Agent skill · creative production · heygen-com
captions-overlay
Overlay doctrine for the embedded-captions workflow — the caption MODEL (drop / rail / embed) and the rule that captions are an OVERLAY composited on top of the film, never a reserved bottom band you shift content up to avoid. Load when adding captions/subtitles to a talking-head or launch video, when deciding whether a phrase should be dropped, ride the verbatim rail, or be promoted to a scarce embedded climax, when laying out a composition that will carry captions (do NOT reserve a keep-out band), or when centering a composition on the true frame center under captions. Quotes the rail+embed model from embedded-captions and constraint #13 (captions overlay, keep-out band retired) from the product-launch-video scene agent. Applies ON TOP of embedded-captions.
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific guidelines for overlaying captions in video compositions, which the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 39,818 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Captions Overlay Doctrine Overlay doctrine — supplements the upstream embedded-captions skill. Applies ON TOP of it; do not expect it folded into the upstream skill. Two ideas combine here. First, the caption model — every spoken phrase is drop, rail, or embed, and embed is the scarce earned peak, not the default. Second, the overlay law — a caption line is composited ON TOP of the film as an overlay; it is NOT a reserved zone, so you never shift content up or leave a dead band to "make room" for it. The two reinforce each other: because captions ride as an overlay (the verbatim rail in front, the occasional embed behind the subject), the composition keeps its full frame and centers on the true vertical center. The caption model — drop / rail / embed Every spoken phrase is one of three things (verbatim from embedded-captions): What How it's shown --------- ------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- drop filler — um/uh, stutters, self-corrections not shown rail the default — ordinary spoken content (verbatim) clean lower-third subtitle, in front, readable. A punch word can get an inline emphasis highlight (accent colour / active-word pop) — it stays on the rail. embed a promoted peak — the headline beat one big word composited behind the subject (matte occlusion), designed entrance + exit The rail carries most of the text; embed is the scarce, earned peak — ≤1 per beat, never two adjacent/co-visible, spaced ≥ a beat apart. A short clip → usually one embed; a long explainer → ~one per section. Embedding every word is the common mistake. This is the Standard mode shape (rail = the verbatim lower-third; embed = the climax composited behind the subject). …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills heygen-com/captions-overlay--963696