---
title: "How to add a desaturated look with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "A second in, the purple serum and rainbow backdrop drain toward gray over one second, settling into a muted, somber shot where a faint lilac tint still clings to the bottle. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/desaturated-look
---

# How to add a desaturated look with Claude

A second in, the purple serum and rainbow backdrop drain toward gray over one second, settling into a muted, somber shot where a faint lilac tint still clings to the bottle.

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 desaturated look to input.mp4
   Color left once muted: 0.3
   Second the colors start to fade: 1.0
   ```

## 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 desaturated look 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                                                 |
| ------------ | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `SATURATION` | `0.3`   | Color left once muted. 1 keeps it all, 0 is black and white. |
| `START`      | `1.0`   | Second the colors start to fade.                             |
| `FADE`       | `1.0`   | Seconds the fade takes.                                      |

## Without the skill

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

```
Give input.mp4 a desaturated look that fades in. Keep the first second in full color, then from 1.0s to 2.0s lower the saturation linearly from 1 to 0.3, and hold it at 0.3 to the end, so the colors are muted but still faintly visible (not black and white). Don't change the brightness, contrast, framing or timing. With ffmpeg this is eq=eval=frame:saturation='1-0.7*clip(t-1,0,1)'. Keep the size (540x960), 30fps, 6 seconds and the audio. Encode H.264 yuv420p and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

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

```
sh desaturated-look.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/bin/sh
# Desaturated look: the clip starts in full color, then its colors ease toward gray, leaving a faint, muted trace.
# Usage: sh desaturated-look.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
# Needs ffmpeg.
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
SATURATION=0.3  # color left once muted (1 keeps it all, 0 is black and white)
START=1.0       # second the colors start to fade
FADE=1.0        # seconds the fade takes

# eval=frame re-reads the saturation each frame, so it can ramp from 1 down to SATURATION
ffmpeg -y -v error -i "$IN" -vf "eq=eval=frame:saturation='1-(1-$SATURATION)*clip((t-$START)/$FADE,0,1)',fps=30,format=yuv420p" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a copy "$OUT"
```

## More color looks

- [Apply a LUT **Apply a LUT**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/apply-a-lut)
- [Black and white **Black and white**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/black-and-white)
- [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)

## 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)