---
title: "How to add a split screen with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "Two clips play at once, one filling the top half of the frame and one the bottom half. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/split-screen
---

# How to add a split screen with Claude

Two clips play at once, one filling the top half of the frame and one the bottom half.

Made by the command on this page, from our own test clips.

## Get this effect

1. ### Switch to Code in your [Claude Desktop App](https://claude.com/download)

2. ### Install the skill (once)

   ```
   Install the Recharm video effects skill: download https://recharm-growth-staging.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/website/downloads/recharm-video-effects.zip and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills
   ```

3. ### Ask for the effect

   ```
   Make a split screen from top.mp4 and bottom.mp4
   ```

## Several videos, several effects, one ask

Put your clips in the folder, mention them with @, and ask for everything at once. Claude runs one tested script after another on each clip, then joins them.

Add a split screen to **@clip1.mp4**, put a sale badge on **@clip2.mp4**, give **@clip3.mp4** a VHS look, then join all three with crossfades.

## In other editors

From each editor’s own help pages, in our words. We haven’t run these ourselves.

Built in: **stacked clips** · desktop

1. Import both videos and stack them on the timeline, one above the other.
2. Trim the longer clip to match the shorter one.
3. Select the second clip, drag its corners to shrink it, and position it.
4. Repeat for the first clip, placing it at the bottom.

Source: [How to Put Two Videos Side by Side | A Complete Guide](https://www.capcut.com/resource/how-to-put-two-videos-side-by-side) (CapCut), checked October 22, 2026.

## Without the skill

Don’t want to install the skill? Paste this prompt into Claude Code and Claude writes the command itself.

```
Stack top.mp4 above bottom.mp4 in one vertical video the same size as top.mp4. Each clip fills its half, cropped from the center. Use top.mp4's audio. Use ffmpeg and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

This is the exact command we tested. Save it as `split-screen.sh` and run:

```
sh split-screen.sh top.mp4 bottom.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/bin/sh
# Split screen: two clips stacked, one on the top half and one on the bottom, each cropped to fill its half.
# Usage: sh split-screen.sh top.mp4 bottom.mp4 output.mp4
set -e
TOP="$1"; BOTTOM="$2"; OUT="$3"

SIZE=$(ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=s=x:p=0 "$TOP")
W=${SIZE%x*}; H=${SIZE#*x}; HALF=$((H / 2))
ffmpeg -y -i "$TOP" -i "$BOTTOM" -filter_complex "\
[0:v]scale=$W:$HALF:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=$W:$HALF,setsar=1[t];\
[1:v]scale=$W:$HALF:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=$W:$HALF,setsar=1[b];\
[t][b]vstack,format=yuv420p[v]" \
  -map "[v]" -map "0:a?" -shortest -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a copy "$OUT"
```

## More layouts and reframing

- [Background replacement **Background replacement**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/background-replacement)
- [Binocular view **Binocular view**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/binocular-view)
- [Blur region **Blur region**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/blur-region)
- [Cinematic bars **Cinematic bars**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/cinematic-bars)
- [Comic panel layout **Comic panel layout**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/comic-panel-layout)

## Find 3x _winning ads_

Recharm cuts your ad footage into tagged, searchable clips: hooks, testimonials, product shots. Find the shots that win, add the effect with Claude, and ship 3x more ad edits.

[Start 14-day free trial](https://www.recharm.com/get-started)