video-understand Checked
Installation
Copy the prompt below and send it to your AI assistant (e.g. Claude Code) — it will follow the instructions and install automatically.
Install the "video-understand" skill by following the instructions at https://skill123.me/install/calesthio-video-understand.
Run in your terminal — downloads and installs to ~/.claude/skills/.
curl -fsSL https://skill123.me/install/calesthio-video-understand.sh | bash
Download the zip and extract it into your skills directory (e.g. ~/.claude/skills/), then restart your session.
⬇ Download v1.0.0 · 9 KBNot live-tested yet — this skill is rated on static analysis only.
About this skill
Understand video content locally using ffmpeg frame extraction and Whisper transcription. No API keys needed.
Use when: (1) Understanding what a video contains, (2) Transcribing video audio locally,
(3) Extracting key frames for visual analysis, (4) Getting video content without API keys.
video-understand
Understand video content locally using ffmpeg for frame extraction and Whisper for transcription. Fully offline, no API keys required.
Documentation
Understand video content locally using ffmpeg frame extraction and Whisper transcription. No API keys needed.
Use when: (1) Understanding what a video contains, (2) Transcribing video audio locally,
(3) Extracting key frames for visual analysis, (4) Getting video content without API keys.
video-understand
Understand video content locally using ffmpeg for frame extraction and Whisper for transcription. Fully offline, no API keys required.
Prerequisites
ffmpeg+ffprobe(required):brew install ffmpegopenai-whisper(optional, for transcription):pip install openai-whisper
Commands
# Scene detection + transcribe (default)
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4
# Keyframe extraction
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 -m keyframe
# Regular interval extraction
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 -m interval
# Limit frames extracted
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 --max-frames 10
# Use a larger Whisper model
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 --whisper-model small
# Frames only, skip transcription
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 --no-transcribe
# Quiet mode (JSON only, no progress)
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 -q
# Output to file
python3 skills/video-understand/scripts/understand_video.py video.mp4 -o result.json
CLI Options
| Flag | Description |
|------|-------------|
| video | Input video file (positional, required) |
| -m, --mode | Extraction mode: scene (default), keyframe, interval |
| --max-frames | Maximum frames to keep (default: 20) |
| --whisper-model | Whisper model size: tiny, base, small, medium, large (default: base) |
| --no-transcribe | Skip audio transcription, extract frames only |
| -o, --output | Write result JSON to file instead of stdout |
| -q, --quiet | Suppress progress messages, output only JSON |
Extraction Modes
| Mode | How it works | Best for |
|------|-------------|----------|
| scene | Detects scene changes via ffmpeg select='gt(scene,0.3)' | Most videos, varied content |
| keyframe | Extracts I-frames (codec keyframes) | Encoded video with natural keyframe placement |
| interval | Evenly spaced frames based on duration and max-frames | Fixed sampling, predictable output |
If scene mode detects no scene changes, it automatically falls back to interval mode.
Output
The script outputs JSON to stdout (or file with -o). See references/output-format.md for the full schema.
View full documentation
{
"video": "video.mp4",
"duration": 18.076,
"resolution": {"width": 1224, "height": 1080},
"mode": "scene",
"frames": [
{"path": "/abs/path/frame_0001.jpg", "timestamp": 0.0, "timestamp_formatted": "00:00"}
],
"frame_count": 12,
"transcript": [
{"start": 0.0, "end": 2.5, "text": "Hello and welcome..."}
],
"text": "Full transcript...",
"note": "Use the Read tool to view frame images for visual understanding."
}
Use the Read tool on frame image paths to visually inspect extracted frames.
References
references/output-format.md-- Full JSON output schema documentation
Score breakdown
Assessment methodology
Version history
Imported from calesthio/OpenMontage@main