video/skills/pipelines/animation/scene-director.md

Scene Director - Animation Pipeline

When To Use

You are converting the script into a feasible animation plan. This is the stage that decides whether the project feels designed or chaotic.

Prerequisites

Layer	Resource	Purpose
Schema	schemas/artifacts/scene_plan.schema.json	Artifact validation
Prior artifacts	state.artifacts["script"]["script"], state.artifacts["proposal"]["proposal_packet"]	Beat map and tool path
Playbook	Active style playbook	Palette, typography, motion consistency

Process

1. Make An Animatic-Minded Plan

For each scene, define:

• what appears first,
• what changes,
• what is held,
• how the scene exits.

2. Limit Transition Families

Choose a small set of transition meanings:

• cut,
• fade,
• slide,
• transform.

3. Match Scene Type To Tool Path

Use:

• diagram scenes for structured explanation,
• animation scenes for motion-first sequences,
• text_card for clean high-impact copy moments,
• generated only where needed.

For image_animation approach (anime/illustration style):

Use anime_scene type for each scene. Plan:

• Images per scene: 2-3 images built from the same visual system and nearby seeds for crossfade effect
• Camera motion: choose from zoom-in, zoom-out, pan-left, pan-right, ken-burns, drift-up, drift-down, parallax, static — vary per scene to prevent monotony
• Particle type: choose from fireflies, petals, sparkles, mist, light-rays — match to scene mood
• Lighting: optional lightingFrom/lightingTo gradient for atmospheric shifts within the scene
• Vignette: true for cinematic framing (default), false for bright/open scenes
• Scene duration: 4-7 seconds per scene. Longer scenes need more images for crossfade variety.

Scene variety rules for image_animation:

• Don't use the same camera motion for consecutive scenes
• Alternate between warm and cool particle types
• Mix close-up and wide establishing shots
• Use overlays (hero_title, section_title) to add narrative structure

JSON prop name mapping (use these exact field names in the composition JSON):

Concept	JSON Field	Example Values
Camera motion	animation	"zoom-in", "pan-right", "ken-burns"
Particle effect	particles	"fireflies", "sparkles", "mist"
Particle color	particleColor	"#FFE082"
Particle density	particleCount	20 (range: 1-50)
Particle brightness	particleIntensity	0.5 (range: 0-1)
Lighting start	lightingFrom	"rgba(255,200,100,0.15)" or "transparent"
Lighting end	lightingTo	"rgba(255,107,157,0.08)" or "transparent"
Cinematic edge darken	vignette	true / false
Scene background	backgroundColor	theme-derived value such as "#0A0A1A" or "#F6F1E8"

Reference: remotion-composer/public/demo-props/mori-no-seishin.json — 6 scenes using this pattern. Reference: remotion-composer/public/demo-props/deep-ocean.json — 6 underwater scenes with different palette.

4. Use Metadata For Timing Rules

Recommended metadata keys:

• animatic_rules
• transition_rules
• hold_rules
• tool_path_map
• reusable_motifs

5. 5-Aspect Scene-Plan Checklist

Every scene must specify all five aspects, BUT the load shifts with the scene's animation_mode. Manim and other diagrammatic/programmatic scenes care most about Subject and Spatial Framing — Camera and Subject Motion in the cinematographic sense often map to N/A or to abstract equivalents. AI-video / image_animation / anime_scene scenes care about all five and behave like cinematic shots. Marking an aspect as N/A is allowed but must be explicit per scene; silent omission is forbidden.

1. Subject — type + key visual attributes; for Manim, the equation/object/graph being foregrounded; for anime_scene, the character or environment in focus.
2. Subject Motion — for Manim, the order of Create/Transform/FadeIn and what each animation conveys; for AI-video, the actions and interactions in temporal order.
3. Scene — overlays (separately!) + POV + setting + time of day + scene dynamics. For Manim, "setting" is the canvas background + axis style; for anime_scene, the environment + lighting gradient.
4. Spatial Framing — shot size + position-in-frame + depth (FG/MG/BG) + camera-height-relative; and how those CHANGE. Manim cares about layout grid + element positions; AI-video cares about full cinematographic framing.
5. Camera — playback speed → lens distortion → height → angle → focus/DoF → steadiness → movement. For Manim and pure motion-graphics, default to N/A unless using a virtual camera move (MoveCamera, self.frame). For anime_scene and AI-video, specify fully.

Tie this back to animation_mode in scene metadata: a Manim scene that lists Camera fully is over-specified; an AI-video scene that omits Camera is under-specified. See skills/creative/video-gen-prompting.md for the primitive vocabulary.

Overlays callout. Overlays (titles, subtitles, HUD, watermarks, framing graphics, lower-thirds, hero_title, section_title, provider_chip) are NOT part of the scene's foreground/midground/background depth axis. List them separately in scene metadata (overlays: [...]) with content and placement. Never describe an overlay as "in the foreground" — that confuses both downstream tools and any video-understanding model that re-analyzes the output.

6. Quality Gate

• every scene has a clear timing intent,
• the 5-aspect checklist is satisfied for the scene's animation_mode (with explicit N/A where appropriate),
• overlays live under overlays:, never inside the framing description,
• the transition system is limited and meaningful,
• the tool path is explicit,
• the sequence feels like one designed system.

Common Pitfalls

• Adding a new transition idea in every scene.
• Planning scenes that have no realistic production path.
• Overanimating text-heavy scenes.