--- name: Cardstock Diorama Myth Animation slug: cardstock-diorama-myth-animation category: AI Engineering description: Creates narrated mythic short films in a layered cut-paper diorama style. Use it for myths, legends, folktales, or “tell the story of X” video requests that should end as one assembled MP4. github: "https://github.com/sadekxD/cardstock-diorama-myth" language: Python stars: 31 forks: 7 install: "npx degit https://github.com/sadekxD/cardstock-diorama-myth ~/.claude/skills/cardstock-diorama-myth" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/cardstock-diorama-myth source_path: SKILL.md collection_size: 1 category_size: 2451 added: 2026-08-11T07:21:53.519Z last_synced: 2026-08-11T07:21:53.519Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/cardstock-diorama-myth-animation" --- # Cardstock Diorama Myth Animation Creates narrated mythic short films in a layered cut-paper diorama style. Use it for myths, legends, folktales, or “tell the story of X” video requests that should end as one assembled MP4. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/sadekxD/cardstock-diorama-myth ~/.claude/skills/cardstock-diorama-myth ``` ## README # Cardstock Diorama Myth Animation

Cut-paper diorama myth short film demo

A Claude Code / Claude.ai **skill** that turns a single request — a myth, a premise, or nothing at all — into a finished, narrated mythic short film in a layered **cut-paper diorama** style: stacked matte cardstock worlds, a strict three-colour palette, exposure that swings, paper-wipe transitions hiding every seam, a storyteller's voiceover, and one assembled MP4. Built for the **[Unsora](https://tryunsora.com) MCP** — all generation runs on Unsora (`create_image`, `create_video`, `create_voiceover`), and assembly runs locally with **ffmpeg**, giving full control over block windows, voiceover placement, and the mix. ## What it makes Animation-movie storytelling, not an explainer: gods, monsters, heroes, folklore, origin myths and transformations, told in ten-second story beats. The signature look: - Flat matte cardstock worlds with visible cut edges and soft contact shadows - A strict **three-colour palette and no others**, with deliberate exposure swings - A tiny figure dead-centre of a huge symmetrical set; a top-down concentric "ring" hero shot - Scenes joined by invisible **paper wipes**, native paper foley and impact SFX - A mythic narrator (~12–18 words per block, some blocks deliberately silent) - Ends by landing on a face The look is treated as a **specification, not a vibe** — palette, exposure and pacing are numbers, stated in the prompt and then measured against the output with the bundled QC script. ## When to use it Ask for a myth, legend, fable, folktale or fairy-tale short; a cut-paper / papercraft animated story; "tell the story of X" as a video; or say **"run the cardstock diorama myth animation"** — the skill can propose myths itself. Not for fact-driven explainers with charts and statistics. ## Pipeline | Phase | What happens | Tools | |---|---|---| | S — Story | Use the given myth, or propose 4–6 and wait for a pick | reasoning + web search | | L — Lore | Research the actual tradition: variants, names, iconography, the ending | web search | | P — Palette | Lock one three-colour palette for the whole film | free | | 1 — Style key | Generate the cardstock style key at the run's aspect ratio | `create_image` (`nano-banana-pro`) | | 1b — Casting | Sheets for the protagonist, creatures, recurring places, the talisman | `create_image` (`nano-banana-pro`) | | 2 — Beat sheet | N beats on the mythic arc, ~12–18 words each, 1–2 wordless | free | | 3 — Block prompts | N prompts in the diorama language, wipe-bookended, sheets bound | free | | 4 — Clips | N × 10s clips, style key + sheets on every one | `create_video` (`seedance-2.0`) | | 5 — Voice | One storyteller (ElevenLabs Eleven v3), one take per voiced block | `create_voiceover` | | 6 — Assemble | Concat clips, place + mix the takes, deliver one MP4 | **ffmpeg (local)** | Defaults: 16:9, 1 minute (6 blocks; 8–12 recommended for a real arc), 720p, English narration, no subtitles, no music — seedance's native paper foley carries the sound. ## Requirements - **Unsora MCP** connected and authenticated (`create_image`, `create_video`, `create_voiceover`, `list_voiceover_voices`, and the matching `wait_for_*` pollers) - **Local `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe`** — not optional; they are the assembler - **Web search** for the lore pass on real traditions - Recommended: `python3` with `numpy`, `pillow`, `scikit-learn` and `curl` for the automated QC pass ## Install Place the skill folder in your Claude Code skills directory: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills git clone https://github.com/sadekxD/cardstock-diorama-myth.git ~/.claude/skills/cardstock-diorama-myth-animation ``` Then invoke it from Claude Code, e.g. *"Tell the story of Icarus as a cut-paper short"* or *"run the cardstock diorama myth animation"*. ## Repository contents - [SKILL.md](SKILL.md) — the complete skill definition: operating mode, story engine, narration rules, paper-wipe joins, the full phase-by-phase pipeline, failure handling, and delivery format - [references/style-dna.md](references/style-dna.md) — the full cardstock visual system: paper logic, exposure swing, camera and motion vocabulary, the style-key prompt, the block-prompt template, and the per-block checklist - [references/palette.md](references/palette.md) — the palette maths, five tested palettes plus one documented failure, and palette-by-myth-world guidance - [references/unsora.md](references/unsora.md) — exact Unsora call templates for every phase, the job/polling model, moderation and IP map, cost arithmetic, and every ffmpeg command for the assembly - [scripts/qc.py](scripts/qc.py) — measures frames and clips against the palette, exposure and wipe targets - [scripts/palette.py](scripts/palette.py) — solves a new three-colour palette at the right luma values