Introduction/Comparison of Mainstream Post-production Software Workflows: How Should Beginners Choose, and What Do Presets/Templates/LUTs Mean?

There are many types of video 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 video, regardless of length, everything ultimately revolves around four core modules: editing, VFX, audio, and color grading. The table below (not shown here) organizes the mainstream software framework for you and can help you quickly build a macro-level understanding.

In recent years, with the explosion of short videos and new media, CapCut has risen rapidly. However, note that CapCut focuses on making short clips and short videos, and excels at “variety show / internet style” effects and packaging. When it comes to long-form content, it cannot compete with PR, FCPX, DaVinci, or AVID; among these, AVID is a professional editing tool specialized in films and TV dramas, which is why it’s not mainstream among the general public. To sum up, the mainstream and optimal software choices in post-production today are PR, FCPX, and DaVinci (although DaVinci’s main focus is color grading, in recent years its editing panel has been continuously optimized, and its efficiency can now rival the other two). In short, these three pieces of software can handle feature-length projects (a large portion of current theatrical films and web series are completed with these three), and they have no problem handling short videos either.

Considering the many stages of video post-production—for example, after editing you still need audio work, color grading, and visual effects—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 “collaborative hub” of the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem.

PR is developed by Adobe. It can seamlessly integrate with other Adobe applications such as PS, AE, and AU, which cover more specialized domains. This means that when you want to process a clip (e.g., reduce noise, add VFX, etc.), you can directly copy and send it to other Adobe software without pre-exporting it, which greatly improves workflow efficiency.

A PR-Centered Collaborative Workflow

After completing a rough cut in PR, you can seamlessly call on the professional tools in the Adobe suite for fine-tuned processing.

Auxiliary Elements That Extend PR’s Capabilities

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

How to Start Learning

• If you’re a complete beginner:
  It’s recommended to start with the PR + AU combination, focusing on telling a good story (editing) and handling sound well (audio). 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 work:
  Once you’re familiar with the editing workflow, you can dive deeper into learning DaVinci.

In conclusion, there is no absolute “good” or “bad” software—what matters most is finding what suits you. Some people love Apple’s macOS ecosystem and always use FCPX for editing; others are used to Windows and stick to PR. But the underlying operational logic of editing software never really changes.

The software itself isn’t what’s important—what’s always important is your way of thinking.