video-creator

Purpose

Video content planning for product demos and marketing. Writes narration scripts with timing marks, creates scene-by-scene storyboards, defines shot lists, and lists required assets. Saves the complete production plan to a file. This skill creates PLANS for video production — not actual video files.

Called By (inbound)

• marketing (L2): demo/explainer video scripts
• launch (L1): product demo videos

Calls (outbound)

None — pure L3 utility.

Executable Instructions

Step 1: Receive Brief

Accept input from calling skill:

• topic — what the video is about (e.g. "Rune plugin demo", "Feature X walkthrough")
• audience — who will watch (e.g. "developers", "non-technical founders", "existing users")
• duration — target length in seconds (e.g. 60, 120, 300)
• platform — where it will be published: youtube | twitter | tiktok | loom | internal
• output_path — where to save the plan (default: marketing/video-plan.md)

Derive constraints from platform:

• YouTube: no strict length limit, chapters recommended for > 3min
• Twitter/X: max 140 seconds, hook in first 3 seconds
• TikTok: max 60 seconds, fast-paced cuts, captions required
• Loom: async-friendly, screen recording focus, no music needed

Step 2: Script

Write a narration script with timing marks. Before writing a single line, apply the Narration Craft principles below — a script the viewer HEARS lives or dies on the opening and the flow, not the shot list.

Structure:

• Hook (0–5s): opening line that grabs attention — state the problem or the payoff
• Setup (5–15s): context — who this is for and what they will learn
• Demo/Body (15s–[duration-15s]): main content broken into scenes
• CTA (last 10s): call to action — what to do next (star repo, sign up, share)

Format each section:

[00:00] HOOK
Narration: "..."
On screen: [what viewer sees]

[00:05] SETUP
Narration: "..."
On screen: [what viewer sees]

Step 3: Storyboard

Create a scene-by-scene breakdown:

For each scene:

• Scene number and name
• Duration in seconds
• Visual description (what appears on screen)
• Narration text (from Step 2)
• Transition type: cut | fade | zoom | slide

Example:

Scene 3: Live demo — install command
Duration: 12s
Visual: Terminal window, typed command "npm install -g @rune/cli", output scrolling
Narration: "Install in seconds with one command."
Transition: cut

Step 4: Shot List

Define exactly what needs to be recorded or shown:

Categorize by type:

• Screen recording: list each screen state to capture (URL, app state, what to do)
• Code snippet: list each code block to display (file path + line range, or inline)
• Diagram/slide: list each static visual needed (title, key points)
• Terminal: list each command sequence to record

Format:

Shot 1 — Screen recording
  URL: https://myapp.com/dashboard
  Action: Click "New Project" → fill form → click Create
  Duration: ~8s

Shot 2 — Terminal
  Command: npm install -g @rune/cli && rune init my-project
  Expected output: [describe what should appear]
  Duration: ~10s

Step 5: Assets Needed

List every asset required before recording can begin:

• Screenshots (which pages/states)
• Code snippets (which files, which sections)
• Diagrams (topic, style: flowchart | architecture | comparison table)
• Slide backgrounds or title cards
• Thumbnail (dimensions based on platform: YouTube 1280x720, Twitter 1200x628)

Step 6: Report

Use Write to save the complete video plan to marketing/video-plan.md (or the specified output_path):

# Video Plan: [topic]

- **Platform**: [platform]
- **Target Duration**: [duration]s
- **Audience**: [audience]
- **Created**: [date]

## Script
[full timestamped script from Step 2]

## Storyboard
[scene-by-scene breakdown from Step 3]

## Shot List
[all shots from Step 4]

## Assets Needed
[checklist from Step 5]

## Platform Notes
[constraints and tips for the target platform]

Then output a summary to the calling skill:

## Video Plan Created

- File: [output_path]
- Scenes: [count]
- Shots: [count]
- Estimated recording time: [n] minutes
- Assets to prepare: [count] items

### Next Steps
1. Prepare assets listed in the plan
2. Record shots in order from the shot list
3. Edit using the storyboard as reference

Narration Craft (decides whether a script hooks or bores)

A demo script is HEARD by a person, not read off a slide. These principles separate an engaging script from generic voiceover — apply them in Step 2, before writing any line.

The 9 principles:

1. Pain-first opening. Open on the viewer's biggest pain or a stat already in flight ("Nếu bạn hay phải…", "This repo has 9k stars and…"). NEVER a flat catalogue opener ("Today we'll look at…", "This is a tool that…") — it names no problem and gives zero reason not to scroll.
2. Contrast structures. "not just X but Y", "not X, it's Y", "like X but with Y". Contrast pulls attention.
3. 2nd-person address. "you'll see right away", "if you build on an M-series Mac…". Bring the viewer in.
4. Demonstrative immediacy. "right here", "this", "on the timeline now". Concrete and present.
5. Specific real names, keep the jargon. Name actual files, commands, competitors ("Final Cut", "Cursor", "ffmpeg"). Generic terms ("an AI tool", "the framework") are banned. Don't force-translate jargon into awkward words.
6. Quantified social proof — ONCE. "over 9k stars". Never dump stars + forks + issues back-to-back as separate fragments.
7. Short clauses, comma-flowed. "You can trim, replace, or regenerate it." One breath, not bullet fragments.
8. Caveat-as-feature. State one honest limit or a "who should NOT use this". This is the most trust-building line in the video — a retention feature, not filler.
9. Use-case landing. Close on a SPECIFIC viewer scenario, not "go check it out".

Named + numbered "weapons". Give each differentiator a title and a number ("Weapon 01/02"). Mine the 2-3 NON-OBVIOUS specifics (a regex, a guard, an algorithm, a fallback) — one precise surprising mechanism beats a generic capability list.

Connectors between scenes. Each scene after the first opens with a linguistic connector referring back ("The core of it is…", "Specifically…", "But note…") so the whole video plays as ONE monologue, not N telegraphic captions read in a row. Read the full script aloud in sequence — if it sounds like disconnected soundbites, rewrite.

Auto-fail patterns — reject the script if any appear:

• ❌ Hook/Problem/Solution/CTA fill-in-the-blank treated as isolated fragments
• ❌ Sidebar stats (stars/forks/issues) as separate one-line scenes
• ❌ Every sentence restarts as a stand-alone bullet ("X runs one pipeline. Y writes. Z narrates.")
• ❌ Generic capability claims ("full-featured", "very powerful", "popular in the community")
• ❌ Describing the README/repo instead of the product
• ❌ Closing with "go check it out" / "thanks for watching"

Voiceover: TTS-Safe Narration (when narration is machine-spoken)

When narration will be synthesized by a TTS engine (AI voiceover, not a human reading), the spoken narration and the on-screen text are SEPARATE channels — one is heard, one is read. Optimize each independently; never feed a raw slug, number, or symbol into TTS and hope the voice guesses right. (The Vietnamese examples below illustrate the pattern; apply the same phonetic + numbers-as-words substitution for whatever language the target TTS engine speaks.)

Numbers → spoken words (many neural TTS engines can misread bare digits — VN examples):

Form	TTS misreads	Write as
Version decimal	GPT 5.5 → "năm rưỡi"	GPT năm chấm năm
Stat decimal	82.7%	tám mươi hai phẩy bảy phần trăm
Spec	200MP	hai trăm megapixel
Price	$5 / 21 triệu	năm đô / hai mươi mốt triệu đồng
Multiplier / percent	2x / 30%	gấp đôi / ba mươi phần trăm

English/brand names → phonetic in narration, exact spelling on screen:

Term	narration (heard)	display (read)
README	ruýt my	README
ffmpeg	ép ép em peg	ffmpeg
GitHub / repo	git hâb / rề pô	GitHub / repo
API / GPT	ây pi ai / gí pi tí	API / GPT

Strip from spoken narration: emoji, URLs (say "github chấm com gạch…"), symbols (→ & % $ # / @), slash-commands (say "the plugin install command"), file extensions mid-sentence (say "the YAML file"), camelCase identifiers, ellipsis … and em-dash — (TTS misreads them — split into two short sentences). End every sentence with . or ? for a natural pause.

Keep the jargon, natural spoken register. Write the way a knowledgeable friend SAYS it — but keep the standard technical term ("commit", "endpoint", "prompt" stay in their usual form; a hard translation sounds wrong and loses meaning). Only translate when the local word is the one people actually use.

Production notes for a spoken video (if it will actually be produced, not just planned):

• One voice, one provider across all scenes — a voice/provider change mid-video is jarring.
• Measure TTS duration FIRST, then size each scene's visuals to the real audio length — estimating duration then rendering causes A/V drift.
• Karaoke captions are the #1 pro-signal for short-form (TikTok/Reels/Shorts): a bottom-center caption filling word-by-word in sync with the voice, keyword-accented. Muted-autoplay comprehension plus the single strongest "professional" cue — reserve a bottom caption band for it.

Note

This skill creates PLANS for video production. Actual recording and editing must be done by a human or a dedicated screen recording tool.

Output Format

Video Plan saved to marketing/video-plan.md with script, storyboard, shot list, assets checklist, and platform notes. Summary report with scene/shot counts and estimated recording time. See Step 6 Report above for full template.

Constraints

1. MUST confirm video parameters (duration, resolution, format) before generating
2. MUST NOT exceed reasonable file sizes without user confirmation
3. MUST save to project assets directory

Sharp Edges

Known failure modes for this skill. Check these before declaring done.

Failure Mode	Severity	Mitigation
Platform constraints not applied (e.g., Twitter max 140s exceeded)	HIGH	Step 1: derive constraints from platform immediately — they constrain everything downstream
Missing CTA section in script	MEDIUM	CTA (last 10s) is required in every script — no exceptions regardless of duration
Not saving to file (only verbal output)	HIGH	Constraint 3 + Step 6: Write to output_path is mandatory — verbal only = no persistence
Promising an actual deliverable video file	MEDIUM	Note explicitly: this skill creates a PLAN — actual recording is done by a human
Flat catalogue opener ("Today we'll look at…") instead of a pain-first hook	HIGH	Narration Craft #1: open on the viewer's biggest pain — an opener that names no problem loses the scroll in 2 seconds
Raw slugs/numbers/symbols left in narration for TTS ("README", "82.7%", "5.5")	HIGH	Voiceover section: rewrite spoken narration phonetically + numbers-as-words; keep exact spelling only on the display channel
Script reads as N disconnected soundbites	MEDIUM	Narration Craft connectors: each scene after the first opens referring back — read the whole script aloud before declaring done

Done When

• Platform constraints identified and applied to duration/format
• Narration Craft applied — pain-first opening, cross-scene connectors, ≥1 caveat-as-feature, no auto-fail patterns
• If narration is TTS-spoken: numbers-as-words + phonetic brand names in the spoken channel, exact spelling on display
• Script written with timing marks (hook, setup, demo/body, CTA)
• Storyboard created scene-by-scene with transitions
• Shot list categorized by type (screen recording, terminal, code, diagram)
• Assets needed checklist generated
• video-plan.md written to output_path with the runtime's file-edit capability
• Video Plan Created report emitted with scene count, shot count, and asset count

Cost Profile

~500-1500 tokens input, ~500-1000 tokens output. Sonnet for script quality.