Nothing broke — the first render shipped. Closing beats were pulled earlier before rendering so the WE'RE LIVE hold clears 2 seconds. Mid-count crossfade frames are the design, not a defect — the final frame is clean.
Original promptTested
Countdown prompt — launch countdown series (vertical) — HyperFrames prompt (5→1 days + WE'RE LIVE)
Banned list —Beat grid —Build method —Self-review —
<direction>
A 9-second vertical launch countdown (1080x1920, 270 frames at 30fps) for the fictional brand BRIGHTLINE. House style: near-black #0a0a0a background, white type, ONE accent #ff5c1a, Arial/Helvetica bold, no webfonts. A series kicker "LAUNCH COUNTDOWN SERIES" and the brand name sit at the top; a giant numeral counts 5 down to 1, one numeral per beat, with a five-dot progress row lighting in accent as days pass; the label "DAYS TO LAUNCH" sits under the numeral; on the last beat the count clears to "WE'RE LIVE" in accent with a CTA pill JOIN THE LAUNCH and the footer "COUNTDOWN SERIES — ONE FILM PER DAY". No real launch dates, no gradients, no glows.
Banned: numerals that crossfade into mush (keep each numeral fully opaque for most of its beat), a progress row that does not match the numeral, a CTA before the LIVE beat.
</direction>
<structure>
Frames 0-9 — Kicker and BRIGHTLINE already on screen.
Frames 9-189 — Numerals 5 down to 1, each holding ~1.3s with a 0.25s crossfade between them; one progress dot lights per numeral.
Frames 189-198 — Numeral, label and dots fade out together.
Frames 198-222 — "WE'RE LIVE" fades in, accent, two lines.
Frames 207-225 — CTA pill JOIN THE LAUNCH and series footer fade in.
Final frame — kicker, brand, WE'RE LIVE, CTA and footer all visible.
</structure>
<build>
One HyperFrames composition, 1080x1920, seek-driven GSAP timeline (paused, window.__timelines["main"]). Numerals are stacked divs at identical positions, toggled by opacity tweens — never animate position, or the count appears to jump. Render at 30fps.
</build>
<gotchas>
- Each numeral must be fully opaque for most of its beat: a slow crossfade makes every frame look like a blurry double-exposure.
- The dot count must equal the start number: five dots for a five-day count, not a fixed five for every series.
- The LIVE beat needs at least 2 seconds of hold or the payoff flashes past before the viewer registers it.
</gotchas>
Before you finish: step through the timeline at five points and fix anything that overlaps, clips the frame, or drifts off the beat grid.