Get this effect
Switch to Code in your Claude Desktop App
Install the skill (once)
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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/skillsAsk for the effect
Add a sepia to input.mp4 1 keeps the original contrast; higher gives darker browns and brighter creams: 1.2 Film grain strength: 6
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 sepia 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 |
|---|---|---|
CONTRAST | 1.2 | 1 keeps the original contrast; higher gives darker browns and brighter creams. |
GRAIN | 6 | Film grain strength. 0 turns it off; 15 looks like an old print. |
Without the skill
Don’t want to install the skill? Paste this prompt into Claude Code and Claude writes the command itself.
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Give all of input.mp4 a sepia tone from the first frame to the last. Use ffmpeg's colorchannelmixer so every output channel is the same gray mix (0.30 R + 0.57 G + 0.13 B) scaled to a brown tint: red at 100%, green at 85% and blue at 62% (rr=.30:rg=.57:rb=.13, gr=.255:gg=.485:gb=.11, br=.186:bg=.353:bb=.081). Then raise the contrast to 1.2 (eq=contrast=1.2) and add light moving film grain (noise=alls=6:allf=t). Keep the size, frame rate, length and audio the same. Save it as output.mp4.Run it without Claude
This is the exact command we tested. Save it as sepia.sh and run:
sh sepia.sh input.mp4 output.mp4Show the command
#!/bin/sh
# Sepia: turn the clip into warm brown monochrome like an aged photograph, with deeper shadows and light film grain.
# Usage: sh sepia.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
CONTRAST=1.2 # 1 keeps the original contrast; higher gives darker browns and brighter creams
GRAIN=6 # film grain strength; 0 turns it off, 15 looks like an old print
# Each output channel is the same gray mix (0.3 R + 0.57 G + 0.13 B) scaled to a brown tint:
# red at full strength, green at 85%, blue at 62%.
ffmpeg -y -i "$IN" -vf "colorchannelmixer=.30:.57:.13:0:.255:.485:.11:0:.186:.353:.081,eq=contrast=$CONTRAST,noise=alls=$GRAIN:allf=t" \
-c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy "$OUT"
