Sketch Reel — Design skill for Claude Code

sketch-reel

A [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) skill that makes vertical 9:16 explainer reels (Instagram Reels, TikTok, Shorts) that look like someone drawing the story live on an [Excalidraw](https://excalidraw.com) board.


Everything the skill needs is in this repository: the method, the theme, the build pipeline, and five finished example reels. You supply an OpenAI API key for the voice.

What it does

• The look: hand-drawn rough.js shapes that "boil" like a sketch video, and Excalifont handwriting. The board is dark, or light and dark boards are mixed by story section with a hand-drawn wipe between them.
• The story: five arcs, each with a finished example:
  • a connected story (about 60 s: one character, one object carried through every shot, each line caused by the one before);
  • a discovery story (about 55 s: a narrator telling a friend about a site or a list, with one favourite told properly);
  • a hero story and a problem story (40-55 s);
  • a step-by-step breakdown (about 100 s).
• The writing: a retention checklist, and rules that make a script sound like a person talking, not like ad copy.
• The motion: a live-drawing feel, with strokes that draw on, notes that write themselves and stamps that slam. It uses one board of stations that is never cleared, and a calm camera that travels from cause to effect. A hand-drawn hero acts out each line, and captions appear word by word.
• The pipeline: an OpenAI voice whose every line is checked against the script, measured word timings, captions, music with ducking, sound effects, a HyperFrames build, and an MP4 render.
• The review: checks for empty frames, text that runs out of its box, caption timing, and content in the phone's side crop zone. A fresh, independent review follows every render.

Requirements

• Claude Code, or another agent that can load a skill f