viral-style-reel

name	Viral-style reel
description	Turn raw footage into a punchy vertical (9:16) short — hook, jump cuts, zoom punches, trending captions, beat-aware rhythm. Use for "make this a viral reel / short".

Viral-style reel

FIRST, follow the house rule in the build-in-kaestral skill: build everything ON the Kaestral timeline via tools (the user watches it happen), never render a standalone file, and finish with Kaestral's own Export. Every step below is a tool call — apply it, don't just describe it.

Your job: take what's on the timeline and turn it into a short-form vertical video that earns attention in the first 3 seconds and keeps it. Work in passes, visibly. Call get_timeline and get_media first so you know what you're working with.

0. Understand the footage FIRST (perception)

Don't edit blind. Before cutting, actually look and listen:

• Watch it: see_video on the hero clip(s) (mode:"scene" to see distinct moments, or "interval" for an overview). You get real frames — read the subject, the framing, the action, and pick the strongest visual moment for the hook.
• Read it: get_transcript on the spoken clip → word-level timestamps of everything said. Now you know the actual hook line, the payoff, and where the filler is — so cuts and captions land on real content, not guesses. Use this understanding throughout: hook = the best moment you SAW or the best line you READ; captions = the real words; b-roll = illustrate what's actually said.

1. Set the frame (9:16)

• set_project_settings with aspectRatio: "9:16" and quality: "1080p". This is the single most important framing move for reels.
• If a clip is landscape and now letterboxed, reframe it: apply_layout with full + fill so it covers the vertical frame (center-crop), or use set_clip_properties to scale/position the subject into frame. Keep faces/subjects in the upper-middle third.

2. Land the hook (first 3 seconds)

The opening 3s decides retention. Do at least one of:

• Cold open on the strongest moment. Find the most visually or verbally striking beat and move it to frame 0 with move_clips (or split_clips + ripple_delete_ranges to cut the slow lead-in). Never open on dead air or "hey guys."
• Hook text. add_texts a short, punchy line (3–6 words, e.g. "watch this till the end") at the top third, style it bold with a background box (see the caption-styles skill), animation popIn or wordPop. Keep it on screen ~1.5–2s.
• Punch-in on the hook. A subtle scale from 1.0→1.08 over the first ~10 frames (set_keyframes on scale) adds energy.

3. Tighten the pace (jump cuts on pauses)

Short-form lives on tight cuts — remove every pause, filler, and dead beat.

• Auto jump-cut-on-pause: call analyze_audio on the talking clip — it returns silenceRanges (dead-air, in project frames). Feed those ranges to ripple_delete_ranges to delete the pauses and close the gaps in sync. This is the highest-ROI edit for talking-head footage.
• Aim for a new visual event every ~1.5–3s: a cut, a zoom, a caption change, or a b-roll cutaway. If a clip runs longer than ~3s with no change, add one.
• Word-level cuts: with a transcript from step 0, cut specific filler words ("um", "uh", false starts, tangents) with remove_words (by transcript index) — it ripple-deletes the exact word ranges and closes the gaps, the word-accurate version of pause cutting.

4. Add energy (zoom punches + retime + motion)

• Zoom punch on emphasis: set_keyframes on scale from 1.0 to ~1.12 over 3–5 frames with interpolationOut: "smooth" (eases like a pro, not mechanical), then ease back. Punch in on reveals, punchlines, and the hook.
• Speed / retime: set_clip_properties with speed — <1 for slow-mo on a peak moment (e.g. 0.5), >1 to blast through a slow stretch (e.g. 1.5–2). Both render in the export (video + pitch-corrected audio). Speed-ramp by splitting the clip and setting different speeds per segment.
• Ken Burns on stills/b-roll: keyframe scale and position (smooth) for a slow drift so nothing sits static.
• Beat rhythm: if there's music, run the beat-sync-cutting skill so cuts and punches land on the beat (uses analyze_audio).

5. Captions (retention driver)

Most short-form is watched muted — captions are non-negotiable.

• Follow the caption-styles skill. Use add_texts with a bold style + background box, animation wordReveal or highlightPop, placed in the lower-middle (safe above the UI). Keep 2–5 words per screen.
• If the user gives the spoken text (or a transcript), lay captions in sync. If not, add key call-out phrases at the moments that matter.

6. Transitions + polish

• Between hard cuts of the SAME scene, keep it a straight cut (that's the short-form default — don't over-transition).
• Between SECTIONS, a quick cross-dissolve or a generate_motion "Transition" stinger works. Auto-insert dissolves at cuts via the timeline's transitions action if the whole thing should feel smoother.
• Grade for punch: apply_color a touch of contrast + saturation + a warm or cool push to unify the look (see creative-director). Extract the footage palette first with extract_palette so captions/graphics match.

7. Outro / loop

• End on a clear payoff or a loop-back to the hook. A short outro card (generate_title) with a CTA ("follow for part 2") works. Keep it under ~1.5s.

8. Export from Kaestral

• Render the finished reel with export_project(mode:"video") — this renders the CURRENT TIMELINE you just built, through Kaestral. Do NOT render a separate file with ffmpeg. If the user would rather export themselves, tell them to press Export in the app.

Checklist before you finish

• 9:16, subject in frame, no letterboxing
• A real hook in the first 3s (visual + text)
• No dead air; a change at least every ~3s
• At least one zoom punch on an emphasis beat
• Captions present, styled, readable muted
• Cohesive grade; graphics match the palette
• Clean payoff/outro
• Everything is ON the timeline; final render via export_project(mode:"video")

Tell the user which of these you applied and which need input from them (e.g. the spoken transcript for word-accurate caption timing).