Introduction

In video generation development, getting feedback usually means calling paid APIs. MiniMax H3 is a paid service. Verifying prompts and motion logic without actual generation is a common pain point. ASCII H3 Director is designed to address this by compiling free-form descriptions into structured prompts and providing a zero-dependency preview engine.

What Is This

ASCII H3 Director is a directing tool for the MiniMax H3 service. It compiles free-form descriptions into morphing chains and a deterministic preview engine. Maintained by SaltCoffee, it is both a DeepSeek Harness (DSH) plugin and a portable Agent Skill.

Core Features

The tool provides a deterministic preview engine that does not rely on mmx-cli or network requests. Core capabilities include:

  • Zero-dependent preview engine: Uses a built-in 5×9 handcrafted bitmap font library to render frames in terminals, SVG, and PNG.
  • Motion syntax: Supports structured motion design through 21 mechanisms.
  • Continuity contract: Ensures logical connection between frames, including seam checks.
  • Quality gate: Seven automatic checks that score generated plans based on specific criteria.
  • Director Console: A panel for the DSH Web UI.
  • Agent Skill: A portable skill package for coding agents.

Installation and Activation

Install the DSH plugin via npm:

dsh plugin --profile web add @yankafei/ascii-h3-director

Install it as an Agent Skill:

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
cp -R skill ~/.agents/skills/ascii-h3-director
# Or run the install script
skill/INSTALL.command

Typical Usage

  1. Check the environment:
    ascii-h3 doctor
  1. Generate a director plan:
    ascii-h3 plan "15s ASCII clip about memory collapsing into language"
  1. Preview in the terminal:
    ascii-h3 preview "a brutalist ASCII tunnel..." --cols 100
  1. Create a proof sheet:
    ascii-h3 strip "brutalist ASCII tunnel..." --frames 6 --out sheet.png
  1. Export the prompt:
    ascii-h3 prompt "..." --out prompt.txt

Use Cases and Notes

  • A Node.js 18+ environment is required.
  • The engine itself does not depend on mmx-cli; the CLI is used only for paid generation steps.
  • H3 video generation is a paid service.
  • Suitable for DSH developers and coding agents who need structured prompts and motion logic.