What are the best AI tools for professional video editing?

Question

so guys i am finally getting into the deep end with this big video project for a chicago tourism agency and honestly im hyped but also kinda losing my mind because of the sheer amount of b-roll i have to sort through. i have like 40 hours of 4k footage and i need to turn this around by late october for their fall campaign. so i was thinking why am i still doing everything the old school way? i started looking into ai tools to speed up the workflow. i saw a bunch of stuff about runway and how they can do green screen removal and even generative stuff but then i saw some pros on twitter saying it still looks dreamy or artifacty if you use it for actual commercial work. then there is adobe sensei which is already in premiere but does it actually help with the heavy lifting or is it just for basic stuff?

my logic was that if i can find something that handles the boring stuff like smart-cutting a rough draft based on a transcript or maybe even helping me color match across different cameras without me spending 6 hours on it that would be a game changer. i looked at descript for the text-based editing part but some people say the export quality is sketchy for 4k prores files which is what i need for this client. i have about 500 bucks to spend on some new subscriptions or plugins if they actually work but i dont want to waste money on something that is just a glorified filter.

here is what im mainly looking for:

automatic b-roll tagging or sorting so i dont have to scrub for hours

high quality noise removal that doesnt make skin look like plastic

text-based editing that actually supports professional high bitrate exports

something for voice cleanup that sounds natural

should i be looking at davinci resolve more seriously? i heard their magic mask and neural engine stuff is pretty much the gold standard right now but i have been a premiere guy for like ten years so switching feels scary but also maybe necessary if the ai tools are actually that much better over there. i also saw something called topaz video ai for upscaling and sharpening which sounds cool but is it useful for day-to-day editing or just for fixing old shaky footage? i just want a workflow that doesnt involve me staring at a timeline for 14 hours a day... what are you guys actually using in your professional pipelines right now that isnt just a gimmick?

Hello · Accepted Answer

To add to the point above: i actually have to disagree a bit on the artifact worry. if you pick the right tools for specific tasks, the results are incredible. i just wrapped a massive tourism gig similar to yours and i am honestly so happy with how much time i saved. i was a premiere user for a decade too but switching to Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 was the best move i ever made for my sanity. The neural engine stuff there is legit. For your 40 hours of footage:

Resolves magic mask is a beast for isolating subjects for color grading. i used it to pop the subjects against the chicago skyline and it looked totally natural, no dreamy AI edges at all.

For the noise issue, Topaz Video AI 5.0 is my go-to. i know people think its just for upscaling, but the Nyx model for denoising is terrifyingly good. it preserves textures like fabric and brick while killing the sensor noise without that plastic skin look.

Text-based editing in Resolve is super snappy now. it handles high-bitrate prores without flinching which is way better than trying to round-trip through descript or other web-based tools. basically, the workflow felt so much smoother once i stopped fighting premiere. i am extremely satisfied with the stability and the way it handles multi-camera color matching using its ai color balance. its not a gimmick if you know which knobs to turn... definitely worth that 300 buck one-time fee. the learning curve is real but once you get the node-based logic, you wont look back.

pxohuqlhgj · Answer

i have been editing for nearly two decades and totally get the panic. last summer i tried to automate a high-end campaign using some new plugins because the deadline was impossible. be careful tho, because many of those tools promise the world but deliver artifacts that wont pass a real qc check. i learned the hard way that relying on automated sorting can actually make you miss the best emotional beats in your footage. you might want to consider that these tools are best as assistants, not replacements. i once tried a text-based workflow for a high-bitrate project and the export was a total mess... i basically had to rebuild the whole timeline from scratch. i would suggest testing any tool on a tiny clip first. honestly, the learning curve for a new platform is always way steeper than you think, and the time you save might just be spent fixing glitches.

kkrrnnzzsse · Answer

Stumbled on this today... since you are already in Premiere, Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2024 is the way to go for text-based editing. It handles ProRes exports way more reliably than cloud tools. For the audio, I highly recommend Waves Clarity Vx Pro Noise Reduction Plugin over the built-in stuff. It kills background noise without making people sound like robots. Its saved me dozens of hours on my commercial projects this year.