Post-production is the cornerstone of content. So it’s important that we’re aware of the tools that makes up the skeleton of the post-production sector. For a long time, Adobe Premiere Pro has dominated the industry but of late it’s had fierce competition from Blackmagic’s Davinci Resolve. For software that started as a color correction tool, it has been leaving its mark in this space.
With the current needs of the creative business, you need video editing software that is worth the investment. We’re here to help you choose the software that is right for you by discussing the features of both Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. The categories we’ll cover include Usability and User Interface, Music and Audio, Colour Grading, Motion Graphics, Pricing, Support and Performance.
Also Read: Is DaVinci Resolve Safe, Does DaVinci Resolve have a Watermark
What is Adobe Premiere Pro?
Premiere Pro was one of the first non-linear editing systems. It used to be available for macOS alone, but now you can find a compatible version for pretty much any operating system you want.
Premiere Pro by Adobe is a video editing software that is used to create commercials, films, television shows, and online videos. It also has audio editing capabilities. It is a comprehensive video editing software application that can be purchased separately or as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. On creative projects, Premiere Pro is frequently used alongside After Effects and Photoshop.
What is DaVinci Resolve?
Davinci Resolve first came out in 2004 and was developed by Da Vinci Systems. In 2009 BlackMagic Design acquired DaVinci Resolve. Over the years Blackmagic has worked hard on taking DaVinci Resolve from a color grading program to something great.
Currently BlackMagic offers its users the ability to choose from two versions a free Davinci Resolve software version that has no watermark with limited but great tools and a paid program with a huge arsenal of tools and features. The former is known as DaVinci Resolve and the latter DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: What’s the Difference?
To truly know the difference between Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve we need to compare a bunch of stuff. These include its UI and Usability, music, audio, color grading, pricing and a lot more.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Usability and User Interface
Both tools have a learning curve, but Premiere Pro has been around longer and is easier to grasp. It employs traditional layers like most editing softwares on the market. DaVinci Resolve’s Fusion or Color section of the programme employs nodes, which can be intimidating to new users.
Premiere Pro includes an NLE Timeline interface that uses Sequences, which can contain an audio track, video, picture, or any supported media. These sequence tracks ease Premiere Pro’s organising model. The panels can be rearranged, and your workspace can be saved. The ability to reorganise makes things more accessible and increases productivity.
DaVinci Resolve, on the other hand, employs a Freeform Timeline Editor, which divides the user interface into multiple sections. Cut & Edit, Fusion, Color, Fairlight, and Deliver are the five sections available here. All of these sections function exactly as their names suggest. Fusion is a motion graphics tool and Fairlight is an audio editing tool.
Resolve is not super beginner-friendly but when you get used to it, it makes perfect sense. There are features where Resolve takes the higher ground in terms of ease of use, as its intuitive features. But Premiere Pro beats it in other places like keyframing and masking. Either way, it’s safe to say that Premiere Pro wins this round.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Music and Audio
Premiere Pro by Adobe includes a primary Audio Mixer tool for editing the audio track. It’s a simple audio editor with few options. However, because Premiere Pro is part of the Creative Cloud bundle, you can edit audio in Adobe Audition. You can fine-tune settings, apply effects, mix and edit tracks, and seamlessly import them into Premiere Pro.
Fairlight is a separate tab in DaVinci Resolve for audio editing. It’s a built-in application within DaVinci Resolve that provides professional tools for editing audio recordings or other audio media. If you’re not interested in professional-level audio editing, you can switch to the Edit tab and use basic audio editing options.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Color Grading
Premiere Pro by Adobe, has fewer tools than DaVinci Resolve. DaVinci is well-known for its color grading abilities to fix video data, which is a good place to start. If you plan to do a lot of color grading in your video editing, DaVinci Resolve is the way to go. It includes numerous tools for advanced and extensive color grading. Because it began as software for the correction of color, it is excellent at color grading as well. This makes DaVinci win this round.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Motion Graphics
Premiere Pro doesn’t have much to offer in the sense of motion graphics designer use. You would be better off using After Effects which is a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. This syncs well with Pro and gives you a seamless experience.
DaVinci on the other hand comes with an in-built program, Fusion. This is an advanced tool that takes time to get used to. It’s on par with After Effects but has a few limitations. It supports seamless timeline editing.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Pricing
Money can’t buy happiness, but it can obstruct it. No matter what you’re pursuing, like it or not, budget plays a part. So let’s get that out of the way. Premiere Pro costs $20.99 per month and the Creative Cloud (which packages all the Adobe apps together necessary in production and photography) costs $29.99 per month. Although, if you’re a student you can easily snag the student discount.
On the other hand, DaVinci Resolve is free! Well, there’s a free version which is quite equipped in itself and there’s a DaVinci Resolve Studio that costs $295 but it’s a one time purchase. There’s no monthly/yearly fee. So clearly, DaVinci Resolve wins this round!
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Support and Tutorials
Since Premiere Pro has been the leading program for so long, there is an abundance of tutorials and third-party plugins for people to learn and use with the software and the cloud. Adobe’s support also has been praised. There are plenty of forums with resolved topics in the case of Adobe. Blackmagic hasn’t climbed that peak yet in the channel, so Premiere Pro wins the round.
FAQs
Is DaVinci Resolve more stable than Premiere?
To answer the question simply, Yes, DaVinci Resolve is leaps and bounds ahead in stabilization. Not only that DaVinci Resolve is also safe. The Warp Stabilizer Tool in Premiere Pro does not stand a chance against the Stabilization that Resolve provides.
Premiere Pro vs. DaVinci Resolve: Which is the Better Tool?
After tallying all the points and information, it seems like a tie but you can easily gauge the winner depending on your purpose. They’re both good programs and there’s a reason why they’re both on top of the table. When it comes to pricing, DaVinci Resolve should be the obvious choice.
If you’re used to Adobe Pro software partners like After Effects, Photoshop, and the rest of the bundle, Pro is a better fit.
Also Read: How to Update DaVinci Resolve Where does DaVinci Resolve Save Projects?
Premiere Pro vs Davinci Resolve: Use Both on Postud.io at an Affordable Price
If you’re still not convinced and want to try out both before you make your choice, or you want to use them in tandem but pay for the amount of time you use them, there’s another option. Just head out onto Postudio, rent a system, and get rolling. You can also register to get an early access to Postudio to make your editing process a much simpler one.
