Video

A video is one page played over time, exported as MP4 (social media, websites) or GIF (email, docs). Write the page finished, then a motion block (reference/motion.md). Check it with vd_frames, which shows the key moments and the computed timeline, before exporting.

Sizes

Make the page — or the motion header’s w h — the size of the platform:

For another size, make another page; nothing reflows by itself. Keep text clear of the top 250 and bottom 450 pixels of a 9:16 video, where the platform draws its own buttons.

A storyboard: scenes side by side, one camera

The camera is what makes a video more than a slide. Put each scene in a frame on one wide page, then move the camera between them. The page at rest is the storyboard, readable on the canvas.

frame promo x=0 y=0 w=3400 h=1350 background=ink
  frame hook x=0 y=0 w=1080 h=1350
  frame proof x=1160 y=0 w=1080 h=1350
  frame end x=2320 y=0 w=1080 h=1350

motion promo w=1080 h=1350
  camera hook duration=0
  hook.title enter=rise by=word
  camera proof delay=400
  proof.value enter=count together
  camera end delay=600
  end.logo enter=pop

Recipes

• Shape: a hook in the first second, one idea per scene, an end card with the name and where to go. 6 to 15 seconds for an ad.
• Kinetic headline: title enter=rise by=word stagger=80, or by=letter stagger=30 for a short word.
• Counter: a text whose content is the final number, value enter=count from=0.
• Bars: a group of rects, bars enter=grow from=bottom stagger=120.
• Underline or logo stroke: a stroked vector, enter=draw duration=600.
• Lower third: a group, enter=wipe from=left hold=2500.
• Captions: most social video plays muted. One text per line of speech, each enter=fade at=… hold=… long enough to read (about 3.5 words a second, at least 1.2 s).
• End card: its own scene; finish with cta emphasis=pulse.
• Loop: for a video that loops on a website, end on a shot that looks like the first.

Cut to the beat

When the video has music and the person, or the track’s own tag, gives its tempo, put bpm= on the header and count in beats. Keep the lines relational as always, and let on= land them: camera moves on=bar, entrances on=beat, staggers in half beats, and length= in bars, so the video ends on a downbeat.

motion promo length=6bars w=1080 h=1350 bpm=120
  music bed fadeout=1500
  camera hook duration=0
  hook.title enter=rise by=word stagger=0.5beats
  hook.underline enter=draw duration=2beats on=beat
  camera proof duration=1beat on=bar
  proof.value enter=count from=0 duration=4beats together
  camera end duration=1beat on=bar
  end.cta enter=rise by=word stagger=0.5beats on=beat

vd_frames prints where each line falls (@ 2bars) and what on= moved, so check the cut there. If the downbeat is not at the file’s start, from= on the music line starts the track on it. No tempo given: leave bpm out and time in milliseconds; a guessed tempo lands every cut confidently off the beat.

A bed under an ad

A short loop under a 9:16 ad: loop repeats it to fill the video, quieter so a voice or the platform’s own sound sits over it, with short fades either end.

motion ad length=3bars w=1080 h=1920 bpm=100
  music bed from=1200 volume=0.8 fadein=300 fadeout=300 loop
  ad.headline enter=rise by=word stagger=1beat
  ad.price enter=count from=0 duration=2beats after=ad.headline on=bar
  ad.cta enter=pop on=beat

The track is the person’s: a URL they gave for vd_add_asset, or a slot they fill by dropping the file on the canvas. A 128 kbps MP3 or M4A of the part the video uses, about 1 MB a minute, keeps the file light.

Don’t

• Copy a page to make a second size or a second moment: each page is written once.
• Move more than one thing at a time on a phone-sized video.
• Hand-compute times with at= when after= or with= says it.

Export

vd_export with format: "mp4" (where the app can encode) or "gif", and the page as scope. An MP4 carries the music (audio: false leaves it out); a GIF never has sound. A still with time: 3200 is the poster frame. On a website: <video src="promo.mp4" poster="poster.png" autoplay muted loop playsinline></video> — a browser autoplays only a muted video, so the music plays when the viewer unmutes or taps play.