---
title: "How to add soft focus with Claude (tested prompt and ffmpeg command)"
description: "Half a second in, the whole shot melts into a hazy blur: every edge goes soft and a faint glow lifts the picture, while the scene stays recognizable underneath. Install one skill and ask Claude Code, or run the ffmpeg command we tested yourself."
url: https://www.recharm.com/effects/soft-focus
---

# How to add soft focus with Claude

Half a second in, the whole shot melts into a hazy blur: every edge goes soft and a faint glow lifts the picture, while the scene stays recognizable underneath.

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 soft focus to input.mp4
   Blur sigma in pixels for the softened copy: 8
   How much of the softened copy replaces the sharp picture (0-1): 0.80
   ```

## 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 soft focus 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                                                          |
| ---------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `SOFTNESS` | `8`     | Blur sigma in pixels for the softened copy. Higher melts more detail. |
| `MIX`      | `0.80`  | How much of the softened copy replaces the sharp picture (0-1).       |
| `GLOW`     | `0.45`  | How strongly the wide glow is screened over the picture (0-1).        |
| `START`    | `0.5`   | Second the soft focus starts fading in.                               |
| `RAMP`     | `0.5`   | Seconds it takes to reach full softness.                              |

## Without the skill

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

```
In input.mp4, add a soft focus (dreamy) look that fades in from 0.5 seconds to full strength at 1.0 seconds and stays to the end; before 0.5s the video must be untouched. Build the soft look from three copies of the frame: blend a Gaussian-blurred copy (sigma 8 px) over the sharp picture at 80% opacity (normal blend), then screen a much wider blurred copy (sigma 40 px) over that at 45% opacity so the light glows. Fade it in by overlaying the soft version on the original with its alpha ramping from 0 to 1 between 0.5s and 1.0s. Keep the size (540x960), 30fps, 6 seconds and the audio. Use ffmpeg, encode H.264 yuv420p and save it as output.mp4.
```

## Run it without Claude

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

```
sh soft-focus.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
```

```
#!/bin/sh
# Soft focus: the whole picture goes hazy and dreamy, detail softened and highlights glowing, fading in from 0.5s.
# Usage: sh soft-focus.sh input.mp4 output.mp4
# Needs ffmpeg.
set -e
IN="$1"; OUT="$2"
SOFTNESS=8     # blur sigma in pixels for the softened copy
MIX=0.80       # how much of the softened copy replaces the sharp picture (0-1)
GLOW=0.45      # how strongly a wide, blurred glow is screened over the picture (0-1)
START=0.5      # second the soft focus starts fading in
RAMP=0.5       # seconds it takes to reach full softness

ffmpeg -y -v error -i "$IN" -filter_complex "
  [0:v]format=gbrp,split=3[sharp][a][b];
  [a]gblur=sigma=$SOFTNESS[soft];
  [b]gblur=sigma=$((SOFTNESS * 5))[wide];
  [sharp][soft]blend=all_mode=normal:all_opacity=$MIX[hazy];
  [hazy][wide]blend=all_mode=screen:all_opacity=$GLOW,format=yuva420p,fade=t=in:st=$START:d=$RAMP:alpha=1[dreamy];
  [0:v][dreamy]overlay,format=yuv420p[v]" \
  -map "[v]" -map 0:a? -r 30 -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a copy "$OUT"
```

## More overlays and light

- [Anamorphic streak **Anamorphic streak**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/anamorphic-streak)
- [Aurora **Aurora**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/aurora)
- [Blood splatter **Blood splatter**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/blood-splatter)
- [Bokeh lights **Bokeh lights**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/bokeh-lights)
- [Camera flash **Camera flash**](https://www.recharm.com/effects/camera-flash)

## 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)