create-sound-design

Orchestrate sound effects (SFX) selection and placement for movie scenes. Part of the Horus create-movie pipeline (Phase 4).

Philosophy

Sound design is the invisible art that makes movies feel real. This skill:

1. Analyzes scripts/storyboards for SFX cues (actions, environments, transitions)
2. Searches sfx-catalog for matching sounds
3. Places sounds at precise timestamps with appropriate volume/pan/fade
4. Learns from usage patterns via memory integration

Quick Start

cd .pi/skills/create-sound-design

# Start interactive sound design session
./run.sh start --script path/to/script.json

# Start with storyboard for timing hints
./run.sh start --script script.json --storyboard storyboard.yaml

# Continue existing session
./run.sh continue <session-id> --answers '{"q1": "option_a"}'

# Run headless (auto-approve all decisions)
./run.sh auto --script script.json --output output/

# Check session status
./run.sh status <session-id>

# List all sessions
./run.sh list

# Export manifest for Assemble phase
./run.sh export <session-id> --output manifest.json

Workflow Rounds

Round 1: Scene Analysis

• Parse script JSON for action lines, environments
• Parse storyboard YAML for audio_cues field
• Categorize cues: foley, ambient, impact, transition, vocal, nature
• Questions: Confirm extracted cues are correct

Round 2: Sound Search

• Query sfx-catalog for each cue
• Rank by semantic similarity + category match
• Recall prior successful usage from memory
• Questions: Select preferred sound for each cue

Round 3: Timing & Levels

• Calculate timestamps avoiding conflicts
• Set volume based on intensity and competing audio
• Generate fade curves for smooth transitions
• Questions: Approve mix decisions

Round 4: Export

• Generate SoundDesignSpec manifest per scene
• Record usage in memory for future learning
• Output JSON manifest for Assemble phase

Integration with create-movie

This skill integrates into Phase 4 (Generate) of create-movie:

from create_sound_design import run_sound_design_session

result = run_sound_design_session(
    script_path="script.json",
    storyboard_path="storyboard.yaml",
    output_dir="audio/sfx/",
    auto_approve=True,  # For pipeline mode
)

Output Format

The manifest JSON consumed by Assemble phase:

{
  "project": "Dark Horizon",
  "session_id": "sounddesign-20240115-103000-abc123",
  "scenes": {
    "scene_01": {
      "duration": 45.0,
      "events": [
        {
          "sfx_id": "sfx_door_creak_01",
          "sfx_path": "/path/to/door_creak.wav",
          "timestamp": 2.5,
          "duration": 1.2,
          "volume": 0.6,
          "pan": -0.3,
          "fade_in": 0.1,
          "fade_out": 0.2
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Dependencies

• sfx-catalog: Sound library and query engine
• memory: For learning storage (via sfx-catalog bridge)