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.