--- title: "How to add a cinemagraph with Claude (tested prompt and script)" description: "The holographic backdrop and acrylic block hold perfectly still while the serum bottle alone keeps turning in the middle of the frame. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the Python script we tested yourself." url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/cinemagraph --- # How to add a cinemagraph with Claude The holographic backdrop and acrylic block hold perfectly still while the serum bottle alone keeps turning in the middle of the frame. Made by the script 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 cinemagraph to input.mp4 Second of the clip the still part is taken from: 0.0 Area that keeps moving: left, top, right, bottom as shares of the frame: (0.27, 0.19, 0.73, 0.79) ``` ## 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 cinemagraph 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 script. | Setting | Default | What it does | | --------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `FREEZE` | `0.0` | Second of the clip the still part is taken from. | | `LIVE` | `(0.27, 0.19, 0.73, 0.79)` | Area that keeps moving: left, top, right, bottom as shares of the frame. | | `CORNER` | `0.10` | Corner rounding of the moving area, as a share of the frame width. | | `FEATHER` | `0.04` | Width of the soft edge between still and moving, as a share of the frame width. | ## Without the skill Don’t want to install the skill? Paste this prompt into Claude Code and Claude writes the script itself. ``` Turn input.mp4 into a cinemagraph: take the first frame (0 seconds) as a still and show it for the whole clip, except inside a rounded rectangle from 27% to 73% across and 19% to 79% down the frame, where the video keeps playing. Round the rectangle's corners with a radius of 10% of the frame width and blur its edge with a Gaussian blur of radius 2% of the frame width, so still and moving blend softly. Keep the size, the 30fps frame rate, the 6 second length and the audio. Use Python with numpy and Pillow for the mask and ffmpeg to read and write the video; there's no text to draw, but if you add any, draw it with Pillow, not ffmpeg's drawtext. Save it as output.mp4. ``` ## Run it without Claude This is the exact script we tested. Save it as `cinemagraph.py` and run: ``` python3 cinemagraph.py input.mp4 output.mp4 ``` ``` #!/usr/bin/env python3 """Cinemagraph: the backdrop and acrylic block freeze on the first frame while the bottle alone keeps turning. Usage: python3 cinemagraph.py input.mp4 output.mp4 Needs ffmpeg, Pillow and numpy (pip install pillow numpy). """ import json import subprocess import sys import numpy as np from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFilter FREEZE = 0.0 # second of the clip the still part is taken from LIVE = (0.27, 0.19, 0.73, 0.79) # area that keeps moving: left, top, right, bottom (0-1 of the frame) CORNER = 0.10 # corner rounding of that area, as a share of the frame width FEATHER = 0.04 # soft edge between still and moving, as a share of the frame width def probe(path): info = json.loads(subprocess.check_output(["ffprobe", "-v", "error", "-select_streams", "v:0", "-show_entries", "stream=width,height,r_frame_rate", "-of", "json", path])) s = info["streams"][0] num, den = s["r_frame_rate"].split("/") return s["width"], s["height"], s["r_frame_rate"], float(num) / float(den) def live_mask(w, h): """1 where the video keeps playing, 0 where it holds the still, with a blurred edge between.""" mask = Image.new("L", (w, h), 0) x0, y0, x1, y1 = LIVE ImageDraw.Draw(mask).rounded_rectangle((x0 * w, y0 * h, x1 * w, y1 * h), radius=CORNER * w, fill=255) mask = mask.filter(ImageFilter.GaussianBlur(FEATHER * w / 2)) return (np.asarray(mask, np.float32) / 255)[:, :, None] src, out = sys.argv[1:3] w, h, rate, fps = probe(src) alpha = live_mask(w, h) size = w * h * 3 reader = subprocess.Popen(["ffmpeg", "-v", "error", "-i", src, "-f", "rawvideo", "-pix_fmt", "rgb24", "-"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE) writer = subprocess.Popen(["ffmpeg", "-y", "-v", "error", "-i", src, "-f", "rawvideo", "-pix_fmt", "rgb24", "-s", f"{w}x{h}", "-r", rate, "-i", "-", "-map", "1:v", "-map", "0:a?", "-c:v", "libx264", "-crf", "18", "-pix_fmt", "yuv420p", "-c:a", "copy", "-shortest", out], stdin=subprocess.PIPE) still = None i = 0 while True: raw = reader.stdout.read(size) if len(raw) < size: break img = np.frombuffer(raw, np.uint8).reshape(h, w, 3).astype(np.float32) if still is None and i / fps >= FREEZE: still = img frame = img if still is None else still + (img - still) * alpha writer.stdin.write(np.round(frame).astype(np.uint8).tobytes()) i += 1 writer.stdin.close() if reader.wait() or writer.wait(): sys.exit("ffmpeg failed") ``` ## More motion and camera - [2.5D parallax photo **2.5D parallax photo**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/2-5d-parallax-photo) - [Back-and-forth loop **Back-and-forth loop**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/back-and-forth-loop) - [Background blur **Background blur**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/background-blur) - [Bullet time **Bullet time**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/bullet-time) - [Clone effect **Clone effect**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/clone-effect) ## 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)