Davinci Resolve/Fusion vs Premiere Pro/After Effects: which one to go with for a newbie

[popalock]

So, I've never used any proper video editing software but want to start in a big way.  Given that I'm starting from fresh does it make more sense to go straight to Blackmagic software given it's free and apparently industry leading instead of the classic Adobe combo?  Adobe CC is pricey and I don't want to use any of the other creative apps.

I have PC laptop with

 - 16gb of ram,

 - i7 8th gen processor, 4 core

 - 256gb SSD, 

 - Graphics:  NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2GB of GDDR5 VRAM 

 

There are a few in depth training videos for Fusion on Udemy so I think I can get hold of all the training I need for either combo.  My understanding is that the Blackmagic software is quicker (eg in rendering) but looks kinda weird with the "node" based approach in Fusion.

Let me know!

thanks!

 

[KnightsFan]

i find resolve and fusion to be better than premiere and after effects. While premiere does have some nicer editing features, i have spotty reliability and significantly worse performance than on resolve. Node based compositing is easier for complex comps, and overall i find fusion's design to be more consistent than after effects'. Fusion does have a timeline as well. Using fusion is less intuitive coming from traditional video editing software, but is very nice to use.

However, blackmagic software is GPU heavy. Your mx150 might not be sufficient for resolve. Fortunately, resolve and fusion are both free so you can go try it risk free. But if you decide to use blackmagic software, you can upgrade your gpu for the cost of a year subscription to adobe.

[Mako Sports]

Ive been using Premiere Pro for last 5 years and personally think the program is garbage.

I switched to Resolve Studio 15 earlier last month and its been great, no more constant crashing/bugs, better audio interface, and rendering final videos is like 1000x faster.  I haven't played with the Fusion tab much as i'm not used to a node based workflow.

 However with Resolve your going to need a system with some serious horsepower to run it well. I don't that GPU is going to hold up either. 

[popalock]

ok thanks for the responses.  Yup, I guess as it's free why not, give Resolve/Fusion a go.  I'm just worried about spending a long time learning it only to ditch it.  Would rather simply commit early on.  Will try and keep it simple and see how it manages on my system.

thanks!

[KnightsFan]

4 minutes ago, popalock said:

ok thanks for the responses.  Yup, I guess as it's free why not, give Resolve/Fusion a go.  I'm just worried about spending a long time learning it only to ditch it.  Would rather simply commit early on.  Will try and keep it simple and see how it manages on my system.

thanks!

A lot of skills will overlap between software, so even if you switch later it wont all be wasted time. 

I should mention that i was referring to standalone fusion. I would not recommebd using the fusion tab in resolve for serious composites. I have had a lot of crashes and terrible performance compared to standalone Fusion 9. I am sure it will improve, but at the moment i see it as more a beta feature than a solid tool.

[popalock]

ok thanks for the pointer.  I just want fusion for animated title openers, and 3d tracking text, animated split screen.  nothing too fancy

[kye]

1 hour ago, KnightsFan said:

A lot of skills will overlap between software, so even if you switch later it wont all be wasted time. 

I should mention that i was referring to standalone fusion. I would not recommebd using the fusion tab in resolve for serious composites. I have had a lot of crashes and terrible performance compared to standalone Fusion 9. I am sure it will improve, but at the moment i see it as more a beta feature than a solid tool.

I haven't used the Fusion tab yet, but I'd agree about BM and bugs.  The next versions are likely to fix a lot of them though.  Resolve 12.5 used to crash on me about every 20 minutes of use, but since V14 it basically never crashes, that is using the Edit and Colour tabs mostly and not Fusion or Fairlight.

2 hours ago, popalock said:

So, I've never used any proper video editing software but want to start in a big way.  Given that I'm starting from fresh does it make more sense to go straight to Blackmagic software given it's free and apparently industry leading instead of the classic Adobe combo?  Adobe CC is pricey and I don't want to use any of the other creative apps.

I have PC laptop with

 - 16gb of ram,

 - i7 8th gen processor, 4 core

 - 256gb SSD, 

 - Graphics:  NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2GB of GDDR5 VRAM 

 

There are a few in depth training videos for Fusion on Udemy so I think I can get hold of all the training I need for either combo.  My understanding is that the Blackmagic software is quicker (eg in rendering) but looks kinda weird with the "node" based approach in Fusion.

Let me know!

thanks!

 

Resolve is the way to go.  Check out this thread where I've tried to pull together all the good resources I've found:

Enjoy, if you find anything good then please add it to that thread, and feel free to ask questions

[newfoundmass]

I can't get anything in Fusion to look nearly as good as what I'm able to do in After Effects, which really annoys me. 

Meanwhile I've been able to get over the Resolve learning curve and edit pretty efficiently. I don't find I'm missing Premiere much at all, outside of some video codec compatability (Resolve for instance doesn't support QuickTime PNG videos, which is what exported a lot of After Effects work I've done over the years in.) 

[IronFilm]

If you're a newbie, with no professional aspirations, and you want to buy outright, then HitFilm Pro is a clear leading contender you should consider. 

 

https://fxhome.com/hitfilm-pro

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/426174967509293/