---
title: "How to add a camera shake with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "The frame jolts hard on the first beat and settles to still within 0.6 seconds. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/camera-shake
---

# How to add a camera shake with Claude

The frame jolts hard on the first beat and settles to still within 0.6 seconds.

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 shake to input.mp4
   How far the frame jumps at the start, in pixels: 14
   Seconds until it settles: 0.6
   ```

## 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 shake 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                                     |
| -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| `AMOUNT` | `14`    | How far the frame jumps at the start, in pixels. |
| `LENGTH` | `0.6`   | Seconds until it settles.                        |

## In other editors

From each editor’s own help pages, in our words. We haven’t run these ourselves.

Built in: **AI movement (Shake)** · desktop

1. Import the clip and drag it onto the timeline.
2. In the Video section of the right panel, switch on AI movement.
3. Pick Shake from Dynamic, Zoom, Shake or Soft.
4. Tune scale, rotation and distance.

Source: [AI Movement Tracking: Enhance Videos with Effects](https://www.capcut.com/tools/ai-movement-tracking) (CapCut), checked October 22, 2026.

## Without the skill

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

```
Add a camera shake to the first 0.6 seconds of input.mp4: the frame jolts about 14 pixels in changing directions and settles to still by 0.6 seconds. Don't show black edges (scale up slightly first). Keep the size and audio. Use ffmpeg and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

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

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

```
#!/bin/sh
# Camera shake: a hard jolt in the first 0.6s that settles to still, like an impact on the first beat.
# Usage: sh camera-shake.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
AMOUNT=14   # how far the frame jumps, in pixels at the start
LENGTH=0.6  # seconds until it settles

SIZE=$(ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=s=x:p=0 "$IN")
W=${SIZE%x*}; H=${SIZE#*x}
# scale up 8% so the moving crop never shows an edge, then move the crop window and let it die down
ffmpeg -y -i "$IN" -vf "scale=trunc(iw*1.08/2)*2:-2,\
crop=$W:$H:x='(in_w-out_w)/2+if(lt(t,$LENGTH),$AMOUNT*sin(t*83)*(1-t/$LENGTH),0)':y='(in_h-out_h)/2+if(lt(t,$LENGTH),$AMOUNT*0.8*cos(t*61)*(1-t/$LENGTH),0)'" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy "$OUT"
```

## More hook openers

- [Blur-to-focus reveal **Blur-to-focus reveal**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/blur-to-focus-reveal)
- [Breaking news banner **Breaking news banner**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/breaking-news-banner)
- [Color reveal **Color reveal**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/color-reveal)
- [Countdown intro **Countdown intro**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/countdown-intro)
- [Curtain reveal **Curtain reveal**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/curtain-reveal)

## 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)