# Use Material As Progress Clock > Generate a heritage-craft documentary ad in which a material's appearance itself is the clock of the film — a 15s 9:16 vertical short following a Miao (Hmong) silversmith forging an ornament through eight steps, where the "silver-white" in the frame goes from zero to everywhere as time passes. Use when the user wants an intangible-heritage craft ad, a slow elegant process documentary for a handmade product, a "from nothing to finished object" brand film, or a craft piece where the material's transformation drives the narrative. Locks the final silver piece to a single reference image (no added dragons/phoenixes/buddhas/text), keeps real-metal lighting (no glow VFX), and uses subtitle-card-driven storytelling with on-site sound only (no music, no narration). - Skill: `gordonlu/use-material-as-progress-clock` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add gordonlu/use-material-as-progress-clock` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/gordonlu/use-material-as-progress-clock/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: gordonlu (https://skillmd.com/u/gordonlu) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/gordonlu/use-material-as-progress-clock --- # Use Material as Progress Clock — Heritage Craft Documentary Ad Use this Skill when the user wants a **heritage-craft documentary ad** where the material's own appearance is the clock: a Miao silversmith forging an ornament through eight steps, with "silver-white" spreading from zero to everywhere as the film's time marker. Core principle: **lock the final piece to the reference, let the material's transformation (not effects) mark time, keep it a top-tier craft-brand birth record — not a tourism or heritage propaganda film.** The prompt follows the three-part H3 structure (reference locking → core concept → timecoded 8-step shot list) with subtitle-card rules, a restricted palette, and on-site-only sound design. --- ## 1. Trigger - An intangible-heritage craft documentary ad - A slow, elegant process documentary for a handmade product - A "from nothing to finished object" brand film - A craft piece where the material's transformation drives the narrative Do **not** use this Skill when: - The user wants a flashy national-style VFX show or a tourism promo - The user wants a museum-style exhibition film - No reference image of the finished piece exists ## 2. Inputs - One reference image of the finished silver piece (`@图片1`) — locks form, proportion, silver surface color, chiseled pattern and overall temper. No added dragons/phoenixes/buddhas/text/decorations that don't exist. - Packaging & workshop scenes are described in text (no reference images needed). - Duration 15s, aspect 9:16, subtitle-card driven, on-site sound only. ## 3. Eight Steps (timecoded, 9:16) 1. **0–1.7s** Main shot: dim Miao stilt-house workshop at night, one warm lamp lights only the hands; raw silver grains, dark crucible, repeatedly beaten silver mass; the hands beat/press/knead a soft blank. No silver-white yet. Subtitle: 第一道 · 锤银成坯. 2. **1.7–3.3s** Extreme macro: the silver piece on anvil under hammer, thick block spreads into a thin even sheet; tight shot shows slight oxidation, fine hammer marks, finger pressure. Subtitle stays: 锤银成坯. 3. **3.3–5.0s** Main shot: the chiseled sheet appears for the first time; the smith drops the first line of pattern — a small curling-cloud motif; the first faint warm reflection. Subtitle: 第二道 · 一錾起纹. 4. **5.0–6.8s** Macro insert: chisel/press/push on the surface; sub-millimeter fine lines form low-relief motifs — curling clouds, tangled branches, ruyi. Subtitle stays: 一錾起纹. 5. **6.8–8.6s** Main shot: most chiseling done; very slow push-in as the piece is rotated, light sweeps the dense pattern; still matte grey-white, no polish shine yet. Subtitle: 第三道 · 錾刻成纹. 6. **8.6–10.2s** The film's most important audio+visual peak: extreme macro, a small clump of silver chips and solder trembling in the firelight; the smith draws solder to the seams with a torch; the moment it flows, silver-white appears en masse for the first time. Subtitle: 第四道 · 一火成器. 7. **10.2–11.7s** Macro: a soft cloth wipes the surface; excess solder and oxidation are rubbed away and the sharp silver pattern emerges from dull grey — the second visual peak, an explicit "dull grey → bright silver-white" reveal. Subtitle: 第五道 · 银光醒来. 8. **11.7–13.8s** Main + insert: finished piece on dark wood bench, hands rotate it slowly for inspection; then it is placed into the custom box (dark wood, warm beige soft lining, restrained no-logo lid) and the lid closes. Subtitles: 第六道 · 最后一眼 / 第七道 · 入盒. 9. **13.8–15s** Final shot: cut to a minimal modern craft boutique; a hand places the finished piece at the center of a display and exits; the piece stays perfectly still in morning light. Subtitle: 第八道 · 上架. Tiny center text: 贵州苗族银饰 / 一锤成器. Final frame must read like high-end craft-brand static product photography. ## 4. Subtitle-Card Rules Only one subtitle card: lower-third, horizontally centered, same position in every shot; restrained rounded rectangle, deep navy background, warm off-white text; two lines (thin step number + bold short action); it never moves/scales/fades/jumps — text changes only at edit points, always legible. ## 5. Palette & Light Restricted to: aged silver-grey, dull silver-white, fire-warm orange, wood-dark brown, warm off-white, bright silver-white. Front half grey-brown dominant, middle warm orange grows, back half silver-white takes the visual center. Silver-white must come from real metal and real light — never glow VFX. No cyan-tech, neon, purple, cyberpunk, saturated national-style palettes. ## 6. Sound (on-site only, no music / narration / dialogue) 0–3.3s quiet dawn workshop (faint ambient, silver hitting the anvil, dense hammer strikes, hand-kneading friction); 3.3–8.6s even lower (chisel touching silver, small hammer taps, faint contact, wooden rack creak); 8.6–10.2s the film's key sound moment — all else dipped, only the torch's soft hiss, tiny crackles of flame licking silver, tools touching material, near-silence as the solder sets; 10.2–12.8s cloth rubbing silver, fine oxidation grit, the piece turning on the wooden rack; 12.8–15s paper folding, fabric friction, lid closing, then the shop: a "tock" as the piece meets the wood stand, then near-silence with faint room tone. ## 7. Generation - Mode: I2VA with `@图片1` as the finished-piece reference only — never used as the first frame unless explicitly requested. - 15s, 9:16, native H3 audio (on-site sound only). ## 8. Verified Output A 15.08s / 768×1376 / 24fps MP4 was generated end-to-end with MiniMax H3 from the packaged prompt and reference image. Preview: `assets/preview.mp4`, poster: `assets/poster.webp`, piece reference: `assets/reference.png`.