---
title: "How to add a camera flash with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "At 1 second the whole frame blows out to pure white, then the picture fades back in over half a second, like a photo being snapped. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/camera-flash
---

# How to add a camera flash with Claude

At 1 second the whole frame blows out to pure white, then the picture fades back in over half a second, like a photo being snapped.

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 camera flash to input.mp4
   Second the flash goes off: 1.0
   Seconds the frame stays pure white: 0.1
   ```

## 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 camera flash 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                                                 |
| ------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `AT`    | `1.0`   | Second the flash goes off.                                   |
| `HOLD`  | `0.1`   | Seconds the frame stays pure white.                          |
| `FADE`  | `0.5`   | Seconds to fade back to the picture. Shorter feels snappier. |

## Without the skill

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

```
In input.mp4, add a camera flash at 1.0 seconds: the whole frame jumps to pure white (255, 255, 255) instantly at 1.0s, stays fully white until 1.1s, then fades linearly back to the normal picture between 1.1s and 1.6s. Before 1.0s and after 1.6s the video must be unchanged. Lay a full-frame white layer over the video and animate its opacity (for example ffmpeg's color source with fade filters on the alpha, then overlay). Keep the size, 30fps, 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 `camera-flash.sh` and run:

```
sh camera-flash.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/bin/sh
# Camera flash: the frame jumps to pure white for a moment, then fades back to the picture, like a photo being taken.
# Usage: sh camera-flash.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
AT=1.0     # second the flash goes off
HOLD=0.1   # seconds the frame stays pure white
FADE=0.5   # seconds to fade back to the picture

SIZE=$(ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=s=x:p=0 "$IN")
LEN=$(ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 "$IN")
FADE_START=$(echo "$AT + $HOLD" | bc)
# a white layer whose opacity jumps to full at AT, holds, then fades to nothing, laid over the video
ffmpeg -y -i "$IN" -filter_complex "\
color=c=white:s=$SIZE:r=30:d=$LEN,format=yuva420p,\
fade=t=in:st=$AT:d=0.01:alpha=1,fade=t=out:st=$FADE_START:d=$FADE:alpha=1[flash];\
[0:v]fps=30[v];[v][flash]overlay=shortest=1,format=yuv420p[out]" \
  -map "[out]" -map 0:a -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy "$OUT"
```

## More overlays and light

- [Anamorphic streak **Anamorphic streak**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/anamorphic-streak)
- [Aurora **Aurora**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/aurora)
- [Blood splatter **Blood splatter**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/blood-splatter)
- [Bokeh lights **Bokeh lights**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/bokeh-lights)
- [Confetti **Confetti**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/confetti)

## 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)