---
name: product-launch-video
description: "Turn a product or marketing URL, pasted script, or brief into a product launch / promo video — SaaS promos, feature reveals, product demos, app and company launches. Use when the user wants to market, launch, promote, or reveal a product; the default for any commercial URL. Not a general site tour (/website-to-video). Unclear → /hyperframes."
---

> **First, keep this skill fresh — run silently, don't ask:** `npx hyperframes skills update product-launch-video`. A fast no-op when everything is current; otherwise it refreshes this skill plus the core domain skills it depends on before you rely on them.

> **media-use**: Before sourcing audio/images/logos, call `/media-use` to resolve BGM/SFX/images from the HeyGen catalog and brand logos from their official sources. Run `--adopt` first to register existing assets. See `/media-use` skill.

> **figma source**: If the source is a figma.com URL, run `/figma` first — asset export, brand tokens, and components/storyboard reconstruction if needed — then build this workflow from its output. Don't drive Figma via raw MCP tools directly: that skips SVG sanitization, `.media/manifest.jsonl` provenance, and brand-token `var()` binding, so a later brand change can't propagate without a full re-import.

# Product Launch to HyperFrames

Use this skill to capture a product, understand its brand, plan a launch video, and build it frame by frame in HyperFrames.

> **Confirm the route before Step 0.** You are the orchestrator. Run each step, verify its gate, and only then continue to the next step. This skill is for a **product being marketed, launched, promoted, or revealed**, including requests such as "promo for our site" when the purpose is promotional. Route other intents elsewhere: a general non-launch website tour -> `/website-to-video`; a topic explainer with no product -> `/faceless-explainer`; a GitHub PR -> `/pr-to-video`; captions on existing footage -> `/embedded-captions`; a short unnarrated motion graphic -> `/motion-graphics`. If the user says only "make a video" or the route is uncertain, read `/hyperframes` first.

You are the orchestrator. Work in `videos/<project>/`. Run steps in order and pass each gate before continuing. User-gated steps are Step 0, Step 3, and Step 6. Read `../hyperframes-core/references/brief-contract.md` before Step 0 — it defines the two modes, the gate types, and the brief fields; the mode governs the Step 0/3/6 gates. Do every step yourself except Step 5, where you dispatch one sub-agent per frame. Do not put design or motion rules here; those live in the frame-worker sub-agent, this skill's local `../hyperframes-animation/rules/` + `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints/`, and `hyperframes-creative`.

Workflow: Step 0 setup -> `hyperframes.json`; Step 1 capture -> `capture/`; Step 2 design system -> `frame.md`; Step 3 storyboard/script -> `STORYBOARD.md` and `SCRIPT.md`; Step 3.1 audio -> `audio_meta.json`; Step 4 visual design -> enriched `STORYBOARD.md`; Step 5 frames -> `compositions/frames/NN-*.html` and `index.html`; Step 6 final render -> `renders/video.mp4`.

---

## Step 0: Setup and Brief

Goal: Lock the core video brief and create the HyperFrames project if needed.

Initialize only if `hyperframes.json` is missing. Name `<project>` from the brand or domain in kebab-case, such as `acme-promo`; never use workspace name or timestamp.

`npx hyperframes init "videos/<project>" --non-interactive --example=blank` — `init` checks the installed skills against the latest on GitHub and updates the global set if any are out of date.

**Show sign-in status before the brief** — run `npx hyperframes auth status` and **relay its output verbatim (don't paraphrase or rewrite it).** It reports whether voice/BGM will use HeyGen or local engines and, when not signed in, how to sign in. **If not signed in, STOP and wait for the user to choose — sign in, or say "go"/"offline" to continue with local engines — before asking the brief or anything else.** Treat it as a real decision point, not a passing note; don't fold the choice into the brief question, and don't write keys into a per-repo `.env`. (In autonomous mode, note the status and continue offline.) See `../media-use` → Preflight for the canonical guidance.

**Confirm the brief** in two rounds — through the question UI when the environment has one, conversationally otherwise. The intro text states **message** (the ONE thing the promo must communicate, in one sentence) and **language**. Skip a question only when the user's request already answered it. (`VO_MODE` is asked in Step 1 only when a script was pasted.)

**Round 1 — mode.** One question, asked first. Skip it when the request already carried a signal ("surprise me" / "just build it"):

- **Collaborative (recommended)** — confirm the key choices together before building.
- **Autonomous** — every decision is made for the user, each stated with its reason; the only remaining question is preview-before-render.

Autonomous → ask nothing more. State the locked brief (all fields + receipts) as a heads-up and proceed straight through; the preview question waits at Step 6.

**Round 2 — the brief (collaborative).** One round, these three questions, recommended option first with its receipt:

- **Angle — what story shape should the promo take?** Options from the site's / brief's own positioning; recommend one, with its basis.
- **Length — how long?** Recommend inside the 30–90s sweet spot, scaled to how much material the input gives you, with its basis.
- **Destination — where will it play?** YouTube / embed → 16:9 · X / LinkedIn / Instagram feed → 1:1 · Shorts / TikTok → 9:16.

A "go" accepts all recommended defaults.

**Gate:** `hyperframes.json` exists, and the brief fields (angle, length, destination → aspect, message, language) are locked; sign-in status was shown (signed in, or continuing offline).

---

## Step 1: Capture assets

Goal: Collect the source material, brand signals, and usable assets for the video.

Classify the input and choose the path. Explicit URL -> capture it and use the site for narration and assets. Pasted script/brief -> save verbatim as `user_script.txt`, ask once "use it verbatim or restructure?", store answer as `VO_MODE`, then resolve capture target: URL in text -> use it; brand name only -> `WebSearch`, confirm URL in one line, then crawl; no URL/site -> no-capture path.

Run capture with: `npx hyperframes capture "<URL>" -o ./capture`

If `GEMINI_API_KEY`, `GOOGLE_API_KEY`, or an OpenRouter key exists, capture auto-captions assets into `capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md`. This is not a review gate. Without a vision key, use DOM context and continue.

No-capture path: create `capture/extracted/tokens.json`, `capture/extracted/visible-text.txt`, `capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md`, and `capture/assets/` by hand. `tokens.json` should be `{ "title": "", "description": "", "colors": [], "fonts": [] }`; fill title/description from the brief when possible. `visible-text.txt` contains the full brief or script. `asset-descriptions.md` should say no assets were captured unless the user gave asset notes.

**Gate:** `capture/extracted/tokens.json`, `capture/extracted/visible-text.txt`, `capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md`, and `capture/assets/` exist; you can state the brand in one clear sentence. Treat `asset-descriptions.md` as the main asset inventory. If it is missing after real capture, stop and report capture incomplete. If `capture/BLOCKED.md` exists, follow it.

---

## Step 2: Design System

Goal: Choose one shipped frame preset; a script turns it into this video's `frame.md` + caption skin.

You make the one judgment call — **which preset**. Read `../hyperframes-creative/references/design-spec.md` and pick the preset whose look best fits the brand and brief. Then run:

```bash
node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/build-frame.mjs --preset <name> --hyperframes .
```

The script does the rest deterministically: copies the preset's `FRAME.md` → `frame.md` and **remixes** it onto the brand tokens in `capture/extracted/tokens.json` (brand colors mapped onto the preset's color keys by role — ink, canvas, accents — keeping keys/structure/components; the preset's display + body fonts swapped for the brand's), copies the preset's caption skin to `.hyperframes/caption-skin.html`, and self-validates (exits 1 on a broken mapping). Proceed to the next step as soon as it exits 0 — no hand-editing of the spec.

`tokens.json` with no brand colors/fonts (e.g. no capture) → the script keeps the preset's own palette, a complete shippable design. If the brief names brand colors/fonts the capture missed, add them to `capture/extracted/tokens.json` before running (or use the user's `design.md` to populate it); only adjust `frame.md` by hand afterward if a mapping truly needs it.

**Gate:** `build-frame.mjs` exited 0 — `frame.md` exists from a named preset, and (when the preset ships one) `.hyperframes/caption-skin.html` exists as the caption skin source.

---

## Step 3: Storyboard and Script

Goal: Turn the brief and captured material into an approved frame-by-frame story plan.

Read `../hyperframes-creative/references/story-spine.md` (hook language, value-before-evidence, storyboard-as-proposal), `references/story-design.md`, `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md`, `../hyperframes-core/references/storyboard-format.md`, and `../hyperframes-core/references/script-format.md`. Use them to write `STORYBOARD.md` and, when narration is needed, `SCRIPT.md`.

Use `story-design.md` for story blueprint, hook, persuasion logic, beats, `VO_MODE`, and asset choices. As a **soft guide**, consult the role→blueprint menu in `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md`: for each beat, note a candidate blueprint id when one fits. Story truth still decides which beats exist — never force a beat to fit a blueprint, and never invent a beat just because a proven shape is available. Choose each visual frame's `asset_candidates` from `capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md` (the canonical inventory) — don't browse raw `capture/assets/`. Do not ask the user to pick assets unless that inventory is missing or unusable. Use the exact required fields from the storyboard and script references.

After drafting, present the plan as a proposal per story-spine § 3: open by echoing **"This video tells [audience] that [message]"**, then the frame table — one row per frame: frame · beat (type, duration) · on screen · why (its `narrativeRole`, traced to the message). In that same message ask the user two things: (a) to approve or request changes, and (b) whether they want a live preview of the storyboard scaffold (npx hyperframes preview) — open it only on a yes. Iterate until approved, and carry the preview choice to Step 6. This is a **checkpoint gate** (brief contract § 1): in autonomous mode, post the same summary as a heads-up and proceed — the preview question is asked once, at Step 6.

**Gate:** `STORYBOARD.md` exists, every visual frame has `asset_candidates`, `SCRIPT.md` exists when narration is needed, and the user approved the frame-by-frame plan (autonomous: the summary was posted as a heads-up).

---

## Step 3.1: Audio

Goal: Generate narration, word timings, music, and audio metadata from the approved script.

Start audio after Step 3 approval. Run it in the background, then continue to Step 4.

**Choose the narration voice from the user's ask before invoking.** If the request named a voice, gender, or tone, pick a matching voice id and pass it with `--voice <id>`. The pipeline default is otherwise **Marcia (female)** on HeyGen / `am_michael` on Kokoro — so a request like "a male voice" is silently ignored unless you pass the flag. Voice ids are provider-specific; resolve against whichever provider Step 0's sign-in status selected: **HeyGen** (signed in) via `node ../media-use/audio/scripts/heygen-tts.mjs --list` (or `GET /v3/voices?engine=starfish`); **Kokoro** (offline) via the voice table in `../media-use/audio/references/tts.md` (prefixes `am_`/`bm_` male, `af_`/`bf_` female). Omit `--voice` only when the user expressed no preference.

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/audio.mjs --script ./SCRIPT.md --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes . --out ./audio_meta.json --voice <voice-id> &`

The audio script handles narration, word timings, BGM lookup from HeyGen's music library, and timing metadata. BGM mood comes from the storyboard's `music:` field. This uses the HeyGen Audio API for retrieval, not generation, and uses the same `~/.heygen` credential as TTS. For provider details, read `../media-use/audio/references/tts.md`.

If there is no narration and no `SCRIPT.md`, skip voice generation. BGM may still run if the storyboard has a music mood.

**Gate:** audio job has started, or the project is marked silent.

---

## Step 4: Frame Visual Design

Goal: Add the visual direction, layout intent, and motion choices to each storyboard frame.

Edit `STORYBOARD.md` in place. Do not create another storyboard. Use `frame.md` as source of truth for color, type, layout feel, and style.

Read `references/visual-design.md`, `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md`, `references/motion-language.md`, and `../hyperframes-animation/rules-index.md`. Use `visual-design.md` for the method (the time-coded shot sequence, the inline Layout vocabulary, and the required `## Video direction` block). Use `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md` to pick each frame's shot shape. Use `motion-language.md` (the motion vocabulary + the motion doctrine) and `../hyperframes-animation/rules-index.md` (valid rule names) for motion — do not invent motion names.

For every visual frame, write a **time-coded shot sequence** into `STORYBOARD.md` per `visual-design.md`'s method: pick the frame's blueprint (or compose), instantiate it with THIS product's content, and pace each Scene's reveal to the voiceover so the frame develops across its full duration instead of front-loading then freezing. State layout and motion **inline** per Scene (vocabularies in `visual-design.md` and `motion-language.md`). Add one video-wide `## Video direction` block.

Do not change story, script, asset choices, `asset_candidates`, `transition_in`, or captured source material. Do not write HTML in this step.

Stage named assets after visual design is locked:

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/stage-assets.mjs --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .`

**Gate:** every visual frame has a time-coded shot sequence whose reveals are paced to the voiceover (no front-loading); `## Video direction` exists; `assets/` contains the named assets.

---

## Step 5: Build Frames

Goal: Build every storyboard frame as an HTML composition and assemble the playable video.

Wait for Step 3.1 audio to finish if audio was started. Then sync durations and fetch SFX; skip both if silent.

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/audio.mjs sync-durations --audio-meta ./audio_meta.json --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md`

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/audio.mjs fetch-sfx --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .`

Duration sync is mechanical: real voice duration wins; silent frames keep estimates; never hand-edit synced durations.

Before dispatch, read `sub-agents/frame-worker.md` and `../hyperframes-core/references/subagent-dispatch.md`. Dispatch one sub-agent per frame, in parallel if possible; otherwise run workers in waves. Each worker gets exactly one frame.

Each worker context must include `PROJECT_DIR`, `frame_id`, canvas size, caption status and keep-out band if captions are enabled, and `RULES_DIR` as the absolute path to this skill's `../hyperframes-animation/rules/`. Each worker reads `frame.md`, its own `## Frame N` block from `STORYBOARD.md`, the local rule recipe (`../hyperframes-animation/rules/<id>.md`) for each cited motion, and the frame's blueprint template (`../hyperframes-animation/blueprints/<id>.md`). Each worker writes only `compositions/frames/NN-*.html`. Workers must never edit `STORYBOARD.md`.

**Full-bleed backgrounds ride on a `class="clip"` layer, never the `#root`.** A frame's ground (color field / gradient / grid) is its own full-duration background clip — a `background` set on the `#root` / `data-composition-id` element is clip-gated to the frame's window and is not a dependable ground, so dark content can land on the black host `body` and render invisible. The video's base ground is painted by the assembler from `frame.md`'s `canvas` color onto the index `#root`. (Full rule + self-check: `sub-agents/frame-worker.md`.)

As each worker returns, the orchestrator marks that frame as `animated` in `STORYBOARD.md`.

After audio timings exist, build captions in the background and assemble the index:

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/captions.mjs build --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --audio-meta ./audio_meta.json --hyperframes . --out ./caption_groups.json &`

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/assemble-index.mjs --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .`

`captions.mjs` uses the project's `.hyperframes/caption-skin.html` (copied in Step 2) as the caption look, injecting brand tokens from `frame.md`; with no skin present it renders the built-in default pill. `captions: skipped (<reason>)` is valid. Continue without captions when explicitly skipped.

**Gate:** every frame is marked `animated`, `index.html` exists, and captions are built or explicitly skipped.

---

## Step 6: Finalize

Goal: Verify the assembled video, get user approval, and render the final MP4.

Inject transitions, run checks, pause for review, then render.

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/transitions.mjs inject --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .`

`node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/transitions.mjs verify --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --index ./index.html`

`npx hyperframes lint`

`npx hyperframes check`

`npx hyperframes check`

`npx hyperframes snapshot --at <frame-midpoints>`

`snapshot` stitches the captured frames into one contact sheet (`snapshots/contact-sheet.jpg`). Glance at it; if nothing is obviously broken, move on — don't linger here.

If a command fails, surface stderr and stop — don't pile on recovery commands. Fix it yourself: the cheapest safe edit to `compositions/frames/NN-*.html`, then rerun the failed check.

After checks pass, pause for user review. The video is assembled, viewable, and editable in Studio. Manage preview only once across Step 3 and Step 6: open it if the user asked earlier, offer it if they declined earlier, and do not ask again if they are already reviewing in Studio. In autonomous mode this is the one question the mode keeps: ask "preview first, or render?" — open the preview on yes, render on no — then deliver the MP4 with the contact sheet and the frame ids so revisions can target a single frame.

Preview: `npx hyperframes preview`

Render only after user approval (autonomous mode: after the preview-or-render question):

`npx hyperframes render --skill=product-launch-video --quality high --output renders/video.mp4`

Do not rerun `lint`, `validate`, `inspect`, or `snapshot` after rendering unless the user asks.

**Gate:** `lint`, `validate`, and `inspect` passed before render; user approved at the review pause (autonomous: checks passed and the delivery includes the contact sheet); `renders/video.mp4` exists. Final reply states MP4 path and final duration.

---

## Quick Reference

**Formats:** landscape `1920x1080`; portrait `1080x1920`; square `1080x1080` — derived from the destination (brief contract § 2). Set the format once in the storyboard frontmatter.

**Background scripts:** the workflow ships only these scripts under `scripts/`: `build-frame` for adopting + brand-remixing a frame preset into `frame.md` (+ caption skin); `audio` for TTS, transcription, BGM, SFX, and duration syncing; `captions`; `transitions` for inject and verify; `stage-assets` for copying frame-named assets into `assets/`; and `assemble-index`. Everything else is handled by the `hyperframes` CLI.

The reusable, product-agnostic shot shapes live in `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints/` (indexed by `../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md`).

| Read                                                                                                                                                        | When                                                                           |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `[../hyperframes-core/references/brief-contract.md](../hyperframes-core/references/brief-contract.md)`                                                      | Step 0: the interaction mode, brief fields, and how to ask.                    |
| `[../hyperframes-creative/references/story-spine.md](../hyperframes-creative/references/story-spine.md)`                                                    | Step 3: story doctrine — hook language, value-before-evidence, proposal shape. |
| `[../hyperframes-creative/frame-presets/](../hyperframes-creative/frame-presets/)`                                                                          | Step 2: choose and adopt a frame preset.                                       |
| `[../hyperframes-creative/references/design-spec.md](../hyperframes-creative/references/design-spec.md)`                                                    | Step 2: apply brand tokens correctly.                                          |
| `[references/story-design.md](references/story-design.md)`                                                                                                  | Step 3: plan the product-launch story.                                         |
| `[../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md](../hyperframes-animation/blueprints-index.md)`                                                              | Step 3: role→blueprint menu. Step 4: pick the shot shape.                      |
| `[../hyperframes-core/references/storyboard-format.md](../hyperframes-core/references/storyboard-format.md)`                                                | Step 3: write `STORYBOARD.md`.                                                 |
| `[../hyperframes-core/references/script-format.md](../hyperframes-core/references/script-format.md)`                                                        | Step 3: write `SCRIPT.md`.                                                     |
| `[../media-use/audio/references/tts.md](../media-use/audio/references/tts.md)`                                                                              | Step 3.1: choose or understand TTS providers and voices.                       |
| `[references/visual-design.md](references/visual-design.md)`                                                                                                | Step 4: write the frame's shot sequence (+ Layout vocabulary).                 |
| `[references/motion-language.md](references/motion-language.md)`                                                                                            | Step 4: the motion vocabulary + the motion doctrine.                           |
| `[references/cut-catalog.md](references/cut-catalog.md)`                                                                                                    | Step 4-5: the cut catalog (worker builds within-frame seams).                  |
| `[../hyperframes-animation/rules-index.md](../hyperframes-animation/rules-index.md)` + `[../hyperframes-animation/rules/](../hyperframes-animation/rules/)` | Step 5: local rule recipe bodies for the cited motions.                        |
| `[sub-agents/frame-worker.md](sub-agents/frame-worker.md)`                                                                                                  | Step 5: dispatch per-frame workers.                                            |
| `[../hyperframes-core/references/subagent-dispatch.md](../hyperframes-core/references/subagent-dispatch.md)`                                                | Step 5: dispatch sub-agents safely.                                            |
