Make a before and after video with a split screen

Two clips in one frame turn a change into a comparison. The Layout control in DepCut places them, and the rest of the recipe is timing, labels and sound.

Set the frame and add the first clip

1. Create a project and open Aspect ratio. A tall frame such as Vertical suits stacked halves. A wide frame such as Widescreen suits side-by-side halves. Each half then keeps a useful shape.
2. Open Media and press Upload. Pick the "before" clip. It lands on the main track.

Add the second clip

1. Press Overlay on the left panel and choose the "after" clip. It goes onto an overlay track above the main one. You can also open the More actions menu on a card in Media and choose Add overlay.
2. Line the two clips up in time. Drag the overlay along the timeline, or select it, open Move in the right panel and press and drag the shuttle bar. The further you drag, the faster the clip moves.
3. Press Space to play and check that the two actions match. If one clip runs longer, select it, open Speed and adjust the Speed slider until both finish together.

Divide the frame

1. Select the main clip and open Framing in the right panel. At the bottom, open the Layout menu. The choices are Full, Top, Bottom, Left, Right and PiP.
2. Choose Top for the first clip in a tall frame, or Left in a wide one.
3. Select the overlay clip, open Framing, and choose the opposite half: Bottom or Right.
4. If a subject is cut off, raise Zoom on that clip, or switch the Fit and Fill toggle, until the thing you are comparing sits inside its half. Frame both halves the same way, with the subject at the same size and position, so the only difference the eye finds is the change itself.

PiP is the other layout worth knowing. It shrinks a clip into a small box in the lower right of the frame, which suits a commentary face over a main clip.

Label and balance the sound

1. Press T, open Text in the right panel and type "Before". Press T again: the new title lands after the first one, so drag it onto its own row and line its start up with "Before", then replace its text with "After". Drag each label in the preview to sit on its half.
2. Select a label, open Backdrop in the right panel and turn it on, so the text stays readable over bright footage.
3. Two clips with sound play two sounds at once. Select the one you do not want to hear, open Volume and switch on Mute audio. Add a music bed from AI Gen, then Audio, then Music, if you want one.

Export

Open Export and choose a preset. Original · matches source keeps the footage resolution. Press Export video, then find the finished file under Exports in the Media tab.

Open the editor

Pick two clips of the same subject, open DepCut and build the comparison.