Colurvist › Learn › How to put a video over a video (picture in picture)

How to put a video over a video (picture in picture)

Drag a video or photo — from Media or straight from your computer — onto the track, on the row above a clip, or right-click a clip on the track and choose Use as a layer. The layer floats over your edit: drag it on the picture to move it, drag a corner to size it, drag the ring to turn it. Everything it can do is in its inspector.

  1. Add the layer. Drag a video or a picture onto the empty row above a clip on the track (the row says Drop to overlay), from the Media drawer or from your computer. It lands over the clip at the playhead, centred, at a size that fits.
  2. Place it. Drag the layer on the picture to move it, drag a corner node to size it, drag the ring above it to turn it (it catches at 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°; Alt frees it). The edge bars stretch one side.
  3. Shape it. In the layer’s inspector: Opacity, Blend (Multiply, Screen, Overlay and the rest), corner radius, a border, flip, and a Mask — an ellipse or a box with a soft edge, or one you paint.
  4. Key out a green screen. Under Key pick green or blue and set Tolerance, Softness and Despill. Light wrap lets the background’s light spill around the edges so it sits in the shot.
  5. Time it. The layer is a block on its own lane; drag it to start later and trim its edges. A left trim moves where in the layer’s own clip it starts.
  6. Animate it. In the layer’s Keyframes section add a key, move the playhead and move the layer — with keys on, each change writes a key. Easing, the graph editor (Shift+G) and the motion path all work on layers.

Sound

A layer is silent until you raise its level under Sound in the inspector; it then plays through the mixer and into the export.

Follow something

Track a subject in Effects → Mask & Track, then choose it under Follow a track in the layer’s inspector — the layer moves with it (and can size and turn with it).

Undo is Ctrl+Z, and one history covers the whole project.

Open the editor

Questions

Can the layer be a still picture?

Yes — a PNG with transparency keeps its transparency, which is how logos and stickers work.

How do I make it a circle?

In the layer’s Mask section choose the ellipse and give it a soft edge, or set a large corner radius.

Does the layer slow the editor down?

Two or more playing layers are drawn ahead of time by the render cache (the bar under the ruler turns green), so playback stays smooth.

Last reviewed 22 October 2026.