cut's not wrong it's just trying to make me a little bit more efficient there are two things though that I hate about Premiere one and being the most infamous is stability the cons crashes that not only I but everybody else experience with Premiere coupled with the fact that Premiere doesn't constantly autosave for you it actually does but not in the way like how Final Cut does it where every change or update or every second I'm making Final Cut Is Autos saving in Real Time premiere by default the autosave is actually set to every 15 minutes and you can change it but only by minute intervals so the most frequent autosave that you can have have is 1 minute also your manual saves and your auto saves are in two separate files so when you manually save by hitting control or command s that actually saves onto your main project file your auto saves however are saving in an autosave file which is buried into adobe's folder structure if let's say a crash were to hop in and I had some lost progress and I never manually saved to the main project file then I can go back to my autosave file to get the most upto-date version so it almost serves as like a recovery file I'd rather have it so that the autosave is always just saving to the main project file so while editing this video I noticed in the autosave settings there's an option that says autosave also saves the current project I tested it out and it does what I said I wish it did which was the autosave saving to the project file this makes it feel more like Final Cut and da Vinci but it's still only at 1 minute being the most frequent if you don't like your auto saves in a separate file just remember to check that box all right back to the video unless I'm wrong about this and there's a way to change that please drop it down in the comments below I've had traumatic experiences where I get so focused and locked in in what I was doing that I would forget to do a manual save and then when a crash happened it would have resulted in 15 minutes worth of work being lost which doesn't sound like a lot or even one minute but if you're drawing a mask frame by frame that's a lot of tedious work that now I have to go back and redo so I actually had to incorporate into my workflow to constantly hit a command s or control s and do a manual save every time I finish something major the second or I guess third issue that I have with Premiere is pricing I find it ridiculous that they charge a subscription because in the long run it works out to be way more expensive than the other programs an editing program isn't something you would need to use temporarily this is long this is a long-term tool where you need to invest time into learning and you wouldn't just use it for maybe a month or two and then cancel it so Premiere Pro alone not including any other Adobe program like after effects is $2.99 a month despite these downsides Premiere is tried and tested did and is I think still the most popular editing platform used by creators today Premiere can be a good start but it's harder for me to recommend as the first video editor to start with um and especially for long-term use not just because of pricing but also being able to expand your editing abilities and I'll explain why in next one so this takes us to the third major editing software Da Vinci resolve you might have noticed this trend of editors switching over to Da Vinci res and for good reason Da Vinci started off with a focus on being a color grading software and that's what it was known best for until editing was actually introduced into it for myself in the past I was a little apprehensive about switching over or even trying Da Vinci because just the sight of it intimidated me a little bit but there are a lot of things to love about resolve and not as many things to not love in my experience at least with the exception of one thing me media linking I usually work off my Clips being stored on an external SSD and sometimes not all the time if I switch USB ports the SSD was plugged into the media got unlined and therefore needed to be relin again most of the time finding and relinking the media works fine though other times they just don't relink even though the footage is there and comprehensive search sometimes was able to find the source clips for me but other times it didn't one example of an issue that I was never able to figure out was importing an XML file from a project that I exported from another editor like Premiere or even Luma Fusion on my iPad importing the file or the timeline was fine but I was never able to get the media to link I spent hours researching into this online and tried a few suggestions but no luck other than that da Vinci has been amazing if you're coming from Premier Pro Da Vinci will feel a lot more familiar than Final Cut D Vinci resolve separates their workspaces into these different tabs below and each workspace by default just makes sense so everything you need is already there in front of you versus having to go into settings or tabs to enable certain things Da Vinci is designed to make you follow a flow that makes sense so from importing to cutting to editing Fusion coloring audio and Export the the best part is you don't have to use every workspace so you don't have to go into the media page to import media and you don't have to go to the cut page to make Cuts especially if you don't like Ripple editing you can still do all of that in the edit page alone I actually haven't used Fusion at all but the fact that it's there and I don't have to pay extra for it is amazing primarily used for a lot of visual effects but the fact that it's there and I don't have to pay extra for it is pretty amazing it's like having After Effects included as part of premiere eventually when I want to start learning a little bit more into visual effects it's great knowing I can just jump in without having to purchase extra software color grading in Da Vinci just feels better and a little bit more accurate than Premier and Final Cut so when color grading it took me a short period of time to learn and get used to nodes if you're coming from Premiere imagine your adjustment layers as being nodes I can have a node for every little adjustment I make turn them on and off and the best part about nodes is just how much faster they can make you when color grading so for example if you have a series of clips that are shot in the same setting or if you have a long clip that is cut into different smaller Clips like your A- roll you can create your nodes grade them then set them as a shared node and then copy and paste these shared nodes to the other similar clips and now when you go back and make an adjustment you just need to do it to one and the others will also update that's genius more recently I started using the fair Light page which is for a audio this also speeds things up because rather than making adjustments and effects on one audio clip and then copying and pasting it onto the rest of the audio clips the changes I make in the fair Light page applies to all audio clips on each particular audio track and unlike Premiere Da Vinci is similar to Final Cut where it's always Autos saving in real time so I don't have to worry much about lost work these are just some of the things that make the editing experience in Da Vinci resolve much better and more polished than Premier Pro and Final Cut Pro and then in terms of price so if you remember Final Cut Pro is a onetime purchase for $22.99 and Premier Pro is a subscription at $2.99 a month D venture resol has two offerings a free version and studio version the free version has enough to get by especially if you're new to video editing there are a few caveats though like the lack of support for 10bit footage if you watch my previous video about editing to resolve free version on the M2 Pro Mac Mini I was able to get my 10bit footage in the free version of resolve and uh few of you even asked how I was able to get that to work I have no idea like I shot 10bit 422 footage from my Sony a74 imported into the free version of resolve and it supported and it worked I don't know if maybe it was editing an 8 bit but um never really noticed a difference and it showed that it supported it I was able to edit so that was that but then I also looked online and some people said that the free version of resolve wouldn't even support or read their 10bit footage so I don't know if it just depends on the Kodak or the format and your camera but maybe uh look into a little bit more and then another feature that I use heavily not heavily but often that's not in the free version is just the built-in noise reduction plugin so that's my overall rundown and experience of using all three editors again I'm not an expert editor this is just my personal opinion and my personal experience with them and again what might work for me might not work for you I'm sure there are other points out there and even ways to improve my experience and workflow in using each of the three and if you want to share it drop them down in the comments down below so that you're not just helping me but you're also helping other editors as well of the three if I had to recommend one I'd recommend Da Vinci resolve it's the most logical one to go with because not only is a really well-rounded editing experience using it it's also stable but it's also the path of least resistance especially financially you can try it out by even downloading the free version and the free version is not a trial by any means there's no watermark to it or anything like that you can use the free version as a legit editing software and get by even with client work this is huge if you're just starting out by the time you get to a point where you feel like you've outgrown or you are outgrowing the free version you're probably Landing paid gigs and $299 to get the full studio version is not a heavy investment that's the same price as Final Cut Pro but if you're a PC user that onetime purchase for $2.99 is way better value than paying a $2.99 a month subscription for Premiere Pro on top of that that 2099 with premere Pro doesn't include After Effects whereas when you you buy the studio version of Da Vinci you're getting Fusion built in however from what I understand and what I've heard and read After Effects has the upper hand especially when it comes to performance over Fusion but I haven't dabbled much into visual effects and using Fusion or after effects all that much so I can't really speak on that that's all for this one guys if you found this video helpful please give it a like subscribe to the channel so that we can continue to grow this community and channel together thanks for watching

Channel: MattChungz

Views: 22,269

Keywords: video editing software, premiere pro, final cut pro, davinci resolve, video editing

Id: N0LKVln8NSw

Length: 22min 31sec (1351 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 13 2023