Manim + HyperFrames Technical Explainer

Overview

Use this as the specialized layer for technical explainer videos. It is not a general video generator; use video-producer-core first for broad video planning, then use this skill when the video needs deterministic diagrams, formulas, system flows, or Manim + HyperFrames implementation.

Division of Labor

Workflow

1. Start from a storyboard
   • If none exists, use video-producer-core to create one.
   • Mark each beat as Manim, HyperFrames, AI/B-roll, screen recording, or mixed.
2. Choose Manim beats
   • Use Manim for exact logic: formulas, block splitting, replicas, routing, queues, latency, graphs, architecture.
   • Keep each Manim scene to one concept and usually 5-15 seconds.
   • Render transparent WebM when it will sit over HyperFrames backgrounds.
3. Choose HyperFrames beats
   • Use HyperFrames for pacing, subtitles, cards, scene transitions, title resets, sound effects, and final assembly.
   • Treat HyperFrames as the master timeline. Do not put the whole video in Manim unless it is purely mathematical.
4. Generate or collect assets
   • Use AI/B-roll for visual texture, not for precise labels or technical correctness.
   • Record all generated prompts in the project.
   • Avoid copyrighted clips, platform logos, and copied frames unless the user owns them.
5. Build and verify
   • Render Manim atoms first.
   • Compose in HyperFrames.
   • Run lint, validate, inspect, ffprobe, and representative frame checks.

Windows Pitfalls

• Run Manim through the environment where it is installed. If Manim is in .venv, use .venv\Scripts\manim.exe.
• MathTex requires LaTeX/MiKTeX on PATH.
• PowerShell scripts containing Chinese should be saved as UTF-8 with BOM for Windows PowerShell 5.1.
• If HyperFrames bundled Chrome fails, set HYPERFRAMES_BROWSER_PATH to a local Chrome executable.
• If model-based TTS fails, use Windows SAPI as a temporary Chinese narration fallback through video-producer-core.

Commands

# Manim transparent atom
manim -ql -t --format=webm manim/scene.py SceneName -o scene_name

# HyperFrames checks
npx hyperframes lint
npx hyperframes validate
npx hyperframes inspect --samples 15

# HyperFrames draft render
$env:HYPERFRAMES_BROWSER_PATH='C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
npx hyperframes render --quality draft --output renders/draft.mp4

# Final file probe
ffprobe -v error -show_entries stream=index,codec_type,codec_name,width,height,avg_frame_rate,duration -show_entries format=duration,size -of json renders/draft.mp4

Output Expectations

For a complete technical explainer job, produce:

• Script and storyboard from video-producer-core
• Manim source scenes
• Rendered Manim WebM assets
• HyperFrames composition
• AI/B-roll prompts and generated assets
• Audio sources and final MP4
• Verification notes and known limitations

References

Read references/workflow-template.md for a technical storyboard template, folder structure, and Manim/HyperFrames scene patterns.