Lesson 5 · 18 min
A short that loses its first three seconds doesn't get a second chance. MakeShorts puts two gates in the way: one on the script, which measures the hook before you record, and one on the video, which measures format, sound and frozen screen before you publish. In this lesson you fail and pass both, using dry-run files.
Start the lesson
Goal: write a hook that passes the script gate, and fail or approve a 9:16 video with the makeshorts QA.
Click each step.
makeshorts at commit 52eb799, QA contract 1.2.1.
Write all three before you record, and check that each one holds up on its own.
What you say in the first two seconds. Get straight to it, with minimal context: no introduction.
"Your video dies in the first three seconds."
What appears on frame zero. It has to stop the thumb of someone scrolling with the sound off: a contrast, a number, an object out of place.
A very short summary highlighted on screen. Someone who can't hear the phrase decides by it.
After the hook, contradict a common belief of the audience. That's what holds them until the proof. The full 7-step reel is in the social media course.
Two scripts from the kit: one that passes and one that fails. The keyword is "gancho".
# Roteiro fraco ### FALA Olá pessoal, hoje eu vou mostrar para vocês uma coisa muito interessante sobre como fazer vídeos curtos que prendem a atenção das pessoas. O gancho tem três camadas: a frase, a cena e o texto. Fica até o fim que no final eu conto o segredo.
K=~/projetos/formacao-cinema-ia-fabrica-v72/kit
cd ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ensaio-fabrica/a5; Q=makeshorts/.claude/skills/makeshorts/scripts
python3 $Q/qa_roteiro.py "$K/exemplos/a5-roteiros/bom.md" --keyword gancho > bom.txt; echo "bom: $?"
python3 $Q/qa_roteiro.py "$K/exemplos/a5-roteiros/fraco.md" --keyword gancho > fraco.txt; echo "fraco: $?"
grep -hE "❌|RESULTADO" bom.txt fraco.txtbom: 0 fraco: 1 RESULTADO: APROVADO (falta: teste da lacuna, tese, fontes — revisão humana) ❌ gancho (palavras) 23 palavras: “Olá pessoal, hoje eu vou mostrar para vocês uma coisa muito interessante sobre c” (máx. 9) ❌ abertura proibida começa com “ola” ❌ palavra-chave no início “gancho” fora das primeiras 15 palavras (≈ 5 s) RESULTADO: REPROVADO
The APROVADO on the script flags what the machine doesn't measure: whether the hook opens a gap, whether the thesis takes a side, whether the facts have sources. That part is up to you.
The block clones makeshorts at a fixed commit, makes a 20 s dry-run video at 1080×1920 with normalized sound, and runs the QA on the promo profile.
E=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ensaio-fabrica/a5; rm -rf "$E"; mkdir -p "$E"; cd "$E"
git clone -q https://github.com/inematds/makeshorts.git && git -C makeshorts checkout -q 52eb799
Q=makeshorts/.claude/skills/makeshorts/scripts
ffmpeg -v error -f lavfi -i "testsrc2=s=1080x1920:r=30:d=20" -f lavfi -i "sine=f=220:d=20" \
-af loudnorm=I=-14:TP=-2:LRA=7 -ar 48000 -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -shortest ensaio-916.mp4
python3 $Q/qa_short.py ensaio-916.mp4 --profile divulgacao > qa.txt; echo "saída: $?"
grep -E "^(✅|⚠️|❌)|RESULTADO" qa.txtcd ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ensaio-fabrica/a5; Q=makeshorts/.claude/skills/makeshorts/scripts
ffmpeg -v error -y -f lavfi -i "testsrc2=s=1920x1080:r=30:d=20" -f lavfi -i "sine=f=220:d=20" \
-af loudnorm=I=-14:TP=-2:LRA=7 -ar 48000 -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -shortest ensaio-169.mp4
python3 $Q/qa_short.py ensaio-169.mp4 --profile divulgacao > qa169.txt; echo "saída: $?"
grep -E "^❌|RESULTADO" qa169.txtsaída: 0 ✅ duração 20.0s ✅ formato 1080x1920 ✅ fps 30.00 ✅ codec vídeo h264 ✅ codec áudio aac ✅ loudness -13.9 LUFS ✅ sem tela preta inicial imagem desde o frame 0 ✅ frame 0 (informação) 0.063 de bordas ⚠️ trechos parados 1 acima de 4 s: 0.0–20.0s — justificar ou quebrar ⚠️ legendas não verificadas (passe --srt ou --words); reel sem legenda conferida não vai pro Nei RESULTADO: APROVADO (falta a revisão humana: gancho, prova, pronúncia)
The numbers (−13.9 LUFS, 0.063 of edges) are from this machine, ffmpeg 6.1.1; on yours they may vary a little. What matters is the RESULTADO line. The captions warning refers to Nei's flow: in yours, pass --srt.
saída: 1 ❌ formato 1920x1080 RESULTADO: REPROVADO
Only the format failed: the rest of the video is the same. A horizontal video doesn't become a short by renaming the file.
Duration in seconds and spoken words, from references/reel-profiles.json (contract 1.2.1).
Minimum 15 s, ideal 20 to 50 s, maximum 59 s. Speech of 60 to 125 words.
Minimum 25 s, ideal 35 to 60 s, maximum 75 s. Speech of 90 to 150 words.
Minimum 45 s, ideal 60 to 110 s, maximum 119 s. Speech of 150 to 280 words.
roteiro.yaml becomes a narrated 9:16 card short. MIT license. To render, it needs a local voice and image (inemavox and an image server with a GPU); here you only list the styles.
cd ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ensaio-fabrica/a5
git clone -q https://github.com/inematds/cardshorts.git && git -C cardshorts checkout -q d7f5c6d
cd cardshorts && python3 cardshorts.py estilos | grep -E "^[a-z]"
grep -E "^(estilo|max_seg):" exemplos/versus/roteiro.yamlcelular celular — interface de telefone: notificação, busca, fila e enquete SIM/NÃO cracha cracha — alvo, crachás carimbados e cédula; fundo grafite, acento vermelho documento documento — papel datilografado, formulário em branco, carimbos e certificado extrato extrato — nota fiscal / extrato bancário com borda picotada e carimbos versus versus — editorial preto e branco com vermelho; foto x foto, telas divididas, chamadas em Anton estilo: versus max_seg: 30 # a velocidade da fala é ajustada para caber (até 1,2x)
The max_seg is a ceiling: speech is sped up to 1.2× to fit and, if it still doesn't fit, the engine fails instead of cutting.
The two gates, first with the kit, then with your script.
Run "QA of a rehearsal short" and "the same QA on a 16:9 video".
Done when: RESULTADO: APROVADO (falta a revisão humana: gancho, prova, pronúncia) with saída: 0, and then ❌ formato 1920x1080, RESULTADO: REPROVADO and saída: 1.
Run "check the scripts".
Done when: bom: 0, fraco: 1 and the line ❌ abertura proibida começa com “ola”.
Write ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ensaio-fabrica/a5/meu.md with the ### FALA section of a short of your own (60 to 125 words) and the three hook layers noted outside the section.
Done when: cd ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ensaio-fabrica/a5 && python3 makeshorts/.claude/skills/makeshorts/scripts/qa_roteiro.py meu.md --keyword [sua palavra]; echo "saída: $?" → RESULTADO: APROVADO and saída: 0.
The explanation appears after you answer.
Question 1 of 4
qa_short.py approved the video. What did it NOT check?
Question 2 of 4
Why does qa_roteiro.py run before recording?
Question 3 of 4
Your hook is "Olá, hoje vou mostrar três truques de edição" (Portuguese for "Hello, today I'll show you three editing tricks"). What does the gate say?
Question 4 of 4
In a short, what decides whether someone stops scrolling when they have the sound off?
Pick an option. The explanation appears after you answer.