Before and After Ad in Split Screen

A before and after ad with both sides on screen at once.

Pipeline: Basic edit (cut): cuts, captions, looks, speed, split screens, stock, voices and music.
Format: 9:16
Upload: A "before" clip or photo and an "after" clip or photo of the same thing.

The prompt

Type your own words into the fields: the [BLANKS] fill in as you go. Copy it and send it to Claude or ChatGPT with Cut Express connected.

Prompt

Make a [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second before and after ad for [YOUR PRODUCT].

- 0 to 2 s: the "before" clip full frame with "[HOOK LINE]" at the top.
- Then a split screen in rows: before on top, after below, a 10 px white gap, labels "Before" and "After" in the corner of each cell.
- A slow zoom in on the "after" cell's best detail.
- Last 3 s: the "after" full frame, freeze on the last frame, with "[CALL TO ACTION]".
- [LOOK] look on both halves equally (grade the split screen as one picture, so it's honest).
- [MUSIC], a whoosh into the split screen.

The blanks

[LENGTH IN SECONDS]: How long the finished video runs, as a number of seconds. Reels and Shorts hold best between 15 and 60.
[YOUR PRODUCT]: The product's name and what it does in one line, for example "Lumen, a budgeting app for freelancers".
[HOOK LINE]: The first words on screen, the reason to keep watching, in under ten words.
[CALL TO ACTION]: What the viewer should do at the end, in the words to show, for example "Try it free at lumen.app".
[LOOK]: The color look by mood, for example "warm and soft", "teal and orange", "crisp and bright", "black and white", "film".
[MUSIC]: A track you uploaded (say its file name), or a mood and genre for the stock music search, like "upbeat lo-fi" or "cinematic, builds slowly".

Tips

Shoot before and after from the same angle and distance; the split screen makes any difference in framing obvious.
Keep the same look on both sides. A warmer "after" reads as a filter, not a result.

New to prompting video? How to write a good prompt for Cut Express covers the story, the hook, captions, sound, pace and how to iterate with versions.

Paste it in Claude. Get the MP4.

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Basic edit9:16

UGC Ad With Three Hook Versions

A UGC-style ad, then two more versions that change only the hook.

Upload: Your creator clips (talking to camera) and a few product shots.

Make a [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second 9:16 UGC ad for [YOUR PRODUCT] from my clips, for [AUDIENCE]. Inspect them with a transcript.

Structure: hook (first 2 s), the problem, the product in use (cut to the product shots), the result, the offer "[OFFER]", then "[CALL TO ACTION]" as a text in the last 3 seconds.
- Hook for v1: "[HOOK LINE]" as the first line said and as a big text at the top.
- Jump cuts on the speech, no silences. Punch-ins on the benefit words.
- Captions: pop preset, highlight [CAPTION COLOR]. Clean the voice.
- [LOOK] look, natural skin. Light [MUSIC] ducked under the voice.
Show me the timeline before you render. After v1, make v2 and v3 of the same video with these hooks, changing nothing else: "[HOOK 2]" and "[HOOK 3]".

Fill in Tips

Motion graphics9:16

Product Ad With a Price Tag and a Stat

A 15-second product ad with a cut-out product, a counter and a price tag.

Upload: Product photos (on any background) and a short clip of the product in use, if you have one.

Make a [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second 9:16 ad for [YOUR PRODUCT]. Brand: [BRAND COLORS].

- 0 to 2 s: "[HOOK LINE]" slams in over the product clip (or the best photo).
- 2 to 6 s: the product cut out from my photo, floating in the middle on the brand background, slowly turning toward the camera (a small scale and tilt), with a counter rolling up to "[THE STAT]".
- 6 to 10 s: three benefits that tick in one by one as a checklist: [THREE BENEFITS].
- 10 s to the end: a price tag swings in with "[PRICE]" and the text "[CALL TO ACTION]".
Adapt the counter, checklist and price tag recipes from assets. A pop on each tick and a coin sound on the price tag. Upbeat [MUSIC]. Show me the timeline first.

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Basic edit9:16

Shorts From One Long Video

Several vertical Shorts cut from one long video, each with captions.

Upload: One long video with speech (a podcast, a talk, a stream, a course lesson).

I uploaded [LONG VIDEO], about [TOPIC]. Inspect it with moments and a transcript, then find the [NUMBER OF CLIPS] strongest moments that make sense on their own, each about [LENGTH IN SECONDS] seconds.

Before you render, list them for me: the in and out times, the first line said and why it works as a hook. Wait for my pick.

For each one I pick:
- Start on the hook line, no warm-up. Cut the silences and the false starts on the speech.
- 9:16, cover crop kept on the speaker's face. A slow punch-in on the key sentence.
- Captions from the speech: bold preset, 3 words per line, the key word in [CAPTION COLOR], bottom third.
- Clean the voice (denoise and enhance). No music unless I ask.
Render each as its own video titled "[SERIES NAME] 1", "2", and so on.

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