Comparing Media Production Tools for Aotearoa (Capcut, Davinci Resolve, Adobe Firefly, Higgsfield AI and Google Flow)
There are a wide range of tools available for editing, assembling and enhancing films, many of which now include powerful AI-assisted features. Each platform has its own strengths and is suited to different workflows, budgets and skill levels.
In our view, DaVinci Resolve is currently the strongest all-round choice for professional-grade production, offering industry-leading editing, colour grading, visual effects and audio tools within a single platform. For creators getting started, or those focused on short-form and social media content, CapCut remains one of the most accessible and efficient options, combining ease of use with a growing range of AI-powered features.
That said, we wouldn’t kick Adobe out of bed either - especially for it’s super generous access to free partner models.
Adobe Ecosystem
Hardware: 32GB+ RAM strongly recommended
Pricing: Subscription based
Firefly offers access to a range of models. Best among them (in our opinion) is Aleph, Veo 3.1, Veo 3.1 Fast, Kling 3.0, Kling 3.0 Omni (which holds context), Ray 3.14 and Kling 2.5 Turbo. Some are free to use for 2026 with your subscription - though often limited to 720 fps. (You really need 1080 fps for professional videos, but 720 fps will do for YouTube shorts.) Things get very expensive once you move beyond the scope of the free models.
All image generation models are free with a subscription, including the ever-impressive Nano Banana Pro.
Firefly does have a web-based film-editing tool, but Adobe's broader creative suite (Adobe Creative Cloud) includes Premiere and After Effects. These are super powerful tools that are (in our view) good value for money, but you really need 32GB+ of RAM to use it without wanting to throw things.
All image generation models are free with a subscription, including the ever-impressive Nano Banana Pro.
Firefly does have a web-based film-editing tool, but Adobe's broader creative suite (Adobe Creative Cloud) includes Premiere and After Effects. These are super powerful tools that are (in our view) good value for money, but you really need 32GB+ of RAM to use it without wanting to throw things.
DaVinci Resolve
Hardware: 32GB+ RAM for heavy Fusion/4K
Pricing: Free / $480 NZD One-time
Some argue that this is the best deal in the creative industry. The free version includes about 90% of the tools a standard YouTube Creator needs. However, to get the AI Neural Engine, 10-bit colour, advanced noise reduction and the ability to use multiple GPU's simultaneously, you need to upgrade to Resolve Studio (a one-off lifetime payment of $480 NZD).
Some of it's cooler offerings is tools like Magic Mask, which allows you to rotoscope (cut out) a person, face or specific object and track it through a scene so you can colour grade it separately. Or IntelliSearch that allows you to scan all your raw footage so you can search for visual elements (like a red sweater) or find spoken dialogue without having to watch every clip. These are just two examples of what you can do.
Some of it's cooler offerings is tools like Magic Mask, which allows you to rotoscope (cut out) a person, face or specific object and track it through a scene so you can colour grade it separately. Or IntelliSearch that allows you to scan all your raw footage so you can search for visual elements (like a red sweater) or find spoken dialogue without having to watch every clip. These are just two examples of what you can do.
CapCut Pro
Hardware: 8GB-16GB RAM (Lighter load)
Pricing: ~$32/mo NZD
Capcut is the king of short-form, mobile-first video production and is often the tool behind TikTok clips. It's huge library of effects, including transitions, provides a cheap and easy way to get some pretty wicked clips. You can generate with models like Seadance, but it'll throw a super annoying "Ai" at the top left of your clip. (Double exporting will fix this.)
It's biggest gain though is that because it relies heavily on cloud rendering for massive tasks, it doesn't demand the 32GB of RAM that Adobe Premiere needs. You can go through all of your footage without a single moment of lag.
The free version is incredibly generous and we've been able to complete pretty impressive projects on it. However, getting the still-reasonable Pro version unlocks lots of features like high-resolution exporting and a much wider range of effects.
It's biggest gain though is that because it relies heavily on cloud rendering for massive tasks, it doesn't demand the 32GB of RAM that Adobe Premiere needs. You can go through all of your footage without a single moment of lag.
The free version is incredibly generous and we've been able to complete pretty impressive projects on it. However, getting the still-reasonable Pro version unlocks lots of features like high-resolution exporting and a much wider range of effects.
Higgsfield AI
Hardware: Cloud-based (Browser/App)
Pricing: Credit based
It's not an editor, but a generative engine for creating custom avatars, faceless video, and AI b-roll without needing a camera. If you want to use Sora 2, Google Veo 3.1, and Kling 3.0, you don't have to buy three separate subscriptions. Higgsfield puts all of them under one roof and adds a layer of professional filmmaking controls on top. Like Kling 3.0 Omni features it uses SoulID to hold a complete understanding of how a generated character should look. Additionally, it's Cinema Studio lets you give very specific camera instructions. Rather than prompting with "cinematic pan", you can explictly dictate the camera physics, camera body and stack physical camera movements (like dolly zoom) to get very purposeful shots. Together, these overcome a lot of the challenge innate with generative sequences.
Everything is rendered in the cloud, so it requires none of the processing power needed for other platforms.
However, because it runs on a hybrid credit system, things easily get expensive. Using their native models like Soul v2 are cheap, but moving to Veo 3.1 or Kling 3.0 eat up credits much quicker than your wallet will likely appreciate.
Everything is rendered in the cloud, so it requires none of the processing power needed for other platforms.
However, because it runs on a hybrid credit system, things easily get expensive. Using their native models like Soul v2 are cheap, but moving to Veo 3.1 or Kling 3.0 eat up credits much quicker than your wallet will likely appreciate.
Google Flow
Hardware: 8GB-16GB RAM (Lighter load)
Pricing: Free to ~$170/mo NZD
Google Flow is really not going to be a complete package (in our view) for most uses, but stand out as a strong contender for some specific tasks. For example, it uses Nano Banana Pro in a way that can be really time saving. Generating four images at a time from the same prompt spares you the tedious re-iterations that might otherwise have been needed. It uses Veo models, along with the recently introduced Gemini Omni. You can create avators that are shockingly good at holding character consistency. It also allows camera control with UI controls that dictate shot types (wide, extreme close up, etc) and camera movements (dolly, tracking, crane, etc).
It's editing tool - Scene Builder - is, in our view, too limited and does this odd overlap that requires lots of post production correction to get a meaningful sequence of clips out of it.
It's editing tool - Scene Builder - is, in our view, too limited and does this odd overlap that requires lots of post production correction to get a meaningful sequence of clips out of it.
Summary
| Platform | 2026 Pricing (NZD) | Core Focus | Key Features | Best For | Less Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capcut Pro | $32/mo or $300/yr | Shorts | 4K/HDR export, auto-captions, AI effects (vocal isolation, camera tracking), massive asset/template library | Short-form content, social media, TikTok | Long-form, nuanced control |
| Davinci Resolve | $480 one-time | Professional editing, color and VFX | Industry-standard color grading, Fairlight audio, Fusion VFX, DaVinci Neural Engine (AI tracking/masking). Free version available. | Longer productions, professional use | Casual or short form use |
| Google Flow | Free - $170/m | AI filmmaking and character control | Scenebuilder character consistency, Cinematic Camera Controls, Flow Agent co-director, Veo 3/Gemini. | Long and short form | Less control in post production and Scene Builder has a weird overlap between clips |
| Higgsfield AI | App/Credit-based subscriptions | AI Avatars | Text-to-video, realistic AI avatars, access to models like Nano Banana and Kling 3.0, mobile-first workflow. | Marketing, short form creators | Industry-standard editing, long form |
| Adobe Firefly | $19/m (standard) to $387/mo (premium) | Enterprise AI Image/Video Generation | Generative Fill, text-to-video (Veo 3.1, Kling), AI sound effects, massive generative credit pools, commercial safety. | All generation uses, including long form. Free use of some models. | To run Adobe Premiere Pro smoothly, you need a computer with at least 32GB of RAM. |
