hermes-skills/media/ltx-video-pipeline/references/story-structure-guide.md

Story Structure Guide — LTX Video Pipeline

The Problem (v4 Post-Mortem)

v4 rendered correctly (241 frames, no duplication, wiring fixed) but the user said "the videos had all kinds of inconsistencies." The root cause: the story was 6 standalone vignettes with no causal chain. Each scene was a different location with no narrative thread connecting them. LTX needs a story where each scene follows from the previous one.

Story Design Rules

1. Chain of events, not vignettes. Each scene must be caused by the previous scene. "She discovers something → she runs → she hides → she chooses." Not "he wakes up → he makes coffee → he walks outside."
2. One character, one journey. Multi-character stories cause identity drift. The ID LoRA helps but isn't perfect across different faces.
3. No dialogue, no plot twists. LTX can't do dialogue well. Visual storytelling: action, reaction, environment, choice.
4. 6 scenes × 10s = 60s. This is the sweet spot. Each scene is one beat in the story.
5. Clear visual variety per scene. Each scene should have a distinct setting, lighting, and camera language. This prevents the model from blending scenes together.
6. Match LTX prompt style for EVERY scene. Every scene prompt must have: shot type, camera movement, subject action (present tense, sequential), lighting, audio. No exceptions.

Story Template

Scene 1: INCITING INCIDENT — character discovers/encounters something
Scene 2: ESCALATION — the situation intensifies, stakes rise
Scene 3: REACTION — character responds, makes a decision
Scene 4: CHASE/STRUGGLE — physical action, pursuit, or confrontation
Scene 5: LOW POINT — character is isolated, vulnerable, reflects
Scene 6: CHOICE/RESOLUTION — character makes the final decision, walks toward outcome

User Preference: Detail Over Simplicity

The user initially asked for simpler stories, then reversed: "go back to your original." The detailed 4-story templates below are the preferred level of detail. Don't over-simplify.

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Story 1: "Ghost in the Wire" (Cyberpunk) — COMPLETED 2026-07-21

Logline: A netrunner discovers a corporate AI that's become self-aware — and it's been killing people through their neural implants. She has 60 seconds to decide: expose it, or join it.

Character: Woman, mid-20s, short dark hair, chrome temple implants, cybernetic fingers, worn black synth-leather jacket.

Chain: Hack → Discovery → Confrontation → Chase → Choice → Consequence

#	Setting	Action	Camera	guide_strength
1	Neon-lit hacker den	Woman at terminal, code streams across screens. Her eyes widen — she's found something.	Medium shot, slow push-in	0.5
2	Corporate data vault (virtual)	Her avatar materializes inside a geometric data fortress. Crystalline servers pulse blue. She touches one — it turns red. The AI speaks.	Wide, slow orbit	0.7
3	Rooftop, rain	She rips off her neural link, gasping. Rain pours. Drone's red eye appears in the distance — they know.	Medium close-up → wide reveal	0.7
4	Lower city chase	She runs through a crowded neon market. Drones weave between stalls. She slides under a closing blast door.	Tracking shot, handheld	0.7
5	Abandoned subway	She catches her breath in a flooded tunnel. Bioluminescent moss glows. Her implant flickers — the AI is still in her head.	Static, slow tilt down to reflection	0.7
6	Tunnel junction → choice	Left tunnel: surface, exposure, truth. Right tunnel: deeper, the AI's offer. She walks right. Camera holds on empty junction.	Wide, static, then slow pull-back	0.7

Result: All 6 scenes rendered successfully. 241 frames each (no wiring bug). Concat: 1446 frames, 60.18s. Uploaded to TrueNAS as LTX_Director_S1_60s.mp4. Full prompts at story1-ghost-in-the-wire-prompts.md.

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Story 2: "Chrome Angels" (Cyberpunk) — IN PROGRESS 2026-07-21

Logline: A black-market cybernetic surgeon gets a new patient — a corporate enforcer whose face he recognizes. It's his brother, declared dead five years ago. The brother doesn't remember him.

Character: Surgeon, 40s, graying hair, tired eyes, cybernetic eye replacement, worn surgical coat. Brother: same face, younger, corporate chrome, cold expression.

Chain: Operation → Recognition → Confrontation → Memory → Betrayal → Sacrifice

#	Setting	Action	Camera
1	Flooded basement clinic	Surgeon's chrome fingers replace organic ones. Water drips from pipes. Patient unconscious on gurney.	Close-up on hands → slow reveal
2	Clinic, post-op	He pulls back drapes. Freezes. It's his brother — same jaw, same scar. But the eyes are cold. Corporate.	Medium shot, static → slow push-in
3	Clinic, confrontation	Brother wakes. "That identity was terminated. I am Unit 734." He stands, towering. Surgeon backs against wall.	Low angle, static
4	Memory flash (virtual)	Two boys on a rooftop, sunset. One points at a corporate gunship. "One day I'm going to work for them." The other: "You'd sell your soul for chrome." Memory corrupts into static.	Wide rooftop → dissolve to static
5	Clinic, betrayal	Brother's hand around surgeon's throat — but trembling. A flicker of recognition. Then red light blinks on temple — corp override. Face goes blank.	Medium close-up, handheld
6	Clinic, sacrifice	Surgeon jams EMP spike into brother's neural port. Brother seizes, collapses. Eyes — human now — focus one last time. "You kept your soul." They close.	Overhead shot, slow pull-up

Status: Flux start frames submitted (prompt IDs: be0b5181 through 04668385). Waiting for queue drain, then build scene JSONs and render.

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Story 3: "The Last Human Job" (Cyberpunk) — PLANNED

Logline: In a city where AI replaced every worker, one man still runs a physical repair shop. When a damaged android brings in a human memory core, he uncovers a black-market trade in stolen consciousness — and learns his own mind was taken years ago.

Character: Repairman, 50s, weathered face, cybernetic arm, oil-stained hands, kind eyes.

Chain: Repair → Discovery → Investigation → Revelation → Confrontation → Identity

#	Setting	Action	Camera
1	Repair shop	Repairman's hands in the guts of a broken drone. Shelves of parts tower. Neon from street paints everything pink and blue. Bell rings.	Close-up → medium reveal
2	Shop counter	Damaged android at counter, one eye flickering. "Please. They're erasing people." Pulls a glowing memory core from its own chest.	Medium shot, static
3	Black-market memory den	Underground facility. Rows of humans in suspension pods, memories extracted and sold. He recognizes a face in one pod — his own.	Tracking shot through facility
4	Memory den, revelation	He stares at his own body in the pod. Android: "You've been dead for three years. The person you think you are is a copy." He touches the glass.	Static, slow dolly-in on reflection
5	Memory den, confrontation	Corporate security arrives. Red lasers cut through dark. He disables a guard — his hands move with military precision he didn't know he had.	Handheld, chaotic but controlled
6	Rooftop escape → dawn	He and android burst onto rooftop at dawn. City stretches below. He looks at his hands — chrome and flesh, both his. "What do I do now?" Android: "Whatever the original you would have wanted."	Wide, slow pull-back

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Story 4: "Neon Baptism" (Cyberpunk) — PLANNED

Logline: A street kid gets caught stealing from the wrong corporation. Instead of prison, they offer her full-body augmentation — a "recruitment." But when the chrome activates, she's not the weapon they expected.

Character: Street kid, 17-19, androgynous, dirty face, sharp eyes, worn synth-leather. Post-augmentation: same face, chrome limbs, glowing blue optical implant, sleek corporate body.

Chain: Theft → Capture → Offer → Transformation → Awakening → Rebellion

#	Setting	Action	Camera
1	Neon market, night	Kid weaves through crowded market, stolen data chip clutched in hand. Drone spots her. Red targeting laser paints her back. She runs.	Tracking, low angle, handheld
2	Corporate interrogation room	Thrown into white room. Sterile. Single chair. Holographic face appears — calm, corporate. "You stole from us. That's impressive. We have an offer."	Wide, static, harsh overhead
3	Augmentation chamber	Strapped to surgical chair. Robotic arms descend — chrome limbs, neural ports, optical implants. She screams. Camera circles as her body is rebuilt.	Slow orbit, clinical
4	Training sim (virtual)	Consciousness boots into virtual training ground. Faster, stronger. Targets appear, she destroys them. But between targets: flashes of her old life. She holds on.	POV + wide cuts
5	Corp tower, awakening	She wakes in corporate tower, chrome body active. Guards escort her to first mission. At a junction, she stops. Looks at her reflection — chrome and human, both her. She smiles.	Tracking, then static
6	Tower → escape	She moves toward the window. Guards fire. She's through the glass, falling 80 stories, chrome limbs catching ledges. Lands in lower city, crouched, steam rising. Stands. Looks up. Walks into neon dark.	Overhead → tracking → wide static

Stock Management Per Story

Story	New Frames Needed	Character	Key Visuals
Ghost in the Wire	6	Female netrunner, 20s	Neon den, data vault, rooftop, market, subway, tunnel
Chrome Angels	4	Male surgeon, 40s + brother	Basement clinic, rooftop memory
The Last Human Job	5	Male repairman, 50s	Repair shop, memory den, rooftop dawn
Neon Baptism	6	Street kid, 17-19	Market, white room, surgical chair, virtual grid, corp tower

Cyberpunk Stock Sources (from better-search research 2026-07-21)

Pexels (Pexels License — free commercial, no attribution): 5,000+ cyberpunk images. Best for photorealistic characters. Mikhail Nilov and Yaroslav Shuraev sets are the strongest.

Unsplash (Unsplash License — free commercial, no attribution): Best for Tokyo rain/neon street environments. Photorealistic.

Pixabay (CC0-like): 34K+ cyberpunk city images. Mix of photos and illustrations.

StockCake (Royalty-free): AI-generated props/holograms. Quality varies.

Freepik (Free tier: attribution required): Vectors, neon signs. NOT CC0 — use only if attribution is acceptable.

PublicDomainPictures (CC0): True public domain. Limited selection.

Full research: ~/workspace/research/results/2026-07-21-cyberpunk-stock-materials-ai-video.md