Zebrafish Character Scene Video

Follow the phases in order. Do not skip a phase or a gate. The zebrafish router skill's Setup and Gates (spend, claim, identity, publish) apply before and during this playbook.

Preconditions (MUST)#

• Router setup is complete: context script ran, campaign/product knowledge loaded, and ../zebrafish/references/tool-belt.md read (hosted: https://zebrafish.dev/skills/zebrafish/references/tool-belt.md).

• Required inputs, all present:

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    Character description or approved character reference.

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    Setting/location description or reference.

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    Scene action.

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    Target duration and aspect ratio.

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    Shot count or pacing.

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    Brand/project constraints.

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    Identity consent status if any real person is referenced.

• If a required input is missing, STOP and ask for it. Do not guess.

• If any real person's likeness, voice, or persona is involved, the router identity gate applies now: STOP without explicit consent, retention, and deletion rules.

Phase 1 - Intake and Brief (gate: brief confirmed)#

Restate the brief back to the user before any planning work:

• Outputs: shot count, clip durations, final video, aspect ratio, and platform.

• Character, setting, and scene action as understood.

• Continuity requirements: what must stay invariant across shots.

• Captions/audio: requested or not. Approval needs.

STOP until the user confirms scope. Do not plan or spend against an unconfirmed brief.

Phase 2 - Plan (gate: spend approved)#

1. Lock the CHARACTER_BIBLE: face, body, wardrobe, hair, palette, accessories, invariant features, and forbidden changes.

2. Lock the SETTING_BIBLE: environment, time of day, lighting, camera language, props, background rules, and forbidden changes.

3. Write CONTINUITY_RULES from both bibles.

4. Build the SHOT_LIST with action, framing, camera movement, duration, and continuity constraints per shot.

5. Write KEYFRAME_PLAN, ANIMATION_PLAN, and ASSET_PLAN.

6. End with a production plan: canonical references, keyframes, and animation units to generate, which models (chosen via list_models), unit counts, and estimated cost.

STOP for spend approval per the router spend gate before any paid generation. Approval covers the stated batch only; scope growth re-asks.

Phase 3 - Produce#

1. Generate canonical references first: character sheet, expression sheet, pose sheet, environment plate, and prop/product references.

2. Generate keyframes for each shot using the canonical references.

3. Review every keyframe against CONTINUITY_RULES BEFORE animation. Do not animate a keyframe that drifts; regenerate it. Regeneration beyond the approved batch re-asks the spend gate.

4. Animate approved keyframes with approved image-to-video models or workflow steps only.

5. Stitch clips and add captions/audio if requested and approved.

6. Poll every generation and run to a terminal state. As each output completes, record its provenance fields (provider, model, prompt, generation/run IDs, references, cost) into the delivery document. Draft the delivery document during this phase, not after.

Phase 4 - Verify#

Apply the video and character gates from ../zebrafish/references/verification.md (hosted: https://zebrafish.dev/skills/zebrafish/references/verification.md):

• Inspect actual frames across shots for identity drift, wardrobe drift, setting drift, prop errors, and artifacts. Record results in CONTINUITY_REPORT.

• Inspect first, middle, end frames and shot transitions of the final video; check shot order against SHOT_LIST.

• Check aspect ratio and duration against the brief.

• Confirm every URL is reachable and cost evidence is captured.

Run node ../zebrafish/scripts/verify.mjs --strict <delivery file> (the router skill ships the same script; agents may use either copy). A non-zero exit fails the gate: fix findings or move them to ## Unverified with a reason, then re-run until it exits clean.

Phase 5 - Deliver#

MUST use the delivery template from ../zebrafish/references/delivery.md (hosted: https://zebrafish.dev/skills/zebrafish/references/delivery.md): a # Delivery: title, then ## Outputs, ## Provenance, ## Verification, ## Unverified, in that order. URLs first: keyframe URLs, animated clip URLs, final video URL.

After the template sections, append the skill's extra artifacts: the character bible, setting bible, shot list, and continuity report.

Studio Artifacts#

Create or maintain CHARACTER_BIBLE, SETTING_BIBLE, CONTINUITY_RULES, SHOT_LIST, KEYFRAME_PLAN, ANIMATION_PLAN, ASSET_PLAN, PROVENANCE, and CONTINUITY_REPORT.

Provider Policy#

• Use the approved Zebrafish runtime first.

• Research-only provider candidates: GPT Image 2, Nano Banana, Seedance 2.0, Higgsfield, and RunComfy, unless approved in runtime.

• Never train or reuse identity/persona models without explicit consent, retention, and deletion rules.

Stop Conditions#

STOP and ask before:

• using a real person's likeness, voice, or identity references;

• generating paid assets without approval;

• relaxing continuity requirements;

• switching to an unapproved external provider.