video-effects

Video effects

One effect on your own talking-head clip, one command, one MP4 back. Each of the 20 effect skills is a short card that calls this engine. Install this folder beside them.

Use it for: a scroll-stopping moment inside a reel, a transition between two points, or an ending.

Set up once

You need ffmpeg, Node 18 or newer, and Python 3 with torch.

cd ~/.claude/skills/video-effects
npm i puppeteer
python3 -m pip install torch torchvision pillow numpy

The cut-out of you comes from RobustVideoMatting. torch.hub downloads the model from GitHub the first time. It is GPL-3.0 licensed and not bundled here. It runs on Apple Silicon, an NVIDIA card or the CPU (slow).

Run an effect

node ~/.claude/skills/video-effects/run.cjs list
node ~/.claude/skills/video-effects/run.cjs grid-dive my-clip.mp4 grid-dive.mp4
node ~/.claude/skills/video-effects/run.cjs title-orbit my-clip.mp4 title-orbit.mp4 --words "BIG NEWS"

Option	What it does
--at 1.2	When the effect starts, in seconds. Default 0.6s, earlier on a short clip
--len 1.5	How long it plays. Each effect has its own default
--words "..."	The words it shows, for the six effects that show words
--from 4 --to 9	Use only this part of your clip
--stage blue	The studio colour behind you: white (default), blue or grey
--no-fit	Keep your framing. By default your head is scaled and centred to where the effects expect it
--check	Fit and load the effect only, no render. Takes seconds
--keep	Keep the work files in <out>.work/

The 20 effects

Skill	What it does to your clip	Words
grid-dive	Pulls back into a wall of tiles of your clip, then dives back in
title-orbit	Your words circle your head, then the camera flies through a letter	12
magnifying-lens	A glass lens magnifies your chest, then opens out
portal	A ring of blue light opens and the camera flies through it
clone-room	Copies of you step out behind you
infinite-zoom	A frame inside a frame, and the camera zooms through both
cube-spin	Your shot turns a quarter on a 3D cube
liquid-glass	A drop of glass grows into a pane and the camera dives through
screen-in-screen	Pulls back to a laptop playing your shot, then dives back in
frame-break	You lean out of a printed photo of yourself
tile-tunnel	Flies backwards down a tunnel, then back into you
depth-ui	App windows float at different depths around you	60
vertigo	A dolly zoom down a gridded corridor
phone-fan	Your shot on a phone, four more fan out behind it
shatter	Your shot cracks like glass and the shards fly past
spotlight	Lights down, one theatre light on your face
pull-back-reveal	Pulls back to show your shot inside a video editor	24
ribbon-wrap	A ribbon with your words wraps round you	14
zoom-through	A chat with your ask, then a fly-through into your clip	60
head-pop-out	Your head springs out of a blue panel. An ending	40

How it works

1. prep.py frames finds your head in five sample frames, scales and crops your clip to 1080x1920 so your head sits where the effects expect it, and writes every frame.
2. The page in page/ loads the effect from fx/ and works out which frames it needs cut out.
3. prep.py matte cuts you out on those frames only.
4. Chrome shoots 60 frames a second. Each frame is drawn from the time alone, so a check and the render always agree.
5. ffmpeg blends pairs into 30fps with light motion blur and writes H.264 (limited range, bt709) with your audio.

Your shot before and after the effect is your clip at the effects' framing, 1.14x tighter than the fitted frame. Effects that open on their own layout dissolve in from your shot over 0.3s.

Check before you post

• Look at it. Pull stills from the middle of the effect and from both hand-offs. Your face is never doubled and never missing.
• Fit. Read the note: lines run.cjs prints. A head near the top or the edge of your frame means the effects sit off target. Film with space above your head.
• HDR. iPhone HDR clips come out washed out. Export as SDR (Rec.709) first. run.cjs warns you.
• Time. Cutting you out ran at about 6 frames a second on an Apple Silicon Mac mini in testing. head-pop-out cuts out every frame to the end, so keep that clip short.