chuk-motion

AI-powered video generation with Remotion - A design-system-first approach to creating professional multi-platform videos

Overview

chuk-motion is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that brings the power of Remotion video generation to AI assistants like Claude. It provides a design-system-first approach with comprehensive design tokens, enabling AI to create professional, animated videos optimized for YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram Stories, and more.

Key Features

• 🎨 Complete Design System: Design tokens for colors, typography, spacing, and motion

• 📱 Multi-Platform Support: Safe margins for LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

• 🎬 51 Video Components: Charts, code blocks, scenes, overlays, layouts, animations, text animations, transitions, and demo realism

• 🎨 7 Built-in Themes: Tech, Finance, Education, Lifestyle, Gaming, Minimal, Business

• ⚡ Track-Based Timeline: Professional multi-track composition system

• 🤖 LLM-Friendly: Discoverable components with detailed schemas

• 📊 Data Visualization: Animated charts (Pie, Bar, Line, Area, Donut, Horizontal Bar)

• 💻 Code Display: Syntax-highlighted code blocks with typing animations

Design System

Four Token Categories

1. Colors (tokens/colors.py)

   • 7 theme palettes optimized for video

   • Dark/light mode support (on_dark, on_light)

   • Background variants (dark, light, glass)

   • Semantic colors (success, warning, error, info)

2. Typography (tokens/typography.py)

   • Font scales for 720p, 1080p, 4K

   • Primary and code font stacks

   • Font weights, line heights, letter spacing

   • Video-optimized readability

3. Spacing (tokens/spacing.py) ⭐ NEW

   • 10-step spacing scale (4px - 120px)

   • 7 platform safe margins: LinkedIn, Instagram Stories/Square, TikTok, YouTube, Mobile

   • Border radius tokens

   • Layout width tokens

4. Motion (tokens/motion.py)

   • Spring configurations for animations

   • Easing curves (ease-out, ease-in-out, bounce)

   • Duration presets (fast, normal, slow)

Platform Safe Margins

Ensure your content isn't cropped by platform UIs:

Component Library

📊 Charts (6 components)

All charts support design tokens and smooth animations:

• PieChart - Proportions and percentages

• BarChart - Vertical bar comparisons

• HorizontalBarChart - Ranked horizontal bars with top 3 highlighting

• LineChart - Trends over time

• AreaChart - Filled area trends

• DonutChart - Ring chart with center stat

🎬 Scenes (2 components)

• TitleScene - Full-screen animated titles (4 variants, 5 animations)

• EndScreen - YouTube end screens with CTAs (4 variants)

🎨 Overlays (3 components)

• LowerThird - Name plates (5 variants, 5 positions)

• TextOverlay - Animated text emphasis (5 styles, 5 animations)

• SubscribeButton - Animated subscribe button (5 animations)

💻 Code (3 components)

• CodeBlock - Syntax-highlighted code display (4 variants: minimal, terminal, editor, glass)

• TypingCode - Character-by-character typing animation (4 variants, 4 cursor styles)

• CodeDiff - Side-by-side code comparison with syntax highlighting

📐 Layouts (17 components)

Professional video layouts for multi-platform content:

• AsymmetricLayout - Main feed (2/3) + stacked demo panels (1/3)

• Container - Content container with optional borders and backgrounds

• DialogueFrame - Conversation-style layout with speaker/audience

• FocusStrip - Main content with focus strip overlay

• Grid - Flexible grid layouts (8 types: 1x2, 2x1, 2x2, 3x2, 2x3, 3x3, 4x2, 2x4)

• HUDStyle - HUD-style overlay layout (4 corners + center)

• Mosaic - Multi-clip mosaic grid layout

• OverTheShoulder - Presenter with screen content

• PerformanceMultiCam - Primary camera + up to 4 secondary cameras

• PiP - Picture-in-picture with positioning

• SplitScreen - Side-by-side or top/bottom splits (4 divider styles)

• StackedReaction - Content with stacked reactions

• ThreeByThreeGrid - 3x3 grid layout for multiple items

• ThreeColumnLayout - Three-column layout

• ThreeRowLayout - Three-row layout

• Timeline - Timeline-based event display

• Vertical - Two-panel vertical split

🎬 Animations (3 components)

• Counter - Animated number counter (4 animations: count_up, flip, slot_machine, digital)

• LayoutEntrance - Layout entrance animations for smooth component reveals

• PanelCascade - Cascading panel animations for sequential reveals

✨ Text Animations (6 components)

Dynamic text effects inspired by ReactBits:

• TypewriterText - Classic typewriter animation with optional blinking cursor

• StaggerText - Staggered reveal with spring physics (character or word-based)

• WavyText - Continuous wave motion with sine wave oscillation

• TrueFocus - Word-by-word focus cycling with animated corner brackets

• DecryptedText - Character scrambling reveal with multiple directions

• FuzzyText - VHS glitch effects with scanlines and RGB split

🎭 Demo Realism (4 components)

Realistic UI mockups and demonstrations:

• BeforeAfterSlider - Interactive before/after comparison slider

• BrowserFrame - Browser window with realistic chrome and tabs

• DeviceFrame - Device mockups (phone, tablet, desktop) with content

• Terminal - Terminal window with command history and typing

📦 Content (5 components)

• DemoBox - Reusable content container for demos

• ImageContent - Image display with flexible sizing (contain, cover, fill) and styling options

• StylizedWebPage - Stylized webpage mockup for demonstrations

• VideoContent - Video content placeholder with controls

• WebPage - Clean webpage mockup with customizable content

🔄 Transitions (2 components)

• LayoutTransition - Smooth transitions between different layouts

• PixelTransition - Pixelated transition effects

Total: 51 production-ready components - All using design tokens with comprehensive test coverage!

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+

• Node.js 18+ (for Remotion)

• npm or yarn

Install Python Package

# Install dependencies with uv (recommended)
uv pip install -e .

# Or with pip
pip install -e .

Install Remotion

# Remotion is installed per-project automatically
# The MCP server handles this when generating projects

Quick Start

1. Start the MCP Server

STDIO Mode (for Claude Desktop):

python -m chuk_motion.server stdio

HTTP Mode (for testing/development):

python -m chuk_motion.server http --port 8000

2. Create a Project

# Via MCP tools
remotion_create_project(
    name="my_video",
    theme="tech",
    fps=30,
    width=1920,
    height=1080
)

3. Add Components

# Add a title scene
remotion_add_title_scene(
    text="Welcome to AI Videos",
    subtitle="Created with Design Tokens",
    variant="bold",
    animation="fade_zoom",
    duration="3s"
)

# Add a chart with safe margins
remotion_add_pie_chart(
    data='[{"label": "AI", "value": 40}, {"label": "ML", "value": 30}]',
    title="Technology Distribution",
    duration="4s",
    gap_before="1s"  # Time strings supported!
)

# Add code with typing animation
remotion_add_typing_code(
    code="console.log('Hello, World!');",
    language="javascript",
    title="Example Code",
    typing_speed="medium",
    duration="5s"
)

# Add images
remotion_add_image_content(
    src="https://picsum.photos/1920/1080",
    fit="cover",
    duration="3s"
)

4. Render the Video

cd remotion-projects/my_video
npm install
npm start  # Preview in browser
npm run build  # Render to MP4

Examples

The examples/ directory contains production-ready demos:

Design System Showcases

# Complete design system showcase (90 seconds)
python examples/design_system_showcase.py

# Platform safe margins demo (60 seconds)
python examples/safe_margins_demo.py

# Explore all design tokens
python examples/explore_design_system.py

Component Showcases

# Complete text animations showcase (52.5 seconds)
python examples/all_text_animations_demo.py

# Image layouts showcase - 17 examples (127 seconds)
python examples/image_layouts_showcase.py

# Content showcase - All 5 content components
python examples/content_showcase.py

# Fibonacci code typing demo
python examples/fibonacci_demo.py

All examples use the ProjectManager API with the track-based timeline system.

MCP Tools Reference

Project Management

• remotion_create_project(name, theme, fps, width, height) - Create new project

• remotion_get_project_info() - Get current project info

• remotion_list_projects() - List all projects

Component Tools (50 total)

Charts

• remotion_add_pie_chart(data, title, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_bar_chart(data, title, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_horizontal_bar_chart(data, title, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_line_chart(data, title, xlabel, ylabel, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_area_chart(data, title, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_donut_chart(data, title, duration, track, gap_before)

Overlays

• remotion_add_title_scene(text, subtitle, variant, animation, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_end_screen(cta_text, variant, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_lower_third(name, title, variant, position, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_text_overlay(text, style, animation, position, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_subscribe_button(animation, position, duration, track, gap_before)

Code

• remotion_add_code_block(code, language, title, variant, animation, show_line_numbers, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_typing_code(code, language, title, variant, cursor_style, typing_speed, show_line_numbers, duration, track, gap_before)

Layouts

• remotion_add_grid(children, layout, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_container(content, border, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_split_screen(left, right, variant, duration, track, gap_before)

Animations

• remotion_add_counter(start_value, end_value, prefix, suffix, decimals, animation, duration, track, gap_before)

Text Animations

• remotion_add_typewriter_text(text, font_size, font_weight, text_color, cursor_color, show_cursor, type_speed, position, align, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_stagger_text(text, font_size, font_weight, text_color, stagger_by, stagger_delay, animation_type, position, align, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_wavy_text(text, font_size, font_weight, text_color, wave_amplitude, wave_speed, wave_frequency, position, align, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_true_focus(text, font_size, font_weight, text_color, word_duration, position, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_decrypted_text(text, font_size, font_weight, text_color, reveal_direction, scramble_speed, position, duration, track, gap_before)

• remotion_add_fuzzy_text(text, font_size, font_weight, text_color, glitch_intensity, animate, position, duration, track, gap_before)

Discovery Tools

• remotion_list_components(category) - List available components

• remotion_search_components(query) - Search components

• remotion_get_component_schema(name) - Get component details

• remotion_list_themes() - List available themes

• remotion_get_theme_info(name) - Get theme details

Token Tools

• remotion_list_color_tokens() - Color palettes

• remotion_list_typography_tokens() - Typography system

• remotion_list_motion_tokens() - Motion design

• remotion_list_spacing_tokens() ⭐ NEW - Spacing and safe margins

Info Tools

• remotion_get_info() - Server information and statistics

Time String Format ⭐ NEW

All duration and timing parameters support flexible time strings:

# String formats
duration="2s"       # 2 seconds
duration="500ms"    # 500 milliseconds
duration="1.5s"     # 1.5 seconds
duration="1m"       # 1 minute (60 seconds)
gap_before="1s"     # 1 second gap
gap_before="250ms"  # 250ms gap

# Float format still works
duration=2.0
gap_before=0.5

Track-Based Timeline System

The timeline uses a professional multi-track approach:

# Main track: Sequential auto-stacking
remotion_add_title_scene(...)  # Starts at 0s
remotion_add_pie_chart(...)    # Auto-stacks after title
remotion_add_bar_chart(...)    # Auto-stacks after pie chart

# Overlay track: Layers on top
remotion_add_text_overlay(..., track="overlay", align_to="main", offset=5.0)

# Background track: Behind main content
remotion_add_background(..., track="background")

Default Tracks:

• main (layer 0) - Primary content, auto-stacks with 0.5s gap

• overlay (layer 10) - Text overlays, UI elements

• background (layer -10) - Background media

Themes

Tech Theme

Modern tech aesthetic with blue/cyan palette

• Colors: Primary blue (#0066FF), Accent cyan (#00D9FF)

• Use Cases: Tech reviews, coding tutorials, software demos

Finance Theme

Professional finance with green/gold

• Colors: Primary green (#00C853), Accent gold (#FFD600)

• Use Cases: Stock analysis, investing advice, business news

Education Theme

Friendly education with purple/orange

• Colors: Primary purple (#7C4DFF), Accent orange (#FF6E40)

• Use Cases: Educational content, explainers, courses

Gaming Theme

High-energy gaming with neon accents

• Colors: Neon green (#00E676), Neon purple (#E040FB)

• Use Cases: Gaming videos, esports, stream overlays

Minimal Theme

Clean monochrome aesthetic

• Colors: Grayscale with subtle accents

• Use Cases: Professional content, documentaries

Lifestyle Theme

Warm lifestyle with coral/pink

• Colors: Pink (#FF6B9D), Coral (#FFB74D)

• Use Cases: Vlogs, lifestyle, wellness, travel

Business Theme

Professional business with navy/teal

• Colors: Navy (#1565C0), Teal (#00ACC1)

• Use Cases: Corporate videos, presentations, B2B

Configuration for Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remotion": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "chuk_motion.server", "stdio"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_STDIO": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development

Project Structure

chuk-motion/
├── src/chuk_motion/
│   ├── server.py              # Main MCP server
│   ├── async_server.py        # Async MCP server variant
│   ├── video_manager.py       # High-level video management ⭐ NEW
│   ├── tokens/                # Design tokens
│   │   ├── colors.py         # Color palettes (7 themes)
│   │   ├── typography.py     # Typography system
│   │   ├── motion.py         # Motion design
│   │   ├── spacing.py        # Spacing & safe margins
│   │   └── token_manager.py  # Token import/export
│   ├── themes/               # Theme system
│   │   └── youtube_themes.py # 7 YouTube-optimized themes
│   ├── components/           # Component library (51 components)
│   │   ├── charts/          # 6 chart components
│   │   ├── overlays/        # 3 overlay components
│   │   ├── code/            # 3 code components
│   │   ├── layouts/         # 17 layout components
│   │   ├── animations/      # 3 animation components
│   │   ├── text_animations/ # 6 text animation components
│   │   ├── frames/          # 3 frame components
│   │   ├── transitions/     # 2 transition components
│   │   └── content/         # 5 content components
│   ├── generator/            # TSX generation
│   │   ├── component_builder.py    # Jinja2 templating
│   │   ├── composition_builder.py  # Component instances
│   │   └── timeline.py            # Track-based timeline
│   ├── render/               # Video rendering ⭐ NEW
│   │   ├── project_exporter.py    # Remotion project export
│   │   └── video_renderer.py      # MP4 rendering via CLI
│   ├── rendering/            # Remotion integration
│   │   └── remotion_renderer.py   # Remotion rendering
│   ├── storage/              # Artifact storage ⭐ NEW
│   │   └── artifact_storage.py    # chuk-artifacts integration
│   ├── tools/                # MCP tools
│   │   ├── theme_tools.py         # Theme management tools
│   │   ├── token_tools.py         # Token tools
│   │   └── artifact_tools.py      # Artifact management tools
│   ├── utils/                # Utilities
│   │   ├── project_manager.py     # Project scaffolding
│   │   └── async_project_manager.py # Async project manager
│   └── models/               # Pydantic models
│       ├── artifact_models.py     # Storage models
│       └── responses.py           # Response models
├── examples/                 # Production examples
│   ├── design_system_showcase.py
│   ├── safe_margins_demo.py
│   ├── fibonacci_demo.py
│   └── explore_design_system.py
├── tests/                    # 1471 tests
├── remotion-templates/       # Base Remotion templates
└── remotion-projects/        # Generated projects (gitignored)

Running Tests

# Run all tests
make test

# Run with coverage
make test-cov

Code Quality

# Run all checks (linting, type checking, tests)
make check

# Individual checks
make lint       # Ruff linting
make format     # Ruff formatting
make typecheck  # MyPy type checking
make test       # Run all tests

All checks must pass before committing! The make check command runs linting, type checking, and all 1471 tests to ensure code quality.

Recent Updates ⭐

Video Rendering & Storage (December 2025)

• ✅ Video Renderer: Full Remotion CLI integration for MP4 export

• ✅ Background Rendering: Async job system with progress tracking

• ✅ Artifact Storage: Integration with chuk-artifacts for persistent storage

• ✅ VideoManager: High-level API for video project management

• ✅ Project Exporter: RemotionProjectExporter for scaffolding complete projects

• ✅ Test Coverage: 1471 tests passing with 86% coverage

ImageContent Component (January 2025)

• ✅ New ImageContent component for displaying images in videos

• ✅ Flexible sizing modes: cover, contain, fill

• ✅ Styling options: opacity, border radius

• ✅ Design token integration for consistent styling

• ✅ Created comprehensive image_layouts_showcase.py with 17 real-world examples

• ✅ Fixed Mosaic layout to properly wrap clips in {content: ...} structure

• ✅ Fixed specialized layout prop keys (AsymmetricLayout, OverTheShoulder, DialogueFrame, etc.)

• ✅ Updated content_showcase.py to include ImageContent

• ✅ Total components: 51 production-ready components

Text Animation Components (January 2025)

• ✅ 6 new text animation components: TypewriterText, StaggerText, WavyText, TrueFocus, DecryptedText, FuzzyText

• ✅ Created dedicated text_animations/ folder for better organization

• ✅ Moved text animations from overlays/ to text_animations/

• ✅ Inspired by ReactBits

• ✅ All components use design tokens and spring physics

• ✅ Complete demo with 20 scenes (52.5 seconds)

• ✅ Total components: 51 production-ready components

Test Coverage Achievement (December 2025)

• ✅ 1471 passing tests with comprehensive test suite

• ✅ 86% overall coverage across the codebase

• ✅ 100% coverage on video_renderer.py

• ✅ 97% coverage on remotion_renderer.py and project_exporter.py

• ✅ 96% coverage on theme_tools.py

• ✅ 94-95% coverage on component_builder.py, timeline.py, theme_manager.py

• ✅ All builder.py files at 100% coverage

Component Library Expansion (January 2025)

• ✅ 51 production-ready components organized into 9 categories

• ✅ 17 layout components: AsymmetricLayout, Container, DialogueFrame, FocusStrip, Grid, HUDStyle, Mosaic, OverTheShoulder, PerformanceMultiCam, PiP, SplitScreen, StackedReaction, ThreeByThreeGrid, ThreeColumnLayout, ThreeRowLayout, Timeline, Vertical

• ✅ 6 text animation components: TypewriterText, StaggerText, WavyText, TrueFocus, DecryptedText, FuzzyText

• ✅ 6 chart components: PieChart, BarChart, HorizontalBarChart, LineChart, AreaChart, DonutChart

• ✅ 5 content components: DemoBox, ImageContent, StylizedWebPage, VideoContent, WebPage

• ✅ 4 demo realism components: BeforeAfterSlider, BrowserFrame, DeviceFrame, Terminal

• ✅ 3 frame components: BrowserFrame, DeviceFrame, Terminal

• ✅ 3 animation components: Counter, LayoutEntrance, PanelCascade

• ✅ 3 code components: CodeBlock, TypingCode, CodeDiff

• ✅ 3 overlay components: LowerThird, TextOverlay, SubscribeButton

• ✅ 2 scene components: TitleScene, EndScreen

• ✅ 2 transition components: LayoutTransition, PixelTransition

Design System Integration (January 2025)

• ✅ Created comprehensive spacing tokens with 7 platform safe margins

• ✅ Applied design tokens to ALL 51 components (100% coverage)

• ✅ Fixed Jinja2 template rendering for token context

• ✅ Updated all themes with spacing tokens

• ✅ Fixed Pydantic v2 compatibility issues

Time String Support (January 2025)

• ✅ Support for time strings: "1s", "500ms", "1m"

• ✅ Fixed gap_before string concatenation bug

• ✅ Updated all 51 MCP tools to accept time strings

• ✅ Enhanced seconds_to_frames() with format parsing

Example Files (January 2025)

• ✅ Fixed ProjectManager API usage in all examples

• ✅ Created design system showcase demo (90s)

• ✅ Created platform safe margins demo (60s)

• ✅ Created text animations showcase demo (52.5s)

• ✅ Fixed EndScreen thumbnail handling

Roadmap

Phase 1: Foundation ✅ COMPLETE

• ✅ Design token system (colors, typography, motion, spacing)

• ✅ Component registry with 17 components

• ✅ 7 YouTube-optimized themes

• ✅ Discovery tools for LLMs

• ✅ Track-based timeline system

• ✅ Platform safe margin support

Phase 2: Generation ✅ COMPLETE

• ✅ TSX component generation with Jinja2

• ✅ Remotion project scaffolding

• ✅ Composition builder with ComponentInstance

• ✅ ProjectManager API

• ✅ Time string parsing ("1s", "500ms")

Phase 3: Rendering ✅ COMPLETE

• ✅ Remotion render integration with video_renderer

• ✅ Export to MP4 via Remotion CLI

• ✅ Background rendering with job status tracking

• ✅ Progress monitoring during renders

• ✅ RemotionProjectExporter for project scaffolding

Phase 4: Storage & Artifacts ✅ COMPLETE

• ✅ ArtifactStorageManager with chuk-artifacts integration

• ✅ Project storage (WORKSPACE namespaces)

• ✅ Render storage (BLOB namespaces)

• ✅ Asset management for media files

• ✅ Checkpoint/versioning support

• ✅ VideoManager for high-level video operations

Phase 5: Advanced Features

• 🔲 Custom theme builder

• 🔲 Animation timeline editor

• 🔲 Audio sync

• 🔲 Auto-captioning

• 🔲 Light/dark mode switching

• 🔲 Cloud rendering integration

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository

2. Create a feature branch

3. Make your changes

4. Run make lint && make format && make typecheck

5. Submit a pull request

License

Apache License 2.0 - see LICENSE for details.

Links

• Related Projects:

  • chuk-mcp-server - Zero-config MCP framework

  • chuk-mcp-pptx - PowerPoint MCP server

  • Remotion - React-based video generation