diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index a38f1f7cad..47a01544ea 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     "build": "bun run build:studio && tsup && bun run build:runtime && bun run build:copy",
     "build:studio": "cd ../studio && bun run build",
     "build:runtime": "tsx scripts/build-runtime.ts",
-    "build:copy": "mkdir -p dist/studio dist/docs dist/templates && cp -r ../studio/dist/* dist/studio/ && cp -r src/templates/warm-grain src/templates/play-mode src/templates/swiss-grid src/templates/vignelli dist/templates/ && (cp src/docs/*.md dist/docs/ 2>/dev/null || true)",
+    "build:copy": "mkdir -p dist/studio dist/docs dist/templates && cp -r ../studio/dist/* dist/studio/ && cp -r src/templates/blank src/templates/warm-grain src/templates/play-mode src/templates/swiss-grid src/templates/vignelli dist/templates/ && (cp src/docs/*.md dist/docs/ 2>/dev/null || true)",
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit"
   },
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
index 90344add7e..61aa5bbf98 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
@@ -559,6 +559,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
     let localVideoName: string | undefined;
     let sourceFilePath: string | undefined;
     let videoDuration: number | undefined;
+    let isAudioOnly = false;
 
     if (videoFlag) {
       const videoPath = resolve(videoFlag);
@@ -612,8 +613,8 @@ export default defineCommand({
           localVideoName = result.localVideoName;
           videoDuration = result.meta.durationSeconds;
         } else {
-          // Audio file — copy to assets/
-
+          // Audio file — copy to project root
+          isAudioOnly = true;
           copyFileSync(filePath, resolve(destDir, basename(filePath)));
           clack.log.info(`Audio copied to ${c.accent(basename(filePath))}`);
         }
@@ -662,7 +663,8 @@ export default defineCommand({
       }
     }
 
-    // 3. Pick template — single list for all templates
+    // 3. Pick template — default depends on media type
+    const defaultTemplate = isAudioOnly ? "warm-grain" : "blank";
     const templateResult = await clack.select({
       message: "Pick a template",
       options: TEMPLATES.map((t) => ({
@@ -670,7 +672,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
         label: t.label,
         hint: t.hint,
       })),
-      initialValue: TEMPLATES[0]?.id,
+      initialValue: defaultTemplate as TemplateId,
     });
     if (clack.isCancel(templateResult)) {
       clack.cancel("Setup cancelled.");
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/templates/blank/compositions/captions.html b/packages/cli/src/templates/blank/compositions/captions.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2b557abd4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/templates/blank/compositions/captions.html
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+<template id="captions-template">
+  <div
+    data-composition-id="captions"
+    data-width="1920"
+    data-height="1080"
+    data-duration="__VIDEO_DURATION__"
+  >
+    <div id="captions-container"></div>
+
+    <style>
+      [data-composition-id="captions"] {
+        width: 1920px;
+        height: 1080px;
+        pointer-events: none;
+      }
+
+      [data-composition-id="captions"] #captions-container {
+        position: absolute;
+        bottom: 100px;
+        left: 50%;
+        transform: translateX(-50%);
+        display: flex;
+        justify-content: center;
+        align-items: center;
+        width: 100%;
+        height: 150px;
+      }
+
+      .caption-group {
+        position: absolute;
+        opacity: 0;
+        font-family: "Inter", sans-serif;
+        font-size: 48px;
+        font-weight: 700;
+        color: #ffffff;
+        text-shadow:
+          0 2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8),
+          0 0 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9);
+        white-space: nowrap;
+      }
+    </style>
+
+    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.2/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
+    <script>
+      (function () {
+        window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {};
+        const tl = gsap.timeline({ paused: true });
+
+        const script = [];
+
+        if (script.length === 0) {
+          window.__timelines["captions"] = tl;
+          return;
+        }
+
+        const container = document.getElementById("captions-container");
+
+        // Group words into lines (max 5 words per line)
+        const lines = [];
+        for (let i = 0; i < script.length; i += 5) {
+          const lineWords = script.slice(i, i + 5);
+          lines.push({
+            text: lineWords.map((w) => w.text).join(" "),
+            start: lineWords[0].start,
+            end: lineWords[lineWords.length - 1].end,
+          });
+        }
+
+        lines.forEach((line, index) => {
+          const el = document.createElement("div");
+          el.className = "caption-group";
+          el.textContent = line.text;
+          container.appendChild(el);
+
+          tl.fromTo(
+            el,
+            { opacity: 0, y: 20 },
+            { opacity: 1, y: 0, duration: 0.3, ease: "power3.out" },
+            line.start,
+          );
+
+          const hideTime =
+            index < lines.length - 1 ? Math.min(line.end, lines[index + 1].start) : line.end;
+
+          tl.to(el, { opacity: 0, y: -10, duration: 0.25, ease: "power2.in" }, hideTime - 0.25);
+        });
+
+        window.__timelines["captions"] = tl;
+      })();
+    </script>
+  </div>
+</template>
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/templates/blank/index.html b/packages/cli/src/templates/blank/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d4f2bef916
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/templates/blank/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+<div
+  id="root"
+  data-composition-id="main"
+  data-start="0"
+  data-duration="__VIDEO_DURATION__"
+  data-width="1920"
+  data-height="1080"
+>
+  <video
+    id="a-roll"
+    src="__VIDEO_SRC__"
+    muted
+    playsinline
+    data-start="0"
+    data-duration="__VIDEO_DURATION__"
+    data-track-index="0"
+  ></video>
+  <audio
+    id="a-roll-audio"
+    src="__VIDEO_SRC__"
+    data-start="0"
+    data-duration="__VIDEO_DURATION__"
+    data-track-index="2"
+    data-volume="1"
+  ></audio>
+
+  <div
+    id="captions-comp"
+    data-composition-id="captions"
+    data-composition-src="compositions/captions.html"
+    data-start="0"
+    data-duration="__VIDEO_DURATION__"
+    data-track-index="3"
+    data-width="1920"
+    data-height="1080"
+  ></div>
+
+  <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.2/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
+  <script>
+    window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {};
+    const tl = gsap.timeline({ paused: true });
+    window.__timelines["main"] = tl;
+  </script>
+</div>
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/templates/generators.ts b/packages/cli/src/templates/generators.ts
index 8d2657477d..11e5396ca2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/templates/generators.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/templates/generators.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-export type TemplateId = "warm-grain" | "play-mode" | "swiss-grid" | "vignelli";
+export type TemplateId = "blank" | "warm-grain" | "play-mode" | "swiss-grid" | "vignelli";
 
 export interface TemplateOption {
   id: TemplateId;
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export interface TemplateOption {
 }
 
 export const TEMPLATES: TemplateOption[] = [
+  { id: "blank", label: "Blank", hint: "Empty composition — just the scaffolding" },
   { id: "warm-grain", label: "Warm Grain", hint: "Cream aesthetic with grain texture" },
   { id: "play-mode", label: "Play Mode", hint: "Playful elastic animations" },
   { id: "swiss-grid", label: "Swiss Grid", hint: "Structured grid layout" },