Reddit Story Split-Screen

May 2, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Status: workflow lane; demo rebuild required

This lane describes the split-screen Reddit story grammar. The previous public demo was archived after video audit caught black gutters/boxed source media, so do not treat it as a current showcase.

This page is for the reddit-story-split-screen archetype:

  • 5s Reddit opener card with upvotes/awards
  • story-related footage on the top half after the opener
  • Subway Surfers gameplay on the bottom half
  • captions overlaid near the midpoint between lanes

For the more common Reddit format where the Reddit post card appears over full-screen gameplay and then captions continue over gameplay, use reddit-post-over-gameplay:

Archived reference clip:

Use this only as a historical reference for story structure. A new public demo must pass gutter detection, audio checks, 1080x1920 format, and caption review before it is linked from docs/demo.

The isolated empty-project Codex evaluation scaffold is:

Quick ingredients:

Runtime Pattern

  1. Generate a Reddit opener asset.
  2. Generate or write the story script.
  3. Generate audio and timestamps.
  4. Build a top-lane video plan from real motion clips.
  5. Keep gameplay on the bottom half.
  6. Render 1080x1920 with a true 50/50 split.
  7. Export captions and run review.
  8. Use motion-design-coder for opener-card motion, split-lane transitions, receipt/card reveals, and caption-safe midpoint motion.
  9. Run npm run review:demo-videos before promoting the MP4.

Reddit Opener Asset

cat skills/reddit-card-overlay/examples/request.json | \
  node --import tsx scripts/harness/reddit-story-assets.ts

The opener should be a screenshot-style card, not fake HTML chrome.

Story Lane Rules

  • opener lasts about 4s to 5s
  • top-lane footage should turn over every 2s to 4s
  • default to full-bleed lanes; if a source has black gutters, crop the useful center or use a blurred/motion fill
  • use contained/padded framing only when crop-fill would cut off the Reddit card, receipt, face, or key subject
  • captions should not need a dedicated black seam band

Codex / Claude Project Shape

In an installed skill pack, the same lane should be described to the agent in roughly this form:

  • lane: reddit-story-split-screen
  • render: 1080x1920
  • opener: Reddit card first
  • top lane: story-related moving footage
  • bottom lane: Subway Surfers gameplay
  • captions: midpoint overlay with active-word highlighting
  • reject static backgrounds, silent audio, and buggy Reddit cards

See also: