ok so, I totally feel u on the workflow getting 'dusty.' I spent a lot of time searching for stuff that actually adds value without costing a fortune or making the process feel clunky. For your situation, I've found a few things that actually work well and wont make u go broke.

Honestly, for audio cleanup, I am sooo satisfied with Supertone Clear. It’s basically a VST plugin so it lives right inside your NLE. It handles de-reverb and background noise separation better than anything else I've tried. No more manual EQing for hours, which is a huge relief when turnaround times are tight. I think it’s usually around $99 but basically pays for itself in one corporate gig because of the hours saved.

For the grunt work like roto and captions, here’s what I recommend:
* Runway Green Screen: I know u mentioned the integration worry, and yeah, you gotta export/import, but for complex moving subjects, it's literally saved me days. The 'brush' tool is pretty smart and the edges are usually clean enough for social or corporate stuff without too much tweaking.
* Descript: For corporate projects, this is highkey the best for 'paper edits.' I pull my raw footage in, it transcribes it, and I just delete the text to cut the video. It’s insane how much time it saves on the first assembly.
* Mocha Pro: This is the gold standard for object removal. It's more of a 'pro' plugin but the PowerMesh feature is basically magic for tracking things that bend (like a shirt or skin).

I mean, I'm still learning some of the deeper features, but honestly, these have become a permanent part of my toolkit. The 'polish' stays high but I'm not stuck clicking frame-by-frame anymore. It works well and I have no complaints so far! Good luck 👍

> Are you guys using dedicated third-party AI software, or are you mostly sticking to the built-in neural engine features in Resolve and Adobe?

Ok so, I've been doing a ton of market research on this lately because I was also worried about my stuff looking "dusty" lol. I'm generaly a bit more of a conservative user though—I hate the idea of a tool failing mid-render on a tight deadline!! In my experience, the market is currently split between "Workflow Enhancers" and "Asset Generators."

For your situation, here's how I see the brands stacking up:

1. Descript for the assembly phase. It's actually amazing for high-paced talking head stuff because you're editing text, which is sooo much faster. But, honestly, the XML export into your NLE is sometimes a bit wierd and loses metadata.

2. Gling AI vs Autopod. Gling AI is fantastic for raw footage cleanup and removing silences automatically. It’s a huge time-saver for corporate interviews!! Autopod is more of a dedicated plugin, and while it's highkey expensive, it saves literal hours on social media edits.

3. LALAL.AI vs Captions.ai. LALAL.AI is definitely powerful for separating stems, but I’m always cautious about uploading client data to a random cloud server... privacy is huge for corporate work!! Captions.ai is great for social, but you lose a lot of creative control.

Pros/Cons: Third-party tools offer insane speed, but the "black box" algorithms can be unpredictable. Honestly, for the best choice if you want that "professional polish," I'd suggest Neat Video v5 Pro for denoise/cleanup instead of some newer AI apps that can cause shimmering artifacts. It's way more stable for a high-end pipeline. I'm still a bit nervous about the newer stuff, but these are the ones I've found to be the most reliable so far. Good luck!! 👍

In my experience, I spent way too much money on shiny AI apps. Honestly, I'd suggest sticking to what you already have first. Adobe Premiere Pro has AI speech enhancement and captioning thats basically free with ur sub. For object removal, DaVinci Resolve Studio 19's Magic Mask is literal magic and saves you from paying for a monthly Runway Gen-1 sub which gets realy expensive. Stick to built-ins to save cash!

ok so, i'm still kinda new to the whole AI world but honestly i've been experimenting like crazy lately because i was sooo scared of ruining my high-end client files!! the thing with AI is that it's super easy to get "artifacts" or weird shimmering that looks totally unprofessional, which is why i'm always so cautious about using it for corporate stuff. you dont want to send a final render and then notice a weird glitch!

for your situation, i highkey recommend sticking to high-end plugins that integrate directly into your timeline rather than browser apps. i literally fell in love with iZotope RX 11 Standard for the audio cleanup. it's basically magic for background noise but keeps the voice sounding real, which i love!! also, for the object removal and rotoscoping grunt work, i've been testing Boris FX Mocha Pro 2024. the PowerMesh feature is amazing for tracking moving subjects and it feels way more stable and professional than the random web stuff i tried before. i guess i'm still a bit nervous about AI hallucinations but these feel like real pro tools. seriously, give them a shot if you wanna speed up but keep that polish!! gl with the edits!! peace

Seconding the recommendation above—the native tools in Resolve and Adobe are usually the most stable for a pro workflow. Honestly tho, I've spent way too much time testing "game-changing" AI apps only to be let down by messy artifacts... it's SO frustrating when a render comes back with weird shimmering on the edges.

If ur doing high-end corporate stuff where Magic Mask fails, I've found KeenTools GeoTracker to be a lifesaver for tracking and masking in a way that actually feels professional. For object removal that needs to be invisible, Adobe After Effects with Content-Aware Fill is still the standard, but it's not always "one-click."

For audio, if Premiere's enhance speech sounds too robotic (which happens a lot lately, unfortunately), I'd highly suggest looking at iZotope RX 11. It’s way more reliable than the web-based AI tools for cleaning up room tone without destroying the voice. Also, Topaz Video AI 5 is basically mandatory now for salvaging low-res footage, even if the processing times are a literal nightmare. GL!

Late to the party but catching up on this thread! Before diving too deep into more specific apps, what kind of hardware are u actually running on for these projects? Tbh, the biggest 'fitment' issue I see with these third-party AI tools is that some are heavily optimized for CUDA/Nvidia while others (mostly the browser-based stuff) basically ignore ur local GPU entirely. It makes a massive difference in whether a tool feels like a time-saver or a bottleneck. If ur looking for pro alternatives to what's already been mentioned, I’ve been comparing Boris FX Silhouette and Accentize dxRevive. Silhouette is basically the heavy-duty choice for roto and paint—it has ML-based nodes that handle motion blur and complex edges way better than native NLE tools, though it's definitely a 'pro' price point. On the audio side, dxRevive is a solid comparison to the standard stuff; it’s a clean plugin that doesn't seem to hog VRAM as much during playback, which is huge if u have a complex corporate timeline with a bunch of layers. Both are way more stable than trying to round-trip through a browser. Are u on a Mac or a PC rig? That really dictates which of these plugins will actually hold up during a long render.

ngl i'm always the last one to jump on a trend because i'm terrified of a plugin breaking my project file right before a deadline. i've learned the hard way that 'fast' ai often means 'messy' results if you aren't careful, especially with those weird artifacts on edges. for audio, i finally caved and got Waves Clarity Vx Pro and honestly it has been a game changer for corporate talking heads recorded in echoey offices. it is way more precise than the built-in stuff in premiere and doesnt leave that weird underwater sound as often. it is a bit of an investment but worth it for the time saved. for the 'grunt work' like cutting down long interviews, i have been testing FireCut AI Plugin for Premiere Pro. it is nice because it stays inside your nle so you aren't constantly jumping back and forth to a browser like with some other tools. it's basically designed for those social media edits where you need to kill silences and add zooms fast. i still do my heavy lifting for cleanup with Boris FX Continuum 2024 because i just dont trust the cloud-based stuff for high-end delivery yet. better safe than sorry when it is a paid gig!

Solid advice 👍

Totally agree with the point about browser apps being a bit of a workflow killer. I've found that for high-paced social and corporate stuff, staying inside the NLE is the only way to keep the performance high without crashing your RAM every 5 minutes!!! Adding my two cents on a few things that have actually survived my stress tests and performance benchmarks: - Autopod: If you're doing corporate multi-cam interviews, this is a literal godsend. It basically cuts between angles based on who is talking. I was skeptical about the "professional" feel, but it saves me about 3 or four hours on a 40 minute edit. You still have to tweak it, but the grunt work is gone.
- MacWhisper: Since you mentioned captioning issues... I stopped using the built-in ones for a bit and tried this. It runs the Whisper models locally on your machine. The accuracy is insane, and because it's local, it doesn't throttle your internet or lag your timeline as much as some cloud plugins I've tried.
- FireCut: This is a plugin that handles the "silence removal" and jump-cut zoom part of the rough cut. It's way faster than doing it manually for those high-energy social clips. I'm still not 100% sure if the rotoscoping "clean edges" problem is fully solved by AI yet without some manual cleanup tbh, but these have definitely sped up my turnaround times for the assembly phase.

Totally agree with what was said about the hardware and performance bottlenecks—if your rig isn't up to it, these AI tools just become a massive headache tbh. Honestly, I’ve been following some editor circles lately, and there are a few community favorites for the 'grunt work' that haven't been mentioned yet but are basically lifesavers for social and corporate stuff!!! Here’s some of the things the community is actually backing right now: - Gling: If you're doing those long, boring corporate talking head interviews, this is gold. It uses AI to automatically cut out the 'ums,' 'ahs,' and silence, and it even identifies the best takes. It saves so much time on the first pass.
- fylm.ai: For that 'professional polish' you mentioned, this is a web-based (but pro-grade) tool for color grading. It uses neural networks to match shots and create high-end looks that feel way more cinematic than standard plugins.
- LALAL.AI: I’ve seen a lot of people using this specifically for audio stem separation. If a client gives you a track with baked-in music and you just need the voice, this is basically the industry secret right now. It’s definitely a bit of a learning curve to see what sticks, but these seem to be the ones people are actually keeping in their toolkit lately!

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