Talking Head Recut

Talking Head Recut

Talking Head Recut takes a local video that plays in full and layers a sequence of timed, designed graphic cards onto it — titles, lower-thirds, data callouts, quotes, side panels, picture-in-picture — synced to what's being said. The agent designs the cards (timing + content) and writes each card's HTML directly in the conversation, then assembles a single composition HTML and renders it to MP4 via hyperframes. There is no fixed archetype list and no prescribed card structure — the overlays emerge from what the transcript actually says.

Confirm the route before you build. This skill packages an existing talking-head clip with designed graphic cards (titles, lower-thirds, data callouts, quotes, side panels, PiP). If the user wants plain captions / subtitles (the spoken words as text) → /embedded-captions; a single short unnarrated element (one logo sting / lower-third) → /motion-graphics. The clip plays untouched — re-timing, recoloring, reframing, reordering, or audio is NLE editing and out of scope. Building from a URL / topic / PR → the creation workflows. Unsure overlays-vs-captions? Read `/hyperframes` first.

Graphic-packaging sibling of `embedded-captions`. Captions add the _spoken words_

as a readable subtitle; this adds _designed graphics_ on top of the playing video.

Plain subtitles → embedded-captions. Build a video from scratch → the creation

workflows (product-launch-video / faceless-explainer / …).

Inspectable intermediate files in the work directory:

• metadata.json — duration / width / height / fps
• audio.mp3 — extracted audio
• transcript.json — a flat word array [{ text, start, end }, …] (Whisper; no segments, no words wrapper)
• storyboard.json — lightweight card outline (the agent's plan)
• public/cards/card-XX.html — one HTML fragment per card
• public/index.html — final assembled composition
• output.mp4 — rendered video

CLI Resolution

# hyperframes — transcription (local Whisper) + rendering the assembled HTML to MP4
npx hyperframes --help

This skill runs entirely on the hyperframes CLI plus system ffmpeg / ffprobe. Transcription is local Whisper via hyperframes transcribe — no third-party service, API key, or rate-limited proxy.

Workflow

1. Check Environment

npx hyperframes doctor          # ffmpeg, headless browser, render deps
# confirm bundled assets:
ls "<SKILL_DIR>/assets/fonts" "<SKILL_DIR>/assets/vendor/gsap.min.js"

Required:

• ffmpeg / ffprobe (system)
• <SKILL_DIR>/assets/fonts/*.woff2, <SKILL_DIR>/assets/vendor/gsap.min.js (bundled inside this skill, staged to work dir in Step 9)

Transcription needs no key — hyperframes transcribe runs Whisper locally (Step 4).

Strongly recommended on macOS for hyperframes render:

export PRODUCER_BROWSER_GPU_MODE=hardware

2. Create a Work Directory

All artifacts live under videos/<project-name>/ — the same convention as the other video workflows (product-launch-video / faceless-explainer / pr-to-video). Keep the cwd at the workspace root; everything below writes under this one subdirectory.

VIDEO_PATH="/absolute/path/input.mp4"
WORK_DIR="videos/$(basename "$VIDEO_PATH" | sed 's/\.[^.]*$//')"
mkdir -p "$WORK_DIR"

3. Extract Audio and Metadata

# metadata — duration / width / height / fps
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 \
  -show_entries stream=width,height,r_frame_rate \
  -show_entries format=duration -of json "$VIDEO_PATH" > "$WORK_DIR/metadata.json"
# audio
ffmpeg -y -i "$VIDEO_PATH" -vn -acodec libmp3lame -q:a 2 "$WORK_DIR/audio.mp3"

Outputs: metadata.json (read width/height/duration; fps = the r_frame_rate fraction evaluated, e.g. 30000/1001 → 29.97) + audio.mp3.

4. Transcribe

npx hyperframes transcribe "$WORK_DIR/audio.mp3" -d "$WORK_DIR" --json --model small.en

Local Whisper — no API key, no proxy, no rate limit. Writes a word-level transcript.json into the work dir (word text + start / end timestamps). Read it for the word / sentence timings that drive card timing in Step 6; group words into sentences yourself at punctuation / pauses if you need segment-level chunks.

Clamp to media duration. Whisper can return the final word's end a hair past the actual clip length — clamp every card endSec and composition.durationSeconds to the metadata.json duration, or the render will show a black tail past the video.

5. Correct Transcript

transcript.json is a flat array of word objects — [{ "text": "...", "start": s, "end": s }, …] (no segments array, no words wrapper; the per-word key is `text`). Read it and fix obvious ASR errors:

• Homophones, product names, technical terms, punctuation
• Edit a word's text in place; preserve its `start` / `end` timestamps
• There is no pre-grouped segments array — group words into sentences yourself (split at terminal punctuation / pauses) when you need segment-level chunks for card timing

6. Draft a Lightweight Storyboard (in chat)

No CLI involved. Read transcript.json + metadata.json and design cards directly. storyboard.json is an agent-internal planning artifact — no CLI command consumes it; it exists so you can think clearly about timing and content before writing each card's HTML. Keep the shape consistent with the example below so the same outline can drive the composition you author in Step 9:

{
  "schemaVersion": 3,
  "composition": {
    "fps": 30,
    "width": 1080,
    "height": 1920,
    "durationSeconds": 121.2,
    "layout": "portrait",
    "themeId": "noir",
    "seed": 42
  },
  "videoTrack": {
    "sourcePath": "input-video.mp4",
    "startSec": 0,
    "endSec": 121.2,
    "bounds": { "x": 0, "y": 0, "width": 1080, "height": 1920 }
  },
  "subtitles": { "enabled": false },
  "cards": [
    {
      "id": "card-01",
      "intent": "Hook with the speaker's anxious midnight question",
      "startSec": 0.5,
      "endSec": 13.0,
      "accentIndex": 0,
      "zone": "fullscreen",
      "contentHints": {
        "kicker": "AN HONEST QUESTION",
        "title": "The soul-searching question at 11 PM",
        "detail": "Client's 60-second voice message: 'If the RMB appreciates, does that mean my USD policy is a terrible loss?'"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Required Card fields:

Five `zone` values:

When you assemble the composition in Step 9, resolve each card's zone into pixel bounds on the card-host wrapper following the table above. Video bounds are set once at composition level (videoTrack.bounds); to make video appear to "move between cards", author GSAP tweens against #video-wrap in the composition's <script> (see Step 9).

No prescribed card roles, no prescribed narrative arc. Cards emerge from what the video actually says — could be all quotes or all data, could open with a number or with a story. Let the transcript drive the rhythm.

How many takeaways? — auto-infer from duration + density. No fixed upper limit. Pick a base pace from the video duration, then adjust by information density. Only floor is fixed: minimum 5 cards so even short videos have rhythm.

Step 1 — base pace by duration (the natural sec/card for medium density):

Step 2 — density multiplier (multiplies the base pace):

Step 3 — compute:

secPerCard = basePace × densityMultiplier
cardCount  = max(5, round(videoDurationSec / secPerCard))

Examples (notice — no upper clamp; long videos naturally produce more cards):

• 30s reel, single punchline (low density) → 7 × 1.5 = 10.5s/card → round(30/10.5)=3 → floor to 5 cards
• 60s reflective monologue (low density) → 10 × 1.5 = 15s/card → 4 → floor to 5 cards
• 121s talking-head with rich data (high density) → 10 × 0.7 = 7s/card → 17 cards
• 5 min interview, mixed density → 16 × 1.0 = 16s/card → 19 cards
• 10 min deep-dive, high density → 16 × 0.7 = 11s/card → 55 cards
• 30 min lecture, medium density → 28 × 1.0 = 28s/card → 64 cards
• 1 hr podcast, low density → 45 × 1.5 = 67.5s/card → 53 cards

When a card holds longer than ~15s, plan for a richer card (data block, multi-step reveal, several sub-points unfolding with staggered animations) — a static one-liner gets boring past 8s. For long pieces where many cards exceed 30s, consider chunking the timeline into sub-compositions (one .html per chapter, mounted with data-composition-src) so the GSAP timeline per file stays manageable — see the timeline_track_too_dense HyperFrames lint warning.

content can be a plain string ("Title: annualized 5.69%\nNotes: ...") or any JSON shape that captures the data. The agent decides the shape per card.

Optional outro. This skill ships no fixed brand outro. If the user wants a closing card, design a neutral one yourself (wordmark + one-line tagline, ~1.5-2s, fade in -> short hold -> fade out), append it to cards[], and extend composition.durationSeconds to its endSec. Otherwise end on the last content card.

7. Decide Render Strategy

Confirm Visual Direction with User (DO THIS FIRST)

Before you start designing cards or deciding bounds, ask the user to pick the output ratio, the layout, the style, and the card-density preset. Frames are auto-selected from the chosen layout × style combination (see "Auto-pick frame" table below). Before sending the question, precompute two things:

1. `recommendedRatio` from the source video's aspect ratio (metadata.json width / height):

• sourceAspect = width / height
• sourceAspect ≥ 1.5 (≥ ~3:2 wide) → recommend `16:9`
• sourceAspect ≤ 0.7 (≤ ~9:13 tall) → recommend `9:16`
• 0.7 < sourceAspect < 1.5 (near-square) → recommend `4:5`

Mark the recommended option's label with " (recommended · matches source video X:Y)" so the user sees why it's recommended.

2. `autoCount` from Step 6 (max(5, round(videoSec / (basePace × densityMultiplier)))) so the "auto" option's label can show the concrete number.

Environment compatibility — pick the best available question channel. Not every runtime exposes the same structured-question tool. Apply this order:

1. `AskUserQuestion` (Claude Code, Anthropic Console) — use the structured 4-question call below. 2. Other native clarification tool (e.g. ask_question, request_user_input, IDE-specific prompt) — use that tool with the same 4 question texts and option lists. Preserve the recommendation markers and the precomputed values. 3. No native tool (Codex CLI, plain text-only runtimes) — ask directly in normal conversation. Use the plain-text template at the end of this section. Keep it to one message, 4 numbered questions (the global cap is 2–5 questions per round; we stay inside it).

Rules that apply to every channel:

• Ask at most 2–5 questions per round. Our 4 here fits.
• Even if missing info doesn't block rendering, **ask once to confirm

the parameters that materially affect the final output** (ratio, layout, style, cardCount).

• If the user has already pre-approved defaults ("just use defaults",

"no need to ask", "auto-pick everything") or asked you not to ask — skip the question entirely and use: recommendedRatio, layout="stack" (safest cross-ratio default), style chosen from transcript tone in the most neutral group (editorial/data), autoCount. Tell the user what you picked in one sentence and continue.

Channel A — native `AskUserQuestion`:

// Precompute before the call:
//   recommendedRatio = "16:9" | "9:16" | "4:5"
//   autoCount        = integer (from Step 6)

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [
    {
      question: "Output video aspect ratio (canvas):",
      header: "Aspect ratio",
      multiSelect: false,
      // Reorder so the recommended option appears FIRST (per AskUserQuestion convention).
      // Append " (recommended · matches source video W×H)" to the recommended option's label.
      options: [
        { label: "16:9 (1920×1080) landscape", description: "TV / YouTube / desktop playback. Most natural when the source video is already landscape; widest canvas." },
        { label: "9:16 (1080×1920) portrait", description: "TikTok / Reels / short-form mobile. Most natural for portrait source; native mobile experience." },
        { label: "4:5 (1080×1350) near-portrait", description: "Instagram feed / WeChat Moments. Best when source is near-square or you want to cover both platforms." }
      ]
    },
    {
      question: "Choose the overall layout: how should the video and cards coexist on the canvas?",
      header: "Layout",
      multiSelect: false,
      options: [
        { label: "side-by-side (split)",  description: "Video and card each take half the canvas. Most stable for interview / data side-by-side; clear visual separation." },
        { label: "top-bottom (stack)",    description: "Video on top (~52%), card below. Classic combo of speaker face + summary card; works well in portrait too." },
        { label: "picture-in-picture (pip)", description: "Card fills the canvas, video shrinks to a rounded corner window. Use when content is primary and speaker is secondary." },
        { label: "full-screen overlay (overlay)", description: "Video plays full-bleed, card floats as a glass layer on top. Strong cinematic / emotional feel." }
      ]
    },
    {
      question: "Choose the card visual style (style):",
      header: "Style group",
      multiSelect: false,
      // NOTE: these 3 groups intentionally match the frame auto-pick matrix
      // rows below, so picking a group resolves both `style` group AND the
      // frame matrix column in one step. Memberships are mutually exclusive.
      options: [
        { label: "warm paper (warm-paper)", description: "academic notebook · editorial big-type · whiteboard hand-drawn · xhs social. Best for interview reflections, product launches, lifestyle, emotional stories." },
        { label: "clinical / cold (clinical)",   description: "audit magazine · swiss grid · terminal CLI · minimal modern. Best for financial analysis, investigative reports, technical tutorials, serious presentations." },
        { label: "experimental / avant-garde (experimental)", description: "geom color-clash geometry · spotlight dark-background. Best for short-form highlights, product launches, strong emotion, cinematic feel." }
      ]
    },
    {
      question: "Card count (takeaway pacing): how many cards to cut?",
      header: "Card count",
      multiSelect: false,
      options: [
        { label: "Auto (recommended) · approx N cards", description: "Inferred automatically from video duration and information density (see Step 6 rules). This run estimates approx N cards. Substitute the real N (your autoCount) into the label." },
        { label: "Fewer · approx round(N × 0.6) cards", description: "Sparser cuts, each card holds longer — suits reflective / slow-paced content." },
        { label: "More · approx round(N × 1.5) cards", description: "Tighter cuts, faster rhythm — suits staccato / data-dense / short-form highlight content." }
      ]
    }
  ]
})

About "Other" — AskUserQuestion automatically adds an "Other" option to the card count question. The user can type a number directly (e.g. "8", "20") as the cardCount target. Parse the input as an integer: if parsing succeeds → use that value (minimum 5 as a floor); if parsing fails → fall back to "auto".

Channel B — plain-text fallback (Codex CLI, runtimes without a native question tool). Post this as one normal message, then wait for the reply. Bullet-style 1/2/3/4 keeps the reply parseable:

I need to confirm four visual decisions with you before I start cutting cards:

1) Output aspect ratio (canvas):
   A. 16:9 landscape (1920×1080) — TV / YouTube / desktop playback
   B. 9:16 portrait (1080×1920) — TikTok / Reels / short-form mobile
   C. 4:5 near-portrait (1080×1350) — Instagram feed / works for both platforms
   ▸ My recommendation:  <recommendedRatio>  (matches source video W×H = <sourceW>×<sourceH>)

2) Overall layout (how video & card coexist):
   A. split   side-by-side (50/50)
   B. stack   top-bottom (video top, card bottom)
   C. pip     picture-in-picture (card full canvas, video rounded corner window)
   D. overlay full-screen glass overlay (video full-bleed, card glass layer)

3) Card style group (maps to frame auto-pick matrix, pick 1 of 3):
   A. warm paper (warm-paper)      (academic / editorial / whiteboard / xhs)
   B. clinical / cold (clinical)   (audit / swiss / terminal / minimal)
   C. experimental (experimental)  (geom / spotlight)

4) Card count (takeaway pacing):
   A. Auto (recommended) — approx <autoCount> cards
   B. Fewer — approx round(<autoCount> × 0.6) cards
   C. More — approx round(<autoCount> × 1.5) cards
   D. Give me a specific number (e.g. "8", "20")

Reply format: "1A 2C 3B 4A" or natural language is fine.
If you want all recommended defaults, reply "default" / "auto" / "use all recommendations".

Parsing the plain-text reply:

• Accept loose formats: "1A 2C 3B 4A", "A C B A", `"16:9 / pip /

data / auto", full sentences, or default`.

• If any answer is ambiguous → re-ask only the ambiguous ones (still

inside the 2–5 cap).

• If the user says "default / auto / use all recommendations" → skip without re-asking.

After the user answers (any channel):

1. Resolve the output canvas from the ratio answer — these are the exact storyboard.composition.width / height values to write:

For *4:5 bounds inside `references/layouts/.html** — those files only document landscape (1920×1080) and portrait (1080×1920). For 4:5 (1080×1350) derive bounds by **proportional scaling from portrait**: keep horizontal values, scale vertical values by 1350/1920 ≈ 0.703. Example: overlay portrait card = { x: 24, y: 1280, w: 1032, h: 564 } → 4:5 card = { x: 24, y: round(1280 × 0.703), w: 1032, h: round(564 × 0.703) } = { x: 24, y: 900, w: 1032, h: 397 }`.

2. Map the style group to a specific style by looking at the transcript tone — pick the one that best fits, but stay inside the user's chosen group. If you're unsure between two specific styles inside the group, send a second AskUserQuestion with those 2–4 specific style options.

3. Resolve final cardCount from the density answer:

4. Auto-pick the video frame from this table (frames don't ask the user — they follow from layout × style):

5. Tell the user what you chose in one sentence — ratio (+ canvas size), layout, specific style, frame, and final cardCount — then proceed with the rest of Step 7 (per-card layouts, motion patterns). 6. Record the five values (ratio / layout / style / frame / cardCount) in working memory (no schema field needed); you'll reference them while writing each card's HTML in Step 8 and while reading the matching references/<dim>/<key>.html for tokens and structure.

If the user picks an answer via "Other" with a free-text style name not in the 10-style library, treat it as a hint to design a fresh card visual yourself, but still anchor on the chosen layout's bounds.

Render Strategy Inputs

With ratio / layout / style / cardCount / frame locked from Step 7.0, the remaining per-card decisions are:

• Source-video fit inside the GSAP target: video element has

object-fit: cover and is clipped to #video-wrap's tween bounds. If you want NO cropping (e.g. portrait source on landscape canvas shouldn't get its top/bottom chopped), aim the tween at a rect that matches the source's aspect ratio and let surrounding canvas show through (or fill with the card / a backdrop).

• `card.zone` per card: derive from your chosen composition layout

(split → side-panel, stack → lower-third, pip → fullscreen, overlay → video-overlay), OR pick a different zone for one-off variants (fullscreen for hero / quote, whiteboard-area for dense data).

• `accentIndex` per card: each card pulls one of the 5 theme accent

colors. Vary across cards for rhythm; reuse the same index when two cards belong to the same narrative beat.

• Motion vocabulary: pick 2–3 repeatable patterns from

data-anim kinds (see the table later) and stick to them so the composition feels coherent.

Pick from these themeId palettes (use them as --accent-N / --bg / --text CSS variables in your composition <style> block):

Available fonts (woff2 in <SKILL_DIR>/assets/fonts/, staged to work dir in Step 9): Caveat (handwriting), LXGW WenKai TC (Chinese hand-script), Inter (modern sans), Virgil (geometric hand). Reference via @font-face or font-family directly.

For inspiration on visual patterns, <SKILL_DIR>/references/styles/ ships 10 self-contained reference cards (academic / editorial / minimal / spotlight / geom / whiteboard / audit / terminal / swiss / xhs) that you can copy as starting points — but do not feel constrained to match any of these. Each card is your own design.

Visual Design Library (<SKILL_DIR>/references/)

Beyond the composition-level themeId, the skill ships a richer reference library at <SKILL_DIR>/references/ covering three orthogonal visual dimensions you can freely mix:

Style  ×  Layout  ×  VideoFrame
 (10)      (4)         (3)

Read <SKILL_DIR>/references/DESIGN_INDEX.md for the full matrix and a loose decision guide (interview / product launch / data analysis / social clip / technical tutorial / emotional story …). When you decide to use a specific style / layout / frame, Read the corresponding file:

• references/styles/<key>.html — self-contained card fragment with that

style's CSS tokens (colors, fonts, padding, ornament) and a placeholder takeaway. Copy the .card[data-card-id="ref-<key>"] style block, rename the data-card-id to your card's id, swap the placeholder content for the real takeaway, and you're done.

• references/layouts/<key>.html — exact videoBounds + cardBounds for

both landscape and portrait, with a copy-paste JSON snippet for storyboard.json's per-card layout field.

• references/frames/<key>.html — decorative HTML to add as a sibling of

#video-wrap, plus placement instructions for the composition CSS.

Pick style × layout × frame per card — you can change all three between cards as long as the transitions read smoothly. A common rhythm: open editorial × overlay × clean, switch to audit × split × hairline for the data card, close on whiteboard × pip × polaroid.

The 10 styles are skill-side design tokens, not composition-level themes — they don't need to be declared in storyboard.composition; they live inside each card's HTML. The themeId field can still pick a composition-level palette (table above) that controls page-body background and video border chrome.

Layout Compositions (Card + Video)

Two coordinated decisions per card define how it shares the canvas with the source video:

• `card.zone` (declared in storyboard.json) — one of the 5 schema

values; resolve it into pixel bounds (per the table in Step 6) when you write the card-host wrapper's inline style in Step 9.

• `#video-wrap` bounds at this card's time window (declared

imperatively in the composition's GSAP timeline) — the agent tweens #video-wrap to a target rect for each layout transition.

Schema does NOT store per-card video bounds. videoTrack.bounds is one-time at composition level (defaults to full canvas). Video "moving" between cards is purely a GSAP animation authored in index.html. There is no card.layout field — earlier versions of this doc invented one; the real schema only has card.zone.

4 composition layouts (from references/layouts/) — each is a recipe pairing a zone with a #video-wrap tween target:

For 4:5 (1080×1350), scale portrait y/h values by 1350/1920 ≈ 0.703 (see Step 7.0 Channel A / Channel B recommendedRatio resolution table).

Other zone values for one-off variants (still uses card.zone; no fake "layout" field):

You can mix recipes per card — choose card.zone based on what suits the moment, then write the GSAP tween for #video-wrap between cards.

Storyboard Render Contract

storyboard.json is an agent-internal planning artifact — no CLI command parses it. It exists to keep your timing and content decisions explicit before you write each card's HTML. Stick to the v3-style shape below so the same outline drives the composition you assemble in Step 9.

Required structure (see Step 6 for the full example):

• schemaVersion: 3
• composition: { fps, width, height, durationSeconds, layout, themeId, seed } — note durationSeconds/fps/themeId/layout live inside composition, NOT at top level
• videoTrack: { sourcePath, startSec, endSec, bounds? } — video bounds default to full canvas
• subtitles: { enabled, ... }
• cards[] — each card has the 6 required fields: id, intent, startSec, endSec, accentIndex, zone, contentHints

Rules:

• Card times stay inside composition.durationSeconds and should not overlap unless intentional (use data-track-index to control z-order when they do).
• Visual details live in card HTML fragments (Step 8), NOT in contentHints. contentHints is your own structured prompt for designing the card; the rendered look is the HTML.
• Keep the storyboard shape stable — even though nothing parses it, you read it back while authoring Step 8/9, and consistency keeps card IDs and timing in sync.
• Agent-side decisions like "I picked overlay × geom × clean" do NOT belong in storyboard.json — keep them in working memory and use them when authoring card HTML + GSAP tweens.

Transparent card backgrounds for cards that share canvas with video. When the GSAP tween leaves video visible behind/beside the card (overlay recipe, pip recipe, or any card.zone = 'lower-third' | 'video-overlay' moment), the card's .root MUST NOT paint a full opaque background — otherwise it occludes the video. Two patterns:

/* Pattern A: transparent root, page body provides the cream backdrop */
html,
body {
  background: var(--bg);
}
.card[data-card-id="card-X"] .root {
  background: transparent;
}

/* Pattern B: explicit per-card background ONLY for fullscreen cards */
.card[data-card-id="card-hero"] .root {
  background: var(--bg);
}
.card[data-card-id="card-overlay"] .root {
  background: transparent;
}

For side-panel-zone cards (split recipe), the card-host is already only half the canvas, so an opaque card bg is fine — it only covers its half.

8. Write Each Card's HTML

Create $WORK_DIR/public/cards/{card-id}.html for each card. Each file contains a single rooted HTML fragment that follows this contract:

Card HTML Contract

<div class="card" data-card-id="{cardId}">
  <style>
    /* MUST: every rule starts with .card[data-card-id="{cardId}"] */
    .card[data-card-id="card-01"] .root {
      width: 100%; height: 100%;
      display: flex; ...;
      font-family: 'Caveat', 'LXGW WenKai TC', serif;
      color: var(--text);
      background: var(--bg);
    }
    .card[data-card-id="card-01"] .title { font-size: 84px; ... }
  </style>

  <div class="root">
    <h1
      id="card-01-title"
      data-anim="kinetic-chars"
      data-anim-at="0.3"
      data-anim-duration="0.5"
      data-anim-stagger="0.04"
      data-anim-pattern="pop"
    >
      <span class="char">S</span>
      <span class="char">u</span>
    </h1>
    <div
      id="card-01-line"
      data-anim="grow-x"
      data-anim-at="0.65"
      data-anim-duration="0.5"
      data-anim-target-w="420"
      style="width:0;height:8px;background:var(--accent-0);border-radius:4px;"
    ></div>
  </div>
</div>

Hard rules (hyperframes lint will reject violations):

• Single root <div class="card" data-card-id="{cardId}">
• Inline <style> rules MUST be prefixed with the scope selector above
• No `<script>` tags
• No external URLs in src= / href= (no CDN, no remote fonts)
• No inline event handlers (onclick= etc.)
• All assets via relative paths into the same public/ directory
• Colors via var(--accent-N) etc. for portability across themes

Animations are declared, not coded. Use data-anim-* attributes only; never write <script> to animate. You compile every data-anim-* declaration into the single master GSAP timeline in Step 9.

Card Sizing — Mobile-First in Portrait

The 10 references/styles/*.html are sized for a 1920×1080 landscape preview. When storyboard.layout = "portrait" (1080×1920, the dominant case for social / mobile), scale every visual size up — phones hold the screen close, and the same pixel count reads smaller than on a landscape TV-style canvas.

Rule of thumb: portraitPx = round(landscapePx × 1.3), then floor to a nearby 4px multiple for visual rhythm. Hero headlines may go up to ×1.4; small meta text stays at ×1.2 to avoid crowding.

Padding shrinks slightly in portrait — the card is narrower so big landscape padding (40–64px) eats too much width. Use 24–36px horizontal padding in portrait.

If you're producing a single card that must work in both layouts, prefer a @container query on the card root over hard-coding sizes:

.card[data-card-id="X"] .root {
  container-type: inline-size;
}
.card[data-card-id="X"] .title {
  font-size: clamp(64px, 8.5cqi, 132px);
}
.card[data-card-id="X"] .detail {
  font-size: clamp(24px, 3.2cqi, 40px);
}

But for most cards, a single layout choice is fine — just pick the size table column that matches the storyboard's layout field.

Available data-anim Kinds

data-anim-at is seconds relative to the card's startSec — when you compile each declaration into the GSAP timeline in Step 9, add the card's startSec to get the absolute time and quantize to 1/fps.

9. Assemble the Composition HTML

Stage the assets and write $WORK_DIR/public/index.html:

# SKILL_DIR is injected by the host ("Base directory for this skill: …")
SKILL_DIR="<SKILL_DIR>"

mkdir -p "$WORK_DIR/public/fonts" "$WORK_DIR/public/vendor" "$WORK_DIR/public/cards"
cp -n "$SKILL_DIR/assets/fonts/"*            "$WORK_DIR/public/fonts/"
cp -n "$SKILL_DIR/assets/vendor/gsap.min.js" "$WORK_DIR/public/vendor/"
# stage the input video — RE-ENCODE with dense keyframes. Sources with a sparse GOP
# (keyframe interval > ~1s) freeze on seek in the renderer (a frozen frame under the
# overlays); -g / -keyint_min set to your composition fps make every frame seekable.
# (Set both to your fps — 30 shown; use 24/25/60 to match.)
ffmpeg -y -i "$VIDEO_PATH" -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -g 30 -keyint_min 30 \
  -pix_fmt yuv420p -movflags +faststart -c:a aac "$WORK_DIR/public/input-video.mp4"

Composition Template

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <style>
      @font-face {
        font-family: "Caveat";
        src: url("fonts/Caveat-400-latin.woff2") format("woff2");
        font-weight: 400;
        font-display: block;
      }
      @font-face {
        font-family: "Caveat";
        src: url("fonts/Caveat-700-latin.woff2") format("woff2");
        font-weight: 700;
        font-display: block;
      }
      @font-face {
        font-family: "LXGW WenKai TC";
        src: url("fonts/LXGWWenKaiTC-400-latin.woff2") format("woff2");
        font-weight: 400;
        font-display: block;
      }
      @font-face {
        font-family: "Inter";
        src: url("fonts/Inter-400-latin.woff2") format("woff2");
        font-weight: 400;
        font-display: block;
      }
      @font-face {
        font-family: "Inter";
        src: url("fonts/Inter-700-latin.woff2") format("woff2");
        font-weight: 700;
        font-display: block;
      }
      @font-face {
        font-family: "Virgil";
        src: url("fonts/Virgil.woff2") format("woff2");
        font-display: block;
      }

      :root {
        /* Pick from the themeId palette table in Step 7 — example: classic */
        --bg: #fff9e3;
        --text: #1e1e1e;
        --accent-0: #1971c2;
        --accent-1: #e03131;
        --accent-2: #2f9e44;
        --accent-3: #e8590c;
        --accent-4: #9c36b5;
        --font-family: "Caveat", "LXGW WenKai TC", serif;
      }
      * {
        box-sizing: border-box;
      }
      /* Body font-family MUST list concrete font names (not just var(--font-family)) —
   the HyperFrames renderer's static analyzer doesn't expand CSS variables when
   resolving fonts, so a var-only chain triggers `font_family_without_font_face`
   lint and falls back to a generic. Use the concrete chain here; cards that
   want the theme font can still reference var(--font-family) internally. */
      html,
      body {
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
        overflow: hidden;
        background: #000;
        font-family: "Inter", "Caveat", "LXGW WenKai TC", ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif;
      }
      #stage {
        position: relative;
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
        overflow: hidden;
      }

      /* video-wrapper holds the source video. Its position / size are animated
   over time by the master timeline (one tween per layout transition). */
      .video-wrapper {
        position: absolute;
        left: 0;
        top: 0;
        width: 1920px;
        height: 1080px;
        overflow: hidden;
        border-radius: 0;
        box-shadow: none;
      }
      .video-wrapper video {
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
        object-fit: cover;
      }

      .card-host {
        position: absolute;
        pointer-events: none;
        overflow: hidden;
      }
      .card-host .card {
        position: relative;
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
        overflow: hidden;
      }
      .card-host .char {
        display: inline-block;
        visibility: visible;
      }

      /* Subtle drop shadow + rounded corners for non-fullscreen video framings */
      .video-wrapper.framed {
        border-radius: 16px;
        box-shadow: 0 12px 40px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35);
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div
      id="stage"
      data-composition-id="talking-head-recut"
      data-start="0"
      data-duration="121.2"
      data-fps="30"
      data-width="1920"
      data-height="1080"
    >
      <!-- Layer 1: source video — initial position matches card-01's layout -->
      <div class="video-wrapper" id="video-wrap">
        <video
          id="bg-video"
          src="input-video.mp4"
          muted
          playsinline
          data-start="0"
          data-duration="121.2"
          data-track-index="1"
        ></video>
      </div>

      <!-- Layer 2: each card-host sits at the bounds dictated by its layout. -->
      <!-- IMPORTANT: every card-host MUST carry BOTH "card-host" and "clip" classes. -->
      <!--   - "card-host"  → our positioning + pointer-events styles                 -->
      <!--   - "clip"       → HyperFrames runtime uses this to enforce visibility     -->
      <!--                    only during data-start … data-start+data-duration.      -->
      <!--                    Without "clip" the host stays visible the whole video   -->
      <!--                    (lint: timed_element_missing_clip_class).               -->
      <!-- Example: card-01 with zone="fullscreen" → card-host covers (0,0,1920,1080) -->
      <div
        class="card-host clip"
        data-card-id="card-01"
        data-start="1.0000"
        data-duration="6.5000"
        data-track-index="2"
        style="left:0;top:0;width:1920px;height:1080px;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;"
      >
        <!-- paste the contents of public/cards/card-01.html here -->
      </div>

      <!-- Example: card-02 with zone="side-panel" (split composition layout) → card on left half -->
      <div
        class="card-host clip"
        data-card-id="card-02"
        data-start="8.0000"
        data-duration="12.0000"
        data-track-index="2"
        style="left:0;top:0;width:960px;height:1080px;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;"
      >
        <!-- card-02 HTML -->
      </div>

      <!-- ...one "card-host clip" per card with inline bounds matching resolveZoneBounds(card.zone)... -->

      <script src="vendor/gsap.min.js"></script>
      <script>
        (function () {
          // count-up formatter helper
          window.__fmt = function (v, fmt) {
            if (typeof fmt === "string" && /^\.[0-9]+f$/.test(fmt)) {
              return Number(v).toFixed(Number(fmt.slice(1, -1)));
            }
            if (fmt === ",d") return Math.round(v).toLocaleString();
            return String(Math.round(v));
          };

          const tl = window.gsap.timeline({ paused: true });

          // ── Card lifecycle (one block per card) ──
          // Example for card-01 [1.0, 7.5] with kinetic-chars at +0.3, grow-x at +0.65:

          // Enter (fade in over 0.4s)
          tl.set('.card-host[data-card-id="card-01"]', { visibility: "visible" }, 1.0);
          tl.fromTo(
            '.card-host[data-card-id="card-01"]',
            { opacity: 0 },
            { opacity: 1, duration: 0.4, ease: "power2.out" },
            1.0,
          );

          // Card-internal anims (compile each data-anim-* declaration here)
          tl.from(
            '.card[data-card-id="card-01"] #card-01-title .char',
            { opacity: 0, y: 8, scale: 0.8, duration: 0.5, ease: "power2.out", stagger: 0.04 },
            1.3,
          );
          tl.fromTo(
            '.card[data-card-id="card-01"] #card-01-line',
            { width: 0 },
            { width: 420, duration: 0.5, ease: "power2.out" },
            1.65,
          );

          // Exit (fade out over 0.35s, ending at endSec)
          tl.to(
            '.card-host[data-card-id="card-01"]',
            { opacity: 0, duration: 0.35, ease: "power2.in" },
            7.15,
          );
          tl.set('.card-host[data-card-id="card-01"]', { visibility: "hidden" }, 7.5);

          // ── Video framing transitions ──
          // When the next card uses a different composition layout, animate the
          // video-wrapper to its new bounds. Example: card-01 = fullscreen
          // (video hidden behind), card-02 = split composition (zone="side-panel"
          // → video on right, card on left).

          // Card-02 enters at 8.0s with the split composition. Animate video to
          // the right half during the card-01 → card-02 gap (between 7.5 and 8.0s).
          tl.set("#video-wrap", { className: "video-wrapper framed" }, 7.5);
          tl.to(
            "#video-wrap",
            { left: 960, top: 0, width: 960, height: 1080, duration: 0.6, ease: "power2.inOut" },
            7.5,
          );

          // Card-02 enter — same pattern as card-01
          tl.set('.card-host[data-card-id="card-02"]', { visibility: "visible" }, 8.0);
          tl.fromTo(
            '.card-host[data-card-id="card-02"]',
            { opacity: 0 },
            { opacity: 1, duration: 0.4, ease: "power2.out" },
            8.0,
          );
          // ...card-02 internal anims...

          // ── repeat for each card; if the NEXT card's layout differs,
          //    insert another tl.to('#video-wrap', ...) tween before its enter ──

          window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {};
          window.__timelines["talking-head-recut"] = tl;
        })();
      </script>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

GSAP Statement Cheat Sheet

Compile each data-anim attribute into a GSAP statement. Times are absolute seconds = card.startSec + data-anim-at, quantized to 1/fps. Selector is .card[data-card-id="X"] #elementId.

Quantize: T = Math.round(absSec * fps) / fps. At 30fps the smallest step is 1/30 ≈ 0.0333s; rounding to 4 decimals (.toFixed(4)) is fine inside the JS literal.

Video Framing Reference (per layout value)

The selector for the video container is #video-wrap. Animate its bounds between cards using tl.to('#video-wrap', { ...bounds }, T). Initial bounds should be set inline on the element to match card-01's layout. Pick a transition duration of 0.5–0.7s with ease: 'power2.inOut'.

Decorative frames (clean / hairline / polaroid) sit as a sibling of #video-wrap and follow it through layout transitions. See `references/frames/` for each frame's placement HTML, suggested CSS, and which layouts it pairs with. Quick rule: overlay layout suppresses decorative frames (the full-bleed video clashes with chrome); PiP layouts already have their own pill treatment (border-radius + white ring + shadow), so add a decorative frame only on top of split / stack.

GSAP target lookup table for #video-wrap per composition layout (landscape 1920×1080 — for portrait & 4:5 see references/layouts/*.html which list all three ratios):

To toggle the pip-pill chrome (border-radius + white ring + drop shadow) when entering or leaving a pip moment:

// Enter pip — add chrome
tl.set("#video-wrap", { className: "video-wrapper pip-pill" }, T);
tl.to(
  "#video-wrap",
  { left: 1480, top: 760, width: 400, height: 300, duration: 0.6, ease: "power2.inOut" },
  T,
);

// Leave pip — back to clean full-bleed
tl.set("#video-wrap", { className: "video-wrapper" }, T_NEXT);
tl.to(
  "#video-wrap",
  { left: 0, top: 0, width: 1920, height: 1080, duration: 0.6, ease: "power2.inOut" },
  T_NEXT,
);

Card-host bounds match the zone. Resolve the card's zone into pixel bounds using the table at the top of Step 6, then write those into the card-host's inline style="left:Xpx;top:Ypx;width:Wpx; height:Hpx;...". For video-overlay zone (overlay recipe), the card-host fills the full canvas — your CSS inside .card .root decides where the actual visible card sits.

HyperFrames Layout / Animation QA Rules

• Build each card's static hero frame first: the moment where the card is fully visible and readable.
• Confirm video, cards, subtitles/captions, and diagrams do not unintentionally overlap.
• Confirm hidden video areas are clipped by the frame and not visible outside intended bounds.
• Register one paused master timeline as window.__timelines["talking-head-recut"].
• Build timelines synchronously at page load; no async, setTimeout, Promises, or media play() calls.
• Do not use Math.random() or Date.now() in render paths.
• Do not use repeat: -1; calculate finite repeats from the video duration.
• Prefer GSAP transforms and opacity (x, y, scale, rotation, opacity) over layout properties (top, left, width, height) for motion.
• Animate wrappers such as #video-wrap, not the video element dimensions directly.
• Avoid animating the same property on the same element from multiple timelines at the same time.
• Use data-track-index, not data-layer; use data-duration, not data-end.
• Every timed element (card-host, sub-composition, etc.) MUST include class="clip" alongside its own classes — e.g. class="card-host clip". The HyperFrames runtime uses .clip to gate visibility to the data-start … data-start+data-duration window. Without it the element is visible for the whole video (lint: timed_element_missing_clip_class).
• For body / global font-family, list concrete font names ('Inter', 'Caveat', …) — not a CSS variable like var(--font-family). The HyperFrames font resolver doesn't expand CSS vars during static analysis (lint: font_family_without_font_face). Cards may still use var(--font-family) internally since their @font-face declarations are loaded.

10. Render to MP4

cd "$WORK_DIR"
PRODUCER_BROWSER_GPU_MODE=hardware npx hyperframes render public \
  --skill=talking-head-recut \
  -o output.mp4 \
  --fps 30

hyperframes render <dir> reads <dir>/index.html and produces the MP4. The flag PRODUCER_BROWSER_GPU_MODE=hardware (or --browser-gpu) is strongly recommended on macOS — software-only Chrome rendering times out on most laptops.

For a sanity check before the full render, capture a single frame at a specific timestamp:

npx hyperframes snapshot public --at 5    # → public/snapshots/frame-00-at-5s.png (a single --at ignores --out)

11. Report Results

Tell the user:

• Work directory path
• storyboard.json (the card outline you designed)
• public/cards/*.html (one HTML per card)
• public/index.html (the assembled composition)
• output.mp4 (the final video)
• ASR provider used
• Card count + how you chose them (in 1 sentence)
• Any missing keys or quality caveats

Optional live preview (on request only). The clip plays unchanged inside public/index.html with the overlays on top, so it previews faithfully. Don't open it during the run. When the user asks, start a long-lived server after render and report the URL:

(cd "$WORK_DIR/public" && npx hyperframes preview)   # or `npx hyperframes play` for a shareable link

Do not delete the work directory unless the user asks.

Attribution

The talking-head-recut skill (its card-based design system — styles, layouts, frames, fonts, and the GSAP-driven composition workflow) is adapted from the open-source vtake-skills project (vtake-cut):

https://github.com/notedit/vtake-skills

Adaptations for this repo: renamed to talking-head-recut; transcription repointed to local Whisper via hyperframes transcribe (dropping the third-party @notedit/vtake CLI and the vtake.app proxy); audio/metadata extraction inlined with ffmpeg/ffprobe; the fixed third-party brand outro removed in favour of an optional, neutral outro; artifacts aligned to the videos/<project>/ convention.

The original is MIT-licensed; its notice is retained below as required.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 leeoxiang

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

V—Take Visual Design Library

This directory is a reference library for the talking-head-recut skill. Style, layout, and video frame are three orthogonal dimensions you can freely mix when designing a takeaway video.

Style  ×  Layout  ×  VideoFrame
 (10)      (4)         (3)        = 120 possible combinations

Read a reference file when you decide to use that dimension. Each file is a self-contained HTML fragment that follows the talking-head-recut card-HTML contract (scoped <style>, no <script>, no external URLs, animations only via data-anim-*).

Layouts — how video and card share the canvas

A layout is a two-part recipe: pick a card.zone value to put in storyboard.json AND author a GSAP tween for #video-wrap to its target rect in the composition's <script>. Open the layout file's header for the recommended zone + the GSAP statement to paste. (Earlier docs referenced a card.layout field — that field does NOT exist in the real schema; the strict v3 schema only has card.zone.)

Styles — the card's visual language

Choose by content tone, not by content type — academic works for finance too if the tone is reflective; terminal works for non-tech if the tone is "engineering rigor".

Video Frames — decoration around the video element

A frame is a decorative div that sits next to the #video-wrap inside the composition's #stage. It is one-time HTML (not animated), but you can fade it in/out across cards. See each frame file for the placement snippet and the inline <style> it needs.

Decision guide (loose, not prescriptive)

These are starting points only. Look at the transcript, pick the tone, then pick the visual.

Portrait sizing — bigger type for mobile

Every references/styles/*.html is sized for a 1920×1080 landscape preview. When the final composition is portrait (1080×1920) — the default for social / mobile — scale every visual size up so it reads on a phone held close.

portraitPx ≈ round(landscapePx × 1.3). Hero headlines can go ×1.4; small meta stays at ×1.2. Padding shrinks in portrait since the card is narrower.

For a card that must work in both, use a container query on the card root: container-type: inline-size + font-size: clamp(64px, 8.5cqi, 132px).

Source aspect ratio independence

Output canvas is independent of source video aspect. Three supported output ratios (selected by the user in Step 7.0 of SKILL.md):

The layout reference files in layouts/ document landscape and portrait bounds only. For 4:5 derive bounds by proportional vertical scaling from portrait: 4:5 y/h = round(portrait y/h × 0.703), keep x/w identical. The composer doesn't care about the named layout value; it just uses composition.width × height.

• Landscape video on landscape canvas → videoBounds matches video aspect, no letterbox
• Portrait video on landscape canvas → videoBounds is a narrower box (e.g. pip becomes 248×440); empty side filled by card or background
• Landscape video on portrait canvas → videoBounds becomes a wide-but-short band; stack and overlay work best
• Portrait video on portrait canvas → most natural; any layout

The layout reference files show landscape values; for portrait you usually flip the long axis: split becomes top/bottom, pip video bubble shrinks ~20%, overlay card slot widens to full width.

Constraints you must obey when copying from these references

1. No `<script>` — animations only via data-anim-* attributes 2. No external URLs — no Google Fonts CDN, no remote images; the skill provides Caveat / LXGW WenKai TC / Inter / Virgil locally 3. All `<style>` rules must be prefixed with `.card[data-card-id="..."]` — the hyperframes sanitizer auto-scopes them, but write them already-scoped to stay readable 4. *No `on=` inline handlers 5. CSS variables for colors** when you want a card to switch theme cleanly; inline hex when you want this specific style's signature look

If a reference uses a font you don't have, fall back:

• Playfair Display / Noto Serif SC → ui-serif, "Songti SC", "Times New Roman", serif
• Noto Sans SC → ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif
• JetBrains Mono → ui-monospace, "SF Mono", Menlo, monospace
• Kalam → 'Caveat', cursive