Been thinking about your question since I saw it earlier... I've been editing for over a decade and honestly, I've seen a lot of "revolutionary" tools just waste my time. For client work, you gotta be cautious about reliability. I’m really happy with DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 lately. It’s a one-time $295 payment, which is way better for the budget than those $30/month cloud subs that add up. The AI-driven Magic Mask is literally a lifesaver for object removal and grading without needing 100 manual keyframes. Also, if ur looking for cleaning up old b-roll, I'd suggest Neat Video v5 Pro instead of just upscaling. It’s about $75 and basically the gold standard for denoise. Someone mentioned Topaz already, and it’s okay, but I find Neat Video more stable for professional workflows. My big lesson? Don't let the AI do everything. Use it for the grunt work, but keep ur eyes on the final pixels. Good luck!

oh man, i feel u! i just started using AI for clients and im *really* happy with how it works. i mean, i'm no pro with the specs yet but: 1. Runway Gen-3 Alpha: Basically magic for inpainting. It's fast but can be glitchy.
2. Topaz Video AI 5: Honestly incredible for upscaling. The Iris MQ model works sooo well for faces!! lowkey go with Topaz if you want that high-end cinematic feel. gl!

+1 to what was said earlier! DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 is definitely the smartest move for a "one-and-done" payment if you hate subscriptions. But since you mentioned workflow speed, i wanted to add a few more cost-conscious options for those specific AI tasks you mentioned. Adobe Premiere Pro vs CapCut Desktop for AI workflow:
- Adobe Premiere Pro: If youre already in the ecosystem, their new AI 'Generative Fill' is actually wild for object removal. It saves so much time cuz you dont have to round-trip to other apps. It's pricey monthly, but the integration for client work is seamless.
- CapCut Desktop: Honestly?? Dont sleep on this. For the price (mostly free), the AI upscaling and auto-cutout tools are surprisingly fast. I use it for quick social b-roll tasks where I dont wanna fire up a heavy project. TL;DR: Stick with DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 for pro grading. Use Adobe Premiere Pro if you need the best integrated generative AI, or CapCut Desktop for quick, budget-friendly AI magic tricks. 👍

Late to the party but I've been researching the market a bit because the subscription costs are getting crazy lately. It seems like the industry is splitting between the big "all-in-one" apps and specialized AI plugins that actually handle the high-end stuff with more precision. - Colourlab AI: If you specifically want automated color grading that looks professional, this is basically the market leader right now. It matches shots using AI way more accurately than the basic "auto-color" buttons in most editors (at least that's what worked for me). - Boris FX Continuum: Their Mocha AI is still the gold standard for tracking and object removal. It’s a bit more of a "serious" technical tool than the experimental web apps, so it’s usually safer for actual client deadlines. - Luma Dream Machine: If you need to generate high-quality b-roll or extend a clip when you're missing footage, this has been getting a lot of hype for its realism lately. Tbh, I think the smartest play is looking for tools that live inside your existing timeline. Round-tripping files back and forth is such a pain and usually where mistakes happen with color space and things. It’s all about finding that balance between speed and not making your workflow a mess tho.

Just catching up on all this and man, it really takes me back to when I was trying to compare the AI performance on my Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max versus my buddies custom Windows build. We spent an entire weekend basically locked in my basement trying to see which one would handle heavy denoising better. Honestly, we spent way more time arguing about thermal throttling and fan noise than actually getting any work done. We even had a betting pool going with some other editor friends. In the end, his power went out during the final export because of a massive thunderstorm and we just gave up and went out for tacos instead. Total waste of a weekend but the tacos were top tier lol. It's funny how these technical deep dives usually end up like that...