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XML or AAF: sending a Premiere sequence to Resolve

The edit is done in Premiere Pro, and the grade will happen in DaVinci Resolve. Which file to export, how to prepare the sequence, and what to check once it lands.

Guide updated on 3 November 2026. By Théo Vervier, filmmaker and author of GRADEFLOW.

The short answer

For picture, export a Final Cut Pro XML from Premiere Pro. It is the most common format between Premiere and Resolve, and the one Resolve reads best for a grading conform: cuts, cross dissolves, basic framing and constant speed changes.

AAF is mostly useful when audio goes to Pro Tools or when an Avid system is part of the chain. For a grade in Resolve, it usually adds nothing over XML for picture. An EDL describes only one video track at a time: keep it for simple cases or as a fallback.

None of these formats carries the Lumetri grade, LUTs or most effects. That is not an export bug: the grade is done again in Resolve, from the original media.

Prepare the sequence in Premiere

Most import problems come from the sequence, not from the XML. Before exporting:

  1. Duplicate the sequence and work on the copy, so the edit stays intact.
  2. Check the sequence settings (Sequence > Sequence Settings): frame rate and frame size. Write them down; Resolve will need the same.
  3. Flatten multicam clips (right-click the clip, Multi-Camera, Flatten) and reduce nested sequences that Resolve would read badly. The ones that must stay nested get rendered to a file; see the guide on effects, titles and audio.
  4. Simplify the tracks: delete disabled clips and duplicates hidden under other clips. Whatever stays in the sequence will be conformed, and therefore graded.
  5. Spot the speed ramps (time remapping) and the effects Resolve won't read. Decide for each one: render to a file, or rebuild in Resolve.
  6. Export a reference movie of the whole sequence, with burned-in timecode if possible. You will use it to compare frame by frame after the import.

Export the XML and import it into Resolve

  1. In Premiere, select the sequence in the Project panel, then File > Export > Final Cut Pro XML. Read the export report if one appears: it lists what could not be described.
  2. In Resolve, create a project and set the timeline frame rate and resolution in the project settings to match the Premiere sequence, before importing anything. In Resolve, the project frame rate is hard to change once media has been imported.
  3. If you like, import the original media into the Media Pool first, then import the timeline with File > Import > Timeline (the wording varies a little between Resolve versions).
  4. In the import window, untick Automatically import source clips into media pool if the media is already in the Media Pool, and keep the framing option (Use sizing information) if you reframed in Premiere.
  5. If clips come in offline, see the guide on offline media and timecode.

Check before grading

Put the reference movie on a track above the imported timeline, then set its composite mode to Difference in the Inspector. Where the conform is right, the picture goes black. A clip one frame off, different framing or a missing clip stands out at once.

Look closely at sped-up or slowed-down clips, reframed clips, titles and dissolves. Note what is missing before you start grading: fixing the timeline now is simpler than moving a grade later.

What GRADEFLOW does

GRADEFLOW is a Premiere Pro extension that does these steps from a panel. It writes the XML from the sequence, opens DaVinci Resolve Studio, creates the project and the timeline, and opens it on the Color page. The XML points to the original media, at the right source timecode.

Before sending, each clip is sorted: the ones Resolve can read as they are go out on the original media, with their cut, speed, ramps and framing; nested sequences, multicam clips and effects Resolve doesn't read are rendered by Premiere as ProRes 4444, clip by clip. At the end, a report says what was sent and what is left to check.

The send goes one way: you grade and export in Resolve. GRADEFLOW needs an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 15 or later, Premiere Pro 2025 or 2026 and DaVinci Resolve Studio 21; the free version of Resolve doesn't allow automatic sending. The details are on the Features page. Sales are not open yet; a free 3-day trial starts from the panel, see Installation.

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