Video repurposing

Video Repurposing

Turns long-form video into platform-ready clips with captions. FFmpeg = fast CLI, batch, format conversion. Remotion = styled content you preview before rendering.

Non-negotiable rules

• ALWAYS complete Phase 2 (Intake) before editing. Never skip the clarification questions.
• ALWAYS propose an edit plan with exact timestamps and the spoken words at each boundary, and get user approval before executing.
• ALWAYS run QA (references/qa-testing.md) before showing a preview.
• ALWAYS preview in Remotion Studio before rendering.
• NEVER render automatically. Render only on explicit user approval.
• Hard cuts are the DEFAULT for social clips (LinkedIn, TikTok, Reels): no transitions, fades, or dissolves. Use crossfades only when the user explicitly asks (trailers/teasers/montages). Never use TransitionSeries (null-props crash bug); build with plain <Sequence> + premountFor={60}.
• All clip boundaries come from whisper word-level timestamps, never scrubbing or guessing.

Where the craft lives: opening hook, closing, clean cut points, story flow → references/intelligent-editing.md. Timestamp drift and per-clip audioBufferMs → references/transcription.md. Source video prep (H.264 + faststart, no spaces) → references/ffmpeg-basics.md. Hard-cut composition pattern → references/stitching.md. Crossfade mode → references/transitions.md.

Workflow: 5 Phases

Phase 1: SETUP ──→ Phase 2: INTAKE ──→ Phase 3: EDIT PATH ──→ Phase 4: ITERATE ──→ Phase 5: RENDER
(one-time)         (mandatory)          (copy-first OR          (feedback loop)      (user approves)
                                         video-first)

Phase 1: SETUP (one-time)

If a Remotion project already exists, skip to Phase 2.

1. Check prerequisites: which ffmpeg || brew install ffmpeg; Node 18+
2. Create the Remotion project per references/remotion-setup.md (Remotion ^4.0.242, React ^18.x). Complete working code: references/reference-implementation.md
3. Set up whisper: copy scripts/setup-whisper.ts and scripts/transcribe.ts from THIS SKILL's scripts/ folder into the project's scripts/, then run npx ts-node scripts/setup-whisper.ts (installs whisper.cpp + base.en model into .whisper/, GPU-accelerated)

Phase 2: INTAKE (mandatory - never skip)

Ask before any editing. Do not proceed without clear answers.

Intent & Goal: What's the goal (LinkedIn clip, teaser/trailer, highlight reel, full edit, another platform)? Who is the audience? Video Source: Where is the video (YouTube URL, local file, folder of clips)? Existing copy/script, or discover from the video? Format & Duration: Target duration? Output format (16:9, 9:16, 1:1)? Polish level? Specs per platform: references/platform-specs.md Editing mode: Hard cuts (default for social) or crossfades (trailers/montages)? Brand kit: Collect it if this is the first session, otherwise reuse: references/brand-kit.md Content: Specific moments to include or exclude? Reveal the ending or create curiosity?

Then route: has copy → Phase 3A; no copy → Phase 3B.

Phase 3A: COPY-FIRST (user has a script)

1. Download/copy video into public/ (prep rules: references/ffmpeg-basics.md)
2. Analyze with ffprobe (references/video-analysis.md)
3. Transcribe: npx ts-node scripts/transcribe.ts (references/transcription.md)
4. Map script sections to transcript timestamps
5. Propose cuts aligned to the copy - exact timestamps, the spoken words at each boundary, and reasoning
6. User approves before any editing

Phase 3B: VIDEO-FIRST (no script - discover the story)

1-3. Same prep as 3A 4. Analyze the transcript: hooks, insights, quotable complete thoughts 5. Suggest narrative structure per the goal; create copy/captions from selected segments 6. Propose the edit plan - clips, timestamps, spoken words at boundaries, reasoning 7. User approves before any editing

Phase 4: PROPOSE, PREVIEW & ITERATE (loop)

1. Present edit plan → get approval
2. Build/update the Remotion composition: hard-cut pattern in references/stitching.md, captions in references/captions.md
3. Run QA (references/qa-testing.md)
4. Preview in Studio (npm run dev) - show the user only after QA passes
5. Feedback → refine → loop. Users commonly adjust: clip selection, caption style, mode, duration, format

references/intelligent-editing.md has per-task-type questions and quality checks.

Phase 5: RENDER

Only on explicit approval. Render command and per-platform specs: references/platform-specs.md.

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Reference Files

Read the ONE file a step points to, when that step runs. Do not read them all up front.

File	Contents
references/intelligent-editing.md	Editing craft: opening/closing/clean cuts, questions by task type, quality checks
references/brand-kit.md	One-time brand kit (colors, fonts, caption style)
references/platform-specs.md	Resolution/fps/duration per platform, render command
references/video-analysis.md	ffprobe analysis
references/transcription.md	Whisper transcription + the timestamp-drift/audioBufferMs pattern
references/qa-testing.md	QA tests before user preview
references/stitching.md	Combining clips (hard-cut default)
references/transitions.md	Crossfade mode + TransitionSeries bug workaround
references/captions.md	Word-level captions, frosted pill style, async loading
references/teasers.md	30-second teasers/trailers
references/title-cards.md	Chapter headers, bumpers
references/graphics-generation.md	Thumbnails, overlays, social graphics
references/ffmpeg-basics.md	FFmpeg patterns, faststart/moov, AV1 handling, source prep
references/remotion-setup.md	Project setup
references/remotion-tips.md	Animations, timing, springs
references/reference-implementation.md	Complete working project code

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Self-improvement

This skill is never finished. Improve it as you use it.

• When the user corrects how a step was done, update the relevant reference file (or this SKILL.md) so the correction sticks. Do not just fix it for this run.
• When a correction is a hard rule ("always X", "never Y"), add it to the Non-negotiable rules above.
• When the user says a clip or edit was genuinely good, save its CLIPS config + reasoning to references/examples/ so it becomes a model for future runs.
• Keep the skill small: when you add something, run the deletion test and cut anything that no longer changes behavior.