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Inspiring
April 23, 2024
Question

Davinci Resolve does support .mkv files natively - Audio Pops - Premiere is going backwards.

  • April 23, 2024
  • 6 replies
  • 5513 views

Well we are now comparing free software to a yearly subscription that's in the hundreds of dollars. That being said, Davinci Resolve does support .mkv files natively and has since version 17. Seems like Premiere is going backwards.

As for Prores support, you can use the ffmpeg workaround to get the export in Resolve on Windows. For the cost of Davinci (free), I'm ok with that.

 

Mod note: off-topic conversation branched to the video lounge.

    6 replies

    Participant
    September 3, 2025

    Da Vinci Resolve DOES NOT support mkv files at all.

    Legend
    August 24, 2024

    Lastly, I did try importing MKV into Resolve. The video imported with no audio at all. Then I realized that DaVinci does not support AC3 audio at all – not even with native Windows support built into Winows 10 and Windows 11 versions up to and including version 23H2! Plus, many MKV files have audio encoded with only the AC-3 codec. So AC3 audio must be re-encoded into LPCM or AAC using another third-party program just for DaVinci Resolve to use that audio.

     

    That said, I am still baffled by Adobe's non-committal to support certain widely used container formats and codecs. In other words, that's completely lackadaisical on their part.

    Will..Author
    Inspiring
    May 6, 2024

    There are 10s of thousands of people, if not more using the non-studio version, which they paid $0 for. That sounds like free to me. My point though was that .mkv works in Resolve, and not in Premiere, or even Media Encoder. Adobe has not a single program that I can use to play, edit or convert .mkv files, which is a file type that thousands upon thousands of people use all over the world. Not being able to even convert it in Media Encoder is wild.

     

    Anyway, OBS now allows 'Fragmented .mp4' which will skip the need to remux. I'm hoping Premiere likes a non-remuxed file.

    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    September 3, 2025

    MKv  doesn't import correctly into my Resolve ... studio version. Nor is it listed as supported that I can see.

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    April 26, 2024

    Define "free".

     

    Resolve started at what, something like $250,000/seat?

     

    After BlackMagic bought it, they turned it into a loss-leader to sell hardware. Period. And I don't know any serious user working the 'free' version. All those I know are like me, running the Studio. Which was 'paid' for with purchases of BM kit, and I've got a couple extra licenses in a drawer.

     

    So I don't see any "free!" to it, in any way shape or form. Different profit model, but the clients still pay for the software.

     

    And fwiw, some QC systems don't accept the ffmpeg ProRes ... I've known enough folks hit that to know it does happen. Which is dang annoying.

     

    So both software are professional, neither is actually "free", and both have their limitations. Among other things, BlackMagic does not allow anyone else's hardware to fully map to working in Resolve. So my Tangent Elements panel, a truly stunning do-everything device in Premiere, is ... a slightly used thing in Resolve.

     

    By intent. Bluntly by intent, publicly stated on their forums.

     

    Thankfully, the Tangent folks have their new "Warp engine" stuff so we can now use either the BlackMagic mapping or tap over to user-created mappings, though only a few more tools are usable. But it's something.

     

    In Premiere, I can use that panel for audio track mixing, sizing/rotation/position of any screen elements, all sorts of things. And do.

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    April 25, 2024

    Wow, if you've had crashes, that's a bummer!

     

    I've just never had one. And I've recorded at times for an hour or more to cut up pieces on editing.

     

    It does get frustrating when you can't use certain codecs. And all of the major apps have 'missing' codecs in places. You can for instance export in ProRes in Windows with Premiere, but you can't with Resolve. No ProRes exports in Resolve for PCs. ProRes RAW in Premiere (mostly) ... not at all in Resolve. I've not tried mkv files in Resolve as I don't really do anything with it.

     

    But yea, it's not as good as we users would appreciate ... ahem.

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    April 23, 2024

    I just have OBS set to record QuickTime/mov and AAC by default. Never have a problem with a recording.

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...