Impressions: Adobe Premiere Pro versus Davinci Resolve

Over the past few days, we have seen the release of Adobe Premiere Pro 14.2 and Davinci Resolve 16.2.2. I gave them both a try, and these are my first impressions. As I looked into these, it became clear that Adobe's strengths go beyond just Premiere Pro, but on to its associate Creative Cloud production apps.

In a way, the strengths of these two software have been converging over time. Davinci Resolve was all about performance and stability, while missing features. Premiere Pro had become extremely feature-rich, but had become sluggish and buggy. The latest release of Premiere Pro improves performance significantly, specifically for GPU-accelerated H.264/HEVC rendering. Personally, I'd stick with software rendering, though, unless you are time constrained - it leads to better quality per file size, at the cost of greater render time. But even software rendering feels improved, though for high resolution 4K+ files, Davinci Resolve still seems to have the edge thanks to comprehensive GPU acceleration. Indeed, Premiere Pro still seems primary CPU bottlenecked, while Resolve is often GPU bottlenecked.

Resolve's editing features have improved leaps and bounds over the years. They have pretty similar interfaces overall, with a fairly minimal learning curve switching between them. If you're a professional editor, it'll probably take a bit longer to adjust to the new keyboard shortcuts and macros, but doable. However, there's no denying that Premiere Pro is still the more mature platform for non-linear editing. It really depends on your scope and requirements. Davinci Resolve is now ready for most scenarios - you can certainly edit anything from a quick YouTube video to a feature film on it. But, it still lags behind when it comes to collaborative features - if you're working in a team. Or, some "extra" stuff like motion graphics, text, reframing etc. If you require more advanced effects motion graphics work done, the dynamic link to After Effects is a must have. My biggest gripe about Resolve, though, is that it has minimal options for adjusting the interface - Premiere Pro is far more flexible.

Meanwhile, Resolve has its fair share of advantages too. It started out as a colour grading software, and continues its legacy of cutting-edge colour grading features. There's simply no competition, there's nothing in the Adobe suite that even comes close. On the flipside, if you just want some simple colour correction done, the Lumetri effects in Premiere Pro are actually much easier. Resolve also includes Fairlight - a full-fledged DAW, and Fusion - a visual effects and compositing tool. As a direct competitor to Adobe Audition, Fairlight holds up well. Fusion is really powerful as a compositing tool, once you get to grips with its node-based approach, but the track-based After Effects simply offers more possibilities for motion graphics and visual effects.

There's a difference between the two approaches - Adobe's dynamic links requires you to jump in and out of the different apps, while Resolve includes editing, sound, compositing and colour grading all within the same app. If Resolve's feature set is good enough for your use case, it's definitely the more convenient option. While it's possible to jump between Resolve and other Adobe apps, dynamic link is just much better if you need to use Adobe's many apps.

Then there's the price, of course. At $0, Davinci Resolve is a no-brainer for any hobbyist or anyone getting started with editing. Even the Pro version - which most people wouldn't need - is a reasonable one-time price. Adobe's Creative Cloud opts for the subscription model at $30/month. Sure, the costs add up over time, but for a professional it's a negligible cost, especially if you need the other apps in the suite. In the end, both apps have their place. I'd lean towards Davinci Resolve, if it does everything you need. For some, the missing features from Adobe's Creative Clouds apps makes Resolve a non-starter. The good news is Blackmagic Design is aggressively developing Resolve, and with each iteration, we see the features gap close, all for a price of free!