Plugin installs: Before setup or freshness commands, follow plugin execution rules when this skill is inside a HyperFrames plugin. Standalone installs keep the update instructions below.

First, keep this skill fresh — confirm with the user before running: npx hyperframes skills update motion-graphics. A fast no-op when everything is current; otherwise it refreshes this skill plus the core domain skills it depends on before you rely on them.

figma source: If the logo/asset/animation to build from comes from a figma.com URL, run /figma first — asset export, brand tokens, and Motion→GSAP translation if the graphic is a Figma Motion import — then build from its output. Don't drive Figma via raw MCP tools directly: that skips SVG sanitization, .media/manifest.jsonl provenance, and brand-token var() binding, so a later brand change can't propagate without a full re-import.

motion-graphics — dispatch entry

The front door is /hyperframes. This skill makes a short, design-led, unnarrated motion graphic (motion is the message; ~under 10s, no voice-over). Anything longer, narrated, or multi-scene — or any uncertainty → read /hyperframes first: the intent layer owns every route decision.

This workflow is autonomous by design — at most one clarifying question (agents/director.md), then build through verification without intermediate review. The intent layer (/hyperframes → references/intent-interview.md) routes here directly without run-shape questions; a storyboard and companion session add little to a piece this short. Rendering is still user-gated: after checks and proof snapshots pass, open the Studio preview and ask the canonical “render now, or what changes?” question from ../hyperframes/references/brief-contract.md. When a BRIEF.md exists, read it before the director's question.

A short design-led motion graphic. Asset-first: decide the asset strategy and source real material before designing the shot, then design the shot around what you have, then compose by reusing catalog capabilities. All artifacts go to PROJECT_DIR = videos/<project-name>/ (created in Step 0); all paths below are relative to it.

◇ source runs only when the chosen category declares assets. Pure code/text categories (e.g. kinetic-type, most charts/stat) have asset_needs: [] and skip straight from plan to design.

Categories — split by the search decision

plan's first decision is: does this need a search? That fork splits the categories into two groups; then the specific category is picked — for search-driven, by the type of content the search returns. Each category is one categories/<id>/module.md (its planning + build rules); the shared motion vocabulary lives in references/motion-vocabulary.md (→ hyperframes-animation rules/blueprints + registry blocks).

Form categories — no search; the user supplies the content:

Search-driven categories — search first, then animate by content type (the RWA path):

Build order: one at a time, coverage-first (rough is fine). kinetic-type ported from the prototype; the rest follow.

Prerequisites

macOS Apple Silicon or Linux x64. System tools: brew install node ffmpeg. npx hyperframes doctor once. macOS GPU render: export PRODUCER_BROWSER_GPU_MODE=hardware.

Optional keys (local fallbacks if unset) — only needed by categories that source/generate assets via media-use:

Flow

Step 0 — Initialize

cwd is the agent workspace root; write all artifacts under PROJECT_DIR = videos/<project-name>/. <project-name>: use the dir the user gave, else a short kebab-case name from the intent (<subject>-motion). Not the workspace basename or a timestamp.

Only when $PROJECT_DIR/hyperframes.json is absent:

PROJECT_DIR="${MOTION_GRAPHICS_DIR:-videos/<project-name>}"
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$PROJECT_DIR")"
npx hyperframes init "$PROJECT_DIR" --non-interactive --example=blank --skill=motion-graphics

init checks the installed skills against the latest on GitHub and updates the global set if any are out of date.

Constraints: never hyperframes init in the workspace root; never nest another hyperframes/ inside PROJECT_DIR; every Bash command (master + subagents) is a (cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && ...) subshell — never bare cd.

Step 1 — Plan (subagent: Director Part 1)

Dispatch one subagent. prompt = full agents/director.md + ## Dispatch context (SKILL_DIR / PROJECT_DIR / the user's request / Schema: <SKILL_DIR>/references/shot-plan-ir.md). It must:

1. Decide: does this need a search? (the first fork)
   • No → pick a form category (kinetic-type / stat / charts / logo-reveal / lower-thirds / maps); content is user-supplied; asset_needs: [].
   • Yes → emit a search plan into asset_needs[] (news / web / tweet / image; two-pole queries). The specific search-driven category (webpage / news / tweet / asset-fusion) is confirmed by the content type returned in Step 2, and finalized in Step 3.
2. Write a draft shot-plan.json (envelope + chosen form category or search intent + asset_needs + a one-paragraph shot brief). Schema: references/shot-plan-ir.md.

Validation: [ -s "$PROJECT_DIR/shot-plan.json" ] && echo ok || echo missing.

Step 2 — Source ◇ (Bash: media-use, conditional)

If shot-plan.json.asset_needs is non-empty, resolve assets (search / generate / fetch → frozen project-local paths + ledger). See phases/source/guide.md (wraps media-use resolve; the search-driven categories use the news/web/tweet/image search). If asset_needs is empty, skip to Step 3.

Degrade gracefully: if a search/provider is unavailable, the category falls back to asset-free (note it in context.log).

Step 3 — Design (subagent: Director Part 2)

Dispatch a subagent (prompt = agents/director.md Part 2 + dispatch context including the resolved assets/index.md if Step 2 ran + catalog-map.md). It designs the shot around the available assets: pick the catalog block(s) + the hyperframes-animation rules/blueprints, the layout, the motion, beats, and (for asset-fusion) the element_positions + eyedropper palette. Finalizes shot-plan.json (content.block + content.customize + per-category content).

Step 4 — Build (subagent: Builder, reuse-first)

Include the shared motion principles in the Builder's dispatch context. For charts and stat, also include data in motion. The Builder reads these guides before writing the timeline.

Dispatch a subagent. prompt = full agents/builder.md + dispatch context (shot-plan.json, catalog-map.md, the category's module.md, references/motion-vocabulary.md, references/builder-contract.md). Reuse-first: npx hyperframes add <block> + customize in place; hand-author only gaps + the asset-fusion affordance. Output compositions/index.html honoring the HF contract (paused GSAP timeline on window.__timelines, class="clip" + stable ids, tl.seek(0), deterministic).

Step 5 — Verify (Bash → repair subagent on failure)

(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx hyperframes check .)
(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx hyperframes snapshot --at <proof-times>)

Choose proof times that show the opening state, signature move, and final hold. Inspect the generated contact or snapshot sheet before continuing. On lint, check, or snapshot failure, dispatch the repair subagent (agents/finalize.md) for one in-place fix pass, then rerun the failed gate. Never change a fixed duration merely to hide a defect.

Step 6 — Approve and render (Bash)

Open Studio, then ask one question: “render now, or what changes?” After revisions, return to the same gate:

(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx hyperframes preview --background)

Render only after an explicit render answer:

(cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && npx hyperframes render . --skill=motion-graphics -q high -o ./renders/video.mp4)
# transparent overlay variant: --format webm  (or mov)

Verify the output exists, is non-empty, and has the intended duration. The final handoff names the artifact, actual duration, composition or frame id, proof times, and the inspected contact or snapshot sheet. Flags live in /hyperframes-cli → references/preview-render.md.

Resume table

Design notes (maintainers — execution does not read this)

• Asset-first rationale: sourcing is front-loaded and informs shot design (the RWA flow: analyze → search → review → compose). the search-driven categories (webpage/news/tweet) and asset-fusion both lean on media-use search (news/web/tweet/image), which is media-use's documented RWA lineage.
• Reuse-first: the in-ecosystem analog of LLM-generated templates is "compose catalog blocks + hyperframes-animation rules". HF's paused GSAP timeline ≙ Remotion's useCurrentFrame.
• Category module contract: one categories/<id>/module.md (planning + build), sharing references/motion-vocabulary.md (+ optional eval). Adding a category = drop the folder + register its classifier line in agents/director.md + its row in catalog-map.md; the phase pipeline is untouched.
• Directory shape:

  videos/<project-name>/
    hyperframes.json  context.log
    shot-plan.json            # the IR (Director output)
    assets/  assets/index.md  # media-use output (if sourced)
    compositions/index.html   # Builder output
    renders/video.mp4

• Registration: in hyperframes router — add the "design-led short motion graphic" intent + Workflow description; carve the motion-graphics triggers out of /general-video; add reverse Do-NOT-use edges. See motion-graphics-genre.md §5-7.