--- title: "How to add a rapid-cut montage opener with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)" description: "Eight shots of the bottle, some wide and some cropped close, cut past every 0.2 to 0.4 seconds before the video settles into one steady take at the two-second mark. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself." url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/rapid-cut-montage-opener --- # How to add a rapid-cut montage opener with Claude Eight shots of the bottle, some wide and some cropped close, cut past every 0.2 to 0.4 seconds before the video settles into one steady take at the two-second mark. Made by the command on this page, from our own test clips. ## 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 ``` Make a rapid-cut montage opener from main.mp4 and broll.mp4 Shots: 8 shots, 0.2s to 0.4s ``` ## 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 rapid-cut montage opener 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 | | ------- | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `OPEN` | `2.0` | Second at which the montage ends and the main clip plays on. | | `SHOTS` | `8 shots, 0.2s to 0.4s` | One line per shot: clip (0 = main, 1 = b-roll), start time in that clip, zoom and length. The lengths must add up to OPEN. | ## Without the skill Don’t want to install the skill? Paste this prompt into Claude Code and Claude writes the command itself. ``` Give main.mp4 a rapid-cut montage opener using shots from main.mp4 and broll.mp4. The first 2 seconds are eight hard cuts, in this order (clip, start time in that clip, length): broll 4.5s for 0.2s; main 3.0s for 0.2s zoomed in 1.3x; broll 1.0s for 0.2s; main 5.0s for 0.2s; broll 3.0s for 0.2s zoomed in 1.3x; main 1.0s for 0.3s zoomed in 1.3x; broll 5.5s for 0.3s; main 4.0s for 0.4s. Zoomed shots crop the center of the frame by 1.3x on all four sides and scale back up to full size. From 2.0 seconds on, play main.mp4 from its own 2.0 second mark to the end, so the output is 6 seconds long. Keep main.mp4's size (540x960), 30fps and its audio unchanged under the whole thing. Use ffmpeg and save it as output.mp4. ``` ## Run it without Claude This is the exact command we tested. Save it as `rapid-cut-montage-opener.sh` and run: ``` sh rapid-cut-montage-opener.sh main.mp4 broll.mp4 output.mp4 ``` ``` #!/bin/sh # Rapid-cut montage opener: eight quick shots from two clips in the first 2s, then the main clip plays on. # Usage: sh rapid-cut-montage-opener.sh main.mp4 broll.mp4 output.mp4 (the main clip's sound runs throughout) set -e MAIN="$1"; BROLL="$2"; OUT="$3" OPEN=2.0 # second at which the montage ends and the main clip carries on # one shot per line: clip (0 = main, 1 = b-roll), source start in seconds, zoom, length in seconds; # the lengths add up to OPEN and stretch at the end so the cutting slows down SHOTS="1 4.5 1.0 0.2 0 3.0 1.3 0.2 1 1.0 1.0 0.2 0 5.0 1.0 0.2 1 3.0 1.3 0.2 0 1.0 1.3 0.3 1 5.5 1.0 0.3 0 4.0 1.0 0.4" SIZE=$(ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=s=x:p=0 "$MAIN") W=${SIZE%x*}; H=${SIZE#*x} GRAPH=""; LABELS=""; N=0 while read CLIP START ZOOM LEN; do # each shot: cut LEN seconds from START, crop to the center by ZOOM and scale back to full size GRAPH="$GRAPH[$CLIP:v]trim=start=$START:duration=$LEN,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,fps=30,\ scale=$W:$H:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=$W/$ZOOM:$H/$ZOOM,scale=$W:$H,setsar=1[s$N];" LABELS="$LABELS[s$N]"; N=$((N + 1)) done <