EDL vs FCP7-XML vs FCPXML vs OTIO: which timeline format to use

By Eran Strassburg · Updated 2026-10-10

The short answer

All four formats describe a timeline without containing media. An EDL is the oldest and simplest: a list of events with timecodes, read by almost everything. FCP7-XML is the usual route into Premiere Pro. FCPXML is Final Cut Pro's own format and is also read by DaVinci Resolve. OTIO is an open format built for moving timelines between tools. FirstCut exports all four, so the choice depends only on your editor.

What a timeline file is

A timeline file is a text description of an edit: which source file, from which timecode to which timecode, in what order. It contains no picture and no sound. When an editor imports it, the editor finds the media on your disk and rebuilds the sequence from the description.

That is why a rough cut can move between tools as a file of a few kilobytes, and why the footage is never re-encoded on the way.

The four formats compared

Format	File	What it carries	Use it for
FCPXML	.fcpxml	Media references, per-clip resolution and frame rate, the clips in order	Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve
FCP7-XML	.xml	The older Final Cut Pro 7 XML (xmeml): clips, tracks and media references	Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve
CMX3600 EDL	.edl	One event per cut, with source and record timecodes and a clip name	Avid Media Composer, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro
OTIO	.otio	An open timeline description, with room for extra metadata per clip	OpenTimelineIO tooling, DaVinci Resolve 18 or later

This is the pairing FirstCut's export page suggests. Editors add and drop import formats between versions, so check what yours accepts.

The limits of an EDL

It describes a single video track. A layered edit does not fit.
It carries no resolution or frame size, and relinks media by clip name.
It has no place for anything beyond cuts: no effects, no captions, no markers in the basic form.

For a rough cut of spoken material these limits rarely matter, because the cut is one track of clips in order. That is also why an EDL is the fallback when nothing else imports cleanly.

Choosing by editor

You finish in	Start with	If that fails
Final Cut Pro	FCPXML	No second route in FirstCut's list; check the file's media paths
Premiere Pro	FCP7-XML	CMX3600 EDL
DaVinci Resolve	FCPXML	FCP7-XML, EDL or OTIO
Avid Media Composer	CMX3600 EDL	No second route in FirstCut's list

What arrives in the editor, and what does not

Arrives: the clips, their order, and their source in and out points.
Arrives: the pacing you chose. Applied cut-outs are written as separate, shorter events.
Does not arrive: effects, transitions, captions, color or audio mixing. FirstCut makes none of these.
Does not arrive: the media itself. You point the editor at your files, and it relinks.

Exporting from FirstCut

Open a sequence, choose Export, pick a format and download the file. The export names the revision it came from, so an older revision exports exactly as it was. Unsaved edits are saved first, so the file always matches what you last heard.

You can see the export page on sample footage in the live demo.

Questions

Which is the safest choice?

CMX3600 EDL if nothing else works, because it is the most widely read. It is also the most limited: one track, relinked by clip name.

Does Avid Media Composer read these?

FirstCut's export page pairs Media Composer with the CMX3600 EDL.

Do these files contain my video?

No. They contain the clip list and timecodes and point at your original media.

Related guides

Try it on your own footage

FirstCut is free to try with no install and no credit card. Start a rough cut → · Or open the live demo, which needs no account.