jimmy
66 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
66 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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tags: [video-stack, lessons]
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updated: 2026-10-15
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---
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# Lessons Learned
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Back to [[Video Stack - Overview]]
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- A Kokoro-made reference makes Chatterbox clones flat with odd pauses. Use a real human reference (the user's recording worked well; leave more headroom, it peaked at -0.1 dBFS).
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- Generate one sentence at a time (best of several seeds, ~200 ms gaps) to avoid strange pauses.
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- Copywriting: short spoken sentences, numbers written as spoken words, ~105 words per 45 s, leave ~2 s spare. Number-heavy long lines made Prop 1 sound awkward.
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- Gemini reads directions aloud unless they go in the style field.
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- Music must add feel: civic_tension and piano B were rejected; option A (dark low strings, slow heartbeat pulse) chosen for Prop 1. If code-composed music misses twice, use a richer generator.
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- ElevenLabs free tier was blocked for TTS ("unusual activity"); not retried.
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- HyperFrames is easier for local models than Remotion (plain HTML per scene).
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- Pick an authoritative male voice for political ads.
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## Prop 39 critique: lessons (2026-10-16)
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Source: Hermes's "Yes on 39" 1:38 16:9 draft (`C:\video\prop39`). Length 1:38 was intended — not a defect.
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### 1. Captions lost every space ("areyou?Many", "governmentissuedID")
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**Root cause:** `C:\video\prop39\build_hf.py` line 35 built word spans separated by a space, but the `.cap` CSS rule (line 171) was `display:flex;justify-content:center`. In a flex container each `<span>` becomes a flex item and whitespace-only text between items is discarded, so the words render glued together.
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- [ ] `.cap` is `display:block` (never flex/grid). Center with `text-align:center`.
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- [ ] Word spans joined with `' '.join(...)` — real space text nodes.
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- [ ] Run `python scripts/qa/check_captions.py hf/ad/index.html vo/words.json` — must print `CAPTION CHECK OK`.
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- [ ] Look at 3 stills with captions on screen and read them aloud.
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### 2. Safe zones
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- 16:9 1920x1080: title-safe 5% → 96px left/right, 54px top/bottom. Nothing (DRAFT tag, logos, header) outside it.
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- Captions bottom edge ≥ 12% from the bottom (≥130px at 1080p), so player bars don't cover them.
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- 9:16 1080x1920: top 250px, bottom 430px, right 90px are UI zones. Content and captions stay inside.
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- [ ] Export stills of first scene, a caption-heavy scene and end card; check against the zones.
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### 3. Voice was flat (uniform pauses)
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- Political = Gemini **Charon**; business = **Kore**. Steer delivery in `--style`, never in the text.
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- Natural punctuation, contractions ("it's", "don't"), mix short and long sentences.
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- Vary gaps between sentences 150–400ms (longer before the big point, shorter in lists). Never one fixed gap.
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- [ ] Listen to the whole VO once, start to finish, before building visuals.
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### 4. Persuasive copy — pick the mode first
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- Decide: **neutral explainer** or **advocacy ad**. Write it in the brief and stick to it.
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- Advocacy ("Yes on X") argues from line 1. No hedges like "other access concerns remain debated" or "laws vary" — those belong only in neutral explainers.
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- Lead with the strongest lines (e.g. "When the process feels loose, people stop trusting it", "A secure election is a fair election").
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- Cut procedural scenes (e.g. "best-efforts" data/reporting) that kill momentum.
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### 5. Pacing
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- 10–12s static slides feel like a deck. Something visible changes every 3–5s: a build, kinetic number, highlight, camera push, or cut.
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- [ ] No scene element is static >5s (check the timeline).
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### 6. Facts and disclosure
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- Every stat (e.g. "36 states", Gallup/Pew numbers) has a source URL in `vo_review.md` / `sources.md`.
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- No chart labeled "illustrative" presented as data: use real numbers with citation, or remove.
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- A real "Paid for by ..." line replaces any "sponsor disclosure pending" placeholder before publishing.
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## Pre-render QA checklist (Hermes must run all, every video)
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1. [ ] **Captions:** `check_captions.py` passes; 3 stills read correctly with spaces.
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2. [ ] **Safe zones:** stills checked (16:9: 96/54px, captions ≥12% up; 9:16: 250/430/90).
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3. [ ] **Voice:** full listen; varied pauses; Whisper check has no misreads.
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4. [ ] **Facts:** every number/claim has a source in `vo_review.md`; no "illustrative" data.
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5. [ ] **Mode:** brief says neutral or advocacy; no copy contradicts it.
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6. [ ] **Pacing:** visual change every ≤5s.
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7. [ ] **Disclosure:** real "Paid for by" end card (political); DRAFT tag inside safe zone or removed for final.
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Report each item's result to the user before delivering.
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