video-shotcraft

video-shotcraft is an open-source agent skill that turns Claude Code or Codex into a motion-design studio for product videos. Point the agent at your product and it storyboards, animates, and sound-designs a cinematic promo, marketing, launch, or demo video on top of Remotion: real page captures, 2.5D camera moves, beat-synced cuts, and film-grade sound effects. First-party source: github.com/Vincentwei1021/video-shotcraft (Apache-2.0, about 6,000 stars on 2026-08-22), with a searchable motion preview gallery.

Key Features

• 152 shot recipe cards: purpose, energy, suggested duration, parameters, implementation notes, and known pitfalls per shot, across 10 functional categories.
• 209 motion previews: searchable and filterable in the live Gallery, with tuned Remotion TSX demos containing real easing and timing.
• Production-ready template: "Ink Press" is a validated 36.2-second, 1920x1080, 30fps promo with 10 shots, 2.5D page camera moves, title cards, transitions, and a pinned cinematic SFX pass.
• Audio library: 5 BGM options plus 149 SFX across 16 scene/material categories (transition, impact, riser, camera, UI, text, paper, film, light, data, scifi, mech, glass, fluid, crowd, counter), md5-deduplicated with license URLs.
• JianYing (CapCut CN) export: the finished film can be exported as an editable JianYing draft, per-shot speed, captions, and audio all editable (verified on JianYing Pro 11.2 for macOS).
• Production methodology: capture, visual direction, storyboarding, sound design, beat sync, and final QA rules live in SKILL.md and references/.

Use Cases

• Web and desktop product promos: the primary target for the full toolkit.
• Feature demos, brand films, and launch videos: individual shot cards can be reused in these motion projects.
• Solo founders and marketers who want launch-grade video without hiring a motion designer.

Problems It Solves

1. No motion design skills needed: the agent handles storyboard, animation, and sound design following the recipe cards.
2. Beyond PPT-level animation: shot cards document real camera moves, transitions, beat-synced cuts, and SFX instead of flat slides.
3. Reproducible quality: the validated template and deterministic Remotion components give consistent results.

Pricing

Getting Started

1. Install: npx skills add Vincentwei1021/video-shotcraft, or just tell your agent "Install this skill for me: https://github.com/Vincentwei1021/video-shotcraft".
2. Point the skill at your product: "Use video-shotcraft to create a promo for my desktop product."
3. Use the Ink Press template for the fastest path to a finished film, or pick shots in the Gallery first.
4. Swap in your product's screenshots, copy, and branding; replace the bundled demo assets before publishing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it work with Claude Code and Codex?

Yes. Install into ~/.claude/skills/video-shotcraft or ~/.codex/skills/video-shotcraft; both are documented.

Do I need to know Remotion?

No. The skill manages Remotion for you. Its own license is free for individuals and small teams.

Can I edit the result after rendering?

Yes. The JianYing (CapCut CN) export keeps per-shot speed, captions, and audio editable.

Alternatives

• Claude Skills: Anthropic's official skills ecosystem.
• Emergency Card: another example of a community-built skill in the catalog.

Tips

1. On low-core headless machines, render with --concurrency=1 and point at a local chrome-headless-shell.
2. Pick the SFX category first, then the timbre, per the sound-design reference.
3. Always replace the bundled product screenshots with your own assets before publishing.

Conclusion

video-shotcraft is the fastest open route from product to cinematic promo if you already live in Claude Code or Codex. Install it, point at your product, and let the shot cards and template handle the motion design.