Edit in DaVinci, Finish in Premiere

Hi all,

I'm running into a wall here. I have DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro right now and REALLY want to move away from Premiere permanently. I have dabbled a bit in DaVinci and can navigate the basics, but I can already tell I prefer it. Problem is, I work freelance for a company that works in Premiere and has no intention of moving away from it. They said if I can figure out a way to seamlessly translate and convert a DaVinci edit so they can open it in Premiere to finish on their end, they MIGHT be willing to do that.

So...I've played around a bit with the delivery tab after creating a test edit in DaVinci, including putting in graphics, transitions, changing clip speeds, etc. (basically all the things this company usually has me do). I can get all of it to work, but I can't figure out the best way to make it transition over to Premiere. XML with clips creates this weird thing where the graphics and any color masks are their own separate clip (the graphic was the graphic plus a totally black background covering the whole image underneath it), etc. I'm not sure if I'm just being stupid and inexperienced or if what I'm trying to do just isn't feasible. Basically, they want to make it seamless for them to deliver something that they can just straight import into Premiere and move along with no issues and I don't know how to accomplish that. HELP

I was never satisfied with the translation. I recommend sticking to one or the other for the whole process.

I am afraid you are not going to be able to work that way « seamlessly » between Resolve and Premiere Pro. I have completed many projects started in Premiere and finished in Resolve, and I can tell you many features do not translate well from one program to the other.

The reason is fairly simple to understand: 2 different companies making their own software with « unique features » using their own code and algorithms to make them work. Before you could use EDL to talk between editing system, for crude translation of your cut. Today you can use something a little bit more sophisticated, file translation using XML language. But you won't still be able to transfer very specific features from one system to another. Speed ramp is a good example, where you need a lot more than just timecode information to understand how it was calculated in the first place.

They are many ways to work around the issues encounters during translation from one application to another, but it would be very difficult to keep consistency between a Resolve and Premiere Pro timelines, especially with all the features you mentioned your client likes to use.

Good luck in your quest.

I feel your pain. I’ve started actively seeking other local Resolve editors, and I try to work with them as much as possible. We all have to delve back into Premiere from time to time. Way easier to avoid it, or to at least finish in Resolve, if you can.

There were some times when I’d even maintain two projects in parallel, just to keep a Premiere collaborator happy. It makes me a more well-rounded editor, and gives me insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each, but it adds too much complexity and overhead to be feasible in for-profit situations.

So, in your shoes, I’d use Premiere.

On volunteer work, I’ve stopped feeling guilty about “stepping on” a Premiere editor’s toes, or “hijacking” a project into Resolve, because the results are better, faster, and I have more fun.

A lot of times, Premiere collaborators don’t mind “riding shotgun” and letting me focus on pushing the buttons in Resolve while they direct the edit. This is often a very productive way to work, which avoids a lot of miscommunication and opens them to the prospect of using Resolve themselves.


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Thank you all for your thorough and thoughtful responses. I sort of figured it was going to be a no-go, but I wish that wasn't the case. It is what it is. I guess I'll just keep battling through Premiere for the time being. Thank you again, I do appreciate all your time!

I too am in the process of migrating from Premiere Pro to Davinci Resolve Studio and have edited and finished in both directions, with both platforms.

From DRS to PP, the best way for me was for all Fusion clips, titles (in compound clips), and any DRS Fx was to "Render In Place". Once all media has been distilled into mov clips, for example, and populates the editorial timeline I then export as XML.

Once Imported into PP, one should verify no issues and proceed with finishing in PP.

Maybe this approach would be a workable solution.

Joseph Freeman