Make a Video — The Beginner-to-Finished-MP4 Skill
Two phases, eight sequential gates. Every gate produces a concrete artifact the next gate consumes. Don't skip gates.
When to use this skill — and when to hand off
Use this skill when:
- The user is new to HyperFrames and starting from a concept, script, or outline
- They want an end-to-end walkthrough, not framework reference material
- They haven't decided on format yet
Hand off when:
- The user pastes a URL and wants a video from that site → invoke
/website-to-hyperframes - The user explicitly wants a 9:16 vertical talking-head with face-cam + scene overlays → run Gates 1–4 here, then invoke
/short-form-videofrom Gate 5 onward - The user asks for framework rules, not a video → invoke
/hyperframes
The two phases
- Phase 1 — INTERVIEW (Gates 1–4): one conversational pass to gather *everything* before touching code. Intent, format, script, voice, style, assets, pacing. Synthesize into a
BRIEF.mdand wait for explicit approval. - Phase 2 — BUILD (Gates 5–8): scaffold → storyboard → compositions → lint → Studio preview → draft render → visual verification → MP4 preview → final render.
Gate 1 · Intent & format
Ask one question at a time via AskUserQuestion, multiple-choice where possible.
- What's this video for? (promo · social ad · launch teaser · product demo · tutorial · explainer · intro/outro card · other)
- Who's the audience? (open-ended)
- Target duration? (10–20s short · 20–45s promo · 45–90s explainer · 1.5–3 min lesson · custom)
- Aspect ratio? (16:9 1920×1080 · 9:16 1080×1920 · 1:1 1080×1080)
- Frame rate? (30 default · 60 for crisp UI · 24 cinematic)
- Platform / delivery constraints? (file size · deadline · where it'll play)
Gate: all six captured. If the answer is 9:16 + face-cam, plan to hand off to /short-form-video at Gate 5.
Full question bank: Read: references/interview-questions.md
Gate 2 · Script & voice
- Script source? (paste · outline → I'll draft · I'll record · TTS from text · no narration)
- If TTS: voice preference. Offer choices from
npx hyperframes tts --help. Also capture pace. - If face-cam: recording path · full-screen or corner placement · need transcription? (
npx hyperframes transcribe <file> --model small.en --json) - Captions? (off · hype · corporate · karaoke-word-by-word · minimal)
Gate: script captured (or drafted), audio plan captured, caption plan captured.
Gate 3 · Style intake
Before asking the user anything, inventory existing assets. Check <workspace-root>/assets/ and any project assets/ folder. Don't ask for what's already there.
Then ask progressively — they don't need answers to all of these:
- Style guide or brand doc? (paste/path · no)
- Color palette? (hex codes · none — use MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults)
- Fonts? (Google Fonts name(s) · file paths · none — use Inter + JetBrains Mono defaults)
- Logo file? (path · none — use text wordmark instead)
- Reference videos for vibe? (URLs/paths · none)
- Other assets? (screenshots · product photos · b-roll · music — list paths)
- MOTION_PHILOSOPHY aesthetic (black canvas · chrome type · perspective grid · whip transitions) or a different feel?
- Pacing? (kinetic 1–2s · balanced 2–3s · relaxed 3–5s)
- Music? (none · ambient pad 0.15 · music bed 0.4 · full 0.8 — file path if they have one)
- Outro / call-to-action text?
Never impose a brand on the user. Fall back to MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults *only* when they explicitly decline to supply a style.
Full style flow + MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults: Read: references/style-intake.md
Gate 4 · Brief synthesis (HARD-GATE before building)
- Read
MOTION_PHILOSOPHY.mdif it exists in the workspace root — mandatory if present. If missing, proceed with the defaults inreferences/style-intake.mdand note the absence in the brief. - Ask where projects live if it's not obvious:
- If video-projects/ exists → use video-projects/<slug>/ - Otherwise → ask the user
- Write
<project-folder>/BRIEF.md:
- slug · intent · audience · dimensions · fps · duration - script (full or outline) - voice choice · caption plan · face-cam plan - style profile: palette (hex), fonts, logo path, reference videos - pacing - asset inventory with paths - outro / CTA text
- Show the brief. WAIT for explicit approval. Don't proceed to Gate 5 without a clear "yes, build it."
Gate 5 · Scaffold & storyboard
Handoff check first
If the brief describes a 9:16 vertical talking-head with face-cam + scene overlays, invoke /short-form-video NOW and hand off the brief. Its 4-layer scaffold is purpose-built for that format.
Otherwise continue:
Scaffold
mkdir <project-folder>- If a sibling project with similar format exists, offer to copy its
hyperframes.json+meta.jsonas a template. Otherwise from inside the folder:npx hyperframes init - Edit
meta.jsonwith the user's slug, dimensions, fps. - Copy supplied assets into
<project-folder>/assets/. - Create
<project-folder>/assets/style-profile.mdfrom Gate 3 — single source of truth for palette/fonts/logo.
Storyboard
Generate <project-folder>/STORYBOARD.md using the template in references/storyboard-template.md. Every beat gets:
Beat N — TITLE (start–end, duration) — Concept in one sentence
Visual elements: [each element, size, animation, timing]
Motion language: [kind of motion]
Eases used: [3–4 distinct GSAP eases]
Exit: [transition into next beat]
Audio: [VO line / SFX / music layer]Top of file: a timing table with scene · start · duration · composition file.
Propose a rule-of-threes structure:
- Act 1 (hook) ≈ 20% of duration
- Act 2 (body) ≈ 55%
- Act 3 (payoff + outro with 4–6 second hold) ≈ 25%
(MOTION_PHILOSOPHY §0 Law 9, §1.)
Map user intents → catalog blocks: Read: references/catalog-intent-map.md
Gate: show storyboard + timing table. Iterate until the user approves.
Gate 6 · Build compositions
Invoke /hyperframes for framework rules. This skill owns the scaffold and discipline; /hyperframes enforces the rules.
Scaffold every sub-composition
<div data-composition-id="scene-name" data-start="..." data-duration="...">
<style>[data-composition-id="scene-name"] { /* scoped */ }</style>
<!-- DOM -->
<script>
(function(){
const SLOT_DURATION = ...;
const tl = gsap.timeline({ paused: true });
// ... tweens ...
tl.to({}, { duration: SLOT_DURATION }, 0); // anchor — MOTION_PHILOSOPHY Law 11
window.__timelines["scene-name"] = tl;
})();
</script>
</div>Full boilerplate + captions pattern + ambient-bg pattern: Read: references/composition-scaffold.md
Build rules
- Ambient background on
data-track-index="0"for the full composition duration. - Kinetic-type openers: per-word stagger 0.06–0.10s.
- Captions as body-level siblings of the root composition in
index.html, each withdata-track-index ≥ 20. Never inside scene timelines (MOTION_PHILOSOPHY §3.13). - Catalog blocks installed via
npx hyperframes add <name>. Immediately scope the block's CSS to[data-composition-id="..."]— catalog blocks ship withhtml, body {...}rules that bleed into the parent document when loaded as sub-compositions. - Vertical + face-cam: wrap native 1920×1080 face in a transform (
translate+scale) for bottom-half or full-screen mode. (If you end up here instead of/short-form-video, strongly consider the handoff.) - Apply ONLY what the user supplied. Their palette, their fonts, their logo. Don't inject anything else. If they chose MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults, pull the palette + font pair from
references/style-intake.md.
Determinism
No Math.random(), no Date.now(), no render-time fetch(). Use seeded PRNGs or harmonic-sin hashes (MOTION_PHILOSOPHY §3.10).
Gate 7 · Lint → Studio preview (PREVIEW GATE 1 — MANDATORY)
npx hyperframes lint— fix all errors, triage warnings.npx hyperframes previewin the background.- Wait for "Studio running" on
http://localhost:3002. - Hand the user the URL plus individual composition URLs (
http://localhost:3002/?comp=<id>). If the project has WebGL shader blocks, lead with the individual URLs — software WebGL fallback can stall the master composition. - WAIT for explicit "looks good, render a draft" before proceeding. Silence is not approval.
Hot reload is on — edits show up live.
Gate 8 · Draft render → visual verification → MP4 preview → final
Draft render
npx hyperframes render --quality draft --output renders/<slug>-draft.mp4Visual verification (MANDATORY before delivery)
Lint passing ≠ design working. Extract frames and view them.
mkdir -p renders/frames- For every beat hero moment AND every transition:
ffmpeg -y -ss <t> -i renders/<slug>-draft.mp4 -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 renders/frames/t<t>.png - Call the
Readtool on every PNG. The Read tool loads the image into context — don't just list filenames. - Confirm per frame: no cropped faces, correct face-mode per scene, text readable and on-palette, no overflow, transitions land on intended words, no blank frames.
- If anything's wrong: fix → re-render → re-verify. Never ship a broken draft.
MP4 preview (PREVIEW GATE 2 — MANDATORY)
npx serve renders -p 8080 -nDo NOT use Python's http.server — it doesn't support HTTP Range requests, so scrubbing breaks.
Hand the user http://localhost:8080/<slug>-draft.mp4. WAIT for explicit sign-off on playback and audio sync.
Final render
npx hyperframes render --quality standard --output renders/<slug>-final.mp4Report the output path. Done.
Full preflight + pre-delivery checklist: Read: references/build-checklist.md
Non-negotiables (load-bearing — do not soften)
- DO NOT skip PREVIEW GATE 1 (Studio) or PREVIEW GATE 2 (rendered MP4). Two gates per build, always.
- DO NOT claim a render is done until frames have been extracted AND Read via the Read tool.
- DO NOT build anywhere but inside a dedicated project folder. Never put
index.htmlat the workspace root. - DO NOT ask the user for assets before inventorying their workspace.
- DO NOT skip the
tl.to({}, {duration: SLOT_DURATION}, 0)anchor tween at the end of every sub-composition timeline. MOTION_PHILOSOPHY Law 11. - DO NOT use
Math.random()/Date.now()inside render logic. Seeded hashes only. - DO NOT add
class="clip"to<video>tags. It breaks them. - DO NOT impose a brand on the user. Ask first; fall back to MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults only when they explicitly decline.
References
references/interview-questions.md— full question bank by Gatereferences/style-intake.md— style interview + MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaultsreferences/catalog-intent-map.md— "user says X → install Y"references/storyboard-template.md— beat-by-beat template + worked examplereferences/composition-scaffold.md— scoped-styles + IIFE GSAP boilerplatereferences/build-checklist.md— preflight + pre-delivery gates
External (workspace-level):
MOTION_PHILOSOPHY.md— the one external reference this skill assumes exists. Aesthetic baseline. Fallback lives inreferences/style-intake.mdif the file is missing.
Related skills
/hyperframes— framework rules, invoke at Gate 6/hyperframes-cli— init · lint · preview · render · transcribe · tts/hyperframes-registry— installing catalog blocks/gsap— GSAP animation reference/short-form-video— hand off at Gate 5 for 9:16 talking-head format/website-to-hyperframes— hand off at Gate 1 if the starting input is a URL