Rays
Rays turns a topic into a short vertical explainer: volumetric light rays in ember orange or signal red falling into a dark void, big glowing headlines, smoked-glass panels, dot-matrix numbers, and interfaces like dashboards, keycaps and charts given real 3D depth and camera moves. Claude invents a visual for each topic (a custom 3D chart, a scene type or a sound) and renders the MP4 with sound effects on your own computer, with no API keys.
Good for / less suited for
- Tech, software and AI-feature explainers shown as tilted 3D dashboards and cards
- Money, data and "how does it grow?" topics with charts and dot-matrix numbers you can source or calculate
- Launch teasers and product moments with a dramatic, premium dark look
- Calm wellness, nature or children's content that needs a light, soft feel
- Showing realistic physical products in 3D (Rays shows interfaces, not product models)
- Long tutorials with many exact UI steps or dense tables
What's included
SKILL.md
Teaches Claude the style, pacing and scene rules, step by step
Style guide + reference frames
Palette, type, layout and motion rules, with rendered key frames
Render scripts
Reusable scene templates and a one-command render to MP4
A worked example
Script, storyboard and the finished video it produced
You give / you get
You provide
- A topic or question to explain
- Optional: length (default 12–15 s), audience, orange or red light
- Optional: a voiceover file (MP3/WAV)
- Optional: any numbers you want shown, with their source
You get back
- A 1080×1920 (9:16) 30 fps MP4 with animated captions
- Visuals made for your topic: custom 3D charts, panels or scene types, and sounds
- Real-perspective 3D dashboards, keycap grids and stacked cards with camera moves (push, orbit, drift)
- Sound design generated in code (low drone + 7 effects) mixed in
- script.md with the on-screen text and fact notes
- storyboard.md you can edit and re-render with one command
- The sound effects as WAV files for your own edits
- 8 reusable scene templates, a small 3D kit for panels and boxes, and a style guide
How to use it
Step by step (new to Claude Code)
- Install Claude Code and sign in with your Claude account.
- Download this style’s ZIP and unzip it into your skills folder (
~/.claude/skills/rays). - Restart Claude Code so it picks up the skill.
- Ask: “Use the Rays skill to make an explanation video about <your topic>.”
- Review the script Claude proposes, then let it render the scenes.
- Finish the steps under “Before you export” below.
Quick start (already use skills)
Copy the install prompt, paste it into Claude Code, give it a topic.
Tools you'll need
Claude Code
Writes the script and storyboard, builds custom elements, checks frames, runs the render
Paid: needs a Claude Pro or Max plan or Anthropic API credits (see claude.com/pricing)
Node.js
Runs the render scripts
Free
@napi-rs/canvas
Draws every frame
Free (open source, installed automatically)
ffmpeg (via ffmpeg-static)
Encodes the MP4 and mixes audio
Free (open source, installed automatically)
Space Grotesk + JetBrains Mono (Google Fonts)
Typography
Free (SIL Open Font License, bundled)
ElevenLabs
Optional voiceover
Free plan with a monthly character limit (check its licence terms); paid plans available
Epidemic Sound
Optional, more human-sounding voiceover
Paid subscription; a free trial has been offered before but may not be available
Supported workflow: Claude Code with the skill installed in ~/.claude/skills. Renders run on your own computer, no API keys.
Voiceover
Tool: ElevenLabs or Epidemic Sound
Cost: ElevenLabs: Free plan with a monthly character limit (check its licence terms); paid plans available · Epidemic Sound: Paid subscription; a free trial has been offered before but may not be available
Optional. The examples here have no voiceover; captions carry the story. Add your own recording or a TTS you are licensed to use.
Before you export
- Install Node.js 18 or newer from nodejs.org (one time)
- Unzip rays.zip into your Claude skills folder (~/.claude/skills/rays)
- Run "npm install --prefix scripts" inside that folder (one time; or let Claude do it with the install prompt)
- Optional: create a voiceover in ElevenLabs or Epidemic Sound and drop the file in the video folder
- Post or upload the finished MP4 yourself