---
title: "How to add an RGB split glitch with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "Once a second the red and blue layers jump apart for a few frames, like a broken signal. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/rgb-split-glitch
---

# How to add an RGB split glitch with Claude

Once a second the red and blue layers jump apart for a few frames, like a broken signal.

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 an RGB split glitch to input.mp4
   How far red and blue move apart, in pixels each way: 14
   Seconds between glitches: 1
   ```

## 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 an rgb split glitch 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                                         |
| -------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| `SPLIT`  | `14`    | How far red and blue move apart, in pixels each way. |
| `EVERY`  | `1`     | Seconds between glitches.                            |
| `LENGTH` | `0.12`  | How long each glitch lasts.                          |

## In other editors

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

Built in: **Chromatic aberration** · invideo editor (browser-based)

1. Start a timeline in the editor and upload your clip.
2. Select the shot and choose the Chromatic aberration video effect.
3. Adjust its controls, and keyframe any parameter that supports it to vary the effect.
4. Play the whole shot, then export.

Effects can be animated only where they support keyframes; the pages don't say which Chromatic aberration controls do.

Source: [AI Video Editor & Professional Post-Production Studio](https://invideo.io/editor/) (InVideo), 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 an RGB split glitch to input.mp4: for the first 0.12 seconds of every second, shift the red channel 14 pixels left and the blue channel 14 pixels right, and add flickering noise. Leave the rest of each second untouched. Keep the audio. Use ffmpeg and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

This is the exact command we tested. Save it as `rgb-split-glitch.sh` and run:

```
sh rgb-split-glitch.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/bin/sh
# RGB split glitch: for 0.12s every second the red and blue channels jump apart and the picture fizzes.
# Usage: sh rgb-split-glitch.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
SPLIT=14      # how far red and blue move apart, in pixels each way
EVERY=1       # seconds between glitches
LENGTH=0.12   # how long each glitch lasts

ON="lt(mod(t,$EVERY),$LENGTH)"
ffmpeg -y -i "$IN" -vf "rgbashift=rh=-$SPLIT:bh=$SPLIT:edge=wrap:enable='$ON',noise=alls=30:allf=t:enable='$ON'" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy "$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)
- [Camera shake **Camera shake**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/camera-shake)
- [Color reveal **Color reveal**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/color-reveal)
- [Countdown intro **Countdown intro**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/countdown-intro)

## 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)