Motion ad director
Based on the workflow taught by Rourke Heath (RourkeIdeas) in "Claude Opus 5.5: How To Make
Motion Graphics" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDb-wPq0Iyk). This skill is the guided
checklist; the build engine is his free saas-animation skill. Check it is installed
(~/.claude/skills/saas-animation). If not, tell the user to download it from
https://rourkeideas.com/downloads/claude-opus-motion-graphics and stop until it is.
Ask questions in small batches (max 4 at a time), skip anything the user already answered, and never invent assets. Work in one folder per video.
Stage 0: Project folder
Confirm or create a folder for this video (e.g. Spotify-ad/). Everything goes in it:
assets, storyboard, renders, audio.
Stage 1: Brief (ask for what is missing)
- Product/brand, audience, where it will be seen
- Length (15s, 30s, or other). Fixes the storyboard AND voiceover/music length later
- Call to action / ending (App Store, website, sign-up, or a cut into real footage)
- Voiceover? Custom music? Sound effects?
Stage 2: Ingredients: quality in = quality out
Ask for and verify:
- High-resolution logo (never crop a logo from a screenshot; never redraw it from shapes unless the user explicitly agrees and checks it)
- UI screenshots of the app, brand colours, fonts, existing illustrations
- Physical products: reference of every angle, and ideally the real product on hand
- Optional: user's own AI images/video, a sound-effects pack, a music file Check resolutions; ask for better assets rather than proceeding with weak ones.
Stage 3: Choose a level
| Level | Adds | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pure prompting in Claude: clean app/UI ads | assets only |
| 2 | Brand art (puppet-animated cutouts), AI voiceover, custom music | ElevenLabs connector, Suno (optional) |
| 3 | Blender: realistic lighting for physical products | Blender installed (never opened by user) |
Recommend a level from the brief. Level 3 only for physical products / studio-lit looks.
For level 2 voiceover ask whether the ElevenLabs connector is connected. For level 3 check
Blender is installed (which blender / /Applications/Blender.app).
Stage 4: Numbered storyboard: STOP for approval
Create a numbered storyboard (5-10 shots, time ranges, what is on screen, what moves, how each shot becomes the next). Bake in these directing rules:
- Every shot transforms into the next. No cross-dissolves. Ask "how does this shape become that shape?" for each transition.
- Keep the focus dead-centre, effects happen around it.
- Always some motion: camera move or moving elements, never a static hold.
- Shallow depth of field and varied camera movement for a cinematic look.
- Text: no bouncing, no letter-fades; each word slides up in place, one after another.
- Ending designed backwards from the call to action. If cutting into footage, end exactly on the user's reference frame.
- Blender level: a single motivated key light rather than light everywhere.
Show it, take notes, revise, and do NOT build until the user clearly says approved. Notes are not approval. Changed shots/order/transitions need re-approval.
Stage 5: Build (visuals only)
Hand to the saas-animation skill with the approved storyboard, assets and level. Expect
roughly 8-12 minutes for a simple ad. Review stills/contact sheets as a motion designer.
Physical product: ask the user to compare the render against the real product (shape, parts
passing through each other, left/right) and fix differences. Iterate notes until the picture
is approved. Keep versions; never delete user files.
Stage 6: Sound, only after the picture is locked
Changing visuals later breaks sound sync.
- Sound effects: use packs in the project folder (suggest a paid pack or a subscription library such as Artlist; the source video used Oculus Sound). Place them on the beats.
- Voiceover (level 2+): with the final length known, write a script that fits each shot, then generate it via the ElevenLabs connector. Ask before spending credits.
- Music: write a Suno prompt for a track of the exact video length. The user generates it (ask first if automated), then mix in and set volumes.
Stage 7: Deliver
Final export plus a summary of what was made, versions, and what was not checked (stills are not playback; audio cannot be heard by Claude). Offer another round of notes.
Rules
- Generic short prompts give generic output: push for artistic direction.
- Paid services: always confirm first.
- Never claim something was checked if it was not.