How do I make motion graphics or an animated video with Claude Code, Codex or Cursor?
Install Ice into your agent, open it in an empty folder and start your first message with the command (/ice-motion-director:ice in Claude Code), then describe the video in plain words, for example the product, the length and where it will be posted. The command loads the director for sure, even when other video skills are installed. The router skill picks the workflow, researches your business, asks about every open decision (four options each, at most four per message) and then runs the ten stages up to a rendered MP4. If you prefer to steer each step, use the stage commands /ice-01-brief to /ice-10-deliver instead.
Does it need After Effects, a GPU or a paid video model?
No. Films are written as code (HTML, CSS, GSAP, Remotion, Lottie or FFmpeg) and rendered with a browser and FFmpeg on a normal computer. AI images, video, voices and hosted transcription are optional extras that may cost money and are used only when you ask for them. The one real cost is your agent's usage: a full film runs many stages and helper agents, so it uses far more of your plan than a chat answer.
Does it work in Arabic?
Yes. Arabic and right-to-left are first class through the ice-arabic skill: connected letterforms and dots that survive animation, kashida, bidi isolation for mixed Arabic and English, numerals, Arabic captions and platform safe zones, and dialect as a setting for scripts and voice. You can also write your prompt in Arabic.
Is it an AI video generator?
No. Every film is code (HTML, CSS, GSAP, Remotion, Lottie or FFmpeg) and renders the same way every time. AI images, video or voices are optional extras you can ask for, never the main engine, and text, numbers and logos are always set in code.
Does anything leave my machine?
Films render on your machine with your browser and FFmpeg, and nothing is uploaded by these skills. The disclosed network calls are web research through your agent's own search tool; downloads of free real media it picks on its own (music, sound effects, footage, photos, flags, maps, fonts) from public libraries and official sources, each recorded with its source and license status, with portraits of named public figures and official flags looked up through Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons; Ice's own CC0 sound-effects pack (128 recorded effects), fetched once from the project's GitHub Release and checked by SHA-256; installs of free tools and models at pinned versions, named in the delivery note; and Google Fonts when the chosen font comes from there. Turn the downloads off with --offline or ICE_OFFLINE=1. There is no telemetry.
What if my agent hits a usage limit in the middle of a film?
Type /ice (or send the same prompt) later: it resumes from ice/state.json where it stopped. Everything lives in an ice/ folder in your project, so any session can resume where the last one stopped.
Can I use the films commercially?
Yes, the films you make are yours. A few bundled folders named noncommercial/ carry their authors' noncommercial licenses; the workflows check your project's commercial-use answer and skip them for commercial work. Outside material it finds or you supply (footage, music, logos) is listed with its license status in the delivery note; clearing those rights before you publish is yours.
Which render engine does it use?
ice-engines picks per film: HyperFrames, Remotion, HTML canvas with Playwright and FFmpeg, Three.js, Lottie, p5 or FFmpeg alone. Remotion needs a company license for some businesses; the skill tells you when that applies.
It asked me questions. Can I skip them?
Say "decide for me" or "don't ask". It will choose, log every reason in ice/DIRECTION.md, and list every choice in the delivery report, so you can change any of them in one reply. If you simply do not answer, it waits: silence is never taken as a yes.
What do I need installed?
Your agent checks it for the route you pick and tells you what is missing, with the one command for your system. Free packages and models a route needs (transcription, stem separation and similar) it installs on its own at pinned versions and names in the delivery note; anything paid or behind an account is asked first. Ideas and scripts need nothing. Lottie needs Node. Every delivered film needs Node, FFmpeg, a browser and Python 3.
What does a first film take?
From you: one prompt that starts with /ice-motion-director:ice in Claude Code, then the questions on every open decision (four options each, at most four per message, none if your prompt covers everything or you say "don't ask") and, if you are there, one preview, where you also hear two or three real music options laid on the film and pick one (three unless you set music_options to 2 in sources.json). While it runs, each stage reaches you as two lines and its stills, so you can step in mid-way. Behind it, your agent runs all ten stages with several helper agents, so even a short ad runs for a while and uses far more of your plan than a chat answer. If your agent hits a usage limit in the middle, type /ice later: it resumes from ice/state.json where it stopped.
Is it free?
Yes. Ice Motion Director is open source under Apache-2.0. Folders named noncommercial/ and vendor/hypit/ keep their own licenses, stated inside them.
