---
name: broll
description: Source real, verified b-roll (photos and footage) for a video script with the Clypmint B-Roll API, then cut and place each shot on the word. Use when a video needs cutaways, b-roll, pictures of the people/companies/products/places a script names, or real footage of a scene.
---

# Sourcing b-roll with Clypmint B-Roll

You have the `find_broll` and `plan_broll` tools (MCP server `https://clypmint.com/mcp/broll`), or the CLI `npx -y github:Clypmint/clypmint-broll#v1.2.1` with `CLYPMINT_API_KEY` set.

## 1. Read the whole script first
State its point in one sentence. B-roll illustrates the point of a line, not its nearest keyword.

## 2. Pick the moments
In this order:
1. Every specific person, company, product, app, website, place or event the speaker names. These have a correct shot.
2. Concrete actions or scenes a camera could film ("we drove to the coast").
Skip opinions, feelings and abstract lines. No b-roll beats wrong b-roll. Never cover the speaker's own face at the hook.

For a whole script, call `plan_broll` once. It returns each moment with the exact words it starts on (and its time, if you pass word timings).

## 3. Search each moment well
- `query` is the subject as people name it: "Sam Altman", "Notion", "Shibuya Crossing".
- Always pass `context`: the exact line. It decides which "Claude" or "Apple" is meant.
- Always send your own plan, so the search starts on it at once and skips its own planning step:
  - `keywords`: 1-5 archive searches of 1-3 plain words, nouns first, the most specific first. Archives match every word, so "jazz band", not "vintage jazz band performing live". Add the year or event when the line names one: `["Mandela 1990", "Mandela crowd", "Nelson Mandela"]`.
  - `names`: every named person, company, product, place or event, as Wikipedia titles it: `["Nelson Mandela"]`.
  - `look_for`: what the right shot shows, with its era, place and action: "Nelson Mandela waving to a crowd after his release from prison in 1990".
- `type`: `image` for a named person or a logo; `video` for an action, a place or an event; `any` when unsure.
- The real thing (a movie scene, a recent news photo): `rights: "any"` also searches the open web. Those shots have `license.cleared: false`; tell the user they are not licensed. Default is `licensed`.
- Vertical edit: `orientation: "portrait"` ranks vertical shots first.

## 4. Choose
- Prefer the highest `score`. 9-10 is usable as is. 7-8 is fine. Below 7, look again or drop the beat.
- `official: true` means it comes from the subject's own channel or site: best for products and companies.
- Read `shows` before using a shot. If it does not match the line, drop it.

## 5. Make the file
- `delivery: "direct"`: download `url`.
- `delivery: "local_cut"` or `"local_capture"`: run `cut_command` (edit `--start` and `--duration` to the moment you need). Needs ffmpeg; yt-dlp for YouTube/X/TikTok; Chrome/Edge/Brave/Chromium for captures.
- Keep framing as filmed. For 9:16, `cut --aspect 9:16` pads (contain) by default. Use `--fit cover` only if the user asks to crop.

## 6. Place it on the word
- Start the cutaway on (or just after) the first word of the moment, never before it.
- Hold 1.5-3 s. Cut faster in the hook, slower in the body.
- Silent b-roll by default (`--keep-audio` only when its sound matters).

## 7. Credit and rights
- When `license.attribution` is set, put it in the description or end card.
- `license.commercial_use: null` (official channels, live sites): the owner holds the rights. Fine for commentary and review in most places, your call for ads.
- Never present a picture of someone else as the named person.

## Pricing to tell the user
Pay per search from a prepaid balance (top up from $10): $0.02 per licensed search, $0.06 per web search (`rights: "any"`), half price through Nov 2, 2026, and only when the search finds verified shots. A search that finds nothing, or only near matches, costs nothing. Every answer carries `usage` (what it cost, the balance left, the prices now). On a 402 `balance_too_low`, tell the user to top up or turn on auto top-up at https://clypmint.com/broll/dashboard. `broll_usage` shows the balance and the prices.