Fill a bamboo trough until its threshold triggers a pour, a return and a locally synthesized tap. An explicit fill rate increases the trough volume until a threshold starts the tipping phase. The contents drain, the trough returns and the next cycle begins. Input water is accounted for between the trough and basin, including bypass flow while the trough is tilted; the same timing supplies optional synthetic tap cues. Optional new sound can be quoted through PopNow; the procedural artwork renders locally.

Uses PopNow for
Music & voice
Needs
Node.js · FFmpeg · Chrome

Generation is optional when you have suitable input material.

v1.0.0 · Updated Oct 26, 2026 · 133 KB · Use it for personal and client work; please don't resell or share the package.

What you get

  1. A local 20-second H.264 MP4 export and native wide/portrait projects.

  2. Editable scene source, JSON controls and mechanism tests.

  3. A decoded poster, eight-frame contact sheet, portable HTML playback project and render receipt.

Good for

  • Make a contemplative garden mechanism film or a visual explanation of a threshold-triggered cycle
  • The bamboo, wet stone basin, foliage, water stream and ripples are original SVG geometry

Not for

  • No torque, buoyancy, friction or fluid dynamics are solved; the threshold is supplied explicitly.
  • The synthesized taps are demonstration audio, not realistic field recordings or generated music.

How it works

Includes a local renderer

  1. Set the inputs

    Choose the water rate, tipping threshold, trough length and tilt. The garden scene and synthetic cue generator need no external asset.

  2. Build the composition

    Validate the project, then render its native wide or portrait composition locally.

  3. Review and finish

    Watch the full MP4 and contact sheet. Add owned or approved audio only if wanted.

How the workflow runs

How Bamboo Water Clock works

An explicit fill rate increases the trough volume until a threshold starts the tipping phase. The contents drain, the trough returns and the next cycle begins. Input water is accounted for between the trough and basin, including bypass flow while the trough is tilted; the same timing supplies optional synthetic tap cues.

What's inside the skill

What you can change

  • fillRate and thresholdMl change the trigger times.
  • tubeLength changes trough geometry.
  • tiltDegrees changes pivot rotation and the pour endpoint.

What to review before delivery

  • Tests sample the full timeline and verify input volume equals trough plus basin volume.
  • Cycle-boundary checks verify the return-to-fill transition; changing rate or threshold changes the state sequence.

See the package files

These are selected working files from this edition, with their actual role. The complete download also contains instructions and applicable license notices.

  • The scene geometry, timing and mechanism validator.

    scripts/composition.mjs
  • The editable wide example and its actual controls.

    examples/project.json
  • Changed-input, invariant and portable-rebuild checks.

    scripts/mechanism.test.mjs
  • Control ranges, artistic decisions and model boundaries.

    references/inputs.md

Why use this skill

Start with this package

The threshold, rotation, draining interval and cue times share one state model. Changing the rate therefore changes the mechanism's cadence rather than merely speeding a finished video up.

What PopNow adds

Use PopNow for the missing Music & voice in this workflow. Keep adequate material you already own, then bring new assets back into the editing and assembly steps described here.

Compare the options

A prompt, your own skill, or this workflow?

Start with a prompt

Your agent can create from a plain request. The brief, visual rules, asset choices, output format and review process still need to be established for that project.

Write your own skill

You choose and maintain the reusable instructions, defaults, file structure and checks. This is useful when your process needs different rules or integrations.

A workflow created for PopNow

This workflow was built for PopNow. Its source files, included dependencies and applicable notices are part of the package; the scope described below belongs to this edition.

Guide reviewed Oct 25, 2026

What will this cost?

The supplied geometry renders locally. New music, ambience or narration is optional and quoted through PopNow; adequate owned audio can be mixed afterward. Computer and Agent costs depend on your setup.

Generation is optional when you have suitable input material. Free skill. New media is quoted before it runs.

The skill package

Free to install under your account's download allowance. The package license covers your own and client work; redistribution is excluded.

Existing assets and local work

Reusing suitable assets, editing files and running local assembly do not call a PopNow generation model. Your computer and any required runtime still do the work.

New AI images, clips or sound

Quoted for the actual model, inputs, count, duration and resolution. Extra alternatives, revisions or optional enhancement passes can add generation requests.

Your agent and hosting

Any subscription, hosted computer, deployment or other provider fee belongs to that service. Installing this skill does not include those services.

Check the cost of your version first

Your assistant can inspect the available models and quote the exact request first. You choose which optional passes to include and approve spending before generation.

Ask your assistant

  • Use the PopNow skill "Bamboo Water Clock" for my project. List the inputs you can reuse, quote only the missing media, show the quoted total and flag any unpriced steps. Separate optional enhancements, and wait for my approval before starting anything paid.

How PopNow billing works

Connections using a PopNow API key, including API-key MCP connections, spend from the separate API balance in USD. A ChatGPT or Claude connection authorized through OAuth spends website credits. These balances are separate; the quote shown by your connection is the approval basis.

Download allowances and current account conditions apply. A free package does not mean unlimited free generation.

How to use it

You say

  • Use the PopNow skill "Bamboo Water Clock" (bamboo-water-clock) for this: Make the included 20-second scene, then show a version with one structural control changed. Keep the model limits clear and quote any optional new sound first.

Then try

  • fillRate from 18 to 40 ml per second changes when each threshold is reached.

  • Keep the cut trough surface visible at the largest tilt.

What to have ready

  • Choose the water rate, tipping threshold, trough length and tilt. The garden scene and synthetic cue generator need no external asset.
  • Node 22.12+, Chrome or Chromium, FFmpeg and ffprobe.
  • The new film examples use ASCII text. Accents and other scripts need a suitable font plus input and layout adjustments.

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Questions

Does the water level actually trigger the tip?

The accumulated model volume reaching thresholdMl starts the tipping phase. Changing the threshold or fill rate changes that time.

What happens to water while the trough is tilted?

It is counted as bypass flow into the basin. The trough and basin together always account for all incoming water.

Can I build a real device from the values?

No. The scene uses an explicit threshold and authored rotation. It does not solve a real trough's mass, balance, friction or mounting requirements.

What is already packaged in Bamboo Water Clock?

The scene geometry, timing and mechanism validator. The editable wide example and its actual controls. Changed-input, invariant and portable-rebuild checks. Control ranges, artistic decisions and model boundaries.

Which parts of Bamboo Water Clock can add a charge?

The supplied geometry renders locally. New music, ambience or narration is optional and quoted through PopNow; adequate owned audio can be mixed afterward. Computer and Agent costs depend on your setup. Connections using a PopNow API key, including API-key MCP connections, spend from the separate API balance in USD. A ChatGPT or Claude connection authorized through OAuth spends website credits. These balances are separate; the quote shown by your connection is the approval basis.

How does Bamboo Water Clock differ from writing a prompt or my own skill?

The threshold, rotation, draining interval and cue times share one state model. Changing the rate therefore changes the mechanism's cadence rather than merely speeding a finished video up.