Suede Video Production

Suede Video turns an approved message and rights-cleared source material into scripts, storyboards, generation plans, edit systems, and reusable production pipelines. It keeps likeness, licensing, brand assets, render cost, and publishing as explicit gates rather than assumptions.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Video Goal

• What type of video? (Product demo, explainer, testimonial, social clip, ad, tutorial)
• What's the target platform? (YouTube, TikTok/Reels/Shorts, website, ads, sales deck)
• What's the desired length?

2. Production Approach

• Do you need a human presenter? (AI avatar vs. voiceover vs. screen recording)
• Do you have existing footage or assets? (Screenshots, logos, product UI)
• Do you need generated footage? (AI-generated scenes, B-roll)
• Is this a one-off or a template for repeated use?

3. Technical Context

• What's your tech stack? (Node.js, Python, etc.)
• Do you have API keys for any video tools?
• Budget constraints? (Some tools charge per minute of video)

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Choosing Your Approach

Choose the production method from the job, available evidence, rights, and currently callable tools:

Approach	Candidate fit	Tools to evaluate	Use when
Programmatic	Templated, data-driven, batch video	An installed HTML/CSS or React renderer	The format repeats and deterministic output matters
AI generation	Original footage from text/image prompts	Any currently authorized generation model	The scene cannot be filmed practically and output rights are verified
AI avatars	Approved presenter without filming	Any currently authorized avatar platform	Consent, likeness, voice, localization, and output rights are documented
Editing/repurposing	Cutting long-form into short clips	Any installed transcript or timeline editor	Source media and derivative-use rights are available

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Programmatic Video

Programmatic video is a candidate for repeatable, templated, or data-driven work; verify fit against the current stack, edit needs, cost, and review burden.

HTML/CSS renderer candidate

Hyperframes may fit an HTML/CSS workflow. First check whether it is installed. If it is, read the installed version's documentation, inspect its license, and confirm the renderer and export path. If it is not installed, use a renderer-neutral handoff or request explicit installation authorization after showing the current package source, version, lockfile impact, and cost. The following command must not run without that authorization:

npm install hyperframes

Key concept: Each frame is an HTML document. Compose frames into a timeline, render to MP4.

import { render } from "hyperframes";

await render({
  frames: [
    { html: "<h1>Welcome to Acme</h1>", duration: 3 },
    { html: "<h2>Here's what we built</h2>", duration: 3 },
    { html: "<p>Try it free →</p>", duration: 2 },
  ],
  output: "intro.mp4",
  width: 1080,
  height: 1920, // 9:16 for vertical
});

Candidate fit: Product announcements, changelogs, data-driven reports, and approved personalized outreach videos. Verify determinism with a repeat-render test instead of assuming it.

React renderer candidate

Remotion may fit a React-based workflow. Verify the installed or callable version, current documentation, license, rendering path, and hosting cost. The scaffold command may install packages or create files; run it only with explicit authorization for that change, otherwise provide a renderer-neutral plan:

npx create-video@latest

Key concept to verify: React components express timed visuals and props drive content. Confirm whether rendering is local or uses an authorized hosted renderer.

export const ProductDemo: React.FC<{ title: string; features: string[] }> = ({
  title, features
}) => {
  const frame = useCurrentFrame();
  return (
    <AbsoluteFill style={{ background: "#000", color: "#fff" }}>
      <h1>{title}</h1>
      {features.map((f, i) => (
        <Sequence from={i * 30} key={i}>
          <p>{f}</p>
        </Sequence>
      ))}
    </AbsoluteFill>
  );
};

Candidate fit: Complex animation, interactive previews, or batch rendering when the verified runtime supports them.

When to Pick Which

Factor	HTML/CSS renderer	React renderer
Existing stack	Browser and CSS capability	React and renderer capability
Animation needs	Test required transitions	Test required timeline primitives
Batch rendering	Verify local or hosted path	Verify local or hosted path
Team fit	Inspect maintainability in this repo	Inspect maintainability in this repo
Rights and cost	Verify current license and runtime cost	Verify current license and runtime cost

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AI Video Generation

Generate original footage from text or image prompts. Use for B-roll, hero visuals, and scenes you can't practically film.

Model comparison

Discover currently callable and authorized models before recommending one. Read current official documentation and run a bounded test on the actual account. Compare:

Criterion	Evidence to capture
Output fit	Resolution, duration, audio, motion, and consistency from current docs plus a test clip
Control	Reference-image, camera, edit, seed, and storyboard controls actually exposed
Operations	Queue time, failure rate, export path, and repeatability
Rights	Input rights, output rights, model restrictions, consent, and provenance
Economics	Current plan, per-generation cost, failed-generation treatment, and budget cap

If no model is callable and authorized, return a shot list, prompt set, reference-frame brief, and manual vendor-evaluation checklist.

Prompting for Video Models

Good video prompts specify: subject + action + camera + style + mood

A close-up shot of hands typing on a laptop keyboard,
shallow depth of field, warm office lighting,
camera slowly pulls back to reveal a modern workspace,
cinematic color grading, 4K

Common mistakes:

• Too vague ("a person working") — add specifics
• Ignoring camera movement — specify dolly, pan, static
• Forgetting style — "cinematic," "documentary," "commercial"
• Requesting text in video — AI models struggle with readable text

For detailed prompting guides: See references/ai-video-prompting.md

AI Generation vs. Stock Evaluation

Use Case	Generation evidence to test	Stock/original evidence to test
Specific scene	Prompt control, continuity, review burden	Search coverage, license, edit fit
Style continuity	Cross-clip consistency in a bounded test	Match quality across licensed clips
Real location	Factual accuracy and disclosure risk	Provenance and location release
Product/brand	UI and mark fidelity; avoid fabricated product claims	Approved real captures or assets
B-roll	Queue time, failure rate, cost	Search and licensing time

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AI Avatars

Create talking-head videos without filming. An AI avatar delivers your script with realistic lip-sync, expressions, and gestures.

Avatar tool evaluation

HeyGen is one possible avatar platform, not a guaranteed or preferred integration. Before naming it or another vendor, verify current official documentation, authenticated access, callable API or connector availability, plan limits, price, output rights, and the consent requirements for every voice or likeness involved.

If no avatar tool is currently callable and authorized, provide a manual vendor-neutral workflow: approved script, consent record, user-operated upload, export checklist, and a real-camera or voiceover fallback.

Possible fit to test: product explainers, feature announcements, multilingual versions, and approved personalized outreach.

Another avatar candidate

An alternative avatar platform may fit training or presentation work. Confirm its current features from official documentation and test consent, body-motion, script-ingestion, localization, and export requirements on the authorized account before recommending it.

Avatar vs. Other-Approach Test

Scenario	Avatar evidence to verify	Alternative to compare
Recurring content	Consent, repeatability, audience response	Recorded presenter or voiceover
Multilingual versions	Translation, pronunciation, disclosure	Human localization
Personalized outreach	Consent, claim review, cost, reply quality	Approved text or recorded template
Founder message	Trust and disclosure response	Direct recording
Product UI walkthrough	Presenter value around real captures	Screen recording
Creative/artistic video	Control, originality, rights	Original footage or generated scenes

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Editing & Repurposing Tools

Turn existing content into multiple video formats.

Treat the named products as candidates. Discover what is currently installed or callable, verify the user's account and rights, then map the workflow to the available tool. If none is available, return an edit decision list, clip timestamps, captions, and export settings for manual execution.

Candidate capability	What to verify	Candidate fit
Transcript editor	Speaker accuracy, cut control, export, privacy	Interviews, podcasts, webinars
Clip assistant	Selection controls, provenance, false-positive rate	Long-form to short-form review
Timeline editor	Caption, effect, audio-rights, and export controls	Platform-specific finishing
Accessibility assistant	Caption accuracy, eye-contact disclosure, dubbing consent	Approved talking-head content

Repurposing Workflow

Long-form content (podcast, webinar, demo)
    ↓
Transcript edit: Clean up, remove filler, polish
    ↓
Clip review: Propose moments with source timestamps
    ↓
Timeline edit: Add reviewed captions, effects, and platform styling
    ↓
Distribute: TikTok, Reels, Shorts, LinkedIn

Reverse-Engineer a Viral Edit

To study the style of a reference edit, first discover whether an authorized media-inspection, browser, or local-file viewer is currently callable. If one is available, inspect the actual frames and timing. Otherwise ask the user to attach the media, screenshots, or a timecoded export and provide a manual frame-sampling checklist. Then extract a reusable beat sheet plus the 3–5 signature moves. Review it before execution in any currently available editor. Copy the editing grammar, never the reference's footage, script, voice, or music. Full method: references/edit-anatomy.md.

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Video Production Workflows

Product Demo Video

1. Script the key features and value props (use suede-copy skill)
2. Screen record the product flow
3. Programmatic overlay — use an available authorized renderer for titles, callouts, and transitions, or provide manual editor instructions
4. AI B-roll — only with a discovered authorized generator and verified rights; otherwise use licensed stock or original footage
5. Voiceover — record yourself or use AI avatar for narration
6. Export at platform-appropriate specs

Explainer Video

1. Script the problem → solution → CTA arc
2. Choose presenter — an approved avatar workflow when available, or recorded voiceover plus visuals
3. Build visuals — programmatic slides, screen recordings, AI-generated scenes
4. Add captions as an accessibility default and verify their accuracy
5. Export only after checking current destination requirements and previewing the authenticated composer; do not assume a universal orientation

Batch Social Clips

1. Create master template in an available authorized renderer or a manual editor project
2. Feed data — product features, testimonials, stats
3. Render batch — one template, many variations
4. Add platform-specific captions with an available editor
5. Return approved export candidates to suede-social for channel strategy; scheduling remains a separate explicit action

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Tool-Aware Video Pipeline

Use automation only after discovering currently callable, authenticated, and authorized tools. Otherwise produce the same artifacts as a manual handoff.

Approved script (from product context)
    ↓
Available renderer/avatar/generator, if authorized
    or manual editor with timecoded instructions
    ↓
Review cut, rights, captions, and brand assets
    ↓
Output: Approved export candidate, not automatically published

When no production tool is available, return the script, shot list, asset manifest, beat sheet, captions, edit decision list, and export settings so the user can execute the cut manually.

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Common Mistakes

1. Starting with tools, not strategy — decide what video you need before picking tools
2. AI-generated text in video — models can't reliably render readable text; use programmatic overlays instead
3. Unverified avatar quality — test a short consented sample before paying for or producing a batch
4. Inaccessible cut — provide accurate captions without asserting a universal sound-off viewing rate
5. Unverified export spec — read current destination requirements and preview the actual composer before choosing ratio, resolution, or duration
6. Unsupported production-style claim — compare polished and informal treatments on the current account instead of claiming one universally wins

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Task-Specific Questions

1. What type of video do you need? (Demo, explainer, social clip, ad, tutorial)
2. Do you need a human presenter or can it be voiceover/text?
3. Is this a one-off or a repeatable template?
4. What platform and placement is it for? (We will verify its current ratio, duration, and composer requirements.)
5. Do you have existing assets to work with? (Screenshots, footage, scripts)
6. What's your budget for video tools?

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Tool Integrations

These are evaluation examples, not guaranteed integrations. Verify current official documentation, authenticated access, licensing, model availability, render cost, output rights, and callable tools in the current session.

Tool	Type	Verify Before Use
HeyGen	AI avatars	Likeness consent, plan rights, API access, cost
Hyperframes	Programmatic video	Installed runtime, renderer, asset licenses
Remotion	Programmatic video	Current license, runtime, renderer, hosting cost
Runway	AI generation	Model access, generation rights, price, limits

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Boundaries

• Do not generate, render, purchase, upload, or publish media without approval of scope, tool cost, rights, and destination.
• Do not clone a real person's voice or likeness, use unlicensed source media, or promise an exact copy of a reference style or edit.
• For Suede-branded visuals, use only the approved transparent Suede S asset at JasonColapietro/suede-creator-skills/docs/assets/suede-ai-logo-transparent.png with SHA-256 83a7ee0317e4debe2e7b076c20ba067feb76a587f9e829dc6310ae4be4b44dfa; if it is missing or changed, omit the mark and halt for the approved file.

Routing

• Use suede-social to choose channel strategy, cadence, and distribution.
• Use suede-ad-creative for paid video ad concepts and variants.
• Use suede-image for still-image generation and editing.
• Use suede-copy for source-verified script and messaging polish.