Layer Video Looks
Overview
A look is the finish that makes separate shots read as one piece. On Layer it lives in the timeline:
every video and image item in
takes an
list plus its own
,
,
,
and
fields. No model runs to apply them, so a look is exact
to repeat; the render is still priced by
estimate_video_timeline_price
.
Assembly itself (sequence, transitions, overlays, audio) is
. This skill covers
the finish on top of it. A look the timeline cannot make, such as relighting a shot or restyling its
content, is a generation: see
.
If a sibling skill named here is missing from your available skills, ask the user to install it
(
npx skills add layerai/skills --skill <name>
); unattended, proceed from tool schemas and flag the
gap.
Quick reference
| Look | Effects, in this order |
|---|
| Brand wash | with and in brand colours, or with |
| Retro CRT | , then , then a light |
| Film | (grain), , |
| Glitch hit on a cut | or a strong on a short item at the cut |
| Green or blue screen | first, with set to the screen |
| Cut-out logo or character | or on an image that has transparency |
| Dreamy highlights | with a so only the bright parts bloom |
| Plain grade | Item fields: , , ; , , effects |
Every effect is
{type: "<name>", ...params}
with camelCase params, and every param has a default,
so
alone is valid. Colours are
{red, green, blue, alpha}
objects, 0 to 255.
,
,
,
and
are item fields, not effects:
and
are multipliers from 0 to 2 (1 unchanged),
rotates -180 to 180 degrees.
takes
{workspace_id, template, videos, images, audios}
.
is
{width, height, fps, tracks: [{id, name, items, transitions}]}
; an item is
{id, type, start_frame, duration_in_frames}
plus
or
, and optionally
layout {left, top, width, height}
,
,
to trim a clip's head, and
; a
takes
{red, green, blue, alpha}
. The render returns a
for
.
Order is the look
Effects apply in list order, each on the result of the one before. Order changes the picture:
- Key first. must see the screen's true colour. A or ahead of it
shifts the green and the key leaves patches behind.
- Grade before texture. Put , and ahead of and , so
the grain sits on top of the colour instead of being recoloured by it.
- Distortion last. , and bend whatever reaches them; place them after
the texture so the scanlines bend with the picture.
One list, every clip
A look holds only if every clip that shares it carries the same
list with the same params.
Build the list once and copy it onto each item. A second clip with a slightly different
reads as a mismatch, which is worse than no look at all.
Grade toward the shots, not away from them. Shots generated at different times differ in exposure and
saturation; level them first with the item's
and
fields, then apply the
shared list.
Params are fixed for the whole item
The timeline has no keyframes. An effect's params hold for the item's whole span: a
with
is a sheen parked in the middle, not one that sweeps across, and
is one phase of the leak, held.
Two ways to get movement:
- Stepped items. Split the span into several short items of the same file on one track, each with
continuing where the last stopped, and raise on each. Four to
six steps read as motion on a short sheen.
- Generate it. A sweep that must be smooth is a video generation with the motion in the prompt
(), not a timeline effect.
The same split confines an effect to a moment: cut the clip into before, hit and after items on one
track, and give only the few-frame hit item
. Do not stack the pieces on separate
tracks; items on one track must not overlap in time.
Keying a screen
defaults to green (
{red: 0, green: 255, blue: 0}
); set
to
{red: 0, green: 0, blue: 255}
for a blue screen. Tune in the order the schema gives: raise
when patches
of the screen remain, lower it when the subject's edges get eaten, and raise
when a
coloured fringe stays on the subject.
softens the keyed edge.
Tracks composite in reverse order, so Track 1 is on top. The keyed clip goes on a track above the
background it should reveal.
Filling around a contained clip
A 16:9 clip in a 9:16 frame leaves bars. The schema's own fix: put a second copy of the clip on a
lower track with a full-frame
,
,
, a high
,
, and its
lowered, then show the clip above it with
. The frame fills with the clip's own colours instead of black.
Worked example
"Give these four approved gameplay shots a retro arcade look, and put our presenter, shot on green
screen, over the last one."
- All five clips came from earlier runs, so each has a ; nothing is uploaded.
- Build one list for the gameplay clips:
[{type: "contrast", amount: 1.15}, {type: "scanlines", amount: 0.2, spacing: 4}, {type: "noise", amount: 0.12}, {type: "chromaticAberration", amount: 3}]
- The presenter goes on Track 1, spanning the last shot, with
[{type: "colorKey"}, {type: "scanlines", amount: 0.2, spacing: 4}, {type: "noise", amount: 0.12}]
- A three-frame item at the cut into the last shot, split from the clip as above.
estimate_video_timeline_price
- with the same input. Poll with the returned
at the interval it gives, never a fixed sleep.
- Watch it end to end. If green patches remain on the presenter, raise a step and
re-render; if the hair edge is eaten, lower it.
Common mistakes
- A different effect list, or different params, on clips meant to share a look.
- A or ahead of , so the screen no longer matches the key colour.
- Expecting or to move across a clip; params are fixed per item.
- Putting the keyed clip on a lower track than its background.
- or on a clip with no transparency; the schema says they work best on cut-outs.
- Glitching a whole clip when the hit belongs on a few frames at the cut.
- Reaching for a generation to recolour footage the timeline can already grade.
- Uploading clips that Layer generated and that already carry a .