dvcrn Grab Videos and Frames Skill
Download videos and extract frames using yt-dlp + ffmpeg.
Quick Reference
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Download YouTube video | yt-dlp -f best <url> |
| Download Shorts | yt-dlp <youtube.com/@user/shorts> |
| Extract frame @ 5s | ffmpeg -ss 5 -i video.mp4 -vframes 1 out.jpg |
| Frames every 2s | ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf fps=0.5 out%03d.png |
| Random frame 5-15s | ffmpeg -ss $((RANDOM%11+5)) -i video.mp4 -vframes 1 out.jpg |
YouTube Download
# Download best quality
yt-dlp -f best "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXX"
# Download Shorts playlist (first 20)
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@user/shorts" --playlist-items 1-20
# List available formats
yt-dlp -F "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXX"
# Download specific format (e.g., 1080p)
yt-dlp -f "best[height<=1080][ext=mp4]" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXX"
# Download audio only
yt-dlp -x "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXX"
Frame Extraction
# Single frame at timestamp
ffmpeg -ss 5 -i video.mp4 -vframes 1 -q:v 2 frame.jpg
# Random frame (5-15 seconds)
ffmpeg -ss $((RANDOM % 11 + 5)) -i video.mp4 -vframes 1 -q:v 2 frame.jpg
# Frames every N seconds
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf "fps=0.5" frame_%03d.png # every 2s
# Scale down for thumbnails
ffmpeg -ss 10 -i video.mp4 -vf "scale=640:-1" -vframes 1 -q:v 5 thumb.jpg
# Batch from all videos
for f in *.mp4; do ffmpeg -ss 5 -i "$f" -vframes 1 "${f%.mp4}_thumb.jpg"; done
Batch Operations
# Download multiple URLs
for url in "url1" "url2" "url3"; do yt-dlp "$url"; done
# Extract frame from each video
for f in *.mp4 *.webm; do [ -f "$f" ] || continue; dur=$(ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 "$f"); rnd=$((RANDOM % 11 + 5)); ffmpeg -ss "$rnd" -i "$f" -vframes 1 "frames/${f%.mp4}_${rnd}s.jpg" -y; done
Output Directory
# Recommended structure
workspace/
├── downloads/ # Raw videos
├── frames/ # Extracted frames
├── thumbnails/ # Small thumbs
└── clips/ # Trimmed clips
Important Notes
- Rate limits: YouTube may rate-limit excessive downloads
- Format support: yt-dlp supports 1700+ sites
- Storage: Videos can be large; use
-f best[height<=720]for smaller files - Permissions: May need
chmod +xfor scripts - yt-dlp JS: Requires Node.js or deno for some YouTube formats
- Installation: Need install
yt-dlpandffmpegtools withapt install <tool-name>on Linux and withbrew install <tool-name>on macOS, or ask user to download it fromhttps://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releasesandhttps://ffmpeg.org/download.html
Common Patterns
Download + extract 1 frame:
yt-dlp -o video.mp4 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXX"
ffmpeg -ss 5 -i video.mp4 -vframes 1 -q:v 2 thumb.jpg
Thumbnail batch:
mkdir -p thumbnails
for f in *.mp4; do ffmpeg -ss 5 -i "$f" -vf "scale=320:-1" -vframes 1 -q:v 5 "thumbnails/${f%.mp4}.jpg" -y; done
Duration check:
ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 video.mp4
Extented Abilities and skills
Learn other abilities and skills from yt-dl help
yt-dlp --help
Learn other abilities and skills from ffmpeg help
ffmpeg -h