A split screen is four numbers per clip: zoom, position X, position Y and crop. Two people is eight numbers. A four person podcast is sixteen, and you will change your mind about the framing at least once.
This guide covers the Inspector method in DaVinci Resolve, then GridMaker, which sets all of those numbers from a layout you pick.
This video may reference an older version of GridMaker. Features and UI may have changed since recording.
How do you build a split screen by hand in Resolve?
Stack the clips, then size and crop each one in the Inspector.
- Stack the clips. One clip per video track, lined up in time.
- Crop. Select the top clip, open the Inspector and use Cropping to trim it to its share of the frame.
- Position. Use Transform, Position X and Y to move it into place, and Zoom to reframe the subject.
- Repeat for each clip underneath.
- Add a gap. If you want a border between cells, crop each clip a little further and nudge the positions to match.
Resolve also has a Video Collage effect that can lay out tiles for you. Either way the framing inside each cell is set clip by clip, and changing the layout means doing the arithmetic again.
What do you need before you start?
- DaVinci Resolve Studio. The free version of Resolve does not run workflow integrations, which is how Filmit Studio lives inside Resolve.
- Filmit Studio. The desktop app installs it into Resolve, on Mac or Windows, and GridMaker comes with it.
- A Filmit account. GridMaker is part of Filmit Studio, and there is a free trial.
Once it is installed, open it in Resolve from Workspace, Workflow Integrations, Filmit Studio. If that is new to you, start with the Filmit Studio in DaVinci Resolve walkthrough.
How does GridMaker do it?
It reads the clips stacked under your playhead and shows them in a layout you can adjust before anything changes on the timeline.
- Park the playhead over the stacked clips. GridMaker picks up how many there are.
- Pick a layout. Side by side for two clips, columns or a grid for more.
- Frame each cell. Drag a clip inside its cell to move the subject.
- Swap and pad. Use the swap button to trade two cells, and add padding for a gap.
- Click Apply Layout. The transforms and crops are written to the clips in Resolve.
In the video above a two camera interview is laid out side by side, then four stacked clips become four columns. One speaker is cropped badly, so the cell is adjusted and Apply Layout is clicked again. That second pass is where the time goes when you work by hand.
Pro Tip: If you cut podcasts every week, save the layout as a preset the first time. Next episode it is two clicks.
What should you know before you rely on it?
- It works on what is under the playhead. Clips elsewhere on the timeline are left alone, so apply it where the stack is.
- Anamorphic footage can look squeezed in the preview. The result on the timeline is what matters, and it lays out correctly.
- The layouts are static. Animated and 3D grids are the After Effects version of GridMaker.
- Resolve Studio only.
Getting started
GridMaker comes with Filmit Studio. For Adobe editors the same job is covered in how to make a split screen in Premiere Pro.
