Grids and video walls are everywhere in modern video, from a split screen montage in a vlog to a wall of clips behind a title sequence. Building one by hand in After Effects, though, is fiddly work. You import a stack of footage, then position, scale, and align every clip into neat rows and columns, nudging values until the spacing looks even. GridMaker collapses that entire layout job into a single click.
GridMaker is a Filmit plugin for After Effects that grids out footage and images automatically inside your composition, with controls for padding, rounded corners, and editable pre-comp cells. This guide walks through installing it, sourcing footage fast, and building grids, video walls, and vertical layouts that auto-fit Instagram and TikTok.
This video may reference an older version of GridMaker. Features and UI may have changed since recording.
How to install and open GridMaker in After Effects
GridMaker installs through Filmit Studio, the free companion app for Windows and macOS that manages every Filmit plugin from one place. Once Studio is open, the plugin is two clicks away.
- Create a free account on filmit.io and open your dashboard.
- Download Filmit Studio for Windows or macOS and install it.
- Open Filmit Studio, go to My Tools, and click install on the GridMaker card.
- Open After Effects and find GridMaker under the Window menu, in Extensions.
With the panel open you will see a tidy set of options that is quick to scan. Under settings you can join our Discord, request a feature, reach support on filmit.io, and see the other plugins we make. If setup goes sideways, that flow is built right into the panel.
Pro Tip: If GridMaker opens but stays blank, close the extension and reopen it from the Window menu. The panel reloads on launch, which clears most first run hiccups.
How to source footage fast with Sourcer
A grid needs footage to fill it, and the fastest way to get clips into your comp is Sourcer, another Filmit plugin that searches royalty free libraries from inside After Effects, no browser hunting required.
Open Sourcer, search for videos, and insert a few landscape clips straight onto your timeline. Type anything you need, a butterfly, a dog, a cow, a coffee, and Sourcer drops the footage into your composition. It is all royalty free, so you can build a test grid in seconds without worrying about licensing.
Pro Tip: Grab a few more clips than you think you need. A three by three grid wants nine cells, so extra footage on hand means GridMaker can fill the layout the moment you click.
How to build your first grid in one click
GridMaker is refreshingly direct. With footage in your composition, highlight all of your layers, then click two by two to arrange them into a clean grid automatically. Your clips snap into even rows and columns instantly, no manual positioning or scaling required.
That one click is the heart of the tool. Undo with control Z or command Z to try a different arrangement, then run it again. Because it is a single action, you can experiment with grid shapes freely.
Pro Tip: Drop all of your footage into the composition first, then select every layer before clicking a grid button. GridMaker arranges exactly what is selected, so a clean selection means a clean grid.
How to use padding, gap, fit, and rounded corners
A bare grid is just the start. GridMaker gives you padding, gap, fit mode, and rounded corners so the layout looks designed rather than dumped together. Fill is the fit mode you will reach for most, covering every cell edge to edge.
Set a padding value before you build and the gaps appear between cells automatically. Pad by ten for a subtle gutter, or push it to fifty for dramatic spacing. Turn on rounded corners and every cell gets the same softened edge. Set your options, select your footage, run the grid, and the spacing and corners apply across the whole layout.
Pro Tip: Dial padding all the way up when you are still deciding on a look. Exaggerated spacing makes the grid structure obvious at a glance, and you can pull the value back down once the composition feels right.
How to use pre-comp mode for editable template cells
By default GridMaker lays your grid out as flat layers built directly in After Effects. Flip on pre-comp mode and each cell becomes its own pre-composition instead, so you can open any cell later and swap the footage inside it without rebuilding the whole grid.
This is the mode for templates and video walls you plan to reuse. It takes a little longer because GridMaker is building each composition on purpose, but the payoff is a fully editable layout you can update per project.
Here is how the two build modes compare:
For a quick montage, leave pre-comp mode off and build fast. Turn it on when you want to swap cells later or save the layout.
How to build bigger grids and vertical comps
Going past a four cell grid is just as easy. Choose three by three and GridMaker grids out as soon as there is enough footage to fill it. That needs nine clips, so source a few more with Sourcer until the count lines up, then run the grid with your padding intact.
Vertical layouts are where this really shines. Copy your footage, paste it into a vertical composition, and run a grid there. GridMaker reads the composition, knows whether it is widescreen or vertical, and scales the clips down to fit perfectly. For an Instagram or TikTok post you would usually skip padding so the grid fills the screen edge to edge.
Pro Tip: Let GridMaker handle the scaling on vertical comps. Because it reads the composition and resizes clips to fit, you never need to manually shrink anything before building a vertical grid.
Key takeaways
GridMaker turns building a grid from a manual layout job into a single click inside After Effects, with everything from padding to vertical comps handled.
Highlight your footage and click a grid shape to arrange clean rows and columns instantly.
Padding, gap, fit mode, and rounded corners apply across every cell at once.
Pre-comp mode makes each cell swappable, ideal for templates and video walls.
GridMaker reads the comp and scales clips to fit Instagram and TikTok frames.
Pull royalty free footage straight into your comp to complete any grid in seconds.
Why I built a one-click grid tool
I built GridMaker because I kept laying out the same grids by hand for Instagram videos and TikTok, and it was always the same tedious math. Drop in the clips, then position and scale each one into rows and columns, checking the spacing was even. None of that is creative work. It is repetitive layout that quietly eats your time.
Collapsing that into one click does more than save a few minutes. It lets you treat a grid as something to play with rather than dread. When the layout is instant, you actually try the three by three, the vertical version, the padded look, instead of settling for the first arrangement because rebuilding is a chore. Pair that with pre-comp mode and presets, and grids become a tool you reach for freely. That is the goal: tools that disappear so the editing does not.
Take your editing workflow further with Filmit
GridMaker is one piece of a larger toolkit built to remove the repetitive parts of editing in After Effects and Premiere Pro. The Filmit for Editors suite covers grids and video walls, stock footage sourcing, GIF insertion, LUT management, project organization, and more, all through Filmit Studio.
If you spend time hunting for footage to fill those grids, Sourcer searches Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay and inserts royalty free clips straight onto your timeline. Build the grid with GridMaker, fill it with Sourcer, and the whole split screen workflow stays inside your editor. Every tool runs under one Filmit subscription.
