---
name: make-a-video
description: Beginner-friendly end-to-end video creator for HyperFrames. Use when the user says "make a video", "create a video", "new video", "build a video", "video from scratch", "I want to make a video", "help me create a video", or when someone who's never used HyperFrames before arrives with a concept, script, or rough idea and wants a finished MP4. Interviews the user in one pass, then builds the full video with mandatory preview and visual-verification gates.
---

# 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-edit` from 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.md` and 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.

1. What's this video for? (promo · social ad · launch teaser · product demo · tutorial · explainer · intro/outro card · other)
2. Who's the audience? (open-ended)
3. Target duration? (10–20s short · 20–45s promo · 45–90s explainer · 1.5–3 min lesson · custom)
4. Aspect ratio? (16:9 1920×1080 · 9:16 1080×1920 · 1:1 1080×1080)
5. Frame rate? (30 default · 60 for crisp UI · 24 cinematic)
6. 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-edit` at Gate 5.

Full question bank: `Read: references/interview-questions.md`

---

## Gate 2 · Script & voice

1. Script source? (paste · outline → I'll draft · I'll record · TTS from text · no narration)
2. If TTS: voice preference. Offer choices from `npx hyperframes tts --help`. Also capture pace.
3. If face-cam: recording path · full-screen or corner placement · need transcription? (`npx hyperframes transcribe <file> --model small.en --json`)
4. 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:

1. Style guide or brand doc? (paste/path · no)
2. Color palette? (hex codes · none — use MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults)
3. Fonts? (Google Fonts name(s) · file paths · none — use Inter + JetBrains Mono defaults)
4. Logo file? (path · none — use text wordmark instead)
5. Reference videos for vibe? (URLs/paths · none)
6. Other assets? (screenshots · product photos · b-roll · music — list paths)
7. MOTION_PHILOSOPHY aesthetic (black canvas · chrome type · perspective grid · whip transitions) or a different feel?
8. Pacing? (kinetic 1–2s · balanced 2–3s · relaxed 3–5s)
9. Music? (none · ambient pad 0.15 · music bed 0.4 · full 0.8 — file path if they have one)
10. 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)

1. **Read `MOTION_PHILOSOPHY.md`** if it exists in the workspace root — mandatory if present. If missing, proceed with the defaults in `references/style-intake.md` and note the absence in the brief.
2. **Ask where projects live** if it's not obvious:
   - If `video-projects/` exists → use `video-projects/<slug>/`
   - Otherwise → ask the user
3. **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
4. **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-edit` NOW and hand off the brief. Its transcript-driven workflow covers hooks, cuts, captions, footage, and sound.

Otherwise continue:

### Scaffold

1. `mkdir <project-folder>`
2. If a sibling project with similar format exists, offer to copy its `hyperframes.json` + `meta.json` as a template. Otherwise from inside the folder: `npx hyperframes init`
3. Edit `meta.json` with the user's slug, dimensions, fps.
4. Copy supplied assets into `<project-folder>/assets/`.
5. Create `<project-folder>/assets/style-profile.md` from 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

```html
<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 with `data-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 with `html, 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-edit`, 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)

1. `npx hyperframes lint` — fix all errors, triage warnings.
2. `npx hyperframes preview` in the background.
3. Wait for "Studio running" on `http://localhost:3002`.
4. 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.
5. **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

```bash
npx hyperframes render --quality draft --output renders/<slug>-draft.mp4
```

### Visual verification (MANDATORY before delivery)

Lint passing ≠ design working. Extract frames and **view them**.

1. `mkdir -p renders/frames`
2. For every beat hero moment AND every transition:
   ```bash
   ffmpeg -y -ss <t> -i renders/<slug>-draft.mp4 -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 renders/frames/t<t>.png
   ```
3. **Call the `Read` tool on every PNG.** The Read tool loads the image into context — don't just list filenames.
4. 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.
5. If anything's wrong: fix → re-render → re-verify. Never ship a broken draft.

### MP4 preview (PREVIEW GATE 2 — MANDATORY)

```bash
npx serve renders -p 8080 -n
```

Do 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

```bash
npx hyperframes render --quality standard --output renders/<slug>-final.mp4
```

Report 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.html` at 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 Gate
- `references/style-intake.md` — style interview + MOTION_PHILOSOPHY defaults
- `references/catalog-intent-map.md` — "user says X → install Y"
- `references/storyboard-template.md` — beat-by-beat template + worked example
- `references/composition-scaffold.md` — scoped-styles + IIFE GSAP boilerplate
- `references/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 in `references/style-intake.md` if 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-edit` — 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