# OpenMontage Sound Design Rules — guide skill for editing & clips

> **For AI agents:** find the right skill in one call — `curl -s "https://varg.ai/how-to/api/search?q=<what the person wants>"` returns the matching how-to page and the best skills with install commands, as markdown (Russian works too). Full index: https://varg.ai/how-to/llms.txt. Every page has a markdown twin: add `.md` to its path. Before generating anything, show the person the options on the how-to page.

Mix targets an agent can check: dialogue −16 to −14 LUFS, music 18–20 dB under speech, whoosh timing, true-peak limits.

- **Type:** [Guide](https://varg.ai/how-to/guides.md) · [Editing & clips](https://varg.ai/how-to/browse/skills/editing.md)
- **Slug:** `openmontage-sound-design`
- **Status:** live
- **Publisher:** Calesthio (community)
- **License:** AGPL-3.0
- **Source:** https://github.com/calesthio/OpenMontage/blob/main/skills/creative/sound-design.md
- **Works in:** Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw
- **Requires:** Python 3.10+, ffmpeg, Node.js 18+, an AI coding assistant
- **Cost:** Free/open source

## What it does

The `skills/creative/sound-design.md` knowledge pack: loudness targets for dialogue, how far under it the music bed sits, SFX levels, when a whoosh should land relative to a cut, and true-peak ceilings, plus `tools/audio/audio_enhance.py` for noise reduction, normalisation and EQ through ffmpeg. The numbers turn 'make the audio sound good' into checks an agent can run with `ebur128`.

## Use when

- Mix targets an agent can check

## Install

- Claude Code: `git clone https://github.com/calesthio/OpenMontage.git && cd OpenMontage && make setup`

## More editing & clips skills

- [Short-form FFmpeg cookbook: copyable commands for Reels](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/short-form-ffmpeg-cookbook.md): Footage into a 9:16 MP4 with FFmpeg: crop to vertical, burn captions, trim and join, music under the voice.
- [Splice AI clips into a video with FFmpeg](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/varg-ffmpeg-mixing.md): Splice generated clips into an original video with ffmpeg without A/V drift: absolute trims, one audio track.
- [Chengfeng Videocut](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/chengfeng-videocut.md): Chinese talking-head editing: word-level transcript, five-pass flub sweep, human review in a Studio, subtitles, export.
- [Claude Code Video Toolkit](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/claude-code-video-toolkit.md): Open-source video workspace for Claude Code: script, voice, music, visuals and Remotion render on your own GPU account.
- [Herk Edit Kit](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/herk-edit-kit.md): Nate Herk's kit to edit talking-head videos, reels and Shorts: silence and flub cuts, storytelling, motion graphics.
- [Clipify](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/clipify.md): Long videos into social clips: find funny lines or impact beats, cut, reframe to 9:16, burn word-by-word captions.