Creative Sources

Use this when scouting animation sites, component libraries, 3D assets, stock media, audio, AI video tools, or design inspiration for shorts.

This is optional source scouting, not a quickstart prerequisite and not license approval. For a first run, start with AGENT-QUICKSTART.md; come here only when a video needs stronger external inspiration or assets.

Fast Path

1. Start from creative-source-scout.
2. Filter the 1000-site candidate catalog by production need.
3. Verify the current license, attribution, pricing, and watermark rules before copying or rendering any external asset.
4. If rights are unclear, use the site as inspiration only and rebuild an original local asset or code-native treatment.

Source To Skill Routing

Need	Use These Sources For	Then Use
Hook cards and animated UI	21st.dev, Magic UI, Aceternity, React Bits, Motion Primitives, Animata, shadcn/ui, Motion	motion-design-coder, hook-overlay
Motion-card lessons	card states, counters, flip words, proof strips, bento layouts	motion-card-lesson-short
3D/gameplay backgrounds	Three.js, React Three Fiber, @remotion/three, Spline, Poly Haven, ambientCG, Kenney, Quaternius	procedural-gameplay-backgrounds
AI image/video lanes	Runway, Luma, Kling/fal, Krea, Replicate, Hugging Face, ComfyUI	shot-prompt-builder, continuity-chain
Stock footage and audio	Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay, Mixkit, Coverr, Videvo, Freesound, Uppbeat	source-media-review, media-index
Music and SFX	YouTube Audio Library, Freesound, OpenGameArt, Pixabay, Mixkit, ZapSplat, Openverse	audio-source-policy, video-render
Fonts and icons	Google Fonts, Fontsource, Heroicons, Lucide, OpenMoji, Noun Project	short-form-production-playbook
Creative coding	p5.js, Book of Shaders, Observable, CodePen, OpenProcessing	motion-design-coder, animation-explainer-short

Best Uses

• Animation and UI sources for hook cards, overlays, explainers, and product demos.
• 3D and game asset sources for caption-clean background loops, characters, props, environments, and textures.
• Stock and visual sources for B-roll, illustrations, icons, mockups, and visual metaphors.
• AI generation sources for provider scouting, model comparison, and experimental visual lanes.
• Audio sources for music beds, SFX, voice references, and sound design.

Technique References

• creative-technique-map.md turns source-site research into motion, 3D, AI-video, stock, audio, font, icon, and creative-coding tactics.
• provenance-and-license-gates.md defines usage modes, asset-ledger fields, safer defaults, hard rejects, and publish gates.
• audio-source-policy.md defines royalty-free/open-licensed audio tiers, YouTube-origin audio rules, Content ID risk fields, and SFX/music handoff gates.

Audio And SFX

• royalty-free is not the same as copyright-free, attribution-free, redistributable, or Content-ID-safe.
• Prefer original/local synthesized SFX, CC0/CC BY audio, or official libraries with saved license evidence.
• Use YouTube Audio Library as the safe YouTube-native path for downloadable music/SFX.
• Treat arbitrary YouTube videos as reference-only unless the user owns the upload, has explicit permission, or can document compatible license plus permitted access.
• Save asset page, license URL, attribution, retrieval date, local hash, certificate/permission evidence, and Content ID risk before publishing.

Minimum Asset Ledger

Track this before public demos use external assets:

• source URL, provider, author, title, license name, and license URL
• retrieval date, local path, file hash, and modification notes
• usage mode: inspiration-only, code-native-rebuild, downloaded-asset, generated-asset, or reference-provider
• attribution text, rights flags, evidence files, and review status

AI-generated assets also need provider, model, prompt, references, job id, settings, seed if available, cost, and output hash.

Hard Rejects

• watermarks, preview badges, sample audio tags, or burned-in source text
• unclear source, missing license, scraper/rehost-only source, or inconsistent license page
• editorial use only, non-commercial, no-derivatives, personal-use, or account-bound assets for public OSS demos
• recognizable people, brands, property, copyrighted characters, or UI where releases or trademark rights are unclear
• music likely to trigger Content ID without stored proof
• arbitrary YouTube audio downloads, reuploaded “no copyright” mixes, or audio with sample tags/preview watermarks

Maintenance

npm run creative-sources:gen
npm run creative-sources:check

The catalog is a brainstorm surface, not a legal approval surface.