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What are Davinci Resolve and Lightworks?
Davinci Resolve is currently owned and promoted by Blackmagic Design, an Australian technology company known for its high-end video equipment.
Lightworks is a professional and high-end video editing program that is regarded to be one of the best in the industry. It’s also known for its helpful interface, ease of use, and technicality. This article takes a closer look into these two programs so you can decide which one will suit your needs.
Davinci Resolve is:
A software for professional and high-end video editors. It’s used in the film and television industry.
The benefits of each software
Lightworks is much more established editor and is primarily used by professional editors working in conjunction with the non-linear editing program Final Cut Pro. Although, it has been reported that Lightworks can be used to edit any format including: quick time, avi, wmv and h264. A simple example is the software being able to edit both 16:9 and 4:3 files with ease. Also, it has been reported that Lightworks is currently not so much of a program as an update of Final Cut Pro. It has all the features of FCP but is not limited to the Apple world.
Davinci resolve is becoming increasingly popular and is found to be more suitable for the amateur and novice editor. It is a relatively new program that was first released in July 2010 which has the advantage of being able to edit both 16:9 and 4:3 files with ease. The fact it can edit both 4:3 and 16:9 files means it could be used on any area of production such as documentaries, music videos or film trailers. In addition, Davinci resolve is used in some big budget Hollywood films such as the recent blockbuster Fast Five. It has also been used in some other big budget films due to the easy of use and relatively high amount of features.
How to choose the right software for you
Both Davinci Resolve and Lightworks are powerful software packages. Used responsibly, these programs will allow you to gain experience in the greater creative world of NLE. Also, both programs have browser based interfaces which allows you to edit files rather than only exports them. This will provide you with more options and means of making changes on the fly. You will be able to work from any computer or laptop with an internet connection. For example, if you are in a coffee shop with your computer and need to make a change, you can do it online. That way, you don’t have to worry about getting back home to re-edit anything. Lightworks offers both offline editing and the ability to edit online.
In addition to that, it has the speed and power to take on projects of any size. There is also a wonderful selection of plugins for the program which enables you even more control on what you do with your footage. Finally, there are several tutorials and courses that show how this software can help you. As far as operating goes, Lightworks is designed with simpleness in mind. It’s easy to use layout and interface make it a joy to edit with. Even the beginners have good luck with this program.
Pricing information for Davinci Resolve and Lightworks
Davinci resolve is a very powerful program on the market. It allows you to edit your project before exporting it. This makes Davinci Resolve a perfect addition to any video editors arsenal. However, with this amazing power comes a price tag of $3000 for the complete license. On the other hand, Lightworks is free and open source. Although, the free version is very limited in comparison to the full license. Traditionally, video editing programs have never been open source, therefore it is a great benefit for the consumer. Also, Davinci Resolve has more features and comes with better speed than Lightworks. However, Lightworks is more user friendly and a lot faster.
If you are only using the free version then use Davinci resolve because it’s way better and more professional than the free version of lightworks. If you are planning on using the free trial of the full license of Davinci resolve then use lightworks. If you have both programs then use the free version of Davinci resolve, it is better than both lightworks and the full license.
To summarize, Davinci resolve is a professional video editing program that can rival even Adobe Premiere Pro. It’s only drawback is its high price tag. On the other hand, Lightworks is a professional, free and open source video editing program with a great community.
Comparison of features in Davinci Resolve and Lightworks
Davinci Resolve has a much more extensive feature list than Lightworks. This means that it is possible to do more with Davinci Resolve than the free Lightworks program. It also has better support for various file formats, powerful tools and the ability to work offline, which is quite impressive. Lightworks also has a better interface, it is a lot more easier to work with. Although Lightworks is free, it is not possible to work entirely offline.
I believe that the Davinci Resolve software is worth paying for because it will last for many years: many users like the interface and many more use Davinci Resolve for all kinds of video editing. On quite a few occasions, I have used Davinci Resolve instead of Final Cut Pro X or Premiere Pro. However, if you are planning to make extremely large files, there are better options (we are not talking here about proxy editing). Davinci Resolve is not the perfect application, but it is an excellent second option.
Before moving on to the comparison table below, I want to give you a couple of tips to make your life as a video editor better in Davinci Resolve:
Store your projects at different locations. This will give you better performance, because you can use different CPUs for each project. In case you have multiple CPU cores and/or devices (e.g. a disc array), you will see the performance nearly doubled.
