Adobe Premiere Pro vs. Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve – Ease of Use/Intuitiveness

[Andy Ford]

I’m sure you’ll get varied answers here since it’s personal preference and both programs have their strong points, but i prefer keeping an Adobe workflow. The Lumetri scopes are solid tools. My one exception is I’ll use Resolve briefly when using a Datacolor Spyder color checker in my shoot

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Video Producer / Digital Marketer / Gear Reviewer / Author
— http://www.AndyFordVideo.com —

[Robert Withers]

Hi Andy,
Both of these are fairly complex programs with lots of buttons which is where the learning curve comes in. They use different data storage systems so it takes a little time to grasp the differences.

Premiere updates all the time and has a reputation for being slightly less stable or predictable than some other programs. Once you get up and running it can be fairly intuititive and has a decent amount of documentation. You can actually talk to some smart support people in India if you’re willing to be on hold for an hour or two. Adobe supports the past two versions; some folks say that the most recent version, whichever it is, doesn’t always work for them. I’m working on learning Resolve to see if it’s any more stable but am just getting into it. I don’t know its stability reputation or how to find support or documentation. It has updated twice since I bought an expensive instruction book.

Good luck, let us know what you decide,
Robert

Robert Withers

Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City

[Eric Santiago]

I teach two of the four NLE options at a local college on the side.
I use all four but weak on Resolve for video editing.
Okay well, weak because I am not comfortable with it since it’s slow to get into IMHO.
FCPX is by far the fastest to learn.
However, from the years I’ve been using Premiere (since v1.0 … pre-Pro mind you) it seems to be easiest for the masses.
I say this since I get a lot of clients new and old handing me over Premier projects from all levels.
Sure I get a ton of FCP/FCPX but mostly Premiere e.g. shorts, music videos, docs, etc..
Now full-length feature I may have done 3 in my lifetime with Premiere but mostly Avid and the occasional FCP/FCPX (4 features to date).
Now back to Resolve.
I swear by it as far as grading and finishing.
I like the quick and dirty options from Premieres Luminaire and I love the FCPX/ Color Final combo but nothing beats Resolve (personally) in that game.
The VS subject is a sticky one for me. I always say, the more tools the better.
I say this since where Im from, I have no choice and cant be picky if I want to work 🙂