environment-shot

Purpose

Translate a wide place-establishing intent (locale, time of day, weather, atmosphere, foreground/midground/background depth layers, and focal subject or explicit "none") into a structured scene plan with an explicit assumptions register. Distinct from character-portrait (single subject), product-hero-scene-planner (manufactured products), and interior-scene (interior rooms/furniture/surfaces — an establishing shot of an interior room belongs there when furniture or surfaces dominate). Hands off asset rows to asset-discovery and validation to composition-quality-checker, lighting-quality-checker, and scene-readiness.

Quick start

• confirm upstream brief from intent-to-3d-brief-writer and verify a realizable (non-invented) locale scope
• pin locale, time of day, weather, and atmosphere
• pin foreground (FG), midground (MG), and background (BG) depth layers
• pin focal subject (or explicitly declare none)
• record an explicit assumptions register
• flag asset rows for asset-discovery and emit validation handoffs with Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced

When to use

• intent is establishing a wide place (landscape, cityscape, outdoor locale, or wide interior space where furniture/surfaces do not dominate)
• before any modeling, Geometry Nodes, or scene building
• when consumer is editorial, cinematic, or brand

When not to use

• character portrait → use ../character-portrait/SKILL.md (use character-portrait)
• product hero → use ../product-hero-scene-planner/SKILL.md (use product-hero-scene-planner)
• interior arch viz with focus on furniture / surfaces → use ../interior-scene/SKILL.md (use interior-scene)

Trigger phrases

• "establishing shot of"
• "wide shot of"
• "city / forest / desert / ocean scene"
• "set the scene"

Prerequisites / readiness

• brief from intent-to-3d-brief-writer is locked
• locale scope is realizable and bounded (never invented)
• target aspect ratio and use case are known

Input schema

Required inputs

Optional inputs

Assumptions to confirm

• Single time-of-day snapshot (unless animation is explicitly requested upstream).
• Locale scope is realizable and bounded, not invented.
• Interior rooms dominated by furniture or surfaces are routed to interior-scene.
• Planning-only output: Runtime status stays Not Run and Artifact status stays Not Produced.

Output schema

Primary output

A structured place-establishing plan covering: Locale (bounded scope), Time of day, Weather, Atmosphere, Depth layers (FG / MG / BG), Focal subject (or explicit none), Mood / style, and an Assumptions register.

Secondary output

• asset rows flagged for asset-discovery
• validation handoffs to composition-quality-checker, lighting-quality-checker, and scene-readiness
• explicit Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced labels

Evidence / caveat output

Runtime status: Not Run | Attempted | Produced | Verified | Failed
Artifact status: Not Produced | Produced | Verified | Failed
Evidence used: <links, paths, logs, or "none">
Limitations: <known gaps>

Required laws

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

Official runtime boundary

Planning-only skill: no modeling, no Geometry Nodes, no render, and no Blender execution. Runtime status stays Not Run and Artifact status stays Not Produced (downgrade-only, never upgrade). If the brief or locale scope is unclear, hand off to intent-to-3d-brief-writer.

Operating procedure

1. Read the brief from intent-to-3d-brief-writer; confirm wide place-establishing scope and ensure locale scope is realizable (not invented).
2. Route to interior-scene if the scene is an interior room where furniture or surfaces dominate.
3. Pin time of day, weather, and atmosphere (per references/time-and-weather-rules.md).
4. Define wide camera placement and framing intent (per references/wide-shot-camera-rules.md).
5. Plan foreground (FG), midground (MG), and background (BG) depth layers (per references/depth-layering-rules.md).
6. Identify the focal subject or explicitly document none.
7. Record all open assumptions in the assumptions register.
8. List required assets for asset-discovery and emit validation handoffs to composition-quality-checker, lighting-quality-checker, and scene-readiness with Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced.

Decision tree

Scene is an interior room where furniture or surfaces dominate?
  → Stop; route to interior-scene
Focus is a single character or a manufactured product?
  → Stop; route to character-portrait or product-hero-scene-planner
Locale scope is unbounded or unclear (would require inventing scope)?
  → Stop; hand off to intent-to-3d-brief-writer to bound locale scope
Locale + time-of-day combination implausible (e.g. "Antarctic noon" with deep dark mood)?
  → Warn; clarify intent
"City scene" + tight close-up framing?
  → Warn; this is not establishing — re-frame or use different planner
Weather conflicts with brief mood (sunny + noir)?
  → Fail; pick one
Focal subject not chosen but every asset has same visual weight?
  → Fail; eye has nowhere to land

Playbooks

Playbook A: City sunset establishing (16:9 cinematic)

35mm wide; camera elevated; warm sun direction; haze layer; subject = skyline silhouette; foreground rooftops; background sky gradient.

Playbook B: Forest mid-day (1:1 brand campaign)

24mm wide; camera at human eye-line; key sun + dappled light; foreground branches; midground tree trunks; background distant haze.

Playbook C: Stylized cyberpunk street (2.39:1 cinematic)

24–35mm; rain wet ground reflections; neon practicals; light haze + atmospheric fog; foreground silhouette; midground signage / cars; background distant towers.

Mode handling

Text-only mode

Produce the environment plan and assumptions register; keep Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced.

Runtime-ready mode

Planning-only even when runtime is available downstream: keep Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced (downgrade-only, never upgrade), and hand off to asset-discovery and quality checkers.

Blocked runtime mode

Produce the environment plan and assumptions register; keep Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced, and log blockers under Limitations.

Validation checklist

• Realizable, non-invented locale scope confirmed
• Time of day, weather, and atmosphere pinned
• Depth layers (FG / MG / BG) explicitly defined
• Focal subject (or explicit none) documented
• Assumptions register included
• Asset rows flagged for asset-discovery
• Validation handoffs named (composition-quality-checker, lighting-quality-checker, scene-readiness)
• Runtime status: Not Run and Artifact status: Not Produced explicitly set

Pass / Warn / Fail rubric

Failure handling

• Locale scope too broad or unclear → hand off to intent-to-3d-brief-writer (never invent scope).
• Mood and weather contradict → stop and ask user to pick one consistent direction.
• Asset availability unknown → flag missing items for asset-discovery.

Troubleshooting

Best practices

• Lock time-of-day + weather + atmosphere together; they form a system.
• Always plan FG / MG / BG depth layers.
• Pair establishing shot with the next narrative step (often character portrait or product reveal).

Good examples

• "Locale: cyberpunk city street, near-future. Time: night, neon lit. Weather: light rain. Atmosphere: haze 0.05 density, volumetric scattering. Sky: minimal (occluded by buildings). Camera: 24mm, eye-level, slight low-angle tilt. FG: silhouetted figure. MG: neon signage + parked cars. BG: distant towers + fog. Focal subject: figure silhouette right-third. Mood: gritty, atmospheric."

Bad examples

• "Wide shot of a city." — no time, weather, lens, depth.

User-facing response template

Locale (bounded scope): <where + realizable boundaries>
Time of day: <time / sun state>
Weather: <weather state>
Atmosphere: <haze / fog / visibility>
Camera & framing: <wide position / altitude / tilt>
Depth layers: FG: <…> | MG: <…> | BG: <…>
Focal subject: <subject + placement, or explicit "none">
Mood + style: <line>
Assumptions register: <explicit list of confirmed assumptions>

Assets to discover: <rows for asset-discovery>
Runtime status: Not Run
Artifact status: Not Produced
Evidence used: <links, paths, logs, or "none">
Limitations: <known gaps>
Next: asset-discovery | composition-quality-checker | lighting-quality-checker | scene-readiness

Anti-patterns

• Mixing single-character portraits (character-portrait), manufactured product shots (product-hero-scene-planner), or furniture/surface-dominant interior rooms (interior-scene) into wide place planning.
• Inventing unbounded locale scope instead of handing off to intent-to-3d-brief-writer.
• Skipping FG / MG / BG depth layers or failing to declare a focal subject (or explicit none).
• Prescribing Geometry Nodes, modeling steps, or renders, or upgrading truth states above Not Run / Not Produced.

Cross-skill handoff

• [upstream_reference] Brief writer → ../intent-to-3d-brief-writer/SKILL.md
• [upstream_reference] Asset discovery → ../asset-discovery/SKILL.md
• [progression] Composition validation → ../composition-quality-checker/SKILL.md
• [progression] Lighting validation → ../lighting-quality-checker/SKILL.md
• [progression] Quality readiness → ../scene-readiness/SKILL.md

Non-goals

• Model the environment.
• Generate Geometry Node setups.
• Render.
• Run Blender.

References

• references/time-and-weather-rules.md
• references/wide-shot-camera-rules.md
• references/depth-layering-rules.md
• ../../docs/skill-system.md