Apple-like promo video
Create a promo whose composition, typography, motion, editing, and sound express one direction. Translate the visual language of Apple campaigns to the subject's own identity. This is an independent creative workflow, not an official Apple specification or a promise of identical results.
1. Establish the brief and prerequisites
The built-in grill-me-style creative interview is mandatory. Run it in short rounds, building on decisions already supplied; on revisions, reopen only choices affected by the request. Before making visual assets or composition sketches, resolve:
- Subject, audience, the benefit being sold, and the desired viewer response.
- The user's existing idea, story, or references; develop these rather than replacing them with an unrelated concept.
- Colors and brand identity: supplied choices, constraints, or an explicit request for the agent to propose them.
- Animation preferences: desired effects, transitions, pacing, and things to avoid; ask whether the user has specifics or wants the agent to choose.
- Visual material: clips, images, screens, objects, and code where relevant. Ask what exists and whether missing material should be created or sourced.
- Duration, aspect ratio, video language, and voice/music preferences.
For unresolved choices, offer delegation as an answer. Record each as supplied, explicitly delegated, or pending. Agreement on technical format does not delegate creative direction. Conversation language does not determine the video's language.
Number the questions in each round and give a concrete recommendation with its reason or tradeoff. Ask only questions whose prerequisites are settled; use the answers to uncover the next consequential gap. Look up technical and asset facts yourself. Respect explicit delegation and preserve settled choices on revisions. Execute these interview instructions directly in this skill, regardless of whether a separate grill-me/grilling skill is installed.
Ask what visual and audio material exists. Inspect supplied assets and available tools. For missing material, offer to create it with available tools or help the user generate it elsewhere. Agree on the resource plan before production; a generated concept image is not evidence of an actual product feature. Track asset origin and intended usage alongside the project.
Before proposing a creative direction, read creative-controls.md for the adjustable controls, direction recipes, and proposal branches, then direction.md for concrete gestures. Start from an energetic, high-impact direction when unspecified. Use natural questions and offer direct numerical adjustment. Present two concrete routes when direction is missing or ambiguous; develop a clear supplied concept, or choose one route under full delegation. Recommend a dominant direction with compatible secondary treatments and record its settings, rationale, and resource needs in the production plan. Missing references trigger proposals.
Read dependencies.md on first use in a project. Both Remotion and its official agent skills are mandatory for production. Install missing dependencies within the authorized scope and load the relevant official instructions. Briefing can continue while setup is blocked; implementation cannot.
Ready: the creative choices above are supplied or explicitly delegated, the selected direction and control settings are recorded, the asset plan is agreed, and dependency status is verified. While a choice is pending, continue independent setup and research; wait on dependent visual assets and sketches. Label the agent's delegated choices as proposals until their agreed review point, rather than attributing them to the user.
2. Direct the film before building it
Read direction.md when developing or revising the visual and sonic direction. For changes to preferences or control settings, also apply creative-controls.md. Use the production plan as the project's single planning record; scale its detail to the job.
Develop a concise concept and a scene sequence that sells the brief's benefit. Give each scene a narrative job, such as showing a problem, introducing the solution, demonstrating its effect, or inviting action. For a tool promo, make what changes for the viewer visible. Select typography, footage, interfaces, objects, code, or a combination according to that evidence; a typography-only film is a creative choice to establish in the brief, not a fallback for missing assets. Copy must advance the pitch rather than merely name an animation effect. Show the actual proposed copy, static composition sketches, movement, transitions, and sound intent together. Represent distinct attention beats with separate keyframes; keep production annotations outside the video frame. Check asset capabilities against promised motion, including whether a product turn needs an actual 3D model or footage. Choose a few memorable audiovisual gestures that demonstrate the message. Make the first hook and final payoff understandable without explanatory prose.
Present the brief and storyboard for approval before full animation production. Existing approval of that specific direction counts; do not ask again. If the user requests a single stage or explicitly delegates creative decisions, honor that scope and record the decisions made on their behalf.
Ready: the direction is approved or explicitly delegated, each image/product has an intentional motion treatment, and hero gestures have a readable payoff.
3. Build the audiovisual sequence
Apply the installed official Remotion instructions for project creation, markup, fonts, media, timing, Studio, and rendering as those tasks arise. Keep API details there instead of maintaining a second Remotion manual here.
Start with an animatic: rough compositions, readable copy, and provisional audio at the intended timings. Refine visual and sonic events together. In the project, use one shared event timeline for visual anchors and sound cues, so timing edits move them together. Convert event times to frames consistently at the chosen FPS. Keep music, effects, and voice separately editable until the final mix.
Implement the approved gestures with deliberate motion paths, settling, and reading holds. Use the subject's actual resources or the agreed generated assets. Replace provisional media before a final export, or identify the output as a draft.
Ready: the sequence plays coherently at normal speed with the intended audio.
4. Review, export, and report evidence
Match delivery to the requested scope: a finished-video request includes its render/export; a brief, storyboard, or preview-only request ends at that stage.
Perform the editorial review in direction.md before presenting a preview; fix weak or unclear beats within the approved direction. Use the review section of the production plan on the actual rendered output. Inspect representative frames and play the complete sequence with sound when the available tools support it. Check essential meaning muted; inspect audio alone for intrusive repetition, abrupt boundaries, and masking. Where perception is unavailable, report exactly what remains unreviewed and request human review. Waveform measurements and screenshots do not establish that a mix was heard or that motion was watched.
Fix demonstrated failures, render again, and verify the changed result. Deliver the requested video, editable Remotion source, resource provenance, and a concise validation record with the exact commands or checks actually performed. Record the export's duration, dimensions, FPS, codec, and audio presence. Choose loudness and output settings for the destination rather than claiming a universal Apple preset.
Done: requested deliverables exist, checks have evidence, and any remaining limitations are disclosed. Publishing is a separate action within the user's authorized scope.
For source provenance or to distinguish reference observations from proposed techniques, read sources.md.