Workflow

Workflow — for the PM

How to operate the SuperStories video system day-to-day. Assumes the setup is complete. The training methodology that improves the system over time lives on the training page. The market positioning lives on the comparison page.

The system separates production into three layers, plus a review surface that runs across all of them. Your job is to drive each layer in the right order, with the right inputs.

The three production layers, briefly

1. Brand foundation. The BRANDGUIDE.md per client. Everything downstream depends on it.
2. The cut. Editorial — what makes it into the video, in what order.
3. The polish. The branded layer — graphics, motion, captions, components, channel adaptations.

Plus the review surface (our own annotation tool at videos.superstories.com) that handles internal review, team review, and client sign-off in one place.

Step 1 — Starting a new client

Before the first video, build the brand foundation. This is half a day to two days of focused work depending on the client. Without it, every video downstream is generic.

1. Open the client's folder: video/clients/<client>/.
2. Check whether a BRANDGUIDE.md already exists.
   • If yes, that is the canonical foundation. Skip to step 4.
   • If no, run the /brandguide skill in Claude Code from a folder of the client's identity assets. It scans, asks questions, and generates a structured brand guide.
3. Open the generated BRANDGUIDE.md and review it with the client in a 60-minute session. Edit until it feels accurate.
4. Add the video-specific sections (Motion Principles, Caption Styling, Video Components, Editorial Patterns). They start as DRAFT until populated.
5. Populate references/videos.md with 5-10 videos you and the client love, each with a one-line note on why. This is the taste anchor. Without this, output drifts to generic. Treat as load-bearing.
6. Run a motion exploration sprint — see motion-exploration/README.md in the client's folder. Half a day. Result: 2-3 motion patterns codified into the brand guide's Motion Principles section.
7. Commit and push to git. The brand foundation is now ready for video work.

Step 2 — Starting a new video project

For each video:

1. Create a new file in video/clients/<client>/projects/<YYYY-MM>-<slug>.md.
2. Write a structured brief in that file. Do not write "edit this video." A brief names:
   • The hook moment (the line or visual that opens)
   • 2-3 key beats to emphasize with graphics or chapter marks
   • The CTA at the end
   • Target length
   • Target channels (YouTube 16:9, Shorts 9:16, LinkedIn 1:1 — pick all that apply)
3. Set up the R2 folder for the project at Videos/<client>/<project-slug>/.
4. Commit the brief to git. The project exists.

Step 3 — Recording the source

Pick the recording tool that fits the format:

• Founder-to-camera (face only). iPhone front camera on a tripod. AirDrop to Mac.
• Screen + cam (demos, walkthroughs, training modules). Screen Studio.
• Quick drafts and multi-source. Tella, browser-based.
• Multi-person interview or podcast. Riverside.fm.

Drop the raw source into Videos/<client>/<project>/sources/incoming/ on the R2 mount. The input normalizer transcodes it to a clean MP4 in sources/normalized/ within a few minutes. You don't have to do anything — just wait for the normalized file to appear.

For long content (training, expert interviews, 60+ minutes), the long-form section below covers what changes.

Step 4 — The cut

Pick the editorial tool per length:

• Long-form talking-head (founder explainers, interviews). Gling. Auto-removes silences, filler, and bad takes.
• Short-form social (Reels, Shorts, TikTok). CapCut. Free, capable, designed for short-form.
• Multi-person podcasts and multi-cam. Descript. Transcript-based multi-track is strong here.
• Long-form trainings (60+ minutes). Descript. Transcript editing at length is far stronger than Gling.

Pull the normalized MP4 from R2. Cut. Export. Drop the cleaned cut back into Videos/<client>/<project>/sources/normalized/cut.mp4.

If a remote editor is doing this step instead of you, see coordinating with the editor for the handoff.

Step 5 — The polish (HyperFrames)

Open Claude Code in the client's folder.

1. Tell Claude: "Build the HyperFrames source for project <slug>. Read the brief, the brand guide, and the cut. Render 16:9 and 9:16."
2. Claude generates the HyperFrames source in hyperframes/<slug>/. It reads:
   • The brief (what to build)
   • The canonical BRANDGUIDE.md (the visual and editorial rules)
   • The cut MP4 (the foundation footage)
   • Any reusable components in hyperframes/ from prior projects
3. Run npx hyperframes preview to see the result and tweak in-browser, or talk to Claude in natural language for bigger changes. The preview hot-reloads — same comfort as web design.
4. Render with npx hyperframes render into Videos/<client>/<project>/renders/. The same source produces 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1 from one render command if you set it up that way.

You never have to write code by hand. Claude does. You describe what should change and review the preview.

Step 6 — The review loop

1. Publish the draft to the review hub:

   ss-publish ./renders/16x9.mp4 --client=<x> --project=<y> --status=review
   

2. The CLI uploads to R2, generates a thumbnail, registers in the hub, and prints the review URL.
3. Share the URL with whoever needs to review. The annotation tool is on every review page.
4. Reviewers scrub through, drop pins at timestamps with notes, click "Copy notes."
5. The notes paste into a Claude conversation. Claude reads them, revises the HyperFrames source, re-renders.
6. Re-publish with ss-publish. Loop until approved.

The same surface handles internal review, team review, and client sign-off. No Frame.io.

Step 7 — Long-form trainings (60+ minutes)

Trainings are not just "longer videos." The balance between layers shifts.

• The cut is the heavy lift. Use Descript, not Gling. Transcript-based editing at length is the right tool. Read the transcript like a Google Doc, cut paragraphs, video follows.
• HyperFrames does less motion but more structure. Title cards, chapter markers, terminology lower-thirds, slide overlays, captions throughout, end cards. Predictable graphical support over the whole duration.
• Summaries, key takeaways, and recap cards become first-class graphical interludes every 8-12 minutes. They are auto-generated from the transcript (Whisper + Claude) and styled by the brand foundation. This is genuinely powerful for trainings and not feasible to do by hand at length.
• Whisper for captions and a deliverable transcript. Trainings need closed captions for accessibility and a searchable transcript for the LMS. Generate once, use everywhere.
• Render time scales linearly. A 90-minute render takes 30-90 minutes. Render overnight or split into chapters and stitch.
• One source, multiple outputs. Full training + per-chapter modules + 9:16 promo clips — all from the same HyperFrames source.
• Multi-language is cheap. Add a second SRT, re-render. Branding stays identical.

Step 8 — Coordinating with the editor

When a remote editor does the cut instead of you (the default for senior editor work):

What you give the editor:

1. The brief from projects/<slug>.md.
2. Access to Videos/<client>/<project>/sources/normalized/ on R2.

What the editor delivers:

1. The cleaned cut as cut.mp4 in sources/normalized/.
2. Optionally a Loom walkthrough of unusual decisions (not required, useful for complex projects).

What you do next: Continue with step 5 (polish). The cut is now your input.

For the training loop where the editor's choices are compared against the AI's choices, see the training page. That's a different track that runs in parallel.

Step 9 — Multi-channel output from one source

For every video, default to producing the relevant channel formats from the same HyperFrames source, not as separate edits:

The brief in step 2 should name target channels. HyperFrames renders each.

Step 10 — Thumbnails

For YouTube and LinkedIn, thumbnails ship alongside the video.

1. Ask Claude: "Generate thumbnail variations for <project>. Reference high-performing thumbnails in <niche> via Apify."
2. Claude analyses competitor thumbnails, identifies patterns, generates branded variations using the brand foundation.
3. Pick two for A/B testing. Publish.

First-time path — your first brand guide and first video

Expect the first video to take longer than later ones. The brand guide and project setup are the heavy lifts. After that, per-video time drops to 30-60 minutes.

What we don't do

• We don't write "edit this video" as a prompt. We write a brief.
• We don't review by writing timestamps in a Google Doc. We use the annotation tool.
• We don't default to Frame.io. Our own surface handles internal and client review.
• We don't try to do cinematic motion graphics inside this workflow. For a hero campaign piece, commission a motion designer.
• We don't ship without the taste anchor referenced. If references/videos.md is empty, the foundation is incomplete.