How to Create a Quick Splitscreen in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2018)

Split screens are a great way to show two things happening at the same time. Think of a phone conversation where you see both people, a before-and-after comparison, or that classic spy movie montage where the screen divides into multiple panels. It is a simple effect that adds a lot of visual interest to your edits.

In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to create an animated split screen in Adobe Premiere Pro using the Crop effect. The animation starts with one clip full screen and then slides over to reveal the second clip alongside it.

How to Create a Split Screen in Premiere Pro

Setting Up the Clips

1. Import both clips into the same sequence. Place the first clip on V1 (the bottom track) and the second clip on V2 (the track above it).
2. Decide where you want the split screen to begin. Drag the start of the top clip (V2) to that point in the timeline.

Animating the Crop

3. Go to the Effects panel and search for Crop (under Video Effects > Transform).
4. Drag the Crop effect onto the top clip (V2).
5. In Effect Controls, find the Crop effect. Click the stopwatch next to the Left property to start a keyframe at 0%.
6. Move forward about 10 to 15 frames.
7. Set the Left value to 50%. This crops the left half of the top clip away, revealing the bottom clip underneath and creating the split screen.

Easing the Animation

8. Right click the first keyframe and select Temporal Interpolation > Ease Out.
9. Right click the second keyframe and select Temporal Interpolation > Ease In.
10. This creates a smooth acceleration and deceleration instead of a mechanical linear slide.

Repositioning the Bottom Clip

11. Now the bottom clip (V1) needs to shift over to fill its half of the screen. Select the bottom clip.
12. In Effect Controls, find the Motion section. Click the stopwatch next to Position.
13. At the start of the transition, set the position to its default (centered).
14. Move to the frame where the crop animation finishes. Shift the horizontal position so the footage centers within its half of the screen.

Tips

• Use guides to line things up. Place a guide at the exact center of the frame so both halves are perfectly even.
• Add a thin white or black line between the two halves using a graphics layer. This gives the split a cleaner, more defined edge.
• Scale your clips up slightly if the framing looks too wide after repositioning. A small scale increase under Motion can tighten up the composition.
• Try more than two panels. You can stack multiple clips with different Crop values to create three-way or four-way split screens.

That is how you create a split screen in Premiere Pro. Once you get comfortable with the Crop effect and position keyframes, you can build all kinds of multi-panel layouts.