# Collage Beat Desk

> Turn one topic into a narrated paper-collage explainer. A free browser-side validator for the
> beats.json the whole film is assembled from, plus five lanes: the narrative arc and beat map,
> the file itself, the poster prompt, the motion prompt, and a file audit.

URL: https://collage-beat-desk.skillsafe.ai/

## What this is

A web app for planning paper-collage explainer video. It does not generate images, video or audio,
and it runs no assembly pipeline. It writes the beat map, the beats.json and the prompts you take
to a generator yourself.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Alisa0808, Vox Media, or any collage artist named upstream.

## The free part

The validator needs no account, spends no credits, and runs entirely in your browser. Paste a
beats.json and it reports:

- **Values outside a closed vocabulary** - the arc, hook, shot size, camera move, ending, aspect
  ratio, motion style and mode are all closed sets. A value outside one is a file the assembler
  cannot read.
- **Banned camera moves.** Ten of them: orbit, arc, crane, boom, pedestal, dolly_zoom, roll, whip_pan, handheld, fast_zoom. Each reads as 3D and
  tears flat paper art.
- **A hook that does not land in three seconds.** About 65% of viewers decide by then. Note the
  shot floor is also three seconds, so a hook shot is exactly 3.0s - the only value satisfying both.
- **Adjacent beats sharing a camera move**, and the whole-film version of the same failure. This is
  the single biggest quality lever, and the upstream skill records its own miss: a sixty-second
  film whose twelve shots were all push-in.
- **Shots outside the 3-6s band**, a shot past the ~7s hard ceiling, and a static poster held
  beyond 8s.
- **Element motion that breaks rigid paper** - morph, warp, melt - and words the video model
  over-reacts to, which warp the baked headline first.
- **Beat count and voice-over word count** against the 30s and 60s presets. The voice-over sets the
  real runtime.
- **The headline showing more than once per beat**, and C-roll missing its anchor photo, subject
  kind, wardrobe lock or product description.
- **Invalid JSON**, which it says first and stops on - nothing else is knowable until it parses.

## The narrative arc library

| Arc | When to use | Beat shape |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `hook_payoff` | default for any single idea; safest | Hook -> Context -> Build -> Payoff -> Button |
| `pas` | pain-aware ads, urgency | Problem -> Agitate -> Solve -> Proof -> CTA |
| `bab` | when the after sells better than the pain | Before -> After -> Bridge -> CTA |
| `aida` | cold-audience paid ads | Attention -> Interest -> Desire -> Action |
| `storybrand` | brand or service, customer as hero | Hero wants -> Problem -> Guide -> Plan -> CTA -> Stakes |
| `how_it_works` | product, process or system explainer | Hook -> What it is -> Step -> Step -> Benefit -> CTA |
| `timeline` | history, evolution of, journeys | Start -> Event -> Event -> Turning point -> Present -> Takeaway |
| `man_in_hole` | case study, comeback, transformation - highest rated | OK -> Fall -> Deepen -> Climb out -> Better than before |
| `story_spine` | mission, brand or founder tales | Once -> Every day -> Until one day -> Because -> Until finally -> Ever since |
| `origin` | founder, why we exist | World -> Spark -> Leap -> Struggle -> Breakthrough -> Today |
| `myth_buster` | correct a misconception | Fact first -> The myth -> Expose fallacy -> What to believe -> CTA |
| `listicle` | tips, tools, rankings - N ways to | Promise -> Item -> Item -> #1 -> Recap or CTA |
| `three_act` | any narrative 60s piece | Setup -> Confrontation -> Resolution |
| `story_circle` | character-driven UGC or brand | You -> Need -> Go -> Search -> Find -> Take -> Return -> Change |

## The flat-safe camera vocabulary

| Move | Family | Job |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `static` | static | let a stat or quote land |
| `push_in` | scale | tension, focus |
| `pull_out` | scale | reveal, the big picture |
| `pan` | translate | read a list or timeline |
| `tilt` | translate | reveal scale, countdown |
| `parallax` | layer | the living-paper signature |
| `element` | element | introduce or emphasise one item |

**Banned outright**: `orbit`, `arc`, `crane`, `boom`, `pedestal`, `dolly_zoom`, `roll`, `whip_pan`, `handheld`, `fast_zoom`.

## The firm presets

| Duration | Beats | Beat length | Voice-over words |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **30s** | 6-8 | ~4-5s | ~70-80 |
| **60s** | 10-12 | ~5-6s | ~130-150 |

Shots run 3-6s and never exceed about 7s. A static
poster is never held beyond 8s. The hook lands within 3 seconds.

## The closed vocabularies

```
ARCS:    hook_payoff pas bab aida storybrand how_it_works timeline man_in_hole story_spine origin myth_buster listicle three_act story_circle
HOOKS:   mistake_callout pain_point surprising_stat direct_question urgent_warning secret_reveal experiment_story pattern_interrupt outcome_tease
SIZES:   EST_WIDE WIDE MEDIUM CLOSE DETAIL
MOVES:   static push_in pull_out pan tilt parallax element
BANNED:  orbit arc crane boom pedestal dolly_zoom roll whip_pan handheld fast_zoom
ENDINGS: hard_cut quick_cta loop_close
ASPECTS: 16:9 9:16 1:1 3:4
```

## The five lanes

| Lane | `task` | What it produces |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Arc and beat map | `arc` | The chosen arc with its runner-up, a beat map, the hook, the rhythm plan |
| beats.json | `beats` | The config table and the complete validated file |
| Poster prompt | `poster` | The poster plan, the image prompt naming the collage technique, defect guards |
| Motion prompt | `motion` | The motion plan, the animation prompt, the flatness check |
| File audit | `audit` | A verdict, evidence-bearing findings, the rhythm fix and a repaired file |

## Sources

Lanes are derived from https://github.com/Alisa0808/vox-director (MIT): its SKILL.md workflow and
beats schema, references/beat-layer.md (arcs, hook and pacing presets, shot patterns,
anti-monotony) and references/prompt-guide.md (image and video prompt structures).

## API

Full docs with worked examples in eight languages: https://collage-beat-desk.skillsafe.ai/api.html

Base URL `https://api.skillsafe.ai/v1/app-api`. Bearer token from
https://collage-beat-desk.skillsafe.ai/tokens.html. Every run body must carry a `task` field naming
the lane; the body **is** the input object and must not be wrapped in `{"input": ...}`.
`GET /me` and `POST /estimate` are free; `POST /run` and `POST /run-stream` are metered.

## Pricing

Runs are metered and priced per model - `gpt-5.6-luna`, `gpt-5.6-terra` (default) or `gpt-5.6-sol`.
`POST /estimate` returns the worst-case reservation for free before anything is spent. The
validator and every lane worked example cost nothing.