# Video Ad Reverse Engineer

> |

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-creatify-ai-video-ad-reverse-engineer-video-ad-reverse-engineer`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [creatify-ai](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/creatify-ai)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Content & Media](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/content-and-media)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [creatify-ai](https://github.com/creatify-ai)
- **Source:** https://github.com/creatify-ai/video-ad-reverse-engineer

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-creatify-ai-video-ad-reverse-engineer-video-ad-reverse-engineer
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Video Ad Reverse Engineer

Deconstruct any video ad into a reusable creative template — extract the format, structure, hooks, and strategies that make it work.

---

## How It Works

1. **Input**: Provide a video ad file, URL, or series of screenshots
2. **Extract frames**: Pull key frames at critical moments (hook, transitions, CTA)
3. **Analyze structure**: Identify the ad format, pacing, and creative patterns
4. **Document template**: Output a reusable template with timing, script structure, and visual direction
5. **Recreate**: Use the template to create new ads in the same style

## Frame Extraction

Use `scripts/extract_frames.py` to pull key frames from the video:

```bash
python scripts/extract_frames.py input_video.mp4 --output-dir frames/ --num-frames 12
```

More frames = more detail in the breakdown. Use 8-12 for standard ads, 15-20 for complex ones.

---

## Analysis Framework

### Step 1: Identify the Ad Format

Classify the ad into one of these primary formats (see `references/ad-formats.md` for full catalog):

| Format | Characteristics | Common Duration |
|--------|----------------|-----------------|
| UGC Talking Head | Single person speaking to camera | 15-60s |
| Product Demo | Product in action, hands-on | 15-30s |
| Before/After | Split or sequential transformation | 15-30s |
| Testimonial Compilation | Multiple review clips | 30-60s |
| Problem-Solution | Pain point → product introduction | 15-30s |
| Listicle | "3 reasons why..." numbered format | 30-60s |
| Unboxing | Package reveal and first impression | 15-45s |
| Day-in-the-Life | Product woven into daily routine | 30-60s |
| Comparison | Side-by-side against competitor | 15-30s |
| Story Arc | Mini-narrative with characters | 30-60s |
| Text-on-Screen | Animated text overlays, no presenter | 15-30s |
| Mashup / Montage | Rapid cuts of multiple scenes | 15-30s |

### Step 2: Analyze the Hook (0-3 seconds)

Identify the hook type (see `references/hook-types.md` for full catalog):

**What to extract:**
- Exact first words spoken or displayed
- Visual element in frame 1
- Audio (music, sound effect, silence, voice)
- Text overlay content and style
- Hook category (pattern interrupt, question, bold claim, POV, stat, visual)

### Step 3: Map the Scene Structure

For each scene/segment, document:

```
SCENE [number]
  Timestamp: [start] - [end] ([duration])
  Visual: [what's on screen]
  Audio: [voiceover text / music / SFX]
  Text overlay: [any on-screen text]
  Camera: [angle, movement, framing]
  Purpose: [hook / problem / agitate / solution / feature / proof / CTA]
  Transition: [how it connects to next scene — cut / dissolve / swipe / zoom]
```

### Step 4: Extract the Script Pattern

Transcribe the audio and identify the script structure:

```
SCRIPT PATTERN
==============
Total word count: [X]
Words per second: [X]
Tone: [conversational / professional / urgent / humorous]

STRUCTURE:
  [0-3s] HOOK: [type] — "[exact words or description]"
  [3-Xs] SECTION 1: [purpose] — "[key message]"
  [X-Xs] SECTION 2: [purpose] — "[key message]"
  ...
  [X-end] CTA: [type] — "[exact words or description]"

NOTABLE TECHNIQUES:
  - [e.g., "Uses rhetorical questions to transition between sections"]
  - [e.g., "Repetition of key phrase 'in just 5 minutes'"]
  - [e.g., "Social proof embedded mid-script, not at the end"]
```

### Step 5: Analyze Visual Strategy

Document the visual decisions:

```
VISUAL STRATEGY
===============
Aspect ratio: [9:16 / 16:9 / 1:1 / 4:5]
Color palette: [dominant colors, warm/cool, saturated/muted]
Lighting style: [natural / studio / dramatic / phone-camera]
Text overlays: [font style, color, position, frequency]
B-roll usage: [percentage of ad, types of shots]
Presenter: [age, gender, style, on-screen vs voiceover]
Brand elements: [when/where logo appears, brand colors, watermarks]
Subtitles/Captions: [style, position, auto vs designed]
```

### Step 6: Document Pacing

```
PACING ANALYSIS
===============
Total duration: [X seconds]
Number of cuts/transitions: [X]
Average shot length: [X seconds]
Pacing pattern: [constant / accelerating / decelerating / variable]

Cut map:
  [0.0s] Scene start
  [2.5s] Cut — [type: hard cut / dissolve / swipe]
  [5.0s] Cut — ...
  ...

Energy curve:
  Start: [low / medium / high]
  Middle: [trajectory — building / maintaining / dipping]
  End: [low / medium / high]

Peak moment at: [timestamp] — [what happens]
```

### Step 7: Produce the Reusable Template

Combine all analysis into a fill-in-the-blank template:

```
REUSABLE AD TEMPLATE
====================
Format: [identified format]
Duration: [X seconds]
Aspect Ratio: [X:X]

SCENE 1: HOOK ([0-Xs])
  Visual: [description of what to show]
  Audio: "[script template with [PRODUCT] placeholders]"
  Text: "[overlay template]"
  Camera: [direction]

SCENE 2: [PURPOSE] ([X-Xs])
  Visual: [description]
  Audio: "[script template]"
  Text: "[overlay template]"
  Camera: [direction]

...

FINAL SCENE: CTA ([X-end])
  Visual: [description]
  Audio: "[CTA template]"
  Text: "[overlay template]"

PRODUCTION NOTES:
  - Music: [genre/mood/tempo]
  - Pacing: [X cuts, average X seconds per shot]
  - Tone: [described tone]
  - Key creative decision: [what makes this ad unique]
```

Use the full template in `references/output-template.md`.

---

## Recreate at Scale

Turn your extracted templates into new ads automatically:

### Using Creatify Ad Clone
The most direct path — provide the original ad as a reference and your product, and the API recreates the style:

```python
import requests

HEADERS = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "X-API-ID": "your-api-id",
    "X-API-KEY": "your-api-key",
}
BASE_URL = "https://api.creatify.ai/api"

# Step 1: Create a link for your product
link = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/links/", headers=HEADERS, json={
    "url": "https://your-product-url.com"
}).json()

# Step 2: Clone the reference ad with your product
clone = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/ads_clone/", headers=HEADERS, json={
    "link": link["id"],
    "video_url": "https://url-of-the-ad-you-reverse-engineered.mp4",
    "aspect_ratio": "9x16",
}).json()

# Step 3: Poll for completion
# Use polling pattern from video-ad-generator skill
```

### Using Extracted Scripts with AI Avatars
Feed your extracted script structure into the avatar API:

```python
# Take the script pattern you extracted and create avatar version
avatar_video = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/lipsyncs/", headers=HEADERS, json={
    "text": "Your adapted script based on extracted template",
    "creator": "persona-id-matching-original-demographics",
    "aspect_ratio": "9:16",
}).json()
```

### Full Workflow
1. Reverse-engineer competitor ad with this skill
2. Extract the template (format, hook, script, pacing)
3. Adapt template for your product
4. Generate via [video-ad-generator](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/video-ad-generator) (URL to Video, Ad Clone)
5. Test avatar versions via [ai-avatar-video](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/ai-avatar-video)
6. Evaluate results via [ad-creative-evaluator](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/ad-creative-evaluator)

---

## See Also

- [video-ad-generator](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/video-ad-generator) — Product URL → video ad pipeline
- [ai-avatar-video](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/ai-avatar-video) — AI talking-head videos with 1,500+ personas
- [ai-ad-prompt-guide](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/ai-ad-prompt-guide) — Battle-tested prompting for AI ad creative
- [ad-creative-evaluator](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/ad-creative-evaluator) — Score any video ad with AI expert panel
- [static-ad-concept-generator](https://github.com/Creatify-AI/static-ad-concept-generator) — 320+ proven ad concept templates

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [creatify-ai](https://github.com/creatify-ai)
- **Source:** [creatify-ai/video-ad-reverse-engineer](https://github.com/creatify-ai/video-ad-reverse-engineer)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** yes
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-creatify-ai-video-ad-reverse-engineer-video-ad-reverse-engineer
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/creatify-ai
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.