---
name: Render IMessage Cascade
slug: render-imessage-cascade
category: Automation
description: "Render IMessage Cascade assembles a 9:16 iMessage notification-cascade video ad from a phone plate, 3–5 messages, and an end card. It uses PIL and ffmpeg to draw authentic Apple Messages banners and animate the stack upward, then clears it and fades to the end card."
github: "https://github.com/gooseworks-ai/goose-skills/tree/main/skills/ads/capabilities/render-imessage-cascade"
language: Python
stars: 1146
forks: 200
install: "npx degit https://github.com/gooseworks-ai/goose-skills/tree/main/skills/ads/capabilities/render-imessage-cascade ~/.claude/skills/render-imessage-cascade"
installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/render-imessage-cascade
source_path: skills/ads/capabilities/render-imessage-cascade/SKILL.md
collection_size: 51
category_size: 1523
collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/gooseworks-ai/goose-skills"
added: 2026-08-12T04:43:25.937Z
last_synced: 2026-08-12T04:43:25.937Z
canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/render-imessage-cascade"
---

# Render IMessage Cascade

Render IMessage Cascade assembles a 9:16 iMessage notification-cascade video ad from a phone plate, 3–5 messages, and an end card. It uses PIL and ffmpeg to draw authentic Apple Messages banners and animate the stack upward, then clears it and fades to the end card.

**Install:**

```bash
npx degit https://github.com/gooseworks-ai/goose-skills/tree/main/skills/ads/capabilities/render-imessage-cascade ~/.claude/skills/render-imessage-cascade
```

## README

# render-imessage-cascade

The free, deterministic renderer for the **imessage-notification-cascade** video ad
format — the viral iOS trend where a phone sits on a desk and Apple Messages
notifications STACK IN one after another. The signature mechanic is the **bottom-up
push**: each new banner springs in at the bottom (nearest the phone) and shoves every
existing one UP a row; the iOS grouped "⌄ Show less / ✕" pill rides above the stack;
the ✕ clears the stack; then a serif end card resolves.

This is a DETERMINISTIC composite — **no generative video of the UI**. Authentic
iMessage banners are drawn in PIL and animated in FFmpeg over a Ken-Burns plate, so
the notification text + wordmark stay pixel-crisp (a video model would smear type).
The template recipe supplies the per-brand `plate`, `notifications`, and `end_card`
config and gates the only paid steps — cleaning the plate (→ `create-image-fal`) and
the music bed/pop (→ `create-music-elevenlabs`) — to their own capabilities. This
capability itself makes **no paid calls**.

## Scripts (free)

- `scripts/build_assets.py` — draws the assets from `config`: `nb-1..N.png` (authentic
  banners — green Messages icon, warm translucent-greige fill, soft box-shadow,
  title/body/NOW/handle), `pill.png` (right-aligned "⌄ Show less / ✕"), `endcard.png`
  (serif CTA + wordmark lockup + url). **Fonts are load-bearing: SF Pro (`SFNS.ttf`)
  via `set_variation_by_name` for the banner title/body/NOW/handle** (Arial fallback),
  Times/serif for the end-card CTA. Do NOT swap in Helvetica/Arial as the primary —
  the banners must read as the real iOS system font.
- `scripts/compose.py` — Ken-Burns push-in on the plate → each banner springs in at the
  BOTTOM while later arrivals push the stack UP (FFmpeg overlay `y` expressions) → pill
  rides above → ✕-clear swipes the stack up + fades → serif end card fades in → optional
  audio (bed + pop per arrival + a free FFmpeg swoosh on the clear) → encode h264 + aac.
- `scripts/config.example.json` — the shape of the brand `config` the recipe binds.

## Geometry contract (load-bearing — build_assets.py and compose.py MUST share it)

`W=1080 H=1920`, `SIDE=135` → banner width `BODY_W=810`, `BANNER_H=176`, `PAD=60`,
row pitch `H=214`, bottom anchor `YB=1200`. Icon ~100px at a ~24px left inset; body
text starts ~150px from the banner's left edge. Change one, change both.

## Craft rules (faithful to the source molecule)

- Keep the REAL iMessage UI: green Apple Messages icon, warm TRANSLUCENT greige banner
  (NOT white, no white bloom), soft dark box-shadow. Do NOT rebrand the banner to the
  brand's colors — the brand lives ONLY on the handle (bottom-right) + the end card.
- **SF Pro for all banner text** (title Semibold ~38, body Regular ~36, NOW/handle ~25).
  Never AI-render text.
- 3–5 notifications (more crowds the top / clips the pill); newest enters at the BOTTOM,
  so banner 1 is the oldest and ends up on TOP.
- ✕-clear then end card (a real hand-swipe needs a paid i2v — out of scope here).

## Requires

`watch` (QC the final master). The recipe gates `create-image-fal` (plate clean) and
`create-music-elevenlabs` (bed/pop) — both paid, proxy-routed, billed to the Ads agent.