Video to Frames

Claude cannot directly view video files, but can view images. This skill extracts frames from videos using ffmpeg, allowing Claude to "watch" videos by viewing sampled frames.

Prerequisites

Requires ffmpeg to be installed:

bash

brew install ffmpeg  # macOS
apt install ffmpeg   # Linux

Quick Workflow (2 Commands)

IMPORTANT: File paths with spaces, timestamps, and special characters are problematic. ALWAYS use this pattern:

Step 1: Copy + Probe + Extract (single command)

Extract a unique identifier from the user's path (like a timestamp) and use glob:

bash

/bin/cp -f /path/to/dir/*UNIQUE_PART* /tmp/video.mov && \
rm -rf /tmp/video-frames && mkdir -p /tmp/video-frames; \
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=r_frame_rate,duration -of csv=p=0 /tmp/video.mov && \
ffmpeg -y -v warning -i /tmp/video.mov /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png && \
/bin/ls /tmp/video-frames/ | wc -l

Example for Screen Recording 2026-01-10 at 11.33.27 AM.mov:

bash

/bin/cp -f ~/Desktop/Screen*11.33.27* /tmp/video.mov && \
rm -rf /tmp/video-frames && mkdir -p /tmp/video-frames; \
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=r_frame_rate,duration -of csv=p=0 /tmp/video.mov && \
ffmpeg -y -v warning -i /tmp/video.mov /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png && \
/bin/ls /tmp/video-frames/ | wc -l

This returns: frame_rate,duration on one line, then frame count.

Step 2: View frames

Sample frames evenly. Use Read tool on PNG files:

bash

# List available frames
/bin/ls /tmp/video-frames/

Then read frames with the Read tool:

•Short videos (<30 frames): Read frames 1, middle, last
•Medium videos (30-100 frames): Read 5-6 evenly spaced frames
•Long videos (>100 frames): Read 10-15 evenly distributed frames

Why This Pattern?

Problem	Solution
Spaces in filenames	`/bin/cp -f` with glob pattern handles any filename
Quoted paths fail	`/bin/cp -f` with glob avoids quoting issues
`cd` fails (zoxide)	Never use `cd`, use absolute paths
`rm *.png` fails in zsh	`rm -rf dir && mkdir -p dir` avoids glob entirely
Overwrite prompts	`/bin/cp -f` forces overwrite
Shell aliases interfere	Use `/bin/cp`, `/bin/ls` for reliability

Long Videos

For videos longer than 10 seconds, extract at lower FPS:

bash

# 2 FPS for long videos
ffmpeg -y -v warning -i /tmp/video.mov -vf "fps=2" /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png

# 1 FPS for very long videos
ffmpeg -y -v warning -i /tmp/video.mov -vf "fps=1" /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png

# Keyframes only (scene changes)
ffmpeg -y -v warning -i /tmp/video.mov -vf "select=eq(pict_type\,I)" -vsync vfr /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png

Specific Time Range

bash

# Extract 10 seconds starting at 1 minute
ffmpeg -y -v warning -ss 00:01:00 -t 10 -i /tmp/video.mov /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png

Resize Frames

bash

# Scale to 640px width (smaller files, faster reads)
ffmpeg -y -v warning -i /tmp/video.mov -vf "scale=640:-1" /tmp/video-frames/frame_%03d.png