Motion handoff

Motion Handoff - AI Video Keyframe Director

This skill turns accepted storyboard frames into motion-ready instructions for AI video tools.

It is not a storyboard generator. It assumes the visual direction is mostly approved and focuses on helping a video model interpret the frames as a sequence instead of hallucinating unrelated product footage.

Activation

Use this skill for requests like:

• "give me the Higgsfield prompt for these frames"
• "how do I connect these storyboard images in Canvas?"
• "make frame 1 to 3 animate as one clip"
• "split these into AI video batches"
• "write stitch-safe motion prompts"
• "the video model is pasting the UI instead of animating it"

Do not use this skill for first-pass narrative planning, visual style exploration, frame QA, or image generation unless the user explicitly asks for those parts too.

Preflight

Before writing handoff prompts, establish or state assumptions for:

• target tool: Higgsfield Canvas, Gemini/Omni, Runway, Krea, Kling, Seedance, manual editor, or unknown
• input shape: one image, start/end images, multi-keyframe node, or connected image nodes
• clip duration and aspect ratio
• accepted source frames and their order
• whether the frames are keyframes, style references, or only visual inspiration
• whether the clip must animate in, animate out, or loop
• stitch strategy: overlap boundary frame, clean hard cut, crossfade, or end-card hold
• stability constraints: exact UI text, logo fidelity, upright UI, no camera drift, no extra screens
• what should change over time: position, scale, opacity, typing, glow, card entrance, chat bubbles, buttons, counters
• what must stay locked: brand mark, product UI layout, readable labels, crop, background palette

If the order or target workflow is unclear, ask one concise question before writing the final prompt.

Core Rule

When multiple images are connected to a video generation node, explicitly define them as the timeline.

Use wording like:

Treat the connected images as sequential keyframes in this exact order, not as separate style references. Image 1 is the opening state, image 2 is the motion midpoint, and image 3 is the final state.

Never assume the tool will infer order correctly from upload order alone.

Output Formats

Choose the smallest useful output:

• a single paste-ready prompt
• a node workflow
• per-shot prompt files
• a batch manifest
• a short handoff note with model settings and risks

For node workflows, use a concrete shape:

Image Nodes [01, 02, 03] -> Video Generation Node
Model: <model>
Duration: <seconds>
Aspect: 9:16
Prompt: <paste-ready prompt>

Prompt Anatomy

A good handoff prompt has six parts:

1. Intent: name the clip's job in the launch video.
2. Keyframe order: define each image as a stage of the timeline.
3. Motion: describe only the transitions the model should create.
4. Product constraints: preserve UI, text, logos, and layout.
5. Style constraints: product-launch motion design, clean gradients, glass, spacing, typography.
6. Negative constraints: no new screens, no realistic footage, no random text, no invented logos.

Example:

Create a polished SaaS product-launch motion-design clip using the connected images as sequential keyframes in this exact order, not as separate style references.

Image 1 is the quiet opening state, Image 2 is the midpoint where the UI modules ease in and glow, and Image 3 is the final resolved product state. Animate with clean 2D/2.5D motion: soft ease-in, slight scale, opacity reveal, subtle teal glow, and controlled parallax in the background only.

Preserve the product UI structure, logo, readable labels, button shapes, and 9:16 composition. Do not add new screens, fake dashboards, random paragraphs, realistic football footage, or invented brand marks. The result should feel like a premium SaaS launch motion graphic, not a phone recording or cinematic sports ad.

Stitch-Safe Sentences

Add stitch guidance only when the clip will be joined to neighboring clips.

Opening clip:

Begin from a near-empty clean stage for the first few frames so the previous clip can cut into it smoothly.

Middle clip:

Start by matching Image 1 exactly for a brief hold, then move through the sequence and end by holding Image <last> cleanly for stitching.

Final clip:

End with a calm resolved hold on the final brand/product frame; avoid extra flourish after the last keyframe.

UI Stability Guidance

AI video tools often fail when UI is too angled, too dense, or text-heavy.

Prefer:

• upright or nearly upright UI plates
• one primary module per shot
• large readable labels
• stable crops with minimal camera travel
• controlled opacity/scale reveals
• textless or minimal-text plates when copy can be added later

Avoid:

• asking the model to invent typing-heavy UI
• rapidly transforming a full dashboard
• angled UI that must resolve into exact upright UI
• start/mid/end frames with different layout systems
• prompts that say "make it dynamic" without naming the exact motion

Failure Diagnosis

If the model output looks wrong, classify the failure before reprompting:

• sequence confusion: it treated images as references, not ordered keyframes
• paste failure: it pasted a UI image onto the background instead of integrating motion
• text drift: readable labels mutated or became gibberish
• camera drift: the clip became cinematic footage instead of product motion
• over-animation: too much 3D, rotation, particles, or realism
• under-animation: static image with only late element spawns

Then write a narrower prompt that fixes that exact failure.

What Not To Do

• Do not generate new storyboard frames.
• Do not manually edit images.
• Do not create fake intermediate frames unless the user asks for more storyboard generation.
• Do not overfit a prompt to a fixed frame number like "1 to 3" unless those are the actual selected frames.
• Do not assume Higgsfield, Gemini, or any other tool is the target if the user has not said so.