camera-composition

Purpose

Design high-quality composition/camera strategy for product hero scenes in plain, actionable language.

Quick start

• confirm this skill fits your goal
• provide required inputs first
• keep runtime claims evidence-bound
• follow suggested next-skill handoff

When to use

• expanding an upstream scene brief from product-hero-scene-planner into detailed framing and camera direction
• defining focal hierarchy, viewer attention path, camera angle, focal length mood, and depth layering before lookdev
• aligning hero framing and negative space with web/UI copy overlays

When not to use

• as proof of rendered output quality or to validate an existing framing → use ../composition-quality-checker/SKILL.md (use composition-quality-checker)
• to design lighting rigs or surface materials/lookdev → use ../lighting-material-plan/SKILL.md (use lighting-material-plan)
• to lock final pixel resolution or output aspect specs → use ../resolution-aspect-decision/SKILL.md (use resolution-aspect-decision)
• to choose delivery file formats → use ../output-format-decision/SKILL.md (use output-format-decision)
• when subject intent is undefined → use ../product-hero-scene-planner/SKILL.md (Delegates out-of-scope requests to product-hero-scene-planner)

Trigger phrases

• "improve composition and camera"
• "choose hero framing"
• "set camera strategy for product hero"

Prerequisites / readiness

• upstream scene concept from product-hero-scene-planner (or clear subject and destination context) available
• planning-only boundary accepted: runtime status remains Not Run and artifacts remain Not Produced

Input schema

Required inputs

• subject intent (from product-hero-scene-planner or user brief)
• target output context (web/app/game/render)

Optional inputs

• target aspect ratio constraints (from resolution-aspect-decision if already locked)
• UI/copy overlay constraints
• cinematic vs neutral tone preference

Assumptions to confirm

• need for negative space
• focal detail priority
• camera motion vs static hero shot intent

Output schema

Primary output

• composition-camera plan with plain-language rationale

Secondary output

• fallback framing variant for uncertain constraints

Evidence / caveat output

• unresolved visual assumptions
• explicit truth states: Runtime Not Run, Artifacts Not Produced (downgrade-only, never upgrade)

Required laws

• ../../laws/non-blender-user-language.md
• ../../laws/evidence-before-done.md
• ../../laws/official-runtime-only.md
• ../../laws/no-arbitrary-python-interface.md

Official runtime boundary

Planning-only skill: no Blender execution, no Python scripts, and no artifact generation. Runtime status stays Not Run and artifacts stay Not Produced (truth states are downgrade-only, never upgraded without verified evidence).

Operating procedure

1. Define focal hierarchy (primary/secondary/background).
2. Define hero-section objective and viewer attention path.
3. Select aspect ratio framing strategy (deferring final resolution/aspect locks to resolution-aspect-decision).
4. Reserve negative space for UI/text overlays if needed.
5. Choose camera angle preset family.
6. Set focal length guidance by mood (dramatic vs neutral).
7. Define depth layering (foreground/midground/background).
8. Define target silhouette/readability checks (for later validation by composition-quality-checker).
9. Produce fallback framing variant for uncertainty.
10. Translate plan into plain-language rationale.

Decision tree

• If copy overlay required → prioritize negative space and silhouette.
• If product detail priority high → tighter framing and controlled depth.
• If uncertainty high → provide two options and ask preference.

Playbooks

• Playbook A: Full brief path — expand upstream product-hero-scene-planner output into primary framing + fallback variant (Runtime: Not Run, Artifacts: Not Produced).
• Playbook B: Overlay-heavy path — prioritize negative space and silhouette separation for UI/copy constraints (Runtime: Not Run, Artifacts: Not Produced).
• Playbook C: High-uncertainty path — provide two distinct framing variants with trade-off rationale and explicit caveats (Runtime: Not Run, Artifacts: Not Produced).

Mode handling

Text-only mode

• provide primary composition/camera plan and fallback variant in plain language
• report Runtime: Not Run and Artifacts: Not Produced

Runtime-ready mode

• provide the composition/camera plan plus explicit target criteria for composition-quality-checker to validate once a scene exists
• keep Runtime: Not Run and Artifacts: Not Produced during planning

Blocked runtime mode

• deliver full composition/camera plan and fallback variant with explicit caveats
• keep Runtime: Not Run and Artifacts: Not Produced; make no visual success claims

Validation checklist

• focal hierarchy explicit
• hero framing objective and attention path explicit
• aspect ratio framing strategy documented (without overriding resolution-aspect-decision)
• negative space policy documented
• camera angle preset rationale documented
• focal length guidance by mood documented
• depth layering (foreground/midground/background) documented
• target silhouette/readability checks documented for composition-quality-checker
• fallback framing variant documented
• plain-language rationale included throughout
• truth states explicitly set to Runtime: Not Run and Artifacts: Not Produced

Pass / Warn / Fail rubric

Failure handling

• Conflicting goals: provide trade-off options.
• Missing constraints: ask targeted follow-up.
• Unknown destination: use conservative web-hero defaults + caveat.

Troubleshooting

• Subject lost in frame: tighten framing focus, adjust camera angle preset, or increase spatial separation between foreground, midground, and background layers.
• No room for copy: widen negative space allowance and shift primary focal placement off-center.
• Flat spatial staging: adjust camera angle and focal-length perspective or increase depth-layer spacing (route lighting/material contrast issues to lighting-material-plan).
• Existing scene framing needs pass/fail grading: hand off to composition-quality-checker.

Best practices

• optimize for clarity before stylization
• tie each camera choice to user outcome
• preserve fallback path for uncertain constraints

Good examples

“Primary subject occupies center-right with left negative space for hero copy; camera 3/4 angle chosen for silhouette and depth readability.”

Bad examples

“Use cinematic camera.” (no context, no criteria)

User-facing response template

• Composition summary (focal hierarchy, attention path, negative space, depth layering, silhouette checks)
• Camera strategy summary (aspect strategy, angle preset, focal length by mood)
• Fallback framing variant
• Why this helps your goal (plain-language rationale)
• Truth states (Runtime: Not Run, Artifacts: Not Produced) and unverified assumptions
• Recommended next skill handoff

Anti-patterns

• skipping required laws or runtime boundary statements
• claiming runtime/artifact success without evidence
• claiming runtime or artifact states above Not Run / Not Produced (violating downgrade-only truth rules)
• writing Python code or Blender camera execution commands
• designing lighting rigs or material lookdev instead of handing off to lighting-material-plan
• validating rendered/viewport composition instead of handing off to composition-quality-checker
• locking final export resolution/aspect (resolution-aspect-decision) or file formats (output-format-decision)
• producing jargon-heavy camera specs without plain-language rationale

Cross-skill handoff

• [upstream_reference] Upstream input from → ../product-hero-scene-planner/SKILL.md
• [conditional] Lateral output specs (if needed) (output-format-decision) → ../output-format-decision/SKILL.md
• [conditional] Lateral output specs (if needed) (resolution-aspect-decision) → ../resolution-aspect-decision/SKILL.md
• [progression] Next (lookdev & lighting) → ../lighting-material-plan/SKILL.md
• [progression] Then (validation) (scene-readiness) → ../scene-readiness/SKILL.md
• [progression] Then (validation) (composition-quality-checker) → ../composition-quality-checker/SKILL.md

Non-goals

• executing Blender commands, writing Python scripts, or generating scene/render artifacts
• designing lighting setups or materials (owned by lighting-material-plan)
• validating or scoring completed scene framing (owned by composition-quality-checker)
• locking output resolution/aspect standards (owned by resolution-aspect-decision) or file formats (owned by output-format-decision)

References

• https://www.blender.org/lab/mcp-server/
• https://claude.com/resources/tutorials/using-the-blender-connector-in-claude
• https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/index.html