Start with three buckets
| Bucket | Admission test |
|---|---|
| Reusable resource | A real file that another edit can call directly, such as a font, music bed, effect, voice reference, logo, or frame image. Record a stable ID, kind, file path, and human-confirmed usage status. |
| Reusable template | An adopted arrangement such as a subtitle style or packaging stack. It has a version, canvas, parameters, resource references, and adoption status. Create a new version when a change would alter an established choice. |
| Reference sample | A finished video or excerpt used to answer what an effect looks like in practice. Record what it demonstrates and which characters, copy, timecodes, or one-off choices stay with that sample. |
The reusable unit differs in each bucket. The font file is a resource. Its size, outline, line count, and subtitle band on a vertical canvas form a template. A video showing the final reading experience is a sample. A single folder called good assets leaves the next editor unable to distinguish a callable file, a reusable arrangement, and an outcome that should only be observed.
Keep interviews, episodes, camera cards, and per-project downloads in their production archives. This library registers postproduction assets and arrangements that can be selected again across projects.
Give every item one clear identity
| Intake field | How to complete it |
|---|---|
| Stable ID | Use a short readable identifier that survives display-title changes. Templates and projects refer to this ID. |
| Current bucket | Choose resource, template, or sample. A template also names subtitle style or packaging; a resource names font, image, or audio kind. |
| Real carrier | A resource points to its actual file, a template records parameters and resource references, and a sample points to its actual clip or reachable path. |
| Reuse boundary | State the resource's job, the template's canvas and scope, or the sample's demonstrates and not-reusable notes. |
| Adoption state | Keep trials as draft. Mark a template adopted only after creator selection. Retire an old version without erasing the history used by prior projects. |
| Start-of-edit action | List the relevant kind, inspect full candidate records, and write final choices into the current project binding. |
Complete the minimum record first, then add notes that help a person choose. Tags can support browsing, but they do not replace a stable ID, real file, and explicit bucket. A project note saying “use the last setup” cannot tell the next editor whether it means one font file, the entire subtitle arrangement, or a reference video.
Original paper example: a reusable kit for a bouldering lesson series
The Wall-Reading Lesson is an original paper project created for this article. Every entry name, path, and version is a teaching placeholder. No files were created, no library was scanned, no command was run, no video was rendered, and no sample was watched. A real project must substitute files readable on the current machine and records actually adopted by its creator.
Each episode explains one indoor bouldering route. The editor wants to reuse a restrained music bed, hold-number graphic, instructional caption arrangement, and static hold-number overlay, while retaining one weight-shift episode as an observation reference.
| Paper entry | Defined use |
|---|---|
bgm-route-focus | BGM resource at the designed path resources/bgm/bgm-route-focus/route-focus.wav; a restrained bed under instruction, with level and entry point decided by the current project. |
font-route-notes | Font resource at resources/font/font-route-notes/RouteNotes-Regular.otf; referenced by the instructional caption template. Fill the internal family only after inspecting the real font. |
image-hold-numbers | Image resource at resources/image/image-hold-numbers/hold-numbers.png; the transparent hold-number graphic. |
boulder-captions@v1 | Landscape subtitle template referencing font-route-notes, with type size, outline, line limit, and subtitle band. |
hold-number-overlay@v2 | Packaging template referencing only the static transparent image-hold-numbers image, with its rectangle and layer order inside the canvas. It does not arrange moving video views. |
weight-shift-sample | Reference sample demonstrating how hold numbers and weight-shift explanation work with real movement. Its athlete, route colors, narration, cuts, and timecodes remain specific to that episode. |
For the next foot-swap lesson, the editor lists known items by kind, inspects the caption and static hold-number templates and their referenced resources, then selects boulder-captions@v1, hold-number-overlay@v2, and bgm-route-focus in the project. The sample guides information order only; its athlete, hold sequence, and narration do not enter the new edit. A vertical episode requires a separately calibrated and adopted template version instead of applying the landscape arrangement unchanged.
List, inspect, then select
The general method has three steps: list known IDs for the current kind, open the full records of a small shortlist, and save the final selection in the project. Start with fonts, subtitle templates, or packaging templates rather than searching the entire drive from memory. During inspection, check the real file, template canvas, adoption state, and sample boundary. Bind only the items used by this project.
At the cited $video-recap revision, the read-only tool uses --library-dir with list, show, and check subcommands:
```bash
python3 scripts/library.py --library-dir <library> list --kind font
python3 scripts/library.py --library-dir <library> show hold-number-overlay@v2
python3 scripts/library.py --library-dir <library> check --json
```
list --kind filters a known kind; it supplies no semantic or recommendation search. show accepts a resource ID, sample ID, or template id@vN. check reads the whole library: errors make an entry unusable, while warnings require human review. The tool never writes the library. Once choices are ready, recap_project.json stores selected subtitle, packaging, voice, or music bindings, and the recap entry point resolves them through --project.
Run a short pre-use review
Before use, review only facts relevant to the current job: resource files remain readable, the template is adopted, its canvas matches the delivery, referenced resources exist, samples remain evidence rather than copyable templates, and project bindings contain the final selection. Record technical check results separately from human content judgment.
If a warning says a resource changed after template adoption, return it to the creator for renewed selection or create a new version. If a sample is unavailable on the current machine, retain its record but stop treating it as viewable evidence. A person records and reviews usage status; placing a file in the directory does not change that status.
This short review answers which known item the team selected and whether it is currently usable. Editing rhythm, subtitle copy, music entry points, and obstruction in specific shots remain decisions for their creative and final-output reviews.
FAQ
Can a reference sample be reused as a template?
A sample shows that an outcome existed. Extract reusable canvas, parameters, and resource references into a versioned template, while explicitly excluding the sample's people, words, cuts, and timecodes.
Does this library replace a raw-footage archive?
Keep source footage and episode media in project archives. This library covers reusable postproduction resources, templates, and reference samples, browsed through known IDs and kinds.
Do it with the skill
Use $video-recap to organize this reusable postproduction set. Put real fonts, audio, and images in resources; store adopted subtitle or packaging arrangements as canvas-specific versioned templates; and register finished videos only as reference samples. List known IDs by kind, inspect shortlisted records, run the read-only check, and save final resource and template choices in the current recap_project.json. Keep raw-footage archiving and semantic search outside this task.
Read the method: Resources, templates, samples, and project binding · Read-only library list, show, and check arguments · Material-library boundary, resource registry, and project entry point