Speaker 1: Premiere, Final Cut or DaVinci? Which one should you go 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 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 high level things. I'll point out the stuff that I liked and the stuff that I don't like 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 Macs. 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 to Final Cut from being a Premiere 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 to 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 have your main storyline 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 storyline 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 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 Premiere or DaVinci 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 storyline Final Cut will connect these clips and if you move the clip in your main storyline 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 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 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 makes 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 click 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'm 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 auto saving based on every change or update 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 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. Effects are here and transitions are here. The price for Final Cut Pro is $299 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 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 DaVinci 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 it's either Premiere Pro or DaVinci 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 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 storyline, in Premiere you still have multiple layers and 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 storyline. 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, well 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 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 workspace. 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 Premiere doing anything for you unless you want it to. So having been the 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 is 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 constant 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 autosaving 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 is one minute. Also, your manual saves and your autosaves are in two separate files. So when you manually save by hitting CTRL or CMD S, that actually saves onto your main project file. Your autosaves, however, are saving in an autosave file, which is buried into Adobe's folder structure. If, let's say, a crash were to happen and I had some lost progress and I never manually save to the main project file, then I can go back to my autosave file to get the most up-to-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 DaVinci, but it's still only at one minute being the most frequent. If you don't like your autosaves 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 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 $20.99 a month. Despite these downsides, Premiere is tried and tested 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. 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 the next one. So this takes us to the third major editing software, DaVinci Resolve. You might have noticed this trend of editors switching over to DaVinci Resolve. And for good reason. DaVinci 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 DaVinci 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, 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 unlinked and therefore needed to be relinked 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 LumaFusion 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, DaVinci has been amazing. If you're coming from Premiere Pro, DaVinci will feel a lot more familiar than Final Cut. DaVinci 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. DaVinci is designed to make you follow a flow that makes sense. So from importing to cutting to editing, fusion, colouring, audio and export. 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. Colour grading in DaVinci just feels better and a little bit more accurate than Premiere and Final Cut. So when colour 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 colour 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 Fairlight page, which is for 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 Fairlight page applies to all audio clips on each particular audio track. And unlike Premiere, DaVinci is similar to Final Cut where it's always auto 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 DaVinci Resolve much better and more polished than Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. And in terms of price, so if you remember, Final Cut Pro is a one-time purchase for $299 and Premiere Pro is a subscription at $20.99 a month. DaVinci Resolve 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 10-bit footage. If you watched my previous video about editing DaVinci Resolve free version on the M2 Pro Mac Mini, I was able to get my 10-bit footage in the free version of Resolve and a few of you even asked how I was able to get that to work. I have no idea, like I shot 10-bit 422 footage from my Sony a7IV, imported it into the free version of Resolve and it supported it and it worked. I don't know if maybe it was editing in 8-bit, but 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 10-bit footage. So I don't know if it just depends on the codec or the format in your camera, but maybe look into it 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 DaVinci 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 $2.99 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 one-time purchase for $2.99 is way better value than paying a $20.99 a month subscription for Premiere Pro. On top of that, that $20.99 with Premiere Pro doesn't include After Effects, whereas when you buy the studio version of DaVinci, 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. 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