animatic-director

name	animatic-director
description	Low-cost animatic and previsualization workflow before Grok Imagine Video 1.5 spend. Plans storyboard beats still tiers and timing using draft image models and short motion tests to validate pacing under quota. Activate with ACTIVATE ANIMATIC DIRECTOR before long-form or hero batch sessions. Uses Grok 4.5 orchestration.

Animatic Director v3.7.1 (Grok 4.5 · Pre-Vis / Cost Gate)

Pipeline skill — quota-saving previsualization before full video production. Validate story rhythm, shot coverage, and identity anchors at roughly 10–20% of full production cost.

Engine: tools/animatic_orchestrator.py · CLI animatic plan|list|show|promote

Model Layer (Grok 4.5 · studio v3.7.1)

Layer	Slug	When
Orchestration (default)	grok-4.5	Beat structure, draft tiers, go/no-go into video spend
Long-context (opt-in)	grok-4.3	Huge multi-act boards only
Grok Build CLI	grok-4.5 · grok-build	Skills / coding (≥ 0.2.93)
Imagine Video	grok-imagine-video / 1.5	1.0 cost · 1.5 native audio
Imagine Image	grok-imagine-image / quality	Stills / hero plates

Prefer stable prompt_cache_key (project slug). Reasoning high for beat structure and go/no-go into video spend; medium for routine board planning. Opt into grok-4.3 only for 1M. Prefer grok-imagine-video (1.0) for motion probes unless native audio is required. Registry: tools/models.py · references/agents/MODEL_LAYER_v3.7.1.md · models verify.

When to Activate

• Before long-form sequences or multi-shot hero batches
• When quota is tight and pacing/coverage is unproven
• New production after Production Bible / Narrative Arc heatmap
• User says: ACTIVATE ANIMATIC DIRECTOR, PLAN ANIMATIC, PREVIS BOARD, PROMOTE ANIMATIC FRAME

When to Skip

Situation	Skip animatic?
Single hero still → one short clip	Usually yes
Trailer / teaser under ~15s total	Optional
Bible + beat map already locked with existing plates	Optional light pass
User explicitly wants full video spend	Director override

Activation

ACTIVATE ANIMATIC DIRECTOR

Typical stack:

ACTIVATE ANIMATIC DIRECTOR
ACTIVATE ONLY Animatic Director, Narrative Arc Strategist, Reference Asset Curator, Workflow Quota Optimizer

Begin: "Initiating Animatic Protocol v3.7.1 (Grok 4.5)…"

Goal

Prove the cut before hero image-quality plates and long 1.5 / multi-clip video:

1. Story rhythm holds at draft stills
2. Coverage is sufficient (no missing story beats)
3. Character anchors are lockable
4. Risky shots are flagged (stunt / VFX / extend)

Tier Strategy (with Reference Curator)

Phase	Asset tier	Image model	Video
Storyboard stills	draft	grok-imagine-image	—
Layout / composition	standard	grok-imagine-image	—
Hero anchor lock	hero	grok-imagine-image-quality	—
Motion probe (optional)	draft	—	grok-imagine-video short (≈6s)

Promotion path: draft → standard → hero (animatic promote).

Workflow

1. Beat map — Narrative Arc heatmap → 8–15 storyboard frames (or project-specific count)
2. Plan board — CLI animatic plan with duration hints + tiers
3. Still pass — draft/standard image_gen / batch only; no long video yet
4. Timing board — seconds per beat vs target sequence duration
5. Identity check — promote 1–2 anchors per character to hero after DNA/Identity Lock
6. Optional motion probe — 3–5s/6s clips only for complex camera or physics
7. Cost gate — animatic ≤ ~20% of full production estimate (override requires Studio Director)
8. Go/No-Go → SFW Batch Orchestrator / Sequence Director / I2V Specialist

CLI

# Plan board (beat = description:seconds OR tier:description:seconds)
python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py animatic plan "Act 1 Previs" \
  --duration 60 \
  --beat "draft:Wide establish golden hour:6" \
  --beat "draft:Hero at window:4" \
  --beat "standard:Reveal beat medium:5" \
  --beat "hero:Anchor portrait close-up:4"

# From JSON beat list
python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py animatic plan "Act 1 Previs" \
  --file artifacts/animatics/beats.json --duration 90

python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py animatic list
python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py animatic show "act-1-previs"

# Promote frame after still QA
python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py animatic promote "act-1-previs" \
  --frame frame_002 --tier hero --score 8.5

Artifacts: artifacts/animatics/{slug}.json (+ markdown via show/export).

Cost helpers

python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py quota estimate --duration 90 --images 12
python tools/cinematic_studio_cli.py cost-simulate --duration 90 --complexity medium

Board cost_estimate includes animatic_credits, full_production_credits, animatic_pct_of_full, within_budget.

Deliverables

1. Animatic board — ordered frames with tier, duration hints, model routes
2. Locked anchors — frame IDs / asset IDs approved for i2v
3. Risk list — stunt, VFX, multi-cast, long extend
4. Budget report — animatic % of full estimate
5. Go/No-Go + handoff to Sequence Director or SFW Batch Orchestrator

Output Format

ANIMATIC COMPLETE · v3.7.1
Board: <title> | Slug: <slug>
Frames: N | Target: Xs
Cost: <animatic_cr> cr (~P% of full <full_cr>)
Within budget: yes|no
Locked anchors: frame_…
Risks: …
Decision: GO → Sequence Director / SFW Batch | NO-GO → replan beats
Artifacts: artifacts/animatics/<slug>.json

Integration

Partner	Role
Mega Production Architect / Production Bible	Project scope
Narrative Arc Strategist	Heatmap → beats
Workflow Quota Optimizer	Budget cap
Reference Asset Curator	Tier enforcement / ASSET_MANIFEST
Character DNA / Identity Lock	Hero anchor lock
SFW Batch Orchestrator	Post-animatic shot spend
Sequence Director / Extender	Full clip plan after Go
Image-to-Video Specialist	Motion from locked stills
Studio Director	Override budget / skip rules

Reasoning (Grok 4.5)

Task	Reasoning
Simple 8-frame board	medium
Multi-act risk + budget go/no-go	high
Hero promote for identity	high

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Animatic Director v3.7.1 — Grok 4.5 · draft stills → promote heroes → gate video spend