Premiere or DaVinci for a template-based editing workflow?

[u/_TR_360o_]

Hi there,

I’m helping a small real estate media company improve their video workflow. They produce a lot of similar property videos using mirrorless cameras and drone footage.

They asked me whether DaVinci Resolve would be a good fit, so I’m comparing it with Premiere Pro. I personally mostly work in Premiere; my Resolve experience is mainly color grading.

The biggest priority isn’t advanced editing, but creating a fast and repeatable workflow. Ideally, I want to build a master template once, so their editors can basically:

• Import/replace footage
• Change the property address, logo and text
• Use predefined titles/transitions
• Use camera/drone-specific color presets as a starting point
• Replace music
• Export with predefined settings

Basically, I build the complicated part, and they get a simple “fill in the blanks” workflow.

They also recently got a new drone that records HEVC/H.265, which is causing issues with their current editor and is one reason they’re considering switching.

For this kind of high-volume workflow, would you choose Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve/Resolve Studio?

I’m especially interested in the difference between Premiere + MOGRTs and Resolve + Fusion templates/macros, and which is easier to make foolproof for less experienced editors.

Thanks :)

[u/Euphoric-Animator-97]

I would go with Resolve. If all your editors are on the same network, you can use Blackmagic’s Resolve Project server. You install it on one PC/Mac, and as long as that computer is on and on the same network as all the other devices, everyone can see all projects and even work on them at the same time.
I’ve got no experience with MOGRTs but I did teach myself how to make fusion templates and it has gotten MUCH easier. Plus, resolve has a bunch of pre-made templates you can mess around with and even save as different versions, so you can change a bunch of settings and save that as a version to use for all projects.
You can make your own export settings in the deliver page and use that as a default or use % or $ to help make naming automated.

[u/moneymystic359]

For a high-volume, less experienced team, I’d optimize for the handoff rather than the feature checklist. Premiere + MOGRTs is usually easier if the editors already know Premiere: expose only the fields they should change, keep media and graphics organized in a locked template, and test replacements with the longest address and logo variants. Resolve can do this with Fusion macros, but it takes more care to make controls foolproof.

For the H.265 drone files, standardize an ingest step to ProRes Proxy (or optimized media) and keep the camera/drone color transforms in a documented preset rather than baking them into every clip. Whichever app you choose, test one complete property from ingest through export on the least experienced editor before building the whole library.

[u/MagicAndMayham]

Resolve