RolynTrotter/vibe-podcast

Motion graphics for the podcast

Motion 5.9 has no AppleScript dictionary and no CLI renderer. Everything here works by treating Motion files as XML (ozml), and by handing Final Cut Pro FCPXML that references the installed title templates. Final Cut does the rendering.

Tools live in agent-motion/:

Tool	What it does
motionkit.py inspect FILE [--json]	Layer tree, text layers (text/font/size/position), timing in seconds, what's published to FCP, media refs
motionkit.py set-text IN OUT --set "KEY=TEXT" ...	Rewrite text layers. KEY = layer id, layer name, or current text. \n for line breaks. Fixes styleRun lengths (UTF-16) so Motion doesn't choke
motionkit.py keyframes FILE [--grep X] [--all]	Every animated parameter with keyframe times/values (rotation is in radians)
motionkit.py preview FILE --at 1.9 3.2 [--open]	Writes copies parked at those times; --open opens them in Motion in the background (open -g) for an app_screenshot
motionkit.py install FILE --name NAME	Copy a project into Motion's Titles folder as an FCP title template
titles_fcpxml.py SPEC.json -o OUT.fcpxml	Cue list → FCPXML project with titles at the right times, texts filled in

The show's templates

Installed under ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.motionapp/Data/Movies/Motion Templates.localized/Titles.localized/Templates/ (FCP uid form: ~/Titles.localized/Templates/<Name>/<Name>.moti). Snapshots of the two main ones are in agent-motion/*.motn.

• TF_Podcast_title: main title card, 5 s, 29.97, 1080p. Text layers: Tiersias Foundation Podcast (shows "Tiresias Foundation Podcast"; the layer name has a typo, keep using it as the key) and Episode 4: Carl Schmitt (the per-episode line, Futura Medium). It publishes one Drop Zone.
• Citation v2: lower third for quotes and sources, PT Serif. Text layers: ~Author Lastname (italic; the show prefixes with ~), Person Writes Silly Headline to (title of the work, may be two lines), 20 Apr, 1969 (date), Publication.
• Citation v2 no pub: same without the publication line. Also Citation v1, Black/Orange/Yellow/PeeTitle, Minister_Types.

Past usage (from the Podcast3/4 libraries): Timothy Snyder, Carl Schmitt, Xunzi, ~Eric L. Hutton, trans., ~Armando Iannucci, dir., 95 U.S. 602. Translators and directors get a role suffix. Court cases go in the author slot.

Workflow

1. python3 agent-motion/motionkit.py inspect "<template>.moti" to get the text layer keys.
2. Write a cue JSON (see agent-motion/examples/ep_demo.json): template, at (seconds on the episode timeline), optional duration, texts map.
3. python3 agent-motion/titles_fcpxml.py cues.json -o titles.fcpxml, then validate: xmllint --noout --dtdvalid <copy of FCPXMLv1_11.dtd> titles.fcpxml. The DTDs are in /Applications/Final Cut Pro.app/Contents/Frameworks/Interchange.framework/Versions/A/Resources/. Copy one first, because xmllint fails on the path with spaces.
4. Push it: add --library <bundle> --push (zero clicks). Without --library, FCP shows a library picker, so leave that to the user. The titles sit connected above a gap, so they can be copied onto the real edit.

For a one-off baked card (e.g. a thumbnail or a card with a styling change FCP can't override), use set-text on the .motn and open -g -a Motion OUT.motn for the user to eyeball or export.

Verified in FCP 11.0.1 (2026-10-18)

• Zero-click import works: titles_fcpxml.py cues.json -o x.fcpxml --library path/To.fcpbundle --push adds <import-options> (library location, link assets, suppress warnings) and sends it with open -g. FCP imports in the background and creates the library if it's missing. Use a throwaway library under scratch/fcp-test/ for tests, and never the user's real libraries without asking.
• <text> order = Motion document order of the Text layers. Confirmed: Citation v2's author, headline, date, and publication all land in the right slots.
• Send bare text (the default --style none). Then the template keeps its own font, size, colour, and shadow. --style font sends a text-style-def with family/face/size. Any style def overrides the template, and layers with no Size param (Motion default 48) came out tiny before the 48 fallback was added. Only use --style font to deliberately restyle.
• The main title card (TF_Podcast_title) imports with its animation intact.
• Read FCP state by app_screenshot on com.apple.FinalCut: click the event, then the project icon in the browser (double-clicking the name starts a rename, so press Escape), then the ruler.

Seeing and rendering (verified 2026-10-18)

• Preview frames: motionkit.py preview FILE --at T --open, then computer-use app_screenshot on Motion (bundle com.apple.motionapp), then zoom on the canvas. Close the window via app_menu File > Close. Typing into Motion's playhead field from the background does NOT move the playhead. The <currentFrame> copy is the reliable route.
• Rendering: computer use can't press File > Share (Export Movie, Save Current Frame). Ask the user to click Export. Shell screencapture lacks Screen Recording permission.
• Never open -a without -g. The user is working on the same screen.

Animation (what the XML exposes)

Keyframes are curve > keypoint{time, value, in/out tangents} under any parameter (Transform Position/Rotation/Scale, Blending Opacity, filter params). Behaviors (Gather In, Pen Speed/Pressure) are their own nodes with timing and Controls params. So we can read the full choreography, and retime, offset, or add keyframes programmatically. Then preview-and-screenshot to check. TF_Podcast_title choreography: Tiresias figures (Group 1/2) slide in from ±400 px to 1.5 s, then sway ±10 px / ±2° to 4.87 s. The snake image pair pops in at 1.74 s (scale 0.17→0.62 by 2.1 s, masked by rounded rectangles) and lunges between keyframes at 2.1/3.17/4.14/4.87 s. The title line fades in at 1.5–1.7 s with Gather In from 1.0 s, and the episode line Gathers In at 2.37 s.

ozml notes

• Times are "value timescale flags epoch"; seconds = value/timescale.
• Text content: scenenode[factory=Text] > parameter[name=Object] > parameter[id=369] > text. Styling is styleRun style=ID offset length, so a length mismatch breaks styling.
• Factories at the top map factoryID → kind (Text, Shape, Replicator, Image...). The ids differ per file, so always resolve them through the factory table.
• Apple's (old, still mostly right) reference: Motion XML guide on developer.apple.com archive.