Automated Video Generator

Usage Guide

How to use Automated Video Generator to create AI-generated videos from text scripts.

Generate a Video (Agentic Pipeline — Recommended)

The agentic pipeline is fully self-contained and requires no API keys:

# Single video from topic (all-in-one)
npm run agentic -- --topic "5 benefits of drinking water" --title "Hydration" --orientation portrait

# With GPU acceleration
npm run agentic -- --topic "AI in healthcare" --gpu

# Square format for Instagram
npm run agentic -- --topic "Morning routine tips" --format square

# Dry-run: preview plan without downloading or rendering
npm run agentic -- --topic "Space exploration" --dry-run

# Landscape video with images (photo slideshow)
npm run agentic -- --topic "Top 10 coding tools" --orientation landscape --images

# High quality, cinematic preset
npm run agentic -- --topic "Deep sea creatures" --quality high --preset cinematic

# Disable background music
npm run agentic -- --topic "Silent film history" --no-sfx

# Remotion renderer (instead of ffmpeg)
npm run agentic -- --topic "Web development trends" --renderer remotion

# With chapters and verbose ffmpeg logging
npm run agentic -- --topic "JavaScript basics" --chapters --verbose

Step-by-Step Pipeline

You can also run individual stages of the pipeline:

# 1. Plan — generate the script structure
npm run agentic:plan -- --topic "Climate change explained" --file input/scripts/agentic-scripts.json

# 2. Download visuals
npm run agentic:visuals -- --file input/scripts/agentic-scripts.json

# 3. Generate voiceover
npm run agentic:voice -- --file input/scripts/agentic-scripts.json

# 4. Render the final video
npm run agentic:render -- --file input/scripts/agentic-scripts.json

# 5. Apply edits (transitions, grades)
npm run agentic:edit -- --file input/scripts/agentic-scripts.json

Generate a Video (Legacy CLI)

npm run generate -- --script "Your video script here"

Generate a Video (Web Portal)

  1. Start the portal: npm run dev
  2. Open http://localhost:3001/
  3. Enter your Pexels API key (or skip — free sources work without any key)
  4. Paste or write a script
  5. Choose voice, orientation, music
  6. Click Generate Video
  7. Download the MP4 output

Free Video Sources (No API Key)

Access CC-licensed videos from Wikimedia Commons and Internet Archive without any registration.

Via HTTP API:

# Search
curl "http://localhost:3001/api/free-video/search?keyword=nature&source=all&count=5"

# Download
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/api/free-video/download \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url":"https://...", "title":"nature-clip"}'

Via Frontend:

  1. Open http://localhost:3001/video-download
  2. Navigate to the Free Sources tab
  3. Enter a keyword, optionally filter by source/duration/resolution
  4. Browse results and click Download on any clip

Via MCP:

search_free_video { "keyword": "space", "source": "all", "count": 3 }
download_free_video { "url": "https://...", "title": "clip" }

Pipeline fallback: Free sources activate automatically when Pexels/Pixabay return no results. No config needed.

Docs: FREE_VIDEO.md — SEO/AEO/GEO-optimized reference

Director Mode

Use [Visual: description] tags in your script for exact visual control over each scene.

Batch Generation

Generate multiple videos from a topic list:

# Batch generate from topics
npm run agentic:generate -- --topics "AI coding,Video editing,Photography,Web development"

# Batch with preview (plan-only for each)
npm run agentic:generate:preview -- --topics "AI coding,Video editing"

# Run specific batch stage
npm run agentic:mode:plan
npm run agentic:mode:images
npm run agentic:mode:voice-edgetts
npm run agentic:mode:compose

GPU Acceleration

Enable hardware-accelerated rendering with the --gpu flag or GPU_ACCEL=true in .env:

# CLI flag (auto-selects best encoder)
npm run agentic -- --topic "Space" --gpu

# Environment variable
echo "GPU_ACCEL=true" >> .env

Supports AMD (AMF), NVIDIA (NVENC), and Intel (QSV) GPUs. Falls back to software encoding if no compatible GPU is found.

Dry-Run Mode

Preview the full pipeline without downloading or rendering:

npm run agentic -- --topic "Quantum computing" --dry-run

Outputs: title, scene count, orientation, duration, per-scene keywords and voiceover text, and asset decisions — without touching any external service or disk.

MCP Integration

Connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop:

claude mcp add automated-video-generator -- npx automated-video-generator

Output

Generated videos are saved as MP4 files in workspace/jobs/<jobId>/render/ with:

Supports portrait (9:16), landscape (16:9), and square (1:1) orientations.

Next Steps

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