ugc-brief

The plan the rest of the pipeline executes against. It comes early — right after the product profile, before any face or storyboard exists — so the ad is thought-through and signed off before a single credit is spent. It is a living document: created with placeholders, then updated by each downstream step as the real artifacts come in.

Why early: a brief written after everything is generated is just a summary. Written first, it forces the angle, the shot map, and the production settings to be decided deliberately instead of emerging by accident — and it gives the user one thing to approve that frames every later choice.

Inputs

• DEST (path) — the project folder (already holds product-profile.md from step 1).
• PROFILE (path) — DEST/product-profile.md, for the product facts + usage motions.
• CREATOR_BRIEF (text) — the on-camera actor look (no character generated yet; this is the intent).
• BRAND_FACTS (text) — voice + positioning. Read brands/<brand>/brand/* if a brand is named; else inline.
• ANGLE (text) — the creative hook (e.g. performance/quality, beginner-friendly, craftsmanship).
• SLUG, optional BRAND, optional DURATION (≤15, default 15), optional BRAND_ACCENT (hex).

Steps

1. Read the product profile. Pull the product name, classification, hero look, branding rule (is the logo shown?), product media_id, and the exact usage steps (these become the on-camera motions in the shot map).
2. Decide the 3-cut shot map from the angle + usage steps. The pipeline's spine is always three time-sliced cuts; default framings:
   • Cut 1 — Hook (Tight): creator reacts/speaks to camera; topic framed in the first 2-3s (cold-creative rule).
   • Cut 2 — Setup/Action (Macro): the key usage motion from the profile (the tactile/quality beat).
   • Cut 3 — Recommendation (Wide): creator presents the product to camera; brand named. Adapt the beats to the product, but keep three distinct framings (Tight / Macro / Wide) for dynamic progression.

3. Write DEST/brief.md using the template below. Use TBD for anything not generated yet (character/storyboard/cut job_ids) — downstream steps fill these in. Convert any relative dates to absolute. No em-dashes / en-dashes anywhere.

   # Production Brief — <Brand> (<format>)
   
   > Living plan for <slug>. Created at step 2 (before generation); later steps fill in
   > the TBD job_ids and check off the status list.
   
   - **Project slug:** `YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>`
   - **Folder:** `<DEST>/`
   - **Format:** Vertical 9:16 UGC video ad, <DURATION>s
   - **Purpose:** <one line — campaign goal or demo/tutorial>
   
   ## The product
   - **What:** <name + classification>
   - **Hero look:** <finish/colors>
   - **Branding rule:** <logo shown legibly? or VO/captions only?>
   - **product media_id:** `<from product-profile.md>`
   - Full facts + usage motions: [product-profile.md](product-profile.md)
   
   ## The creator (on camera)
   - **Look:** <CREATOR_BRIEF summary>
   - **character job_id:** TBD (filled by ugc-base-character)
   - Registered in [cast.md](cast.md)
   
   ## The angle
   - <ANGLE — one or two lines, including the hook framing>
   
   ## Shot map (3 time-sliced cuts -> one continuous take)
   1. **Hook (Tight, ~0-Xs):** <action> | VO intent: <...>
   2. **Setup/Action (Macro, ~X-Ys):** <usage motion> | VO intent: <...>
   3. **Recommendation (Wide, ~Y-<DURATION>s):** <present + brand> | VO intent: <...>
   - Visual map: storyboard.png (TBD job_id, filled by ugc-storyboard-sheet)
   - Final VO: script.md (TBD, filled by ugc-multicut-script)
   
   ## Production settings
   - **Video model:** Seedance 2.0 (native VO + lip-sync + ambient), via ugc-video
   - **Resolution:** 720p (1080p is 2x credits, no visible gain for this format)
   - **Cost gate:** explicit user yes required before the paid video call
   - **Audio check:** human confirms VO pronunciation of the brand name before finalizing
   - **Enhance (default ON):** ducked music bed + karaoke subtitles + cut transitions -> `<slug>-enhanced.mp4`
   - **Brand accent (captions):** <BRAND_ACCENT or a hex pulled from the product cues>
   
   ## Distribution
   - **Master:** `<slug>-enhanced.mp4` (enhanced cut distributable; base preserved)
   - **Caption + hashtags:** caption.md, hashtags.md (brand voice, no em-dashes)
   - **Channels:** Instagram / TikTok / Facebook from one folder
   
   ## Status
   - [x] Product profile
   - [x] Brief
   - [ ] Base character
   - [ ] Storyboard sheet
   - [ ] Multi-cut script
   - [ ] Video (cost-gated)
   - [ ] Enhance
   - [ ] Virality read + caption/hashtags

Output

DEST/brief.md — the living plan. Report the path. This step does NO generation; it is a planning + writing step only (no credits spent).

Notes

• The brief is a PLAN, not a summary — keep it decision-dense (angle, shot map, settings), not a transcript of the profile.
• Downstream steps own their TBDs: ugc-base-character fills character job_id + checks Base character; ugc-storyboard-sheet fills the storyboard job_id; ugc-multicut-script links the final VO; ugc-video/ugc-enhance check their boxes. If you run those steps, update brief.md as you go so it stays the single source of truth.
• Do NOT invent product facts — pull them from product-profile.md. If the angle is unspecified, propose the highest-leverage one for the product and note it as the assumption.