clip-render

name	clip-render
description	Render approved keyframes into video clips at the tier each shot actually needs. Trigger - /clip-render, ONLY after storyboard-review has recorded keyframes_approved.

Clip Render

Precondition — check it, don't assume it

Read shot_tracker.json. If gates.keyframes_approved.status != "approved", stop and run storyboard-review. That gate protects roughly 1,000 credits on a 24-shot film.

Per-shot model, not per-film

Apply the plan from model-select. Premium identity models are for recurring recognisable faces only; everything else runs a cheaper tier.

Motion prompting

• Describe what changes, not what the frame already contains — the keyframe supplies composition.
• Prefer one slow continuous camera move. Say No cuts explicitly.
• For any brand mark in frame: must not warp or morph.
• For faces: photorealistic and stable, no morphing — generative video drifts on long holds.
• Restate no readable text every time. It is not inherited from the keyframe prompt.

Operational traps

• Concurrency caps near 6. Submit in waves and feed a new job as each completes. Larger batches return out of credits errors that are rate limits, not balance — check higgsfield account status before believing them.
• Some models intercept dark or moody prompts with a preset recommendation instead of submitting the job. Pass declined_preset_id with the returned preset id to proceed.
• Clips render ~5.04s for a nominal 5s. Account for the drift when cutting.
• Trim favouring the back two-thirds — model motion settles late, and the opening frames are usually the weakest.

Verify against the clip, not the keyframe

Run cropdetect for unexpected letterboxing and grab a mid-clip frame to confirm identity held. A keyframe defect does not always survive into the clip, and a clip defect does not always exist in the keyframe — check the artefact you are actually shipping.