Prompt library¶

Status: Working prompts for Claude (or any agent) with the cosplay-vp MCP server and skills installed. Each prompt follows the same loop: direct → check → fix. The agent does the work; you judge the result at each checkpoint.

Prompts go out of date as models and tools change. The checks don't. If a prompt stops working, open an issue with what you saw.

1. Project rulebook (CLAUDE.md)¶

Put this file in the root of your Unreal or footage project so the agent follows the same rules every session.

# Project rules for the AI agent

## Units and conventions
- Unreal units are centimetres. 1 COLMAP unit = 1 m unless the shot sheet says otherwise.
- Frame rate for this project: 24 fps. Conform every clip before use.
- Folder layout: footage/raw, footage/conformed, frames/<shot>, mattes/<shot>, colmap/<shot>, renders/<shot>.

## How to build in Unreal
- Build sets from one Python script that deletes and rebuilds everything it made. Never hand-edit what the script owns.
- Tag every actor you create with "cvp" and the shot name.
- Show me a screenshot after each major step.

## Checkpoints (stop and ask me)
1. Matte edge over grey and bright backgrounds.
2. Test-cube track over the plate.
3. First comp frame before rendering.

## Never
- Never use characters, logos or music the client doesn't own or license in paid work.
- Never contact or process footage of anyone under 18 without a guardian consent form on file.
- Never delete raw footage.

2. Shot brief¶

Plan a shot with the cosplay-vp-shot-planner skill.
Character: [original / owned by client: ___]
Performer: [name], over 18: [yes/no]
Moment: [e.g. ultimate move, transformation, turn-to-camera reveal]
Length: [10–30 s], platform: [TikTok / Reels / Shorts / YouTube]
Set: [virtual environment], mood: [colour, time of day]
Gear: [phone model / camera], screen: [green / blue / none]
Give me the shot list, the camera checklist and anything that blocks us.

Check: every shot has one moment, a camera move that can be tracked, and the extras (clean plate, grey ball, measured distance).

3. Plate prep¶

Probe every clip in footage/raw. Conform them to 24 fps into footage/conformed.
Key take_03 with chroma_key to mattes/s03/keyed.mov and show me composite_preview
over a mid-grey and a bright still.

Check: hair, fingers, prop edges at 100%. If it goes wrong: - Green fringe → "Raise despill and lower similarity by 0.02, preview again." - Hair chewed off → "Run matte_external with my RVM install: <command>, then preview." - Flicker → "Use the AI matte for the whole shot and keep the key only as a garbage matte."

4. Camera track¶

Extract frames from footage/conformed/take_03.mp4 at 12 fps into frames/s03.
Solve with colmap_solve into colmap/s03. Then convert with colmap_to_ue.
The two floor markers are 2.00 m apart. Work out the scale and tell me how.

Check: solved frames / total, no big gaps, and in Unreal the test cube stays on the floor marker. If it goes wrong: - Several models → "Re-extract at 24 fps for the first 3 seconds only and solve again." - Tilted world → "Run colmap model_orientation_aligner on the model, re-export, re-convert." - Cube slides slowly → "Check the frame rate in Sequencer matches 24 and the plate is an image sequence."

5. Unreal comp¶

Using the cosplay-vp-unreal-comp skill: put mattes/s03 as a Media Plate behind TrackedCam,
match the main light to come from camera left like on set, add a contact shadow
from a capsule proxy, and add one foreground smoke card. Screenshot frame 48.

Check: does the performer look lit by the world, touching the floor, and inside the space? If it goes wrong: - Pasted-on look → "Lower plate saturation 10%, lift blacks to match the set, add a rim light in the set's sign colour." - Floating → "Darken and tighten the contact shadow; move the proxy to the feet."

6. Anime FX and delivery¶

Apply on_twos to the action beat only (frames 30–70) of renders/s03/comp.mp4,
add impact_frames at 52 and 61 (white, 2 frames), then make a vertical 9:16 cut
and a side_by_side with footage/conformed/take_03.mp4.

Check: the hits land on the beat, the vertical crop keeps the face and prop, the side-by-side starts on the same frame.

7. Live booth plan¶

Use the cosplay-vp-live-booth skill. Event: [name], [hours], [visitors/hour], fixed camera,
venue Wi-Fi unknown, budget [___]. Recommend an architecture, list hardware,
and give a latency_budget with your estimates labelled as estimates.

Check: the plan starts with the simplest booth (Unreal + OBS key on one machine) unless a requirement rules it out.

8. Fix loop, any stage¶

This is wrong: [what you see, and a screenshot]. Don't guess.
Tell me the two most likely causes, test the cheaper one first, show me the result.