Picture-in-picture and reaction videos: how to make them

When picture-in-picture works best

• Tutorials: a screen recording as the main video with the presenter's face in a corner makes lessons feel personal. See our tutorial video guide.
• Reaction and commentary: the content you're discussing plus your reaction to it.
• Gaming: gameplay with a face camera.
• Product demos: a close-up of hands or a detail over a wider shot.
• Before and after / comparisons: two versions side by side or one inset in the other.
• News-style explainers: a presenter over a green screen with a background image or video.

Choosing a layout

Placement and design tips

• Find the empty corner. Scrub through the main video and check what the overlay would cover. Menus, subtitles, scores and faces should stay visible.
• Size it sensibly. Around a quarter to a third of the frame width keeps a face readable without hiding the content. On phones, err slightly bigger.
• Separate it from the background. A thin white border, rounded corners and a soft drop shadow make the overlay read as its own layer.
• Keep it still. Moving the overlay around distracts viewers. If it must move to reveal something, do it once, smoothly.
• Mind vertical safe zones. On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, avoid the bottom and right edges where the app's buttons sit — see our vertical video guide.
• Light your face camera. A dark, grainy face next to bright screen content looks worse by comparison. Sit facing a window or lamp.

Keeping two videos in sync

When two recordings capture the same moment — a face camera and a screen recording, or two phones at an event — they need to line up exactly.

• Clap at the start. A single sharp clap visible to both cameras (or a click that shows on the screen recording) gives you a clear sync point.
• Line up the sync point by adjusting where the overlay starts on the timeline and where it plays from in its own video, until the clap happens at the same moment in both.
• Check again near the end. Recordings made on different devices can drift slightly over long takes. If they do, split the overlay and resync the later section.

Balancing the audio

• One voice leads at a time. In a reaction video, lower the original clip while you talk and raise it when you stop.
• Mute duplicate audio. If both recordings captured the same sound, keep the better one and mute the other to avoid an echo.
• Watch the overall level so combining two sources doesn't make the video suddenly louder.

Reacting to other people's content

Reaction and commentary videos often use clips of someone else's work. In some countries, legal doctrines such as fair use (United States) or fair dealing (the UK, Canada and others) can permit limited use for commentary, criticism or review — but they are narrow, decided case by case, and differ between countries. Platforms also have their own policies and automated copyright systems.

Good practice that reduces risk and makes better videos:

• Add real commentary. Your contribution — analysis, critique, humour, context — should be the point of the video, not the original clip.
• Use only what you need. Short excerpts that support your commentary, not whole videos.
• Get permission when you can. Many creators are happy to allow reactions if asked, and some publish their own rules for it.
• Credit the original. Name and link the creator.

Step by step: picture-in-picture in VDOAPP

1. Add the main video in the free online editor — the content, screen recording or gameplay.
2. Add the overlay. Move the playhead to where it should appear, open the PiP tab and choose + Add video or photo overlay.
3. Position and size it. Drag it into a corner on the preview, and drag the pink corner handle to resize (and rotate if you want).
4. Style it. Choose Rectangle, Rounded or Circle, and set the border, border colour and drop shadow.
5. Sync it. Adjust Starts at (where it appears on your timeline) and Play from (where it starts in its own video) until your sync point lines up.
6. Balance the sound. Set Overlay sound in the PiP tab and each clip's Volume in the Clip tab.
7. Add a presenter cut-out (optional). If you filmed against a green screen, turn on Chroma key for the overlay to remove the background.
8. Animate its entrance. Pick an In and Out animation such as Pop or Fade, then export.