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* feat(motion): demo-register visual design bar, vendored craft references, catalog vocabulary index * fix(motion): correct design-bar composition claims after adversarial fact-check * docs(map,rag): design-bar, vendored references, and catalog index on the video-engine surfaces --------- Co-authored-by: Renn F <rennf93@users.noreply.github.com>
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Video Composition
Video frames are not web pages. Use these rules for design-led compositions while respecting the requested format, brand, and scope. Minimal technical compositions and intentionally sparse formats may need less detail.
The Design Spec Is Brand, Not Layout
The design spec (frame.md or design.md) defines what the brand looks like: colors, fonts, personality, constraints. It does NOT define how to compose a video frame. Use brand colors at video-appropriate intensity — not at web-UI opacity.
Strict from the design spec: hex values (including background color), font families, weight relationships, Do's and Don'ts. If the user chose a light canvas, use a light canvas. If they chose dark, use dark. Do not override their palette.
Adapt for video: type sizes, spacing, decorative opacity, border weight, component treatments. A web UI card at border: 1px solid #e2e3e6 with box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.06) is invisible on video. The brand color is sacred; the application is yours.
Density
Choose density from the message and format. A brand or sizzle frame often needs several visual roles to feel produced; a lower-third, logo sting, or static title may need only a few.
For a scene that should feel layered, plan these roles:
- Background treatment — radial glow, oversized ghost type, color panel, grain, grid, or an intentionally flat field justified by the concept.
- Midground content — the actual message. Cards, stats, code blocks, images.
- Foreground accents — dividers, labels, data bars, registration marks, monospace metadata. The details that make it feel produced, not generated.
For produced marketing frames, roughly 6–10 visual roles can be a useful starting point, not a contract. Add decoration only when it reinforces hierarchy, motion, or the concept. Decorative treatment must not become new user-facing content, new scenes, or unrequested claims.
Color Presence
Muted is fine. Flat is not. Every scene should have at least one color that pulls the eye.
- Brand accent should be VISIBLE — not a 5% opacity glow lost in compression. 15-25% for atmospheric, full saturation for focal elements.
- Light canvases work differently than dark. On dark: accent glows pop naturally. On light: use bolder borders (2px+ solid), stronger structural elements (rules, dividers), and full-saturation accent hits. Light backgrounds need texture (subtle grain, patterns) to avoid the "blank slide" feel. Don't switch to dark — make light cinematic.
- No full-screen linear gradients on dark backgrounds. They band visibly under H.264 compression. Use a radial gradient, a solid fill, or solid + localized glow instead.
- Tint neutrals toward the brand hue. Dead gray reads as undesigned.
Scale
Web sizes are invisible on video. Everything scales up.
| Element | Web | Video |
|---|---|---|
| Headlines | 32-48px | 64-120px |
| Body text | 14-16px | 28-42px |
| Labels | 12px | 18-24px |
| Decorative opacity | 3-8% | 12-25% |
| Borders | 1px | 2-4px |
| Padding | 16-32px | 60-140px |
If you're writing a font-size under 24px in a video composition, justify it. If you're writing decorative opacity under 10%, it's invisible.
Motion Intensity
Subtle reads as static at 30fps. Err toward more movement than feels safe.
- Every decorative element should have ambient motion: breathe, drift, pulse, orbit. Static decoratives feel dead.
- Vary motion per scene — don't repeat the same ambient pattern.
- Scene entrances should use 3+ different eases and directions. If every element enters from
y: 30, opacity: 0, the scene has no choreography.
Frame Composition
- Two focal points minimum. The eye needs somewhere to travel.
- Fill the frame. Hero text: 60-80% of frame width.
- Anchor to edges. Pin content to left/top or right/bottom. Centered-and-floating is a web layout pattern.
- Split frames. Data panel left, content right. Top bar with metadata, full-width below. Zone-based layouts over centered stacks.
- Structural elements. Rules, dividers, border panels. They create visual paths and animate well (
scaleX: 0→1).