Color grading long, extensive projects is made easy with this simple solution for moving from Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve without rendering.
Following the steps below, you’ll be able to edit your video and make changes in DaVinci Resolve before the rendering process, therefore saving lots of time (and sparing your sanity).
How to Move Projects From Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve Without Rendering
Let’s take a look at some of the key points made in Watson’s tutorial.
Step 1: Duplicate and Clean Up Timeline
Getting rid of all the extra stuff like lower thirds, audio, and graphics is the first step. Start by duplicating your timeline, renaming the new one for the necessary color correcting identification.
Open up the duplicate timeline and get rid of all the extra media you don’t need in DaVinci Resolve, as well as all audio/music. Make sure you’ve unlinked everything before doing this, obviously. Next, delete all the empty tracks (for cleaning up purposes).
Step 2: Export Project to Final Cut XML
Export the Project to Final Cut XML and save it to your Desktop.
Step 3: Open DaVinci Resolve
Open up DaVinci Resolve. Make sure the drives are associated with the correct clips that you’ll be importing.
For Mac: Go to Preferences. There will be an option to assign the media to the correct drive.
For Windows: Resolve will look for a drive letter. When you import the XML, you’ll most likely see a message telling you that the clips you’re trying to import can’t be found. Don’t fret! Open the XML. Under the PathURL you’ll find the name of your drive.
If you're using multiple drives, do a quick Find and Replace for the drives, renaming them to what they should be, and then do a Replace All. After your done, hit Save and then re-import.
This option provides an immediate notation under the clips explaining exactly where it came from and the type of clip it is, whether it be MPEG or H.264. Not only will you be saving two renders, but you can also work the footage in a more knowledgable, efficient fashion.