3D Animation Shot Spec

Use this Skill when the user wants the complete prompt/spec layer of a story-first animated short — from a one-line idea to a set of generation prompts ready to hand off to image and video tools. This Skill does not generate images or videos; it produces the prompts and specs that drive those tools. The workflow must place every major artifact on the canvas in production order and pause at creative gates with user choice cards before high-impact steps.

Core rule: story first, ask screen size and total duration with choice cards immediately after user intake, ordered canvas artifacts, every required confirmation via choice card, fixed order after character/scene card prompts: six-column standardized shot table with per-second directives + audio cues + spatial anchor chain → shot-table self-check gate → one single text storyboards document with one section per shot (multi-panel pencil image only when user explicitly opts into visualization mode; any shot flagged for heavy iteration is extracted to a standalone text storyboard node) → video-model choice card (H3 default, Seedance 2.0 fallback) + resolution choice card → single-shot video generation prompts written per shot (prefer the h3-prompt-writing skill). This Skill outputs prompts and specs only; it never generates images or videos or assembles a final film.

Global Visual Style Lock

Unless the user explicitly requests another visual style, all character card prompts, scene card prompts, shot tables, text storyboards, optional pencil storyboards, and single-shot video prompts (regardless of which video model they target) must use this visual style:

• Rendering style: Pixar-inspired 3D cartoon rendering, C4D + Octane renderer look, high-end animated feature quality.
• Character design: exaggerated geometric simplification balanced with excellent material detail. Avoid 100% realistic human anatomy; use high-level shape language, large readable silhouettes, and Q-version proportions when appropriate.
• Proportion language: friendly stylized proportions, often 2.5–3 head-tall for cute or childlike characters, with big heads, compact bodies, clear silhouettes, and high recognizability.
• Hair / fur: combine strong sculpted clumps and clean block shapes with fine edge flyaway hairs or fuzzy rim details, so hair/fur feels designed but tactile under light.
• Skin / material: warm subsurface scattering skin quality, soft translucent reddish light through ears, cheeks, nose, and fingertips; avoid hard plastic skin.
• Acting style: exaggerated, lively Disney/Pixar-style character animation performance with squash and stretch, strong brows, eye corners, pupils, lips, and cheek shape changes.
• Motion style: high-energy poses, clear line of action, forward lean, strong anticipation, fast but readable timing, elastic body mechanics, and vivid micro-expressions.
• Emotional range: balance cuteness and explosive expressiveness; intense emotions may use dramatic facial deformation while preserving character appeal.

Negative style constraints: no photorealistic live-action, no flat 2D anime, no plastic toy skin, no stiff mannequin posing, no realistic anatomical stiffness, no lifeless facial expressions.

STEP 0: Intake and Canvas Plan

Capture:

• One-line idea or rough premise
• Desired output: blueprint only, character-card image prompts, scene-card image prompts, standardized shot table with per-second directives, single text storyboards document (default) + extracted single-shot text storyboard nodes for heavy-iteration shots + multi-panel pencil storyboards (opt-in), or single-shot video prompts (with the target video model chosen in Step 7). This Skill outputs prompts and specs, never final images or videos.
• Approximate length, if the user already stated it
• Screen size / aspect ratio, if the user already stated it
• Visual tone: default warm stylized 3D animation
• Dialogue requirement: whether the film has dialogue, voiceover, or no speech
• Dialogue language only if the user explicitly states it; do not default to English dialogue

Immediately after capturing the user's input, before Project Brief or any other next step, show choice cards to confirm production format:

Screen size / aspect ratio card:

• 16:9 landscape (recommended for cinematic short)
• 9:16 vertical short
• 1:1 square
• 4:5 social portrait
• Custom size / aspect ratio

Total duration card:

• 30–60 seconds (recommended)
• 15–30 seconds
• 60–90 seconds
• 90–180 seconds
• Custom duration

Only proceed after the user chooses both screen size/aspect ratio and total duration, or explicitly supplies custom values. Store the approved screen size/aspect ratio and duration in the Project Brief and reuse them in shot timing, transition continuity, the standardized shot table with per-second directives, single-shot storyboards (text by default, pencil image when user opts in), and single-shot video prompts.

Create or later update canvas artifacts in this order:

1. Project Brief text node
2. Story Outline text node
3. Character Card image-prompt text nodes
4. Environment-only Scene Card image-prompt text nodes
5. Standardized Shot Information Table node with six columns; each row must include per-second directives inside Shot Description
6. Single text storyboards document — one canvas text node named <title> text storyboards containing one section per shot (mirrors the half-narrated-drama storyboard structure). When the user flags a shot for heavy iteration, that section is extracted to a standalone text node and a (extracted) marker is left in the document. Pencil image storyboards, if opted in, are separate image nodes.
7. Single-Shot Video Prompt text nodes (written for the target video model selected in Step 7 — H3 default, Seedance 2.0 fallback)

Do not dump long production content only in chat. Put durable outputs on canvas as text nodes.

STEP 1: Project Brief

Produce a concise project brief and write it to a canvas text node named with the project title or 项目简报.

Include:

• Working title
• One-line What-if
• Emotional premise
• Target audience feeling
• Main deliverables planned
• Approved screen size / aspect ratio
• Approved total duration
• Dialogue mode and language: only use a specific language when the user explicitly requested it; otherwise write language not specified and keep dialogue minimal or ask later when needed
• Initial risks
• Dialogue intent when present

Then show a user choice card:

• Continue with this direction (recommended)
• Regenerate premise options
• Revise emotional premise
• Refine dialogue direction

Only proceed after the user chooses or explicitly says to continue.

STEP 2: Story Outline and Gates

Create a story outline and write it to a canvas text node named 故事大纲 or story-outline.

Include:

• Protagonist Want / Need / flaw
• Core world rule
• 8-beat causal story spine
• Emotional anchor and payoff
• Dialogue beats if the user requested dialogue
• Red-line checks

Gate checks:

• Protagonist is active
• Crisis is intensified by protagonist flaw
• Coincidence never solves the problem
• Ending reuses an earlier emotional anchor
• Antagonistic pressure is not a flat villain
• Dialogue reveals relationship change instead of explaining the theme

Then show a user choice card:

• Approve story and continue (recommended)
• Revise beats
• Revise emotion curve
• Revise dialogue beats
• Return to premise

STEP 3: Character Card Image Prompts

Write character card image-generation prompts and place each prompt as a text node on canvas. Recommended order:

1. Protagonist card prompt
2. Contrast / pressure character card prompt
3. Optional supporting character card prompt

Each character card prompt, when fed to an image generation model, must produce a 16:9 production reference sheet. The prompt must instruct the model to include clear readable labels so downstream generation can bind the correct person and props:

• Character name label in English and/or the project language
• Role label, such as protagonist, grandma, thief, sidekick, pressure character
• Main 3/4 view
• Front / side / back views
• Expressions
• Material / costume / prop details
• Important prop labels, such as handbag, wallet, skateboard, apple basket, scarf, shoes, glasses
• Identity lock repeated in the prompt
• A short visual-ID note listing age range, body type, hairstyle, outfit colors, signature props, and do-not-change traits

For stylized 3D animation, instruct the model to keep the character soft, readable, and consistent across later images and videos.

Image model default: if the user has not specified an image generation model, write the prompt for Qwen-Image. Compose the prompt so it is a self-contained Qwen-Image generation prompt that reproduces the character card above, including the global visual style lock and all labels, views, material/prop details, identity lock, and visual-ID note. If the user names a different image model, write the prompt for that model instead.

After the main character card prompts are written, show a user choice card:

• Lock character designs and continue (recommended)
• Regenerate protagonist card prompt
• Adjust specific visual details
• Add another character card prompt

Warn the user that changing locked character designs later may require regenerating the shot table, single-shot storyboards, and single-shot video prompts.

STEP 4: Scene Card Image Prompts

Write scene card image-generation prompts and place them as text nodes on canvas after the character card prompts. The scene card prompts must describe environments only: do not include characters, people, crowd figures, silhouettes, hands, faces, or character cameos. Character action belongs in the shot table, single-shot multi-panel pencil storyboards, and single-shot video prompts, not scene card prompts.

Include in each prompt:

• Main environment overview
• Key light states, such as day / night
• Emotional sub-spaces
• Continuity landmarks (fixed objects whose screen position must persist across shots in the same scene, e.g. kitchen island, sofa, door frame, tree, mailbox)
• Important props in the environment

Image model default: as in STEP 3, if the user has not specified an image generation model, write the prompt for Qwen-Image, as a self-contained prompt that reproduces the scene card above while including the global visual style lock. If the user named a different model, write for that model instead.

Then show a user choice card:

• Lock scene design and continue (recommended)
• Regenerate scene card prompt
• Add another scene angle
• Adjust lighting or layout

STEP 5: Standardized Shot Table Video Prompts (Six Columns)

After character card prompts and scene card prompts are locked, output standardized video prompts as a shot information table. This step is mandatory and cannot be swapped with storyboard or video-prompt generation.

Required reference: read and follow references/shot-table-spec.md for the exact six-column schema, per-second directive requirements, table-wide rules, user approval card, and mandatory Step 5.5 self-check gate.

Minimum runtime contract:

• Create a canvas table node named 标准镜头信息表 or standard-shot-table.
• Use exactly six columns: Shot ID & Duration, Continuity Handoff, Reference Anchors (Spatial + Identity), Hook Type, Shot Description (Per-Second Directives), Audio & Dialogue Track.
• Every row must include complete per-second directives, continuity handoff, reference anchors, hook type, and audio/dialogue timing.
• Run the Step 5.5 self-check from references/shot-table-spec.md before storyboarding. Do not enter Step 6 until the self-check passes.

Then show the table approval/self-check choice cards defined in references/shot-table-spec.md.

STEP 6: Text Storyboards Document (Default) + Pencil Image Storyboards (Opt-in)

After the Step 5.5 self-check passes, show a storyboard-mode choice card before producing any storyboard artifact.

Required reference: read and follow references/storyboard-guidelines.md for the default single text storyboards document, optional multi-panel pencil storyboards, shot-level extraction/re-integration, storyboard approval cards, and visualization fallback rules.

Minimum runtime contract:

• Default mode is one authoritative text storyboards document containing one section per shot.
• Pencil storyboard images are opt-in visualization artifacts only; they never override the text storyboard.
• Extract a shot into a standalone text node only when the user flags that shot for heavy iteration.
• Step 7 must read the matching text storyboard section or extracted standalone node, not the pencil image.

After all storyboards are approved, proceed to the video-model choice card.

STEP 7: Video-Model Choice Card + Single-Shot Video Prompts

Before any video prompt is written, show the video-model choice card and resolution choice card. The video model chosen here determines the prompt format for every shot.

Required reference: read references/model-selection.md for the H3 default, Seedance 2.0 fallback, per-shot mixed mode, resolution choices, and model-specific prompt shaping.

Minimum runtime contract:

• H3 is the recommended default target model.
• Seedance 2.0 is the fallback target for high-stakes animation performance.
• Per-shot mixed mode is allowed only when the shot table marks the model per row; unmarked rows default to H3.
• For each approved table row, write a single-shot video generation prompt by reading the matching text storyboard section (or extracted standalone node), exact character card names, and exact scene card name.
• Prompt format: prefer generating the prompt with the h3-prompt-writing skill. If that skill is not available, ask the user whether to install it, or fall back to the default prompt rules in references/model-selection.md.
• Strip all storyboard-only double-binding labels ([char:…], [scene:…], [shot:…], [dur:…], [hook:…]) from the prompt content.

Write the resulting video prompts to canvas text nodes in shot order, group them as <title> shot video prompts, and show the prompt approval card defined in references/model-selection.md.

Boundaries

This Skill produces prompts and specs only; it does not generate images, videos, or a final assembled film. Do not use it for a single image, a simple edit, a single clip animation, logo design, or a single standalone prompt. If the user wants to actually render the images or videos, hand the produced prompts to the appropriate image or video generation tool/skill.