# Idea Director - Clip Factory Pipeline

## When To Use

Use this pipeline when the source is long-form footage and the goal is multiple short-form deliverables: webinar clips, interview cuts, livestream highlights, keynote excerpts, or presentation snippets.

You are not planning one video. You are planning a ranked portfolio of clips.

## Runtime Selection (MANDATORY — present the constraint, don't silently pick)

Lock `render_runtime = "remotion"` (for composed clips with word-level captions) or `"ffmpeg"` (for pure concat/trim with no composition). **HyperFrames is NOT a valid runtime on this pipeline in Phase 1** — clip-factory depends on Remotion's word-level caption burn, which has no HyperFrames parity yet.

Per AGENT_GUIDE.md → "Present Both Composition Runtimes (HARD RULE)": do NOT silently lock remotion. Surface the constraint to the user: "HyperFrames is an available runtime on your machine, but clip-factory depends on Remotion caption burn that doesn't have HyperFrames parity yet, so remotion is the only viable choice here — OK to proceed?" Record the decision in `decision_log` with category `render_runtime_selection`, including hyperframes as a rejected option (`rejected_because: "caption-burn parity deferred on clip-factory"`).

## Reference Inputs

- `docs/clip-factory-best-practices.md`
- `skills/creative/short-form.md`
- `skills/creative/video-editing.md`

## Process

### 1. Understand The Source And The Goal

Capture the source shape:

- webinar
- interview
- panel
- keynote
- stream
- customer story

Then capture the business goal:

- awareness
- thought leadership
- lead generation
- product education
- event recap

### 2. Choose A Clip Portfolio Strategy

A good batch mixes clip types instead of extracting the same energy repeatedly.

Common clip families:

- `hook`: surprising claim or strong cold open
- `insight`: useful takeaway or lesson
- `story`: narrative moment with emotional shape
- `proof`: stat, case study, demo result
- `opinion`: hot take, disagreement, contrarian point

Use the brief metadata to define the intended balance across those families.

### 3. Set Yield Targets Realistically

Guideline ranges:

- `15-30 min`: 3-6 strong clips
- `30-60 min`: 5-10 strong clips
- `60+ min`: 8-15 strong clips if the source quality supports it

Do not inflate clip count to satisfy a round number. A smaller strong batch beats a padded weak batch.

### 4. Map Platforms Before Extraction

Plan platform fit early:

- `9:16` for Shorts, Reels, TikTok
- `1:1` for LinkedIn and safer feed repurposing
- `16:9` when slides, demos, or wide context matter

If the source framing clearly will not survive vertical crops, say so in the brief metadata now.

### 5. Build The Brief

Keep the schema-level brief concise and put the richer batch plan in `brief.metadata`.

Recommended metadata keys:

- `source_type`
- `source_duration_seconds`
- `clip_target_range`
- `clip_families`
- `primary_platforms`
- `secondary_platforms`
- `selection_criteria`
- `known_visual_constraints`
- `distribution_goal`

### 6. Quality Gate

- the clip count target is realistic,
- the platform mix matches the content,
- the brief defines ranking criteria before extraction starts,
- the agent has acknowledged any obvious reframing limits.

## Common Pitfalls

- Planning a batch around quantity before quality.
- Assuming every source can produce vertical clips cleanly.
- Treating all clips as interchangeable instead of intentionally varied.
- Starting extraction without defining what "good" means for this batch.
