---
title: "How to add a freeze frame with text with Claude (tested prompt and script)"
description: "The first frame holds still for 1.2 seconds under a headline before the clip starts moving. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the Python script we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/freeze-frame-text
---

# How to add a freeze frame with text with Claude

The first frame holds still for 1.2 seconds under a headline before the clip starts moving.

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 freeze frame with text to input.mp4
   Text: You need to see this
   ```

## 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 freeze frame with text 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                   |
| -------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| `TEXT`   | `You need to see this` | The headline.                  |
| `FREEZE` | `1.2`                  | Seconds the first frame holds. |

## In other editors

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

Closest built-in: **Freeze** · web

1. Move the playhead to the moment you want to hold.
2. Click Freeze to turn that frame into a still image.
3. Drag the still's edges to set how long it holds.

This page covers the freeze only. Add the headline separately with CapCut's Text panel.

Source: [Create Stunning Videos with CapCut's Freeze Frame Effect](https://www.capcut.com/tools/freeze-frame-video) (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 script itself.

```
Make input.mp4 open on a freeze frame: hold the first frame for 1.2 seconds with "You need to see this" in black on a white rounded box near the top, then play the clip normally with the text gone. Delay the audio by 1.2 seconds so it stays in sync. Use Python with Pillow to draw the text box and ffmpeg for the rest (don't rely on ffmpeg's drawtext filter), and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

This is the exact script we tested. Save it as `freeze-frame-text.py` and run:

```
python3 freeze-frame-text.py input.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Freeze frame with text: the first frame holds still for 1.2 seconds under a headline, then the clip plays.

Usage: python3 freeze-frame-text.py input.mp4 output.mp4
The output is 1.2 seconds longer than the input; the sound waits for the freeze so it stays in sync.
Needs ffmpeg and Pillow (pip install pillow).
"""
import json
import subprocess
import sys
import tempfile
from pathlib import Path

from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont

TEXT = "You need to see this"
FREEZE = 1.2     # seconds the first frame holds
SIZE = 0.085     # text height as a share of the frame width
Y = 0.16         # top of the text box (0 = top, 1 = bottom)
FONTS = ["/System/Library/Fonts/Supplemental/Arial Bold.ttf",     # macOS
         "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans-Bold.ttf",  # Linux
         "C:/Windows/Fonts/arialbd.ttf"]                          # Windows
FONT_FILE = next((f for f in FONTS if Path(f).exists()), None) or sys.exit("No bold font found: add one to FONTS")

def text_card(w):
    """The headline in black on a white rounded box, wrapped at 62% of the frame width so the lines come out even."""
    font = ImageFont.truetype(FONT_FILE, round(w * SIZE))
    lines, line = [], ""
    for word in TEXT.split():
        trial = f"{line} {word}".strip()
        if font.getlength(trial) <= w * 0.62 or not line:
            line = trial
        else:
            lines.append(line)
            line = word
    lines.append(line)
    pad, step = round(w * 0.04), round(font.size * 1.2)
    card = Image.new("RGBA", (round(max(font.getlength(l) for l in lines)) + 2 * pad, step * len(lines) + 2 * pad))
    draw = ImageDraw.Draw(card)
    draw.rounded_rectangle([0, 0, card.width - 1, card.height - 1], radius=pad, fill="white")
    for i, l in enumerate(lines):
        draw.text((card.width / 2, pad + step * i + step / 2), l, font=font, anchor="mm", fill="black")
    return card

src, out = sys.argv[1:3]
info = json.loads(subprocess.check_output(["ffprobe", "-v", "error", "-show_entries", "stream=codec_type,width", "-of", "json", src]))
width = next(s["width"] for s in info["streams"] if s["codec_type"] == "video")
has_audio = any(s["codec_type"] == "audio" for s in info["streams"])

with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
    card_png = str(Path(tmp) / "card.png")
    text_card(width).save(card_png)
    graph = (f"[0:v]tpad=start_duration={FREEZE}:start_mode=clone[v];"
             f"[v][1:v]overlay=x=(W-w)/2:y=H*{Y}:enable='lt(t,{FREEZE})',format=yuv420p[out]")
    maps = ["-map", "[out]"]
    if has_audio:
        graph += f";[0:a]adelay={round(FREEZE * 1000)}:all=1[a]"
        maps += ["-map", "[a]"]
    subprocess.run(["ffmpeg", "-y", "-v", "error", "-i", src, "-i", card_png, "-filter_complex", graph, *maps,
                    "-c:v", "libx264", "-crf", "18", "-c:a", "aac", out], check=True)
```

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## Find 3x _winning ads_

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