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 appears at a specific point
const scale = spring({ frame: frame - delay, fps, config: { damping: 8, stiffness: 80 } });
<div style={{
  position: "absolute",
  left: x - 20, top: y - 20,
  width: 40, height: 40,
  borderRadius: "50%",
  border: "3px solid #3B82F6",
  transform: `scale(${scale})`,
  opacity: Math.min(1, scale),
}} />

Background Music

Add a subtle background track:

import { Audio } from "remotion";

<Audio src={staticFile("music/background.mp3")} volume={0.15} />

Intro and Outro Slides

Add title card at start and CTA at end:

// First sequence: Title card (3 seconds)
<TransitionSeries.Sequence durationInFrames={90}>
  <TitleCard projectName="MyApp" tagline="The future of project management" />
</TransitionSeries.Sequence>

// ... screen sequences ...

// Last sequence: CTA card (4 seconds)
<TransitionSeries.Sequence durationInFrames={120}>
  <CtaCard url="myapp.com" text="Try it free" />
</TransitionSeries.Sequence>

Transition Reference

Name	Effect	Best for
fade	Cross-fade dissolve	Default, works everywhere
slide-left	New screen slides in from right	Sequential flow (next page)
slide-right	New screen slides in from left	Going back
slide-up	New screen slides in from bottom	Drill-down into detail
wipe	Wipe transition	Dramatic reveal
none	Hard cut	Quick comparison

Output Options

Format	Command	Use case
MP4 (H.264)	--codec h264	Universal compatibility
WebM (VP8)	--codec vp8	Web embedding, smaller files
GIF	--image-format png then ffmpeg	Short loops, social media
PNG sequence	--image-format png --sequence	Post-production editing

Tips

• 1280x720 is ideal for web walkthrough videos (good quality, reasonable file size)
• 3-5 seconds per screen feels natural — longer for complex screens
• Fade is the safest transition — use others sparingly for emphasis
• Text overlays need contrast — use text-shadow or semi-transparent background
• Ken Burns effect (subtle zoom) prevents static screenshots from feeling dead
• Preview before rendering — npx remotion studio saves time vs full renders
• Keep it under 90 seconds — attention drops sharply after that

Common Pitfalls

• ❌ Using screenshots at different dimensions (causes scaling issues)
• ❌ Too many transition types (pick 1-2 and stay consistent)
• ❌ Text overlays that are too small or lack contrast
• ❌ No intro/outro — video feels abrupt
• ❌ Rendering before previewing (wastes time on fixable issues)
• ❌ Forgetting staticFile() for assets in public/ directory