Use this skill when creating complete videos from scratch - product demos, explainers, social clips, or announcements. Orchestrates the full workflow: deep interview, script generation, visual verification, Remotion project build, audio design, narration, and 4K rendering. Triggers on "make me a video", "create a video about", video production, and end-to-end video creation requests.
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Use this skill when creating complete videos from scratch - product demos, explainers, social clips, or announcements. Orchestrates the full workflow: deep interview, script generation, visual verification, Remotion project build, audio design, narration, and 4K rendering. Triggers on "make me a video", "create a video about", video production, and end-to-end video creation requests.
When this skill is activated, always start your first response with the :movie_camera: emoji.
Video Creator
This is the orchestrator skill for end-to-end video creation. It coordinates
a complete 7-step workflow that takes a user from "I need a video" to a finished
4K render. Each step delegates to companion skills (remotion-video,
video-scriptwriting, video-audio-design, video-analyzer) while this skill
manages sequencing, approval gates, and handoffs between stages.
You do NOT need to know Remotion internals or audio engineering - those are
handled by companion skills. This skill's job is to run the process, ask the
right questions, and make sure nothing gets skipped.
When to use this skill
Trigger this skill when the user:
Says "make me a video", "create a video about", or "I need a video for"
Wants a product demo, explainer, social clip, or announcement video
Asks for end-to-end video production from concept to render
Needs help turning an idea into a finished video file
Mentions wanting a programmatic video with Remotion
Has a reference video and wants to create something similar
Do NOT trigger this skill for:
Editing an existing video file (use video-analyzer or ffmpeg skills)
Writing a script only without producing a video (use video-scriptwriting)
Audio-only production like podcasts (use video-audio-design for music/SFX)
Remotion coding questions without a production context (use remotion-video)
Analyzing or reviewing a video (use video-analyzer)
Key principles
Visual-first: Get visuals approved before spending money on audio.
Narration costs real dollars via ElevenLabs - never generate it until the
visual layer is locked.
Interview exhaustively: Ask up to 30 questions to capture all context
about the product, audience, goals, tone, assets, and visual preferences.
Incomplete context leads to expensive re-work.
Structured handoff: The video-script.yaml file is the single source of
truth between all steps. Every scene, frame count, narration line, and SFX
cue lives in this file.
User approval gates: Explicit approval is required at each major step.
Never auto-advance. The user must say "approved" or "looks good" before the
next step begins.
4K default: Always render at 3840x2160 unless the user specifies
otherwise. Downscaling is easy; upscaling is not.
Before anything else, the user must have a Remotion project set up. This is the
workspace where all video code will be written. Check if you are already inside
a Remotion project (look for remotion.config.ts or @remotion/cli in
package.json). If not, scaffold one:
npx create-video@latest
This creates a new folder with the starter project. Then install dependencies:
cd <project-name>
npm install
Do NOT proceed to Step 1 until a Remotion project exists and dependencies are
installed. All subsequent steps write code into this project.
If the user already has a Remotion project, cd into it and continue.
Step 1: Deep Interview
Gather all context needed to write a complete script. Ask questions one at a
time using an interactive conversational approach.
Question categories (aim for 15-30 questions total):
Category
Example Questions
Product/subject
What does the product do? What is the core value prop?
Audience
Who is the target viewer? Technical level?
Video goals
What should the viewer do after watching?
Tone/style
Playful or professional? Fast or slow-paced?
Assets
Do you have logos, screenshots, brand colors, fonts?
Content
What are the key features or messages to cover?
Visual preferences
Any reference videos? Preferred animation style?
Duration
How long should the video be? Where will it be published?
Rules for Step 1:
Ask one question at a time - do not dump a questionnaire
If the user provides a reference video, analyze it FIRST using the
video-analyzer skill before asking questions
Summarize what you know after every 5-8 questions
Do not proceed until you have enough context for every scene
End with: "I have enough context to write the script. Ready to proceed?"
Exit criteria: User confirms you have enough context.
Step 2: Generate Script (YAML)
Use patterns from the video-scriptwriting skill to produce a structured YAML
script.
Frame count formula:
frames = duration_seconds * 30
All Remotion compositions use 30fps by default.
Generate a video-script.yaml file with this structure:
title:"Product Demo - Acme Widget"fps:30resolution: { width:3840, height:2160 }
total_duration_seconds:60scenes:-id:scene-01title:"Hook"duration_seconds:5frames:150narration:"Ever wished your widgets could think for themselves?"visuals:"Dark background, glowing Acme logo fades in, particles"animation_notes:"Logo scale 0->1 with spring, particles emit from center"music_cue:"Ambient synth pad, low energy"sfx:"Subtle whoosh on logo reveal"transition_out:"crossfade"-id:scene-02# ... continue for all scenes
Rules for Step 2:
Every scene must have duration_seconds, frames, narration, visuals,
animation_notes, music_cue, and sfx fields
Frame counts must equal duration_seconds * 30
Total scene durations must sum to total_duration_seconds
Present the full script to the user for review
Iterate on feedback until the user explicitly approves
Exit criteria: User approves the script.
Step 3: Visual Verification
Build a minimal Remotion project with visuals only - no audio layer yet.
What to build:
Remotion compositions for each scene (visuals, animations, typography, colors)
Scene transitions matching the script
Correct frame counts per scene
Basic layout and spacing at 4K resolution
What NOT to build yet:
Audio integration
Narration sync
Volume ducking
Final render pipeline
Process:
Verify the Remotion project is set up (done in Step 0)
Build visual compositions for each scene inside the project
Launch Remotion Studio: npx remotion studio
Tell the user to preview at http://localhost:3000
Iterate on visual feedback (colors, timing, animations, transitions)
Get EXPLICIT visual approval before proceeding
Exit criteria: User explicitly approves the visuals.
Step 4: Build Full Remotion Project
Now that visuals are approved, flesh out the complete project.
Tasks:
Finalize all compositions with polished animations
Wire up scene-to-scene transitions
Add Zod schemas for parametrization (titles, colors, durations)
Exit criteria: Rendered video file delivered to user.
Orchestration rules
Each step requires explicit user approval before advancing to the next step
Explain what you are doing and why at each step
If the user provides a reference video, run video-analyzer FIRST before
starting Step 1
Always create a video-script.yaml as the single source of truth
The Remotion project structure must be clean and well-organized
If the user wants to skip narration (Step 6), proceed directly to Step 7
If the user wants a different TTS provider, adapt Step 6 accordingly
Never generate narration audio before visual approval (Step 3 complete)
Never skip visual verification - it prevents expensive re-work
Always default to 4K (3840x2160) unless the user specifies otherwise
Supported video types
Type
Duration
Scenes
Per Scene
Product demo
30-120s
6-15
5-10s
Explainer
60-180s
8-20
5-12s
Social clip
15-60s
3-8
3-8s
Announcement
15-45s
3-6
4-8s
Anti-patterns / common mistakes
Anti-pattern
Why it fails
Correct approach
Generating narration before visual approval
Wastes money if visuals change
Complete Steps 1-4 first, then narration
Skipping the interview
Script lacks context, scenes feel generic
Ask 15-30 targeted questions
No YAML script file
No source of truth, timing drifts
Always generate video-script.yaml
Auto-advancing without approval
User loses control, re-work is expensive
Wait for explicit "approved" at each gate
Hardcoding values in Remotion
Cannot parametrize or reuse
Use Zod schemas for all configurable values
Rendering at 1080p by default
Cannot upscale later
Always default to 4K (3840x2160)
Building audio and visuals simultaneously
Makes iteration painful
Visual-first, audio after approval
Gotchas
Frame count math matters. 60 seconds at 30fps = 1800 frames exactly. If
scene durations do not sum correctly, the video will be too short or too long.
Always verify: sum(scene.duration_seconds) == total_duration_seconds.
Remotion Studio needs a running dev server. After building compositions,
you must run npx remotion studio and tell the user to open
http://localhost:3000. Do not assume they can preview without this.
ElevenLabs narration durations are unpredictable. A 5-second script line
might produce 4.2s or 6.1s of audio. Always measure actual durations after
generation and adjust frame counts accordingly.
Volume ducking requires knowing narration timing. The ducking curves for
background music depend on knowing exactly when narration starts and stops in
each scene. This is why Step 5 sets up ducking infrastructure but Step 6
activates it.
4K rendering is slow. A 60-second video at 3840x2160 can take 10-30
minutes depending on complexity. Warn the user about render time before
starting, and suggest a 1080p test render first if they want a quick check.
References
references/workflow-checklist.md - Detailed checklist for each of the 7
steps with sub-tasks, expected outputs, and approval criteria
references/project-templates.md - Starter Remotion project structures for
each video type with file trees and component scaffolds
references/troubleshooting.md - Common issues and fixes for Remotion
rendering, audio sync, FFmpeg, ElevenLabs API, and performance
Companion check
On first activation of this skill in a conversation: check which companion skills are installed by running ls ~/.claude/skills/ ~/.agent/skills/ ~/.agents/skills/ .claude/skills/ .agent/skills/ .agents/skills/ 2>/dev/null. Compare the results against the recommended_skills field in this file's frontmatter. For any that are missing, mention them once and offer to install:
