One of the best beginner projects in Shotcut is creating a split screen video. It looks impressive, but more importantly, it teaches one of the most important concepts in video editing: layers. Once you understand how layers work, many other editing techniques become much easier to learn. Instead of memorizing buttons, you begin to understand why videos appear the way they do on the timeline.
To create a simple split screen, place three different videos on three separate tracks and trim them so they are all the same length. Shotcut works from the top layer down. Any video placed on a higher track has priority over the tracks below it. This is why you can usually see text even when it is placed above a video, because text only covers a small part of the screen. A full video, however, covers the entire frame, hiding everything underneath it.
To reveal the videos below, select the top video and add the Mask: Simple Shape filter. By adjusting the mask's position, size, and shape, you can make part of the top video transparent so the layer underneath becomes visible. Repeat the same process on the second video, leaving enough space for the third video on the bottom track to show through. As you experiment with the mask settings, you will quickly see how layers interact with one another. This simple exercise is an excellent introduction to Shotcut because it teaches timeline organization, layer priority, and masking, all of which are skills you will use in many future projects.
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