Scene Continuity And Transitions

Scene Continuity And Transitions

Use this skill when scenes must feel like one continuous visual journey instead of separate slides.

Continuity Contract

Before editing a scene, identify:

• Previous scene final frame.
• Current scene first frame.
• Transition direction.
• Camera movement duration.
• Any duplicated chart/table/card/logo/text in the next scene.
• Any approved scene that must not be modified.

Use references/carryover-frames.md for duplicated-frame checks.

Camera Swipe Pattern

For a rightward camera movement:

• Move the current world left.
• Bring the next world in from the right or land on a clean blank field.
• Keep background color, lighting, and scale continuous.
• Use slight blur or parallax only if it improves realism.
• Avoid fading to a new slide unless the user asks for a cut or fade.

For a downward camera movement:

• Move from the hook/top field into the first current-video frame.
• Keep speed high enough to feel like a transition, not a scene pause.
• Match color and scale at the landing frame.

First-Frame Matching

When a scene begins from the previous scene:

• Copy or recreate the previous final frame in the new composition.
• Include all latest text, labels, theme colors, plus symbols, highlights, and annotations.
• Re-render both affected scenes if the final frame is source-driven.
• Extract proof frame just before and after the boundary.

Boundary QA

Always verify:

• No visual pop at the join.
• No stale text from an older render.
• No sudden color shift.
• No missing annotation that was added to the previous scene.
• No unwanted crop or scale change.
• Captions do not cover critical boundary text.

Surgical Change Rule

If the previous final frame changes, assume the next scene may also need a source patch. Search before declaring done.

Output

Provide:

• Changed scene files.
• Re-rendered scene list.
• Final assembly path.
• Boundary proof frames.
• Exact timestamps checked.

Transition Types

Use the transition type that matches the story:

• Camera swipe: same world, different area.
• Camera push: moving deeper into the same object.
• Downward camera move: hook into main video.
• Dot-to-data transition: diagram becomes chart.
• Product landing: abstract scene moves into screen recording.
• Blank field reset: audience needs a breath before new idea.

Avoid hard cuts when the user says "seamlessly," "same object," "continue," or "camera movement."

Timing Guidelines

• Fast scene-to-scene swipe: 0.4s to 1.0s.
• Clean reset hold: 0.5s to 1.5s.
• Product demo landing: long enough to understand first frame.
• Final CTA transition: fast movement, then still hold.
• Chart-to-question transition: leave clean negative space before cards appear.

These are defaults; narration timing wins when explicit.

Carryover Audit

Whenever a final frame changes, search:

• Current scene source.
• Next scene source.
• Any old scene HTML with same title text.
• Inline SVG text.
• Axis labels.
• Table headers.
• CTA copy.
• Theme colors.
• Generated snapshots only for QA, not source.

Boundary Proof Procedure

Extract frames:

• 0.05s before boundary.
• 0.05s after boundary.
• Middle of transition.
• First settled frame.

If a label appears before the boundary and disappears after, the carryover source is stale.

Product Demo Boundaries

For screen recordings:

• Check the recording's first frame.
• Check if there is a canvas/background around the UI.
• Check whether transition should land on full recording or cropped UI.
• Check if the recording contains scroll/zoom before cropping.
• Avoid blank frames at the end.

Common User Corrections

Map corrections to actions:

• "It jumps" means boundary proof and scale/position check.
• "It forgot the text" means carryover source search.
• "It feels like a slide" means replace fade/cut with camera motion.
• "Too fast" means extend transition or add hold after landing.
• "Too empty" may mean add ambient motion, not new panels.

Handoff Format

Report:

• Transition type.
• Boundary timestamps.
• Changed carryover files.
• Proof frames.
• Whether source scene and next scene were both refreshed.