FCPXML vs Premiere XML vs Resolve EDL vs CSV: Which Cut List to Hand Your Editor (2026)

The rule is simple: pick the cut-list format by the software that opens it next. FCPXML goes to Final Cut Pro, the XML sequence goes to Premiere Pro, the marker EDL goes to DaVinci Resolve, and CSV goes to spreadsheets, scripts, and humans. Beat2Cut exports all four from the same detected cut points after you run detection in the browser. Beat detection and beat-only cut lists are free and unlimited; lists with camera shots cost 2 credits on Free accounts (from 100 monthly credits) and are included with Pro.

What is less obvious is why there are four formats at all, what each one actually carries, and the two timecode traps that quietly corrupt a cut list. That is what this guide covers.

What a cut list actually is

When Beat2Cut detects your footage's shot changes, your music's beats, or your recording's silences, the result boils down to a list of timestamped decisions: cut here, mark this, delete that stretch. You can act on that list in the browser — arrange, tighten, preview — but many editors want the decisions in their own tool, applied to their own copy of the footage, where color, sound, and finishing live.

A cut list is exactly that: your detected points, written in a format a professional editor can ingest. The rough cut happens in the browser; the polish happens wherever you already work.

One distinction matters before choosing a format, because two of the four behave differently:

• Scene cuts are segment boundaries — they split footage into N+1 pieces, so the export can be a real rough-cut sequence.
• Beat points are moments — the export should be one continuous music clip plus N markers to snap to, not the song shredded into hundreds of fragments.

Beat2Cut writes both correctly from the same detection data; the format choice below is purely about the destination.

The four formats at a glance

Format	File	Opens in	What it carries	Watch out for
FCPXML	.fcpxml	Final Cut Pro (10.4.6+), also readable by Resolve 16+	Clips and markers as a timeline	Relink to your local media after import
Premiere XML	-premiere.xml	Premiere Pro via File → Import	A full sequence with cuts applied	It is the classic FCP7-style interchange XML — that is normal
Marker EDL	.edl	DaVinci Resolve via Timelines → Import → Timeline Markers from EDL	Markers only, onto an existing timeline	It intentionally does not rebuild your edit
CSV	-cuts.csv	Excel, Sheets, your own scripts	Plain timecode rows	No editor imports it as an edit — that is not its job

FCPXML: the Final Cut Pro native path

FCPXML is Final Cut Pro's structured exchange format. Beat2Cut declares FCPXML 1.8, which lands in the sweet spot of compatibility: everything from Final Cut Pro 10.4.6 onward reads it, and DaVinci Resolve has accepted it since version 16 — so one file covers both apps if your finishing house is undecided.

Import it and you get your detected cuts as timeline structure: scene boundaries as clips, beat points as markers you can snap to. Since the browser never had access to your local file paths, the first step after import is pointing Final Cut at your original media — a relink, not a re-edit.

For the deeper Final Cut workflow (beat markers from music, cutting to rhythm), see the dedicated guides on beat markers in Final Cut Pro and the FCPXML generator comparison.

Premiere XML: because Premiere has no CSV marker import

Premiere Pro cannot natively import a CSV of markers — that door simply does not exist. What it does import, reliably and to this day, is the classic FCP7-style XML sequence via File → Import. Every tool in this space that "sends cuts to Premiere" produces this format for that reason, and so does Beat2Cut: the -premiere.xml export is a complete sequence with your cuts already applied.

For scene cuts you get a real rough-cut sequence (each detected shot is a clip). For beat detection you get the music as one piece with markers riding on it — arrange your picture against them.

Resolve EDL: markers onto the timeline you already have

EDL is the oldest format here, and it gets used two very different ways. A conform EDL describes an edit and expects every clip to carry a reel name and source timecode — metadata that phone footage, screen recordings, and downloaded MP4s simply do not have, so the conform fails or grabs the wrong media.

Beat2Cut deliberately exports the other kind: a marker EDL (CMX3600 layout). Resolve reads it through Timelines → Import → Timeline Markers from EDL and stamps your detected points as markers onto the timeline you already built — zero demands on your media. The record times assume the timeline starts at 01:00:00:00, which is Resolve's default for a new timeline.

If you want Resolve to receive actual cuts rather than markers, use the FCPXML export instead — Resolve reads that too, and the two paths intentionally do not overlap.

CSV: for everything that is not an editor

The -cuts.csv export is a plain table of your cut points. No editing software imports it as an edit — its audiences are different: a spreadsheet for shot logging, a script that renames or splits files at those points, a QC checklist, chapter planning, or just a human reading numbers.

If your destination is software, use one of the three formats above. If your destination is anything else, CSV is the one that never fights you.

The drop-frame trap (or: why 29.97 fps corrupts naive exports)

Two timecode facts ruin more cut lists than everything else combined, and both come from NTSC's 29.97 fps legacy:

1. 29.97 and 30 differ by only 0.03 fps. A tool that classifies "drop-frame" with a loose tolerance will happily treat true 30 fps footage as 29.97 — and every timecode in the file lands slightly wrong. The robust test is to compare which the measured rate is closer to: the integer rate, or the integer rate × 1000/1001. There is no ambiguous middle ground between those candidates.
2. One hour of drop-frame timecode is 107,892 frames — not 108,000. Drop-frame timecode skips frame numbers (never actual frames) to stay aligned with wall-clock time. An exporter that offsets a one-hour timeline start by a naive fps × 3600 writes every marker roughly 3 seconds late.

Beat2Cut's exports handle both cases — worth knowing regardless of tooling, because when markers land consistently a few seconds off in Resolve, one of these two is almost always the culprit.

How to export a cut list from Beat2Cut

1. Open your video or music in the Studio timeline — the file stays in your browser for detection and editing.
2. Detect: scene detection for shot boundaries, beat detection for musical cut points, or silence detection to tighten a talking-head recording first.
3. Review the results on the timeline — detection proposes, you decide.
4. Export and pick the format for your destination editor.

Audio beat detection and beat-only cut lists are permanently free and unlimited. Scene detection, silence removal, and cut lists that include shots cost 2 credits each on Free (drawn from your 100 monthly credits; included with Pro). A finished MP4 or per-shot ZIP costs 10 credits on Free and is included with Pro.

FAQ

Which format should I use for DaVinci Resolve — EDL or FCPXML?

Both work, for different intents. The marker EDL adds your detected points as markers to an existing timeline and asks nothing of your media. FCPXML hands Resolve an actual cut structure. Markers to guide your own edit → EDL; a pre-split rough cut → FCPXML.

Why does my imported timeline show offline media?

Cut lists carry decisions, not footage. The browser never knew your local file paths, so the editor needs to be pointed at your original media once (relink in Final Cut/Resolve, locate in Premiere). The cuts and markers are intact.

Does exporting a cut list cost credits?

Cut lists containing only musical beat markers are permanently free and unlimited once you sign in. Lists containing camera shots, subtitles, or audio mixdowns cost 2 credits per delivery on Free (covered by your 100 monthly credits; fully included in Pro). Finished MP4 exports cost 10 credits on Free and are included with Pro.

Can I get the cut list and a finished MP4?

Yes, they are not exclusive. A common pattern: export the MP4 as a review copy for the client, and the FCPXML or Premiere XML for the editor who does finishing.

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Find your cuts first: open the Studio timeline, run detection, and hand the result to the editor you already use — in its native format.