Reel restyle

Reel Restyle (cross-avatar style transfer)

Take a reference avatar that has already been analyzed (e.g. lolo, with *.analysis.json + transition_style.json + subtitle_style.json), capture the style and structure of its reels as a reusable template, and re-apply that template to a brand-new avatar supplied as just a picture + voice sample + script.

The new reel reuses the reference's scene/beat sequence, talking-head vs B-roll pattern, per-beat camera angle, transitions, SFX placement, caption style and proportional pacing -- but with the new avatar's face, location, cloned voice and a different script. Actual scene durations are not copied (a different script has its own rhythm); they fall out of the new narration's word alignment, exactly like avatar-reel-composer's single-narration / hard-cut pipeline.

This skill is an orchestrator: it delegates to video-scene-analysis (already produces the analysis), avatar-camera-angles, voice-clone and avatar-reel-composer.

Output location. scaffold_avatar.py creates a bare avatar name under ./avatares/<name>/ (so new avatars never clutter the project root); pass an explicit path to override, or set AVATARES_ROOT.

Pipeline

extract_template.py   reference *.analysis.json (+ style files) -> reel_template.json
        |
apply_template.py  ───┐
        ├─ scaffold_avatar.py   picture + voice -> <new>/{scene.json, angles/, voices/,
        |                        talking_profile.json, transition_style.json, subtitle_style.json}
        |     [AGENT] write scene.json + talking_profile.json from the picture (vision)
        ├─ generate_storyboard.py   template + script -> <new>/<slug>.storyboard.json
        |     [AGENT] refine the text split + AUTHOR each B-roll for the new topic
        └─ avatar-reel-composer/compose_reel.py  --finish  -> final.mp4

Two steps need the agent (the orchestrator stops with precise instructions and resumes on re-run, like create_avatar.py):

1. Describe the new avatar from its picture: write scene.json (subject/wardrobe/scene/light, per avatar-camera-angles) and talking_profile.json (video_prompt for the NEW person -- a different identity -- seeded with the template's delivery_style_seed).
2. Refine the storyboard: tune each scene.text split and replace every placeholder TODO B-roll broll_description/broll_action with content for the new topic.

Quick start

# 0) Make sure the reference avatar is analyzed + enriched (run once, per the
#    video-scene-analysis SKILL / create_avatar.py). Then extract the template:
python3 .cursor/skills/reel-restyle/scripts/extract_template.py \
    lolo/videos/2026-06-08_15-02-03.analysis.json --avatar-dir lolo \
    -o lolo/reel_template.json

# 1) Apply it to a new avatar (scaffold + draft storyboard, stops for review):
python3 .cursor/skills/reel-restyle/scripts/apply_template.py mara \
    --template lolo/reel_template.json \
    --picture refs/mara.png --voice samples/mara.wav --script mara_script.txt

#    -> writes mara/scene.json + mara/talking_profile.json checkpoint instructions;
#       after you author those, re-run the same command to generate angles + clone
#       voice + draft mara/<slug>.storyboard.json.

# 2) Review the storyboard (text split + author the TODO B-roll), then compose:
python3 .cursor/skills/reel-restyle/scripts/apply_template.py mara \
    --template lolo/reel_template.json \
    --picture refs/mara.png --voice samples/mara.wav --script mara_script.txt \
    --compose --finish

# Inspect readiness at any time:
python3 .cursor/skills/reel-restyle/scripts/apply_template.py mara \
    --template lolo/reel_template.json --status

# 16:9 YouTube instead of 9:16: add --format landscape (scaffolds _169.png angles
# and drafts a landscape storyboard). Everything else is identical.
python3 .cursor/skills/reel-restyle/scripts/apply_template.py mara \
    --template lolo/reel_template.json --format landscape \
    --picture refs/mara.png --voice samples/mara.wav --script mara_script.txt

You can also run the steps individually (extract_template.py, scaffold_avatar.py, generate_storyboard.py, then compose_reel.py).

Output format. --format reel (default) makes a 9:16 vertical reel; --format landscape makes a 16:9 YouTube video. The format flows through scaffolding (which angle crop to generate: _916.png vs _169.png), the storyboard and the composer — no other changes needed.

What transfers vs. what is authored fresh

Transfers from the reference (template)	Authored fresh for the new reel
Beat count + talking-head/B-roll sequence	The script (verbatim narration)
Per-beat camera angle + framing -> new avatar's angle stills	The new avatar's identity (scene.json, talking_profile.json)
Per-beat motion / zoom_from_previous + emphasis	B-roll content (broll_description/broll_action) per beat
Transition style (transition_style.json)	Music prompt (mood transfers; tailor the prompt)
SFX placement + density	Exact scene durations (derived from the new narration)
Caption style (subtitle_style.json) + proportional pacing (dur_weight)	The semantic text split across beats (draft is proportional; refine it)

Requirements

The reference avatar must already be analyzed and enriched by video-scene-analysis (talking-head scenes need camera.angle; the reel needs an avatar_profile). Install the sibling skills' requirements (see scripts/requirements.txt). Generation costs apply (gpt-image-2 for angles, MiniMax for voice/TTS, p-video for talking-head + B-roll).

See REFERENCE.md for the reel_template.json schema, the camera angle mapping table, the scaffold stage machine and the storyboard contract.