walkthrough-video

Walkthrough Video Generator

Create professional walkthrough videos from app screenshots or live sites using Remotion. Produces smooth, polished MP4 videos with transitions, zoom effects, and text overlays.

Overview

This skill takes a set of screenshots (or captures them from a running app) and orchestrates them into a Remotion video composition with:

• Smooth transitions between screens (fade, slide, wipe)
• Zoom effects to highlight specific UI areas
• Text overlays with titles, descriptions, and callouts
• Progress indicators showing position in the walkthrough
• Optional voiceover narration track

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed
• Screenshots of the app (or a running app to screenshot)
• No Remotion experience needed — the skill generates all code

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Screenshots

Choose one approach:

Option A: From Existing Screenshots

If the user already has screenshots (e.g. from design-loop or product-showcase):

Read screenshots from:
- .design/screenshots/
- .jez/screenshots/
- User-specified directory

Sort them in walkthrough order (alphabetically by filename, or as user specifies).

Option B: Capture from Running App

If the app is running locally:

1. Start Playwright CLI session
2. Navigate through each screen in sequence
3. Screenshot at consistent dimensions (1280x720 recommended for video)
4. Save to video/public/screens/

playwright-cli -s=walkthrough open http://localhost:3000
playwright-cli -s=walkthrough resize 1280 720
playwright-cli -s=walkthrough screenshot --filename=video/public/screens/01-home.png
# Navigate to next page...
playwright-cli -s=walkthrough screenshot --filename=video/public/screens/02-dashboard.png

Option C: From Live URL

Same as Option B but with a public URL. Screenshot each key page.

Step 2: Create Screen Manifest

Build a screens.json describing the walkthrough:

{
  "projectName": "My App Walkthrough",
  "fps": 30,
  "width": 1280,
  "height": 720,
  "screens": [
    {
      "id": "home",
      "title": "Welcome to MyApp",
      "description": "The landing page introduces the core value proposition",
      "imagePath": "screens/01-home.png",
      "durationSeconds": 4,
      "transition": "fade",
      "zoomTarget": null
    },
    {
      "id": "dashboard",
      "title": "Your Dashboard",
      "description": "See all your projects at a glance",
      "imagePath": "screens/02-dashboard.png",
      "durationSeconds": 5,
      "transition": "slide-left",
      "zoomTarget": { "x": 100, "y": 200, "width": 400, "height": 300, "delay": 2 }
    }
  ]
}

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | id | string | Unique screen identifier | | title | string | Text overlay title | | description | string | Subtitle or narration text | | imagePath | string | Path relative to video/public/ | | durationSeconds | number | How long to show this screen | | transition | string | fade, slide-left, slide-right, slide-up, wipe, none | | zoomTarget | object/null | If set, zoom into this region after delay seconds |

Step 3: Scaffold Remotion Project

If no Remotion project exists:

mkdir -p video
cd video
npm init -y
npm install remotion @remotion/cli @remotion/transitions react react-dom
npm install -D typescript @types/react

Create the project structure:

video/
├── src/
│   ├── Root.tsx                    # Remotion entry point
│   ├── WalkthroughComposition.tsx  # Main composition
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── ScreenSlide.tsx         # Individual screen display
│   │   ├── TextOverlay.tsx         # Title/description overlay
│   │   ├── ProgressBar.tsx         # Walkthrough progress indicator
│   │   └── ZoomEffect.tsx          # Zoom into regions
│   └── config.ts                   # Load screens.json, calculate durations
├── public/
│   └── screens/                    # Screenshot assets
│       ├── 01-home.png
│       └── 02-dashboard.png
├── screens.json                    # Screen manifest
├── remotion.config.ts
├── tsconfig.json
└── package.json

Step 4: Generate Remotion Components

Generate each component file. Key patterns:

Root.tsx

import { Composition } from "remotion";
import { WalkthroughComposition } from "./WalkthroughComposition";
import { screens, totalDurationInFrames, FPS, WIDTH, HEIGHT } from "./config";

export const RemotionRoot = () => (
  <Composition
    id="Walkthrough"
    component={WalkthroughComposition}
    durationInFrames={totalDurationInFrames}
    fps={FPS}
    width={WIDTH}
    height={HEIGHT}
    defaultProps={{ screens }}
  />
);

ScreenSlide.tsx Pattern

import { AbsoluteFill, Img, spring, useCurrentFrame, useVideoConfig } from "remotion";

interface ScreenSlideProps {
  imageSrc: string;
  title: string;
  description: string;
}

export const ScreenSlide: React.FC<ScreenSlideProps> = ({ imageSrc, title, description }) => {
  const frame = useCurrentFrame();
  const { fps } = useVideoConfig();

  // Fade in
  const opacity = spring({ frame, fps, config: { damping: 20 } });

  // Subtle zoom (Ken Burns effect)
  const scale = 1 + frame * 0.0002;

  return (
    <AbsoluteFill style={{ backgroundColor: "#000" }}>
      <Img
        src={imageSrc}
        style={{
          width: "100%",
          height: "100%",
          objectFit: "contain",
          opacity,
          transform: `scale(${scale})`,
        }}
      />
      {/* Text overlay at bottom */}
      <div style={{
        position: "absolute",
        bottom: 40,
        left: 40,
        right: 40,
        opacity: spring({ frame: frame - 15, fps, config: { damping: 20 } }),
      }}>
        <h2 style={{ color: "#fff", fontSize: 32, fontWeight: 700, textShadow: "0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.8)" }}>
          {title}
        </h2>
        <p style={{ color: "#ccc", fontSize: 18, textShadow: "0 1px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.8)" }}>
          {description}
        </p>
      </div>
    </AbsoluteFill>
  );
};

Transitions Between Screens

Use @remotion/transitions for transitions:

import { TransitionSeries } from "@remotion/transitions";
import { fade } from "@remotion/transitions/fade";
import { slide } from "@remotion/transitions/slide";

// In WalkthroughComposition:
<TransitionSeries>
  {screens.map((screen, i) => (
    <TransitionSeries.Sequence
      key={screen.id}
      durationInFrames={screen.durationSeconds * FPS}
    >
      <ScreenSlide {...screen} />
    </TransitionSeries.Sequence>
    // Add transition between screens (not after last)
    {i < screens.length - 1 && (
      <TransitionSeries.Transition
        presentation={getTransition(screens[i + 1].transition)}
        timing={springTiming({ config: { damping: 20 }, durationInFrames: 15 })}
      />
    )}
  ))}
</TransitionSeries>

Step 5: Preview and Refine

cd video
npx remotion studio

This opens a browser-based preview. Check:

• Timing feels right for each screen
• Transitions are smooth
• Text overlays are readable
• Zoom targets hit the right area
• Progress bar (if included) is accurate

Step 6: Render the Video

cd video
npx remotion render Walkthrough output.mp4 --codec h264

For higher quality:

npx remotion render Walkthrough output.mp4 --codec h264 --quality 90

For web-optimised (smaller file):

npx remotion render Walkthrough output.webm --codec vp8

Advanced Features

Zoom to Region

Zoom into a specific area of the screen to highlight a feature:

// In ZoomEffect.tsx — interpolate scale and translate
const zoomScale = interpolate(frame, [delayFrames, delayFrames + 30], [1, 2.5], {
  extrapolateRight: "clamp",
});
const translateX = interpolate(frame, [delayFrames, delayFrames + 30], [0, -targetX], {
  extrapolateRight: "clamp",
});

Animated Callout Circles

Draw attention to UI elements:

// Pulsing circle that appear