Best Animation Video — Create Stunning Animated Videos That Actually Get Watched

## Getting Started

> Send me your concept, script draft, or topic idea and I'll help you shape it into a compelling animated video. No idea yet? Just describe your audience and goal and we'll build from there.

**Try saying:**
- "I need a 60-second explainer animation for a SaaS product that helps small businesses manage invoices — can you write a script and suggest an animation style?"
- "What's the best animation style for a YouTube educational video about climate change aimed at teenagers?"
- "Help me write a scene-by-scene breakdown for a 90-second whiteboard animation promoting a nonprofit fundraiser."

### First-Time Connection

When a user first opens this skill, connect to the processing backend automatically. Briefly let them know (e.g. "Setting up...").

**Authentication**: Check if `NEMO_TOKEN` is set in the environment. If it is, skip to step 2.

1. **Obtain a free token**: Generate a random UUID as client identifier. POST to `https://mega-api-prod.nemovideo.ai/api/auth/anonymous-token` with header `X-Client-Id` set to that UUID. The response `data.token` is your NEMO_TOKEN — 100 free credits, valid 7 days.
2. **Create a session**: POST to `https://mega-api-prod.nemovideo.ai/api/tasks/me/with-session/nemo_agent` with `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, `Content-Type: application/json`, and body `{"task_name":"project","language":"<detected>"}`. Store the returned `session_id` for all subsequent requests.

Keep setup communication brief. Don't display raw API responses or token values to the user.

# Turn Your Ideas Into Animations Worth Watching

Most animated videos fail not because of bad tools — they fail because of unclear structure, mismatched style, or pacing that loses viewers in the first ten seconds. This skill exists to fix exactly that. Whether you're starting from a rough concept or a half-written script, best-animation-video helps you shape your content into something visually compelling and strategically effective.

You'll get help choosing the right animation style for your audience — whether that's motion graphics, whiteboard, 2D character animation, or kinetic typography. The skill walks you through scriptwriting tailored to animation timing, scene-by-scene breakdowns, voiceover guidance, and visual direction notes you can hand directly to a designer or animator.

This isn't about generic video advice. It's focused entirely on animated content — the unique challenges of visual storytelling without live footage, the rhythm of animated transitions, and how to keep viewers engaged through movement and design. If you want your animated video to actually perform, this is where you start.

## Routing Your Animation Requests

When you submit a prompt, ClawHub parses your animation style, duration, and visual parameters to route your request to the optimal rendering pipeline for your specific video type.

| User says... | Action | Skip SSE? |
|-------------|--------|----------|
| "export" / "导出" / "download" / "send me the video" | → §3.5 Export | ✅ |
| "credits" / "积分" / "balance" / "余额" | → §3.3 Credits | ✅ |
| "status" / "状态" / "show tracks" | → §3.4 State | ✅ |
| "upload" / "上传" / user sends file | → §3.2 Upload | ✅ |
| Everything else (generate, edit, add BGM…) | → §3.1 SSE | ❌ |

## Animation Cloud Backend Reference

The cloud processing backend handles keyframe interpolation, scene composition, and motion rendering on distributed GPU clusters tuned specifically for animation workloads. Frame synthesis, voiceover syncing, and export compression all run server-side so your local machine stays free.

Skill attribution — read from this file's YAML frontmatter at runtime:
- `X-Skill-Source`: `best-animation-video`
- `X-Skill-Version`: from frontmatter `version`
- `X-Skill-Platform`: detect from install path (`~/.clawhub/` → `clawhub`, `~/.cursor/skills/` → `cursor`, else `unknown`)

**All requests** must include: `Authorization: Bearer <NEMO_TOKEN>`, `X-Skill-Source`, `X-Skill-Version`, `X-Skill-Platform`. Missing attribution headers will cause export to fail with 402.

**API base**: `https://mega-api-prod.nemovideo.ai`

**Create session**: POST `/api/tasks/me/with-session/nemo_agent` — body `{"task_name":"project","language":"<lang>"}` — returns `task_id`, `session_id`.

**Send message (SSE)**: POST `/run_sse` — body `{"app_name":"nemo_agent","user_id":"me","session_id":"<sid>","new_message":{"parts":[{"text":"<msg>"}]}}` with `Accept: text/event-stream`. Max timeout: 15 minutes.

**Upload**: POST `/api/upload-video/nemo_agent/me/<sid>` — file: multipart `-F "files=@/path"`, or URL: `{"urls":["<url>"],"source_type":"url"}`

**Credits**: GET `/api/credits/balance/simple` — returns `available`, `frozen`, `total`

**Session state**: GET `/api/state/nemo_agent/me/<sid>/latest` — key fields: `data.state.draft`, `data.state.video_infos`, `data.state.generated_media`

**Export** (free, no credits): POST `/api/render/proxy/lambda` — body `{"id":"render_<ts>","sessionId":"<sid>","draft":<json>,"output":{"format":"mp4","quality":"high"}}`. Poll GET `/api/render/proxy/lambda/<id>` every 30s until `status` = `completed`. Download URL at `output.url`.

Supported formats: mp4, mov, avi, webm, mkv, jpg, png, gif, webp, mp3, wav, m4a, aac.

### SSE Event Handling

| Event | Action |
|-------|--------|
| Text response | Apply GUI translation (§4), present to user |
| Tool call/result | Process internally, don't forward |
| `heartbeat` / empty `data:` | Keep waiting. Every 2 min: "⏳ Still working..." |
| Stream closes | Process final response |

~30% of editing operations return no text in the SSE stream. When this happens: poll session state to verify the edit was applied, then summarize changes to the user.

### Backend Response Translation

The backend assumes a GUI exists. Translate these into API actions:

| Backend says | You do |
|-------------|--------|
| "click [button]" / "点击" | Execute via API |
| "open [panel]" / "打开" | Query session state |
| "drag/drop" / "拖拽" | Send edit via SSE |
| "preview in timeline" | Show track summary |
| "Export button" / "导出" | Execute export workflow |

**Draft field mapping**: `t`=tracks, `tt`=track type (0=video, 1=audio, 7=text), `sg`=segments, `d`=duration(ms), `m`=metadata.

```
Timeline (3 tracks): 1. Video: city timelapse (0-10s) 2. BGM: Lo-fi (0-10s, 35%) 3. Title: "Urban Dreams" (0-3s)
```

### Error Handling

| Code | Meaning | Action |
|------|---------|--------|
| 0 | Success | Continue |
| 1001 | Bad/expired token | Re-auth via anonymous-token (tokens expire after 7 days) |
| 1002 | Session not found | New session §3.0 |
| 2001 | No credits | Anonymous: show registration URL with `?bind=<id>` (get `<id>` from create-session or state response when needed). Registered: "Top up credits in your account" |
| 4001 | Unsupported file | Show supported formats |
| 4002 | File too large | Suggest compress/trim |
| 400 | Missing X-Client-Id | Generate Client-Id and retry (see §1) |
| 402 | Free plan export blocked | Subscription tier issue, NOT credits. "Register or upgrade your plan to unlock export." |
| 429 | Rate limit (1 token/client/7 days) | Retry in 30s once |

## Best Practices

The single biggest mistake in animated video production is writing a script as if it's an article. Animation is a visual medium — every sentence needs a corresponding visual action. When using this skill, always think in scenes, not paragraphs. Ask yourself: what is the viewer seeing while this line is spoken?

Keep animated videos shorter than you think you need to. Sixty seconds is often more powerful than three minutes. Attention drops sharply after the 90-second mark unless the content is exceptionally engaging. Use this skill to cut your script down to its essential beats before you start animating anything.

Also match your animation style to your audience's expectations — a playful character animation may undermine trust for a B2B financial product, while a sleek motion graphics style might feel cold for a children's education app. This skill helps you make that call intentionally, not accidentally.

## Use Cases

best-animation-video is used across a wide range of real-world projects. Marketing teams use it to plan product explainer videos that convert — animations that walk a prospect through a problem and solution in under 90 seconds. Educators and course creators use it to structure lesson animations that simplify complex topics without losing accuracy or engagement.

Startups use it to prepare pitch deck animations and demo videos that communicate their value proposition visually. Nonprofits rely on it to build emotionally resonant animated stories for fundraising campaigns. Social media managers use it to plan short-form animated content — Instagram reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts — where the first three seconds determine everything.

If your project involves animation in any form — from a simple animated logo to a full three-minute explainer — this skill helps you approach it with a clear strategy instead of starting from scratch.

## Common Workflows

The most effective way to use this skill is to start with your goal and audience before touching any animation tool. Begin by describing what you want viewers to feel or do after watching — that single answer shapes every decision that follows.

From there, a typical workflow looks like this: define the core message, write a timed script (usually 130-150 words per minute for animation), create a scene breakdown with visual cues, choose an animation style that matches your brand tone, and then produce a shot list or storyboard outline your animator can follow.

For solo creators using tools like Adobe After Effects, Vyond, or Canva animations, this skill helps you plan before you build — saving hours of rework. For those working with freelance animators, you'll leave with a clear brief that prevents miscommunication and costly revisions.