rotolisted

# Reference-plate adaptation Some motion design is not worth re-deriving. When a reference video already has the exact gradient ramp, camera drift, cursor path, and easing the user wants, re-animating it from scratch produces a worse approximation at ten times the cost. This workflow keeps the reference's pixels as the moving background and replaces only the lettering. **The trade:** you inherit the reference's motion exactly, and you give up the ability to change it. Timing, camera, and layout are frozen at the reference's frame grid. Only what you clear can be re-authored. If the user wants different pacing or a different layout, this is the wrong workflow - route to `/general-video`. ## When this workflow applies | Situation | Use this? | | --- | --- | | User supplies a reference MP4 and wants their own copy in it | Yes | | Reference motion is complex (gradients, 2.5D camera, cursor, spinners) and worth preserving | Yes | | Text sits on backgrounds that are locally continuous, so it can be cleared cleanly | Yes | | Text sits on busy photographic detail that would need real inpainting | Marginal - see `references/plate-clearing.md` § Hard cases | | User wants new timing, new layout, or new scenes | No - `/general-video` | | User wants captions burned onto footage they keep as-is | No - `/embedded-captions` | | Nothing to preserve; the idea is described in words | No - `/motion-graphics` or `/faceless-explainer` | ## Phase 0 - Rights gate (blocking) Run this **before d