create-motion-graphics

# Create Motion Graphics ## Plugin host and project Use the `chatcut` MCP server and the project ID from the user's editor URL or the plugin's project result. This plugin works with the Web editor, including local development URLs. Do not open ChatCut Desktop or use `chatcut_desktop` for a Web project. If `chatcut` tools are unavailable, report the connection failure; do not submit the task to the editor's native Agent as a substitute. ## Find MG references before designing ### Browse and confirm a visual direction For production, reuse an accepted project style or user-supplied brand/reference. Use `manage_design_style get` when its full spec is not already known. Routine text/placement edits need no new style selection or catalog rescan. When a new direction is needed or the user asks to browse alternatives, start with `browse_library` `references: {view: "style-overview"}`. Read ALL numbered contact sheets, following `nextOffset` until `complete`. They contain published, agent-enabled style representatives, including linked existing Design Styles. `list_presets` is only the legacy catalog subset; it cannot replace this visual overview. Retry a failed page; report an incomplete overview instead of silently skipping it. For speech-led video, understand the spoken content and inspect representative video frames before shortlisting styles. Reuse transcript and frame evidence already in context. Consider the topic, delivery tone, on-screen language, and the footage's color, subject framing and background alongside the style previews. When the visual direction is not yet agreed, shortlist up to 6 distinct fits for the current content and footage, and read their `hero` parts. Load the host's `widget-forms` skill and show actual `heroPreview.url` images with short names. Tool-returned images are evidence for the agent, not a user-facing picker; text-only choices do not show the visual differences. Keep each choice mapped to its reference ID; use the form's Other branch for preferences or another batch without repeating choices or adding a separate Show more option. Wait for the selection before applying a new style and producing the MG, unless the user has already chosen a direction or explicitly delegated the style choice. An Other answer is not acceptance. ### Apply the selected style Read the selected representative's `summary`, `hero` and `members`. Follow its `designStyleAction` with `manage_design_style`: - `apply_preset`: use the returned `presetId` directly; do not clone or update the preset merely to save reference metadata. - `apply`: reuse the returned `designStyleId` for an existing saved user style. - `create`: only an independent reference needs a new user-owned style. Define and save its palette, fonts and reusable visual rules from the selected reference. Reuse the reference's documented palette; if absent, derive a coherent palette from its representative image. Save `designSpec.referenceSources: [{id: "<reference ID>"}]` and the individual `heroPreview.url` in BOTH `thumbnailUrl` and `designSpec.images: [{role: "style reference", url: "<heroPreview.url>"}]`. Use `applyToProject: true`; preserve existing images when patching an array. After applying, call `get` for the fresh full spec and source IDs; do not carry over the previous style's cached rules. For a new style, verify that its palette, fonts, source, cover and reference image were saved. A source ID alone does not save an image. Reference images are visual evidence, not footage/backgrounds to embed or example copy to reproduce. Use `fontRecommendations["zh-Hans"]` / `.en` according to the actual on-screen text, including bilingual text and Latin numbers. Reuse an accepted font plan; an empty language group is unresolved. Match the reference's typographic character and heading/body hierarchy, and check glyph coverage and runtime availability. Save selected families/roles in `designSpec.fonts`, and language, weight, italic and required axes in `styleGuide`. A cross-style form example cannot replace this plan. Only when curating missing fonts or explicitly adapting typography, read [Font matching](references/font-matching.md); Chinese matching starts from a generated Chinese effect image, not English letterforms. ### Match instances to the needed MG forms Use the spoken content and target frames to decide which MG forms are useful; let the reference previews refine those choices. Keep the confirmed visual language across the video, and find suitable instances for each needed form. Choose instances yourself unless the user asks to compare them. Different forms can use different instances; recurring components can reuse an inspected one. Follow `nextReferenceSearch` when returned: - With related members, browse `kind: "instance", styleId: "<representative UUID>"` or read relevant member IDs. - If a needed form has no fitting member, search the WHOLE instance library by content/form `query` or `facets.form`, omitting `styleId`, `facets.style` and style-name terms, even if other forms already have same-style matches. - Compare the cover collage, then read selected IDs with `parts: ["summary", "hero"]`. Add `motion` for animation and `code` for implementation. If a code-backed reference returns `templateInspection`, use its read-only call for saved property schema/defaults; JSX may read props without declaring their values. `legacyTemplateRefs` are template IDs: `manage_template get` reads metadata, and `list_assets` reads MG properties. Neither applies or copies a template. `inspect_asset` is for current-project media/MGs, not catalog source IDs. Adapt the instance's composition, hierarchy, spacing and reveal structure to the fixed project fonts, palette, materials and actual shot. If the broader form search also has no fit, extend the style board and state that limitation. Batch relevant detail reads; finding one instance does not cover unrelated forms. Follow `pendingIds` for split responses; `known` may include only returned versions and parts still in context. Each motion sheet is ONE design at real timestamps; a montage is not one layout, and a static image does not establish animation. For a new/substantially redesigned talking-head overlay, read [Overlay composition](references/overlay-composition.md). Import only production files from `materials` that will appear in the result; use their project asset IDs. Review the MG composed with the target footage. ### Use the references when authoring Read the selected instance's `code` when borrowing its implementation, or read linked template properties with `manage_template list_assets`. Use it as reference in the code workflow below while preserving the project style. Inspect selected images as well: a URL, ID or search result alone is not a viewed reference. Keep STYLE evidence for appearance and cross-style FORM evidence for structure. If a selected reference fails, retry or report the missing evidence rather than claiming it was inspected. Use this skill when a ChatCut plugin task requires a Motion Graphic asset authored or patched as inline JSX. The built-in ChatCut Agent has its own `motion-graphic-gen` workflow; do not switch to it from this plugin task. Codex plugin Motion Graphics are direct-authored. Use `create_motion_graphic_from_code` for new JSX assets and `edit_asset` for existing MG JSX. This surface does not provide `submit_motion_graphic`; do not translate the request into a Gemini prompt or generation brief. If the direct-authoring tools are missing, stop and report the unavailable ChatCut plugin tools. Pass Motion Graphic source inline through the `chatcut` MCP tools. Do not stage code in the ChatCut repository, `ai-working/`, `/tmp`, a local HTTP server, generated code files, or guessed application paths when the tool accepts inline JSX directly. ## Core Principles - Inspect project state when canvas size, fps, existing visual language, placement, or timeline conflicts are not already known. - Identify the required inputs in **Before You Code** before authoring JSX. - Create or update Motion Graphic assets through the available inline-code asset workflow; use current tool schemas for exact payload shapes. - Place or move assets through the timeline editing workflow when the edit requires timeline placement. - Re-read project state and verify the visible frame after structural or visual changes. ## Before You Code Before writing JSX, identify only the information needed for this edit: - **Placement**: start time, duration, target layer if known, and the target frame the graphic must compose with. - **Role in the edit**: what job this Motion Graphic performs in the video. - **Content**: exact text, numbers, media, or visual facts that must appear. - **Timing**: whether internal motion should sync to speech, music, or a visual event. - **Visual source**: user-provided style, project Design Style, brand colors/fonts, or an accepted existing Motion Graphic. - **Editable fields**: which text, colors, numbers, booleans, image, or video values should become properties. Ask only for missing high-leverage inputs that would materially change the result. ## Visual system and placement Use the confirmed full Design Style and inspected references above. For a new custom direction, establish one composed result before batching; accepted directions and routine fixes need no renewed style confirmation. Choose each composition, position, size and reading time from the actual shot and speech span. Keep shared typography, palette, materials and motion, while adapting the reference's form to the content. A fixed left/right anchor or card container is appropriate only when the composition calls for it. Reuse an asset with per-item properties for an intentionally recurring component with the same information structure. New structures need their own instance reference and composition. Overlay bounds should tightly contain the graphic; use timeline dimensions only for a design that visibly spans the frame. Match asset duration and internal beats to the placed timeline span. If timing changes materially, update the MG instead of truncating unfinished animation. Review composed settled frames side by side for a batch, correcting collisions, readability and unintended repetition before reporting completion. ## Editable Properties Expose user-visible and likely-to-change values as editable properties. - Visible text, primary colors, accent colors, and key numeric values should be properties. - Font choices should be `font` properties when users may reasonably change them. - Image and video sources must be `image` / `video` properties. - Code keys must match the property schema keys exactly. - Read values from `item.props`; do not hardcode visible content that the user may reasonably want to change later. - Use item-level property overrides only for intentionally recurring components with the same viewer task, information structure, and visual form. If any of those differ, create another MG asset and share palette, type, and motion logic instead. Property entries should declare a stable key, user-facing label, type, and default value. Supported property types include text, number, color, boolean, select, font, image, and video. ## Fonts Motion Graphics must use fonts available to ChatCut's renderer so preview and local export stay consistent. Do not rely on machine-specific system fonts such as `STKaiti`, `PingFang SC`, `Microsoft YaHei`, `Arial`, `Helvetica`, `Comic Sans MS`, `system-ui`, `-apple-system`, or generic CSS families as the primary rendered font; availability differs between machines and may cause fallback. When choosing or replacing a font, call `search_fonts` and use the returned canonical family name verbatim as the `fontFamily` value and matching `font` property `defaultValue`. Use Google Fonts or project custom fonts returned by the catalog. If a requested machine-specific font is not in the catalog, explain that consistent local rendering cannot be guaranteed, search for a supported alternative with a similar feel, and use it unless the user explicitly accepts font fallback. ## Assets and composition One reference instance may describe a complete composition made from several timeline items. It does not imply one self-contained MG asset. Keep reference screenshots, production materials, and current-project footage distinct. Default to separate items when the design combines ordinary media with graphics: - Reusable paper/texture/background: an image or video item behind the composition. - Current-project photo, product image, or footage: its own media item. The agent selects/replaces, crops, positions, and applies supported effects to it; the user is not expected to assemble the layers manually. - Typography, shapes, and animated decoration: transparent MG item(s). Split background decoration from foreground text when media must sit between them. Plan layer order, target media rectangle, start/duration, and entrance timing before authoring. State in the MG brief/code scope which layers already exist outside the MG, so the reference's photo or paper is not generated again. Apply black-and-white/color/grain to the intended media item rather than accidentally affecting foreground text. Verify effect support on the actual playback/export surface; splitting layers does not by itself prove Web/Desktop parity. 1. Reuse assets from `browse_assets` in the **current project**. Import only production files needed in the output into My Assets. Load `asset-import` and use its `import_media` session/upload helper. Registering project media does not publish it to the public resource library. 2. Place normal production media through `edit_item`, using the returned current-project asset IDs. The agent handles replacing example people, copy, and data with the current task's content. Do not use the reference's complete effect screenshot as a background. 3. Embed media inside an MG only when its visual mechanism needs it, such as image-filled lettering or a tightly synchronized internal mask that available timeline tools cannot express. For this exception, bind `image` / `video` property defaults and overrides to **full current-project asset IDs**, never URLs, local paths, or reference-library IDs. Read via `item.props`, guard empty values, and let the runtime resolve the source. Declaring an image property does not import the file. 4. Verify the **composed timeline** at entrance and settled frames, including media presence, cropping, effects, layer order, and timing. A standalone transparent MG preview intentionally omits separately placed photos/backgrounds; judge the complete design on the timeline. For intentionally embedded media, a correct thumbnail alone does not prove playback works; check import, ID binding, and byte readiness when it is missing. Library `hero` / `motion` images are study inputs and need no project import merely to be viewed. Missing production files must be reported or replaced with suitable available materials; never silently omit a required layer. ## Design Principles Design the settled frame from the confirmed style and inspected instance, then animate into it. Use the reference's hierarchy and visual relationships to make the current content legible; do not add filler labels or a default card wrapper. Treat explicit type, material and motion rules as constraints. A hard-cut style should not acquire fades or springs; glass, grain, glow and other treatments belong only where the accepted visual language calls for them. Preserve a reference's expressive choices as well as its restraint. A character, illustration, or compound shape is one visual entity. When multiple parts must visually connect, attach, or align, render those parts inside a single `<svg>` with one shared coordinate space and named anchors. Independent hardcoded `left` / `top` across separate wrappers produces visible gaps. ### Text Layout Safety For text-bearing MGs, design the settled frame as a real layout before animating. Use flexbox or grid, `gap`, `padding`, `maxWidth`, `lineHeight`, and natural wrapping for related text blocks. Do not stack readable text with independent hardcoded `top` values unless the text is intentionally decorative or typographic art. Editable text may become longer than the default. Reserve space for plausible longer copy, allow wrapping with `whiteSpace: "normal"` and `overflowWrap: "break-word"`, and reduce hierarchy, size, density, or change form when the content cannot fit cleanly. Animated transforms do not affect layout. If text scales, pulses, slides, or staggers near other text, leave visual headroom for the largest animated state. Intentional overlap may be used for graphic layers, shadows, marks, or decorative typography; ordinary readable text must not collide. Avoid forced `<br>` or manual line breaks for dynamic text unless each line is deliberately fixed. Prefer width-constrained wrapping. Use this base component shape: ```javascript const Component = ({ item }) => { const frame = useCurrentFrame(); const { durationInFrames } = useVideoConfig(); const props = item.props || {}; const accentColor = props.accentColor; const rootStyle = { position: "absolute", inset: 0, backgroundColor: "transparent", }; return <div style={rootStyle}>{/* content */}</div>; }; ``` ## Motion Graphic Code Contract Violations cause runtime crashes. Strict compliance required. 1. **Syntax:** Pure JavaScript JSX. No TypeScript. 2. **Imports:** No import statements. Globals are pre-injected: `React`, `spring`, `useCurrentFrame`, `useVideoConfig`, `interpolate`, `interpolateColors`, `Math`, `random`, `Easing`, `AbsoluteFill`, `Sequence`, `Series`, `Img`, `Video`, and `Audio`. 3. **Use injected globals:** Hooks and components are available directly; do not reach through a namespace object. 4. **Exports:** No `export default`. Define `const Component = ...`. 5. **Timing:** No `Sequence` wrappers inside the component. Use flat frame-driven logic. 6. **Logic:** No inline logic in JSX props. Pre-compute values in variables before `return`. 7. **Helpers:** No undefined functions. Use `interpolateColors` plural. Define any helpers locally. 8. **AbsoluteFill:** `AbsoluteFill` is a component, not a style object. Never spread it. It may be used for inner layers, but never as the root. 9. **Root element:** The root must be `<div style={rootStyle}>`. 10. **Assets:** `<Img>` and `<Video>` sources must read from image/video editable props. Never hardcode URLs. If no assets are provided, design with shapes, text, and CSS. 11. **Hooks:** Get frame from `useCurrentFrame()`, not from `useVideoConfig()`. 12. **Local box:** Component must accept `({ item })` props. The asset `width`/`height` are the MG's natural box around its visible local composition, not the timeline canvas; fill that box with `position:absolute; inset:0`. Timeline placement sets final screen size and position. 13. **Layout control:** Use flexbox or grid for text blocks and structured content. Use SVG or absolute geometry when the design depends on spatial relationships, compound shapes, frame treatments, or drawn/animated marks. Allow text to wrap naturally unless the request requires single-line text. 14. **Editable props:** Component must read editable values from `item.props`. Never add fallback values like `|| "Default"` or `?? false` after `props.key`; declared runtime properties already have values. 15. **Property schema:** Declare matching editable properties. Include all visible text content and primary/accent colors. 16. **Image/video props:** Store project asset IDs in media properties, read runtime values from `item.props`, and render `<Img>` / `<Video>` only when that value is truthy. 17. **Background:** Default background is transparent. If a background surface is added, expose a `transparentBackground` boolean property. 18. **Export cost:** Keep inline `<svg>` markup frame-invariant: animate the wrapper `<div>` (transform, opacity) instead of `<svg>` attributes, because the export redraws an SVG only when its markup changes. Prefer HTML/CSS shapes over SVGs that carry photos, and a `boxShadow` glow over a large blurred layer; both cost several times more per exported frame. ## Renderer CSS Support <!-- BEGIN generated:web-renderer-css-support --> <!-- Generated by scripts/generate-web-renderer-css-support.mjs from @remotion/web-renderer 4.0.522. Re-run: pnpm gen:web-renderer-css-support (pnpm install also runs it). DO NOT EDIT BY HAND. --> Layout is safe: flexbox, grid, `gap`, padding, margin, `position`, `width`, `height`, `inset`, `whiteSpace` and `overflowWrap` are resolved by the browser before the export renderer measures the result. These paint-time properties are not. The export loses or changes them, while the editor preview still shows them correctly: - `backdropFilter` — the renderer cannot sample what is already painted behind an element. Instead: build frosted glass from a semi-transparent backgroundColor plus a border and a soft boxShadow, not from a live blur of the footage. - `mixBlendMode / isolation` — layers are drawn with the normal blend mode only. Instead: pick the final colors directly, or overlay a semi-transparent fill. - `zIndex` — the renderer paints elements in DOM order. Instead: order the elements themselves so the one meant to sit on top comes last. - `visibility: 'hidden'` — the element can still be painted into the export. Instead: hide with display: 'none' or opacity: 0. - `backgroundBlendMode` — background layers are drawn with the normal blend mode only. Instead: pick the final colours directly, or stack a semi-transparent gradient over the colour. - `perspectiveOrigin` — the renderer never reads it (nor the perspective property it tunes). Instead: move the vanishing point with transformOrigin on the element that carries perspective() in its own transform. - `perspective (the style property)` — the renderer never reads it, so children rotated in 3D come out flat, as if squashed. Instead: put perspective() first in the rotated element's own transform, e.g. transform: 'perspective(800px) rotateY(30deg)'. - `transformStyle: 'preserve-3d'` — nested 3D scenes are not composited, so children turned by a parent's rotation disappear. Instead: give every face its own full transform as a sibling (perspective(), the shared camera rotation, then its own rotation and translateZ), add backfaceVisibility: 'hidden', and list faces back to front. - `gradient interpolation hints and color spaces` — color hints (red, 30%, blue) and explicit interpolation spaces (in oklch) are not preserved by the export renderer. Instead: use explicit intermediate color stops with ordinary gradient syntax. - `boxShadow with inset` — inset shadows are skipped, only outer shadows are drawn. Instead: shade the inside with a gradient background or a semi-transparent border. - `url() in background / backgroundImage` — image backgrounds are not drawn, only the flat backgroundColor survives. Instead: put an <Img> behind the content. - `vertical writingMode` — vertical text is not drawn at all. Instead: stack one element per character in a flex column, or rotate a horizontal line by 90deg. - `filter: url(...) on an HTML element` — SVG filter references are ignored, so the element is drawn unfiltered. Instead: use CSS filter functions (blur(), drop-shadow(), brightness(), …), or apply the SVG filter to shapes inside their own <svg>. - `clipPath: url(...) on an HTML element` — clip-path references are ignored, so the element is drawn unclipped. Instead: use a basic shape: circle(), ellipse(), inset(), polygon() or path('…'). - `URL masks with unsupported sources or layout` — the mask loader requires raster images (SVG masks fail), and rejects unsupported size, repeat, position, origin, clip or non-alpha mode. Instead: use a PNG/WebP raster mask with maskSize: '100% 100%', maskRepeat: 'no-repeat', maskPosition: '0% 0%', maskOrigin: 'border-box', maskClip: 'border-box', and maskMode: 'alpha' or 'match-source'; or use a gradient mask. - `currentColor inside <svg>` — every <svg> is rasterized as an image cached by its markup plus the inherited color, so a color that changes per frame forces a fresh decode of each SVG on every frame (a grid of a few hundred took the export from 10 fps to a standstill). Instead: give SVG fills and strokes an explicit color or a prop value, and draw grids of many small shapes with CSS (border-radius dots, bordered triangles) instead of one <svg> per cell. - `SVG <animate> / <animateTransform> / <animateMotion> / <set>` — SMIL animations run on the browser clock, not the composition frame: the preview does not follow scrubbing, and the export rasterizes each <svg> fresh, so the animation is always at its first moment (a draw-on stroke or a growing bar never appears). Instead: drive the attribute from useCurrentFrame() with interpolate() or spring(), e.g. strokeDashoffset={interpolate(frame, [0, 20], [length, 0], { extrapolateRight: 'clamp' })}.