Environment establishing shot planner

Skill ThanhNguyxnOrg/blendops/skills/environment-establishing-shot-planner

AI-native Blender workflow and skill pack for non-Blender users, built around official Blender MCP, Claude Blender Connector, and Blender CLI.

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npx -y skills add ThanhNguyxnOrg/blendops --skill environment-establishing-shot-planner

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Plan a wide environment / establishing-shot scene (locale, time of day, weather, focal subject, depth, atmosphere) before any modeling or render attempt.

SKILL.md

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environment-establishing-shot-planner

Purpose

Translate an environment / establishing-shot intent (a wide locale shot establishing place + mood) into a structured plan. Distinct from character-portrait-scene-planner (single subject) and interior-architectural-scene-planner (interior arch viz).

Quick start

pin locale + time of day + weather
pin focal subject (a building, a vehicle, a tree, or "no single focal subject")
pin camera + lens + altitude
pin atmosphere (haze, fog, sunlight quality, sky)
pin foreground / midground / background composition
emit a structured plan + handoff to checkers

When to use

intent is establishing a place (wide / outdoor / landscape / cityscape / interior establishing)
before any modeling
when consumer is editorial / cinematic / brand

When not to use

character portrait (use character-portrait-scene-planner)
product hero (use product-hero-scene-planner)
interior arch viz with focus on furniture / surfaces (use interior-architectural-scene-planner)

Trigger phrases

"establishing shot of"
"wide shot of"
"city / forest / desert / ocean scene"
"set the scene"

Prerequisites / readiness

brief from intent-to-3d-brief-writer is locked
aspect ratio + use case known

Input schema

Required inputs

Input	Why it is required
Locale	Drives asset / scope decisions
Time of day	Drives lighting + atmosphere
Weather	Drives sky + atmosphere + visibility
Aspect ratio	Composition rules

Optional inputs

Input	Use
Reference images	Calibrate scope and mood
Focal subject	If "establishing toward something"
Era / period	Asset style reference

Assumptions to confirm

Single time-of-day snapshot (not multi-time animation).
Camera is locked unless animation called out.
Locale is realizable in scope (e.g. "New York at sunset" needs decisions about scope).

Output schema

Primary output

A structured establishing-shot plan: Locale, Time of day, Weather, Atmosphere, Sky / lighting, Camera (position + lens + altitude + tilt), Composition (foreground / midground / background), Focal subject, Mood / style.

Secondary output

asset list flagged for blender-asset-discovery-planner
depth-cue strategy
handoff list

Evidence / caveat output

Runtime status: Not Run | Attempted | Produced | Verified | Failed | Blocked / Not Run
Artifact status: Not Run | Not Produced | Produced | Verified | Failed
Evidence used: <links, paths, logs, or "none">
Limitations: <known gaps>

Required laws

../../laws/evidence-before-done.md
../../laws/non-blender-user-language.md
../../laws/no-arbitrary-python-interface.md
../../laws/official-runtime-only.md

Official runtime boundary

Planning skill — does not run Blender, model, or render. If brief is unclear, hand off to intent-to-3d-brief-writer.

Operating procedure

Read brief; confirm locale + mood.
Pin time of day + weather (see references/time-and-weather-rules.md).
Pin atmosphere + sky (HDRI vs sky shader).
Pin camera position + lens + altitude (see references/wide-shot-camera-rules.md).
Plan foreground / midground / background layers (see references/depth-layering-rules.md).
Identify focal subject (or document "no focal subject").
List assets needed; flag for asset discovery.
Emit handoff.

Decision tree

Locale + time-of-day combination implausible (e.g. "Antarctic noon" with deep dark mood)?
  → Warn; clarify intent
"City scene" + tight close-up framing?
  → Warn; this is not establishing — re-frame or use different planner
Weather conflicts with brief mood (sunny + noir)?
  → Fail; pick one
Focal subject not chosen but every asset has same visual weight?
  → Fail; eye has nowhere to land

Playbooks

Playbook A: City sunset establishing (16:9 cinematic)

35mm wide; camera elevated; warm sun direction; haze layer; subject = skyline silhouette; foreground rooftops; background sky gradient.

Playbook B: Forest mid-day (1:1 brand campaign)

24mm wide; camera at human eye-line; key sun + dappled light; foreground branches; midground tree trunks; background distant haze.

Playbook C: Stylized cyberpunk street (2.39:1 cinematic)

24–35mm; rain wet ground reflections; neon practicals; light haze + atmospheric fog; foreground silhouette; midground signage / cars; background distant towers.

Mode handling

Text-only mode

Plan only.

Runtime-ready mode

Plan + runtime path attribution.

Blocked runtime mode

Plan only; flag what cannot be confirmed.

Validation checklist

Pass / Warn / Fail rubric

Verdict	Criteria
Pass	All sections + plausible time-of-day / weather + clear focal subject (or explicit "none") + assets flagged.
Warn	One section ambiguous; locale scope very broad ("a city" without specifics).
Fail	Locale + time + weather contradict; no composition layers; no focal subject and no acknowledgment.

Failure handling

Locale too broad → ask for narrower scope.
Mood + weather contradict → user picks one.
Asset budget unknown → hand off to budget skill.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Response
Sun direction conflicts with shadows in reference	Verify time-of-day + sun azimuth; clarify reference.
Atmospheric haze hides focal subject	Reduce haze density or move subject closer.
Background too detailed	Simplify; use atmospheric perspective.

Best practices

Lock time-of-day + weather + atmosphere together; they form a system.
Always plan FG / MG / BG depth layers.
Pair establishing shot with the next narrative step (often character portrait or product reveal).

Good examples

"Locale: cyberpunk city street, near-future. Time: night, neon lit. Weather: light rain. Atmosphere: haze 0.05 density, volumetric scattering. Sky: minimal (occluded by buildings). Camera: 24mm, eye-level, slight low-angle tilt. FG: silhouetted figure. MG: neon signage + parked cars. BG: distant towers + fog. Focal subject: figure silhouette right-third. Mood: gritty, atmospheric."

Bad examples

"Wide shot of a city." — no time, weather, lens, depth.

User-facing response template

Locale: <where + scope>
Time of day: <e.g. golden hour 18:30>
Weather: <state>
Atmosphere: <haze / fog / clarity>
Sky / lighting: <HDRI + sun + practicals>
Camera: <focal length> | <altitude> | <tilt> | <position>
Composition layers: FG: <…> | MG: <…> | BG: <…>
Focal subject: <name + placement>
Mood + style: <line>

Assets to discover: <list>
Limitations: <gaps>
Next: blender-asset-discovery-planner / composition-quality-checker / lighting-quality-checker

Anti-patterns

Mixing single-character framing into wide establishing scope.
Skipping FG / MG / BG layers.
"Beautiful weather" without specifics.
Inventing locale scope.

Cross-skill handoff

Brief writer → ../intent-to-3d-brief-writer/SKILL.md
Asset discovery → ../blender-asset-discovery-planner/SKILL.md
Composition validation → ../composition-quality-checker/SKILL.md
Lighting validation → ../lighting-quality-checker/SKILL.md
Quality readiness → ../blender-scene-quality-checker/SKILL.md

Non-goals

Model the environment.
Generate Geometry Node setups.
Render.
Run Blender.

References

references/time-and-weather-rules.md
references/wide-shot-camera-rules.md
references/depth-layering-rules.md
../../docs/skill-system.md