6 Video Effects Claude Can Add to Your Clip With Remotion

Copy-paste prompts that get Claude Code to add captions, zooms and more to your own video using Remotion.

Remotion is a free-for-individuals framework that builds videos out of code, and it now ships official skills for Claude Code. That means you can drop your own clip into a project, describe an effect in plain English, and Claude writes the code that renders it. Below is the setup and six prompts you can copy.

What you need

• Node.js and npm on your laptop (Windows, Mac or Linux).

• Claude Code, installed and signed in.

• Remotion (free for individuals, small companies of up to 3 employees and non-profits; bigger companies need a paid Company License). See the Remotion license.

• Remotion Agent Skills or the Remotion Claude Code plugin (pick one, both free). See the skills docs and plugin docs.

• Your own video clip, ideally a short vertical MP4.

Step by step

1. Create a blank Remotion project and install it:

npx create-video --yes --blank my-video
cd my-video
npm install

2. Add the Remotion skills so Claude knows how Remotion works. Use one route only:

npx skills add remotion-dev/skills

Or install the plugin instead:

claude plugin marketplace add remotion-dev/claude-code-plugin
claude plugin install remotion@remotion

3. Copy your clip into the public/ folder of the project and rename it clip.mp4. Remotion loads local files from this folder with staticFile() (docs).

4. Start the preview with npm run dev. Remotion Studio opens in your browser.

5. In a second terminal, go into the same folder and run claude. Paste one of the prompts below. Watch the preview update, then ask for changes in plain English.

Effect 1: Word-by-word captions

My video is public/clip.mp4. Create a vertical 1080x1920 composition that plays it full screen at its original length. Transcribe the speech locally (follow Remotion's transcribing docs, for example @remotion/install-whisper-cpp) and add bold word-by-word captions in the lower third. Highlight the word being spoken in yellow, white text with a dark outline, max 3 words on screen. Do not download any other media.

Effect 2: Punch-in zooms

Using public/clip.mp4 in the existing composition, add 3 quick punch-in zooms: scale from 100% to 120% over 6 frames with a spring, hold, then ease back out. Put them at 2s, 5s and 8s, and keep my face centred. Expose the zoom times as an array at the top of the file so I can edit them.

Effect 3: Cinematic look

Give public/clip.mp4 a cinematic look: slightly warm colour grade with a CSS filter, a soft vignette, subtle animated film grain, and black letterbox bars that slide in during the first 15 frames. Keep the original audio untouched.

Effect 4: Hook title intro

Add a 2-second hook title before public/clip.mp4 starts. Text: "Watch till the end". Each word should drop in one after another with a spring, on a dark blurred freeze-frame of the first frame of my clip, then cut straight into the clip. Make the text easy to change in one variable.

Effect 5: Split-screen twin

Make a split-screen "twin" effect: show public/clip.mp4 twice, top and bottom halves of a 1080x1920 frame. Mirror the bottom copy horizontally and start it 10 frames later. Add a thin white divider line. Use the audio from the top copy only.

Effect 6: Glitch transition

I have two clips: public/clip.mp4 and public/clip2.mp4. Play them back to back with a 10-frame glitch transition at the cut: RGB channel split, a few horizontal slice offsets and a quick flash. Keep it short and clean, no copyrighted sound effects.

6. When you like the result, ask Claude to render it to MP4, or run npx remotion render yourself. Check the final file, because rendering is stricter than the preview about missing files and fonts (Tella guide).

Good to know

• Licence: Remotion is free for individuals and very small teams. If you work at a company with more than 3 employees, check whether you need a Company License.

• Claude Code costs money to run on most plans. Long back-and-forth on a video can use a lot of usage.

• Results vary. The same prompt can give slightly different code each time. Ask for small fixes ("move captions up 100px") rather than starting over.

• Captions accuracy: local Whisper transcription is good but not perfect, especially for Hinglish. Read through the captions before posting.

• Rights: only use footage, music and fonts you own or are allowed to use.

• Heavy clips: long or 4K videos render slowly on a laptop. Start with a short 1080p clip.

Sources

• Remotion: Claude Code plugin

• Remotion: Agent Skills

• Remotion: staticFile()

• Remotion: Transcribing audio

• Remotion license

• Tella: How to use Remotion Agent Skills with Claude Code

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