Workflow
AI Video to NLE Export Workflow
This workflow is the universal handoff between Martini's canvas and a finishing room — Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro. The canvas is the upstream factory: it generates, sequences, and bundles the cut. The NLE owns color, audio mixing, titling, and final mastering. The friction most teams hit is codec and frame-rate mismatch on first export. Lock the editor's spec on the canvas before exporting so the bin drops in clean.
When to use this workflow
- Adobe-shop ad agency editor finishing AI cuts in Premiere Pro on a 24-hour campaign turnaround
- Documentary or branded colorist who finishes everything in DaVinci Resolve on a graded master
- Apple-shop indie filmmaker who edits in Final Cut Pro X and wants AI cuts to land natively
- Editor mixing AI-generated cuts with live-action plates on the same timeline
- Production house that has standardized on a delivery codec and needs every AI bundle to match
- Director-revision cycle where a single shot regenerates and relinks without rebuilding the cut
Required inputs
- The editor's NLE choice (Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut) and project settings
- Target frame rate (24 / 25 / 30 / 60 fps depending on territory and platform)
- Target codec (ProRes 422 / DNxHD for finishing masters, H.264 for cutting proxies)
- Aspect ratio and resolution per deliverable (16:9 1080p / 9:16 1080x1920 / 1:1 1080x1080)
- Cut order and shot labels matching the bin organization the editor expects
Steps
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1. Build the AI shot list on the canvas in cut order
Open the canvas and lay the video nodes left-to-right in the order they appear in the cut. Label each node with its scene and shot number — "S1_01_master", "S1_02_ots", "S1_03_reverse" — so the bin drops into the NLE with the bin folders the editor expects. This labeling is the single biggest time-saver on the editor side: it turns a 30-clip bundle from a sorting job into a drag-and-drop. Lock the order before export; reordering on the canvas after export forces a re-link in the NLE.
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2. Final shot review and lock the editor's spec
Scrub through every shot in order on the canvas before exporting. Catch identity drift, aspect ratio mismatch, or color swing now — fixes are cheap on the canvas and expensive in the NLE bin. Then lock the editor's sequence settings on the NLE export node: frame rate (24 fps for cinema and most streaming, 25 fps for European broadcast, 30 fps for North American broadcast and most online ads, 60 fps for sports and high-motion content), aspect ratio, and resolution. Frame-rate mismatch is the single most common friction on first export.
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3. Render the masters and pick proxies if needed
Trigger the render pass on the canvas. If the editor will color in DaVinci Resolve or grade in Premiere Lumetri, render the master at full resolution. If the team is iterating on the cut and color comes later, render proxies in parallel — half-resolution H.264 lands faster and links to the master at finishing time. The canvas can hold both versions side by side on the same project so the editor switches between proxy and full as bandwidth allows.
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4. Choose the codec — ProRes versus H.264
Pick the codec by use case. ProRes 422 is the master codec for color grading in DaVinci Resolve, finishing in Premiere Lumetri, or any pipeline where the cut will get a heavy grade pass — high-bitrate, color-faithful, and survives multiple generations of color work. DNxHD is the Avid equivalent if the editor uses Media Composer. H.264 is the cutting proxy and the streaming deliverable — small, fast to render, good enough for rough-cut. Choose ProRes 422 HQ for high-end commercial finishing, ProRes 422 LT for proxy chains, H.264 for direct-to-platform delivery.
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5. Set frame rate and conform settings
Match the editor's sequence frame rate exactly on the NLE export node. 24 fps for cinema and most festival submissions; 25 fps for European broadcast; 30 fps for North American broadcast and the majority of online ads; 60 fps only when the deliverable is high-motion sports or gaming content. Do not let the NLE conform later — the canvas should produce native-frame-rate clips. Conform-on-import introduces interpolation artifacts and is the single most common source of "why does this look weird" feedback in the cut.
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6. Import to the NLE — Premiere, DaVinci, or Final Cut
Drop the exported bundle into the NLE's media bin. Premiere imports as a labeled bin folder with cut order preserved — drag onto a sequence at the matching frame rate and the clips land in order. DaVinci Resolve imports the bundle through Media Pool with shot metadata intact, ready for the Cut or Edit page. Final Cut Pro imports as a connected event or library; cut order rides through. The labeling done at step one is what makes this drop-in seamless across all three NLEs.
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7. Conform and export the master
In the NLE, drop the cut onto a sequence at the matching frame rate, verify timecode and audio sync, run color and audio finishing, then export the deliverable master. ProRes 422 HQ for archive, H.264 for streaming and ad platforms, MXF for broadcast hand-in. For director revisions, the cycle is: regenerate the changed node on the canvas, re-export at the same spec, replace the clip in the NLE bin (the NLE relinks automatically by file path or name). The cut stays intact; only the changed clip swaps in. This is the lasting win of the workflow.
Recommended models
Martini canvas notes
- Node labels on the canvas become bin folder names in the NLE — invest a minute on labels and save an hour on bin organization.
- The NLE export node carries the codec, frame rate, and aspect ratio settings as part of the canvas state, so re-exports always match the editor's spec without re-entering values.
- The sequence builder is the canvas-side preview — the cut you watch on the canvas is what the NLE timeline will produce, so animatic-with-sound exists before any bundle leaves the canvas.
- Director revisions regenerate one node on the canvas and re-export only that clip; the NLE relinks by file path, so the cut never rebuilds.
- Mixing AI cuts with live-action plates is a sequence-side operation — the NLE owns that integration, the canvas just supplies frame-rate-matched, codec-matched clips.
Variations
Premiere Pro proxy-and-finish workflow
Render H.264 proxies for the editor's rough-cut, then re-export ProRes 422 HQ masters when the cut is locked. Premiere relinks proxies to masters at finishing.
DaVinci Resolve color-finishing pipeline
Export ProRes 422 HQ masters at 24 fps. Resolve handles the cut on the Edit page and the grade on the Color page; the canvas supplies native-frame-rate clips that survive heavy grading.
Final Cut Pro X library workflow
Export ProRes 422 at 30 fps for streaming or 24 fps for cinema. Final Cut imports the bundle as a connected event with cut order preserved; the magnetic timeline conforms cleanly.
Mixed AI plus live-action timeline
AI cuts come from the canvas at the live-action shoot's frame rate (often 24 or 30 fps) and codec (ProRes 422 HQ). The NLE drops them into the same sequence as live plates with no conform step.
Related features
AI Video NLE Export — From Generation to Premiere, DaVinci, Final Cut
Move AI-generated sequences from Martini into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro.
AI Video to Premiere Pro — Export Workflow on Martini
Move AI-generated sequences from Martini into Adobe Premiere Pro for finishing.
AI Video to DaVinci Resolve — Export Workflow on Martini
Export AI sequences from Martini for color and finishing in DaVinci Resolve.
Multi-Shot AI Video — Build Connected Scenes, Not Isolated Clips
Plan, generate, and sequence multi-shot AI video on Martini — keep characters, style, and motion consistent across shots.
AI Video Workflow — Node-Based Production From Concept to Final Sequence
Build node-based AI video production pipelines on Martini's canvas — from concept and storyboard to final NLE-ready sequence.
Related how-to guides
Related reading
Related docs
Frequently asked questions
When do I export ProRes versus H.264?
ProRes 422 (or 422 HQ) is the master for color grading and finishing — DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Lumetri, any pipeline that grades aggressively. H.264 is the cutting proxy or the direct-to-platform deliverable — small, fast, good enough for rough-cuts and streaming uploads but not for color work. The pattern most teams settle on: H.264 for the editor's rough cut, ProRes 422 HQ for the finishing master, H.264 again for the final streaming deliverable.
What frame rate should the NLE export node be set to?
Match the deliverable. 24 fps for cinema, festival, and most streaming. 25 fps for European broadcast. 30 fps for North American broadcast and the majority of online ads. 60 fps only for high-motion content like sports or gaming. Set the frame rate on the canvas; do not let the NLE conform later, because conform-on-import introduces interpolation artifacts that visibly degrade motion.
How does Premiere Pro handle the bundle I export?
Premiere imports the labeled bundle as a bin folder with cut order preserved. Drop the bin into the project, drag the contents onto a sequence at the matching frame rate, and the clips land in cut order. The labels you set on the canvas (S1_01_master, S1_02_ots, etc.) become the bin folder structure, which is the difference between a 30-second drop-in and a 30-minute sort-and-rename job.
Does DaVinci Resolve accept the canvas bundle directly?
Yes — Resolve imports the bundle into the Media Pool with shot metadata intact. The Cut and Edit pages take it the same way, and the Color page picks up the clips for grading. Export from the canvas at ProRes 422 HQ if the project will get a heavy grade; Resolve's color work is faithful through multiple generations of ProRes, less so through H.264.
How do director revisions work without rebuilding the cut?
Regenerate the changed node on the canvas, re-export only that clip at the same codec and frame rate spec, and replace the file in the NLE bin. Premiere, DaVinci, and Final Cut all relink by file path or name, so the cut stays intact and only the changed clip swaps in. This is why labeling and consistent export specs matter — the relink only works cleanly when the new file matches the old one's name and format.
Can I mix AI cuts with live-action plates on the same timeline?
Yes — that is one of the strongest use cases for this workflow. Export the AI cuts at the live-action shoot's frame rate and codec (most often 24 fps ProRes 422 HQ for narrative, 30 fps ProRes for commercial), and they drop onto the same sequence as the plates with no conform. The NLE handles the integration; the canvas just delivers spec-matched clips that the editor cuts together as if they came off the same camera.
Build it on the canvas
Open Martini and wire this workflow up in minutes. Free to start — no card required.