Introduction/Comparison of Mainstream Software in Film/TV Post-Production Workflows: How Should Beginners Choose? What Do Presets/Templates/LUTs Mean?

There are many kinds of film and television post-production software. If you’re a beginner who has just entered the post-production field, this article will help you quickly establish a direction and find the software that suits you.

When producing a film, regardless of its length, everything ultimately revolves around four core modules: editing, visual effects, audio, and color grading. The table below (not shown here) sorts out the framework of mainstream software and can help you quickly build a big-picture understanding.

In recent years, with the explosion of short videos and new media, CapCut has risen rapidly. However, note that CapCut focuses on short films and short videos and excels at variety-show-style and internet-style effects and packaging. When handling long-form projects, it cannot compete with PR, FCPX, DaVinci, or AVID. Among these, AVID is a professional editing tool dedicated to films and TV dramas, which is why it’s not as mainstream among the general public.

In summary, the best mainstream software choices in post-production today are PR, FCPX, and DaVinci (although DaVinci was originally focused on color grading, in recent years its editing panel has been continuously optimized, and its efficiency is now comparable to the other two). To sum up: these three programs can all handle long-form projects (a large portion of theatrical films and web series are completed with them) and have no problem at all with short-form content.

Considering the many stages in film/TV post-production—such as audio, grading, and VFX work after editing—overall, Adobe Premiere Pro is an excellent entry point. Its value lies not only in its own capabilities, but also in its role as the “collaboration hub” of the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem.

PR is developed by Adobe and can be tightly integrated with Adobe’s other specialized tools such as PS, AE, AU, etc., within the same version environment. That means when you want to process a clip (for example, reduce noise or add effects), you can send it directly into other Adobe software without pre-exporting. This greatly improves workflow efficiency.

A PR-Centered Collaborative Workflow

After finishing your rough cut in PR, you can seamlessly call on professional tools in the Adobe suite for fine-tuned work.

Auxiliary Elements that Extend PR’s Capabilities

Thanks to its huge user base, PR has a rich third‑party resource ecosystem, which can greatly boost both efficiency and creative output.

How to Start Learning

• If you’re just getting started:
  It’s recommended to begin with a PR + AU combo, focusing on telling a clear story (editing) and handling audio well (sound). This is the most fundamental core.

• If you want to improve visual impact:
  After you’ve mastered PR basics, start learning AE. Begin with motion graphics and text animation, then gradually move on to visual effects compositing.

• If you’re interested in film-level color grading:
  Once you’re familiar with the editing workflow, you can dive deeper into DaVinci.

To sum up, there is no absolute “good” or “bad” software—finding what suits you best is what matters. Some people love Apple’s macOS and always use FCPX for editing; others are used to the Windows operating system and stick with PR. But the underlying logic of editing software operations never really changes.

The software itself is not what’s most important; what truly matters is the way you think.