analyze-video

Extract video frames with FFmpeg and generate visual transcript descriptions.

584|97|Updated Nov 10, 2025
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/barefootford/buttercut --skill analyze-video
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: analyze-video
Source: https://github.com/barefootford/buttercut/tree/main/.claude/skills/analyze-video
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/barefootford/buttercut --skill analyze-video

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill requires ffmpeg, ruby, and includes scripts (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

Audio transcripts lack visual context, making it hard to understand the full story of a video. This Skill enriches transcripts with detailed visual descriptions, providing a comprehensive overview for intelligent editing.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Frame Extraction: Uses FFmpeg to intelligently extract key frames from video files.
  • AI Visual Analysis: Analyzes extracted frames to generate descriptive text about subjects, settings, and actions.
  • Visual Transcript Creation: Integrates visual descriptions directly into the audio transcript, creating a "visual transcript" for rough cut generation.
  • Use Case: After transcribing a product review video, use this skill to add descriptions like "Close-up of product packaging" or "User demonstrating feature" at relevant timestamps, making the transcript much more useful for editing.

Quick Start

Analyze the video at '/path/to/my/product_review.mov' and add visual descriptions to its transcript for the 'product-launch' library.

Frequently Asked Questions about analyze-video

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I add visual descriptions to video transcripts?▼

Extract key frames from your video using FFmpeg, analyze them with AI vision to generate visual descriptions, then integrate those descriptions into your audio transcript to create a comprehensive visual transcript for editing.

Can I use FFmpeg to automatically extract frames from videos for analysis?▼

Yes. FFmpeg intelligently extracts key frames at defined intervals—start, middle, and end for longer videos; a single frame at 2 seconds for short videos—sampling no more frequently than every 30 seconds to balance coverage and efficiency.

What do I need before I can enhance my video transcript with visual context?▼

You need an existing audio transcript for your video file, FFmpeg installed for frame extraction, and Ruby to run the transcript-cleaning tool. The Skill then generates visual descriptions and updates your transcript JSON incrementally per clip.

How does visual transcripting improve video editing workflows?▼

Visual transcripts pair audio dialogue with timestamped visual descriptions—like 'close-up of product packaging' or 'user demonstrating feature'—giving editors a complete narrative map for faster rough-cut generation and better scene selection.

Does this work with videos of different lengths?▼

Yes. The Skill adapts frame sampling to video duration: longer videos get frames at start, middle, and end; shorter videos get a single frame at 2 seconds, ensuring efficient analysis regardless of length.

What file formats and tools does visual transcript generation require?▼

Requires FFmpeg for frame extraction from video files, Ruby for transcript processing, and JSON-formatted audio transcripts as input. It outputs updated visual_video.json files with incremental visual entries per clip.