| name | 8-bit-video-gen |
| description | Turns a photo of a person into a short 8-bit pixel-art video via a two-step pipeline. Gemini stylizes the photo as an 8-bit still, then Replicate's seedance-2.0 animates that still into an MP4. Use when the user supplies a portrait photo and asks for an "8-bit video", "pixel art animation", or "retro video game version" of themselves. Trigger even if they only mention one of the two steps. |
8-bit video pipeline
Two-step pipeline that turns a portrait photo into a short pixel-art video clip:
- Stylize. Gemini converts the photo into an 8-bit still PNG.
- Animate. Replicate's
bytedance/seedance-2.0 uses that still as the first frame to generate an MP4.
Both scripts live in scripts/ and use PEP 723 inline script metadata, so uv run resolves their dependencies automatically.
If the user only wants the still, run step 1 and stop. If they already have an 8-bit image, skip to step 2.
Setup
Before running either script:
-
Verify uv is installed: uv --version. If missing, ask the user to install it (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/). The scripts declare their Python dependencies inline (PEP 723 metadata), so uv run handles the rest.
-
Verify the API keys are available. Both scripts load from a .env in the working directory, falling back to the shell environment. Confirm both are set before running:
GEMINI_API_KEY for step 1 (Gemini stylize)REPLICATE_API_TOKEN for step 2 (Replicate animate)
If either is missing, ask the user to add it to .env or export it. Keys come from:
Before each run: ask about customization
Ask the user whether they want to customize the still prompt, video prompt, duration, or seed. Defaults live as DEFAULT_PROMPT in scripts/make_8bit.py and DEFAULT_PROMPT / DEFAULT_DURATION / DEFAULT_SEED in scripts/make_video.py; pass --prompt, --duration, or --seed to override for one run, or edit the constants to change the shipped default.
Step 1: Stylize the photo
uv run <skill-dir>/scripts/make_8bit.py <input_photo> [output_png] [--prompt "..."]
- Default output:
<input_stem>_8bit.png next to the input.
- Stylize prompt is
DEFAULT_PROMPT at the top of scripts/make_8bit.py. Pass --prompt to override it for one run.
- Model ID:
gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview. If the API rejects it, try gemini-2.5-flash-image-preview (the "nano banana" model).
- The model can sometimes add facial features that aren't in the source (e.g. a beard on a clean-shaven subject). Flag the output when this happens; do not silently rewrite the prompt to compensate.
Step 2: Animate the still
uv run <skill-dir>/scripts/make_video.py <input_image> [output_mp4] \
[--prompt "..."] [--duration 15] [--seed 42]
<input_image> is normally the 8-bit PNG from step 1, but any image works (used as the first frame).- This call costs Replicate credits and takes ~30 to 90s.
- Output is an MP4 plus a
replicate.delivery URL printed to stdout. The URL expires; the local file is the durable artifact.
- Occasionally Replicate returns
ModelError: ... sensitive (E005) on benign inputs. Rerun the same command before changing the prompt or image; it usually clears on retry.
End-of-run
Tell the user the local MP4 path and the temporary URL. To iterate on the scene, rerun step 2 with a new --prompt; no need to redo step 1.
Design notes
- Defaults live in the scripts; CLI flags override per run. Editing the constants changes the shipped default. Passing a flag overrides for one run without mutating the file.
- Minimal prompts for the still. Long, hedged prompts to image models tend to over-direct.
After each run: iterate on the skill
After every run, ask the user whether anything about the workflow should be folded back into the skill: new defaults, prompt changes, extra steps, things that surprised them, anything they corrected by hand. If yes, update SKILL.md and/or the scripts so the next run starts from the improved version.
