frames/skills/motion-graphics/SKILL.md

name, description

name

description

motion-graphics

A short, design-led motion graphic where motion is the message — kinetic typography, stat count-up, chart/data-viz hit, logo sting / brand lockup, lower-third / callout / social overlay, animated map (highlight regions, connect places, zoom to a location), animated tweet / news-article / headline, webpage / UI animation (scroll, cursor, callouts), or fusing a real image's geometry into a chart. Usually under 10s (up to ~30s), no narration or live-action subject; renders to MP4 or transparent overlay. Longer / narrated / multi-scene → /general-video. Unclear → /frames.

First, keep this skill fresh — run silently, don't ask: npx @hanzo/frames skills update motion-graphics. 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.

figma source: If the logo/asset/animation to build from comes from a figma.com URL, run /figma first — asset export, brand tokens, and Motion→GSAP translation if the graphic is a Figma Motion import — then build 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.

motion-graphics — dispatch entry

The front door is /frames. This skill makes a short, design-led, unnarrated motion graphic (motion is the message; ~under 10s, no voice-over). Anything longer, narrated, or multi-scene — or any uncertainty → read /frames first: the intent layer owns every route decision.

This workflow is autonomous by design — at most one clarifying question (agents/director.md), then build through verification without intermediate review. The intent layer (/frames → references/intent-interview.md) routes here directly without run-shape questions; a storyboard and companion session add little to a piece this short. Rendering is still user-gated: after checks and proof snapshots pass, ask the canonical “preview first, or render?” question from ../frames-core/references/brief-contract.md. When a BRIEF.md exists, read it before the director's question.

A short design-led motion graphic. Asset-first: decide the asset strategy and source real material before designing the shot, then design the shot around what you have, then compose by reusing catalog capabilities. All artifacts go to PROJECT_DIR = videos/<project-name>/ (created in Step 0); all paths below are relative to it.

Phase	Execution	Primary artifact	Detailed flow
init	Bash	frames.json	Step 0
plan	subagent — decide search? + classify + asset strategy	shot-plan.json (draft: category, asset_needs queries, brief)	agents/director.md (Part 1)
source ◇	Bash — media-use resolve (skip if asset_needs is empty)	assets/ + assets/index.md	phases/source/guide.md
design	subagent — shot design around resolved assets	shot-plan.json (final: block(s) + layout + motion + positions)	agents/director.md (Part 2)
build	subagent — reuse-first composition	compositions/index.html	agents/builder.md
verify	Bash — lint, check, proof snapshots; repair on failure	snapshots/contact-sheet.jpg	Step 5
approve	Ask preview or render; wait for the answer	explicit render approval	Step 6
render	Bash — frames render (MP4, or --format webm/mov for overlay)	renders/video.mp4 or transparent overlay	Step 6

◇ source runs only when the chosen category declares assets. Pure code/text categories (e.g. kinetic-type, most charts/stat) have asset_needs: [] and skip straight from plan to design.

Categories — split by the search decision

plan's first decision is: does this need a search? That fork splits the categories into two groups; then the specific category is picked — for search-driven, by the type of content the search returns. Each category is one categories/<id>/module.md (its planning + build rules); the shared motion vocabulary lives in references/motion-vocabulary.md (→ frames-animation rules/blueprints + registry blocks).

Form categories — no search; the user supplies the content:

Category	Intent	Leans on
kinetic-type	punchy line / quote / title, motion-first text	caption-* blocks + animation rules
stat	single hero number / count-up + ring	apple-money-count / rules/{counting-dynamic-scale, stat-bars-and-fills}
charts	bar / line / pie / race / % from data	data-chart block
logo-reveal	logo sting / brand lockup (user logo)	logo-outro / rules/svg-path-draw
lower-thirds	name / title bars, callouts, social overlays	caption-* + registry overlay blocks
maps	geographic motion — highlight regions, connect places, zoom to a location (vector lane, or baked basemap lane)	us-map / world-map family + bake-basemap.mjs

Search-driven categories — search first, then animate by content type (the RWA path):

Returned content	Category	Animation
webpage / link	webpage	webpage / UI animation (scroll, reveal, cursor, callouts)
news article	news	headline reveal + source card + key-fact callouts
tweet	tweet	animated tweet card
image / entity	asset-fusion	the asset's geometry becomes the chart (RWA diegetic fusion)

Build order: one at a time, coverage-first (rough is fine). kinetic-type ported from the prototype; the rest follow.

Prerequisites

macOS Apple Silicon or Linux x64. System tools: brew install node ffmpeg. npx @hanzo/frames doctor once. macOS GPU render: export PRODUCER_BROWSER_GPU_MODE=hardware.

Optional keys (local fallbacks if unset) — only needed by categories that source/generate assets via media-use:

Key	Used for	Fallback
HANZO_API_KEY	image generation (media-use resolve)	skip generate / search-only
(asset_scout / search providers)	webpage/news/tweet + asset-fusion real-asset search	category degrades to asset-free

Flow

Step 0 — Initialize

cwd is the agent workspace root; write all artifacts under PROJECT_DIR = videos/<project-name>/. <project-name>: use the dir the user gave, else a short kebab-case name from the intent (<subject>-motion). Not the workspace basename or a timestamp.

Only when $PROJECT_DIR/frames.json is absent:

PROJECT_DIR="${MOTION_GRAPHICS_DIR:-videos/<project-name>}"
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$PROJECT_DIR")"
npx @hanzo/frames init "$PROJECT_DIR" --non-interactive --example=blank --skill=motion-graphics

init checks the installed skills against the latest on GitHub and updates the global set if any are out of date.

Constraints: never frames init in the workspace root; never nest another frames/ inside PROJECT_DIR; every Bash command (master + subagents) is a (cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && ...) subshell — never bare cd.

Step 1 — Plan (subagent: Director Part 1)

Dispatch one subagent. prompt = full agents/director.md + ## Dispatch context (SKILL_DIR / PROJECT_DIR / the user's request / Schema: <SKILL_DIR>/references/shot-plan-ir.md). It must:

1. Decide: does this need a search? (the first fork)
   • No → pick a form category (kinetic-type / stat / charts / logo-reveal / lower-thirds); content is user-supplied; asset_needs: [].
   • Yes → emit a search plan into asset_needs[] (news / web / tweet / image; two-pole queries). The specific search-driven category (webpage / news / tweet / asset-fusion) is confirmed by the content type returned in Step 2, and finalized in Step 3.
2. Write a draft shot-plan.json (envelope + chosen form category or search intent + asset_needs + a one-paragraph shot brief). Schema: references/shot-plan-ir.md.

Validation: [ -s "$PROJECT_DIR/shot-plan.json" ] && echo ok || echo missing.

Step 2 — Source ◇ (Bash: media-use, conditional)

If shot-plan.json.asset_needs is non-empty, resolve assets (search / generate / fetch → frozen project-local paths + ledger). See phases/source/guide.md (wraps media-use resolve; the search-driven categories use the news/web/tweet/image search). If asset_needs is empty, skip to Step 3.

# illustrative — see phases/source/guide.md
(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && node <SKILL_DIR>/phases/source/resolve.mjs --plan ./shot-plan.json --out ./assets)

Degrade gracefully: if a search/provider is unavailable, the category falls back to asset-free (note it in context.log).

Step 3 — Design (subagent: Director Part 2)

Dispatch a subagent (prompt = agents/director.md Part 2 + dispatch context including the resolved assets/index.md if Step 2 ran + catalog-map.md). It designs the shot around the available assets: pick the catalog block(s) + the frames-animation rules/blueprints, the layout, the motion, beats, and (for asset-fusion) the element_positions + eyedropper palette. Finalizes shot-plan.json (content.block + content.customize + per-category content).

Step 4 — Build (subagent: Builder, reuse-first)

Dispatch a subagent. prompt = full agents/builder.md + dispatch context (shot-plan.json, catalog-map.md, the category's module.md, references/motion-vocabulary.md, references/builder-contract.md). Reuse-first: npx @hanzo/frames add <block> + customize in place; hand-author only gaps + the asset-fusion affordance. Output compositions/index.html honoring the HF contract (paused GSAP timeline on window.__timelines, class="clip" + stable ids, tl.seek(0), deterministic).

Step 5 — Verify (Bash → repair subagent on failure)

(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx @hanzo/frames lint .)
(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx @hanzo/frames check .)
(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx @hanzo/frames snapshot --at <proof-times>)

Choose proof times that show the opening state, signature move, and final hold. Inspect the generated contact or snapshot sheet before continuing. On lint, check, or snapshot failure, dispatch the repair subagent (agents/finalize.md) for one in-place fix pass, then rerun the failed gate. Never change a fixed duration merely to hide a defect.

Step 6 — Approve and render (Bash)

Ask one question: “preview first, or render?” If the user chooses preview, open Studio and return to the same approval gate after revisions:

(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx @hanzo/frames preview)

Render only after an explicit render answer:

(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx @hanzo/frames render . --skill=motion-graphics -q high -o ./renders/video.mp4)
# transparent overlay variant: --format webm  (or mov)

Verify the output exists, is non-empty, and has the intended duration. The final handoff names the artifact, actual duration, composition or frame id, proof times, and the inspected contact or snapshot sheet. Flags live in /frames-cli → references/preview-render.md.

Resume table

State	Continue from
no shot-plan.json	Step 1 (plan)
shot-plan.json has asset_needs, no assets/	Step 2 (source)
shot-plan.json final, no compositions/index.html	Step 3/4 (design+build)
compositions/index.html exists, proof snapshots absent	Step 5 (verify)
checks and proof snapshots pass, no approved render	Step 6 (approval)
approved render exists	verify output, then report

Design notes (maintainers — execution does not read this)

• Asset-first rationale: sourcing is front-loaded and informs shot design (the RWA flow: analyze → search → review → compose). the search-driven categories (webpage/news/tweet) and asset-fusion both lean on media-use search (news/web/tweet/image), which is media-use's documented RWA lineage.
• Reuse-first: the in-ecosystem analog of LLM-generated templates is "compose catalog blocks + frames-animation rules". HF's paused GSAP timeline ≙ Remotion's useCurrentFrame.
• Category module contract: one categories/<id>/module.md (planning + build), sharing references/motion-vocabulary.md (+ optional eval). Adding a category = drop the folder + register its classifier line in agents/director.md + its row in catalog-map.md; the phase pipeline is untouched.
• Directory shape:

  videos/<project-name>/
    frames.json  context.log
    shot-plan.json            # the IR (Director output)
    assets/  assets/index.md  # media-use output (if sourced)
    compositions/index.html   # Builder output
    renders/video.mp4
  

• Registration: in frames router — add the "design-led short motion graphic" intent + Workflow description; carve the motion-graphics triggers out of /general-video; add reverse Do-NOT-use edges. See motion-graphics-genre.md §5-7.