adimaulanat/mirroring-reference-video

Mirroring a reference video

Copy the reference's structure and visual grammar, never its content. Everything about the project is discovered or asked, never assumed.

0. Discover first

Read the project's instruction files (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, README, docs). Note what they define: design system and default look, scaffold command, lint/render commands, voice tool and its cost rule, git-ignored folders for raw media, language, format, length, CTA, publishing rules. Each item not found goes on the question list. Never fill it from memory, another project or a "sensible default".

Steps

1. Reference. If the link needs a login, ask for the file. Keep the file and its contact sheets only in a git-ignored folder the project names (or ask which). Probe length, size and frame rate, then make a contact sheet with the project's tools. Never upload the reference anywhere without explicit consent; describe it in words.
2. Beat map. Fill the tables in beat-map.md: time, layout, text pattern, motion, job of each beat. List what is borrowed and what is not (its text, logo, footage, music, handle, product).
3. Decision round. Ask only what step 0 did not answer, at most 4 questions per round, as many rounds as needed (use the harness's ask tool if it has one): restructure or restyle; new sibling video or in place; format, length, language and CTA if undefined; new script or reuse an existing voice-over. Always ask: "Make a design concept board for the look?" No → use the project's default look, named as the project names it; if there is none, ask. Yes → step 5b.
4. Scaffold with the project's command, or ask how new videos are made.
5. Brief and script. In the project's files: why this version exists, the borrowed grammar, dated decisions, then the voice and beats tables from beat-map.md. 5b. Board. Confirm every input in opendesign-inputs.md before starting the run. A blank input is a question, never a gap you fill. Then follow that file's run steps.
6. Approval. Stop until the person approves the script wording, the voice (confirm its name read-only from the voice tool when possible), the cost estimate by the project's cost rule, and the concept pick if 5b ran.
7. Voice-over. Generate with the project's tool, or reuse the existing one. Set beat times from the word timings.
8. Screen clips. Crop each to its card region. Scan every crop for leaked data (counters, emails, account names, stale text, labels that contradict the voice) and report findings.
9. Compose. Load the project's video-framework skill or docs, then build from the project's kit and design system.
10. Lint and check with the project's commands. Fix warnings. Snapshot the middle of every beat and fix layout bugs.
11. Render and review frame by frame (leaks, typos, safe areas, numbers); check the audio does not clip. Move bad renders where the project says, or ask. Never delete.
12. Handover by the project's definition of done: post copy if it uses any, an AI-content label reminder when synthetic voice or footage was used, open issues. Never publish.

A longer cut of the same video: reuse the full voice-over, add beats, repeat from step 5.

Porting your own finished video

When the "reference" is your own finished video from another project, copy it into the target project and adapt, never import across projects.

• Read the target project's files first (step 0). Replace the old closing with the target's default outro or end card.
• Rebrand sweep: brand line, handles, thumbnails, end card, post copy. Grep for the old brand, then view the thumbnail.
• Keep the voice-over and word timings unchanged. Gate failures it carries over (for example a long silence) go in the QA report with the timestamp; the decision to trim or accept is the person's.
• If the look is not in the target yet, add a starter template and a design doc in the target's own conventions. Ask before adding catalog entries or editing shared instruction files.
• Rewrite the brief and post copy into the target's formats.

Red flags: stop and ask

Thought	Reality
"I'll use the look from last time"	The project's files name the look, or you ask
"Vertical, 30 s, English is the usual"	Format, length and language come from the project or the person
"The credits are small, generate now"	Not before the approval step
"Uploading the reference is faster"	Needs explicit consent
"I'll fill the board gap myself"	A gap is a question

Common mistakes

• An emoji wraps onto a line by itself: glue it to the last word.
• A count-up shows a static "0" before it starts: hide it until it counts.
• Muted text on a light card is unreadable: use the card's ink colour.
• A joining word ("or") overlaps two cards: make it a small badge between them.
• A fixed-length background ends before the video does: size it to the full length.
• A recorded UI label contradicts the voice (for example a different voice name): cover it with a plain patch that matches the surrounding state. Never invent replacement text.
• A reused voice-over fails a retention gate: report it at QA with the timestamp. Never trim it silently.
• The old brand survives in a thumbnail or end card: grep for it and view the thumbnail before rendering.
• The CLI stops resolving mid-session (for example npx after an update): run the cached binary directly and say so in the handover.