PlugWiki

cut-the-curve Skill for Claude: HyperFrames Transition Techniques

cut-the-curve gives Claude seven ready-made transition and text-entry techniques for HyperFrames videos, with exact distances, eases and timings.

Installs
60.9K
on skills.sh
Stars
77.1K
on GitHub
Files
1
besides SKILL.md
Updated
Nov 2026
last repo commit

This skill comes from HeyGen's HyperFrames repo, where it is marked internal. It is the technique catalog behind motion-doctrine: five scene seams (zoom-through, inverse zoom-through, cut the curve, waterfall cut, rack-focus blur-cut) and two in-scene moves (waterfall entry, nudge curve). The one principle is to cut at peak velocity and match direction and speed on both sides.

Each technique gives numbers. The default cut-the-curve boundary moves about 12% of the frame, roughly 230px at 1920, on mirrored power4 eases over about 0.6 seconds. The SKILL.md tells Claude to read motion-doctrine first. It bundles one example file with the GSAP code.

Good for

  • People animating HyperFrames videos who want exact transition settings
  • Motion designers choosing between zoom, slide and blur cuts
  • Video-agent builders who need reference GSAP templates

Install cut-the-curve

Claude Code

  1. 1

    Copy this prompt.

    Install the cut-the-curve skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1 npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes --skill motion-doctrine --skill cut-the-curve --skill seam-craft --skill oversized-cursor --skill captions-overlay -a claude-code

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.
  2. 2

    Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

The README says these six skills (motion-doctrine, cut-the-curve, seam-craft, oversized-cursor, captions-overlay, changelog-video) are repo-internal and left out of the default install. The skills CLI docs say a skill marked internal: true is hidden unless INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1 is set, and all six are marked that way, so the command carries that variable. We have not run it against this repo: run npx skills list afterwards to confirm each skill is there. The plain command shown on skills.sh does not set the variable, so do not rely on it. The skills lean on the upstream /hyperframes skill, which npx hyperframes skills update installs (the README's core set). On Windows, set the variable in your shell first.

From the vendor's docs. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

The technique catalog: five velocity-matched SEAMS (zoom-through, INVERSE zoom-through, cut-the-curve, waterfall cut, rack-focus blur-cut) plus the two in-scene techniques — waterfall ENTRY (staggered arrival cascades for title cards / segment openers) and the nudge curve (slow-fast-slow three-phase group slides). Covers partial-travel (~12% of frame) velocity matching via mirrored power4 eases, the Z scale-sign rule, size-scaled blur (10px text / 18-20px full-frame), word-by-word staggered cuts, cascade pacing by element weight, and the 10/65/25 slide ratio. Read before authoring any transition, text-beat handoff, kinetic text entry, or group reposition. [depth, zoom, inverse-zoom, scale-sign, mirrored-zoom, rack-focus, pacing, velocity, cut-the-curve, waterfall, stagger, cascade, kinetic-text, title-card, segment-opener, nudge, slide, easing, group-motion, z-depth, motion-graphics, cinematic, transition, blur, directional-continuity]

Sections in SKILL.md

  1. Catalog
  2. Z direction is a sign
  3. Blur logic (all Z variants)
  4. 1. Zoom-Through (forward)
  5. 2. Inverse Zoom-Through (backward)
  6. 3. Cut the Curve (default scene boundary)
  7. 4. Waterfall Cut (word-by-word cut-the-curve)
  8. 5. Rack-Focus Blur-Cut (the visible cut)
  9. 6. Waterfall Entry (in-scene arrival — not a seam)
  10. 7. Nudge Curve (in-scene group slide — not a seam)
  11. Choosing a Variant
  12. Anti-Patterns
  13. Code

Key facts

Author
heygen-com (GitHub repo owner)
Repo
heygen-com/hyperframes
Installs on skills.sh
60,854 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars (repo)
77,112 as of 2026-11-02
Last repo commit
2026-11-02
License
Apache-2.0
Files
2 files including SKILL.md (examples/gsap-implementation.md)
Status
Marked `internal: true` in its SKILL.md; the README calls the six repo-internal skills excluded from the default install
skills.sh audits
Gen Agent Trust Hub pass, Socket pass, Snyk pass

What it includes

  • Z-axis text swap, about 0.4 s

    Everything grows toward the camera with a hard swap at peak blur. Headlines and short phrases only.

    1. Zoom-Through (forward)

  • Z-axis arrival or payoff beat

    The mirror of zoom-through, shrinking away from the viewer. Used when something bigger lands.

    2. Inverse Zoom-Through

  • Default boundary between scenes, about 0.6 s

    X or Y move of about 12% of the frame on mirrored power4 eases, left by default, with an opaque stage ground behind it.

    3. Cut the Curve

  • Word-by-word cut for text-to-text seams

    Cut-the-curve at word granularity, riding the film's current.

    4. Waterfall Cut

  • The one cut you want seen

    A DSLR-style focus-pull flourish for a same-surface state swap.

    5. Rack-Focus Blur-Cut

  • Staggered arrival for title cards and list intros

    Elements whip in from below and overlap instead of queueing. Offsets and durations vary by element weight.

    6. Waterfall Entry

  • Slow-fast-slow group slide

    Three chained tweens with a 10/65/25 distance split. The tail must take at least three times the ramp-in's time.

    7. Nudge Curve

  • Scale sign must match across the cut; 10 px text, 18 to 20 px full-frame

    Banned mirrors include a receding exit answered by a grow-from-small entry.

    Z direction and blur rules

From the official docs

Questions

What does cut-the-curve do?

It makes Claude use a fixed set of velocity-matched transitions in a HyperFrames video. Claude picks a seam type, applies the listed distance, ease and duration, and keeps the direction consistent across the film.

How do I install it?

Use the install box above. The README says this skill is one of six repo-internal skills left out of the default install, and the skills CLI docs say internal skills only install when INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1 is set, so the command sets it. We have not run that command, so check npx skills list afterwards.

Does it depend on another skill?

Yes. The SKILL.md says the seam law, the current, the ledger and the Seam Gate live in motion-doctrine, and to read that first. This skill supplies the parameters and mechanics.

Which animation library does it use?

The SKILL.md points to examples/gsap-implementation.md for all code templates, and the other techniques are described in GSAP terms such as power4 eases.

Does it run scripts?

The skill bundles no scripts. Its one extra file is a markdown file of GSAP code templates.

Which transition should I use by default?

Cut the Curve, in the film's current direction. The SKILL.md calls it the default for all scene-to-scene boundaries and says push-slide breaks its partial-travel rule.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository
heygen-com/hyperframes
Folder
.agents/skills/cut-the-curve

heygen-com/hyperframesskills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 4
  1. skills CLI troubleshooting and configuration · github.com
  2. skills CLI: creating skills (metadata.internal) · github.com
  3. heygen-com/hyperframes README · github.com
  4. cut-the-curve SKILL.md · github.com

Updated Nov 2, 2026.