---
title: "How to add a black and white with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "Every color drains out of the clip, leaving the purple bottle and holographic backdrop in crisp shades of gray from the first frame to the last. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/black-and-white
---

# How to add a black and white with Claude

Every color drains out of the clip, leaving the purple bottle and holographic backdrop in crisp shades of gray from the first frame to the last.

Made by the command on this page, from our own test clip.

## Get this effect

1. ### Switch to Code in your [Claude Desktop App](https://claude.com/download)

2. ### Install the skill (once)

   ```
   Install the Recharm video effects skill: download https://recharm-growth-staging.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/website/downloads/recharm-video-effects.zip and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills
   ```

3. ### Ask for the effect

   ```
   Add a black and white to input.mp4
   1 keeps the original contrast; higher gives deeper blacks and brighter highlights: 1.15
   ```

## Several videos, several effects, one ask

Put your clips in the folder, mention them with @, and ask for everything at once. Claude runs one tested script after another on each clip, then joins them.

Add a black and white to **@clip1.mp4**, put a sale badge on **@clip2.mp4**, give **@clip3.mp4** a VHS look, then join all three with crossfades.

## Settings you can change

Ask Claude to change any of these, or edit them at the top of the command.

| Setting    | Default | What it does                                                                       |
| ---------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `CONTRAST` | `1.15`  | 1 keeps the original contrast; higher gives deeper blacks and brighter highlights. |

## Without the skill

Don’t want to install the skill? Paste this prompt into Claude Code and Claude writes the command itself.

```
Turn all of input.mp4 black and white: set the saturation to 0 on every frame from start to end, then raise the contrast to 1.15 (ffmpeg's eq=contrast=1.15) so the grays don't look flat. Keep the size, frame rate, length and audio the same. Use ffmpeg and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

This is the exact command we tested. Save it as `black-and-white.sh` and run:

```
sh black-and-white.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/bin/sh
# Black and white: drain all the color from the clip and lift the contrast a touch so the grays don't look flat.
# Usage: sh black-and-white.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
CONTRAST=1.15   # 1 keeps the original contrast; higher gives deeper blacks and brighter highlights

ffmpeg -y -i "$IN" -vf "hue=s=0,eq=contrast=$CONTRAST" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy "$OUT"
```

## More color looks

- [Apply a LUT **Apply a LUT**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/apply-a-lut)
- [Bleach bypass **Bleach bypass**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/bleach-bypass)
- [Cinematic color grade **Cinematic color grade**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/cinematic-color-grade)
- [Color match **Color match**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/color-match)
- [Color pop **Color pop**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/color-pop)

## Find 3x _winning ads_

Recharm cuts your ad footage into tagged, searchable clips: hooks, testimonials, product shots. Find the shots that win, add the effect with Claude, and ship 3x more ad edits.

[Start 14-day free trial](https://www.recharm.com/get-started)