This project generates engaging short videos from text stories. It features a web-based UI for easy video creation, allowing users to input stories, select background videos, choose background music, and pick from a variety of TikTok-style Text-to-Speech (TTS) voices. The final videos are saved directly to your local machine.
Created by egebese.
Acknowledgements: This project is a significantly modified version of the original reddit-shorts-generator by gavink97. While the core functionality has been adapted for local use with different TTS and story input methods, and now includes a Web UI, much of the foundational video processing logic and project structure is derived from this original work.
- Web-Based User Interface: Easily create videos through a user-friendly web page.
- Flexible Input:
- Enter story titles and content directly in the UI.
- Select background videos from your
resources/footage/directory, with thumbnail previews. - Choose background music from your
resources/music/directory, with audio previews. - Select from a wide range of TikTok TTS voices.
- Local Video Output: Saves generated videos to the
generated_shorts/directory. - TikTok TTS Narration: Utilizes the mark-rez/TikTok-Voice-TTS library for dynamic and natural-sounding text-to-speech.
- Customizable Aesthetics:
- Fonts: Uses "Montserrat ExtraBold" for the title image text and video subtitles by default.
- Background Video Looping: Background videos will loop if their duration is shorter than the narration.
- Custom Title Image: Allows for a user-provided template (
resources/images/reddit_submission_template.png) where the story title is overlaid.
- Platform Independent: Core functionality does not rely on direct integration with external platforms like Reddit or YouTube APIs for content fetching or uploading.
- Python: Python 3.11+ is recommended. You can use tools like
pyenvto manage Python versions.# Example using pyenv (if you have it installed) # pyenv install 3.11.9 # pyenv local 3.11.9
- FFmpeg: Essential for video processing. It must be installed on your system and accessible via your system's PATH.
- macOS (using Homebrew):
brew install ffmpeg - Linux (using apt):
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg - Windows: Download from the FFmpeg website and add the
bindirectory to your PATH.
- macOS (using Homebrew):
- Fonts:
- Montserrat ExtraBold: Used for title images and subtit
8000
les. Ensure this font is installed on your system. You can typically find and install
.ttfor.otffiles. If the font is not found by its name, you may need to modify the font paths/names directly inreddit_shorts/make_submission_image.pyandreddit_shorts/create_short.py.
- Montserrat ExtraBold: Used for title images and subtit
8000
les. Ensure this font is installed on your system. You can typically find and install
-
Clone the Repository:
git clone https://github.com/egebese/tiktok-brainrot-generator.git # Or your fork cd tiktok-brainrot-generator
-
Create and Activate a Python Virtual Environment:
python3 -m venv venv source venv/bin/activate # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
-
Install Dependencies:
pip install -r requirements.txt
If you intend to modify the core
reddit_shortspackage itself and want those changes reflected immediately (developer install):pip install -e .
Before running, ensure the following files and directories are set up:
resources/footage/:- Place your background MP4 video files in this directory. These will be available for selection in the Web UI. Thumbnails will be automatically generated and cached in
web_ui/static/thumbnails/.
- Place your background MP4 video files in this directory. These will be available for selection in the Web UI. Thumbnails will be automatically generated and cached in
resources/music/:- Place your background music files (MP3, WAV, OGG) here. These will be available for selection in the Web UI. For preview functionality, ensure assets are accessible (e.g., copied to
web_ui/static/music_assets/by the application or during setup).
- Place your background music files (MP3, WAV, OGG) here. These will be available for selection in the Web UI. For preview functionality, ensure assets are accessible (e.g., copied to
resources/images/reddit_submission_template.png:- This is your custom background image for the title screen overlay. The story title will be drawn onto this image.
- The current title placement is configured in
reddit_shorts/make_submission_image.py. You may need to adjust these if you change the template significantly.
generated_shorts/:- This directory will be created automatically if it doesn't exist. All videos generated via the Web UI will be saved here.
web_ui/: Contains the Flask web application.static/: Holds static assets for the UI (HTML, CSS, JS, and initially emptythumbnailsandmusic_assetsfolders).routes.py: Defines the API endpoints and serves the UI.__init__.py: Initializes the Flask app.
run_web.py: Script to start the Flask development server for the Web UI.reddit_shorts/: Main Python package containing the video generation logic.config.py: Contains paths to resources, bad words list, and other configurations.main.py: Core logic for video generation, called by the Web UI.make_tts.py: Handles Text-to-Speech using the integrated TikTok TTS library.create_short.py: Manages the FFmpeg video assembly process.make_submission_image.py: Generates the title image overlay.tiktok_voice/: The integrated mark-rez/TikTok-Voice-TTS library.
requirements.txt: Lists Python dependencies for the project, including Flask for the Web UI.
- Prepare Assets:
- Add your MP4 background videos to the
resources/footage/directory. - Add your MP3/WAV/OGG music files to the
resources/music/directory. (The UI will copymusic.mp3toweb_ui/static/music_assets/for preview if it exists at the expected location). - Ensure your
resources/images/reddit_submission_template.pngis in place.
- Add your MP4 background videos to the
- Start the Flask Server:
Open your terminal, navigate to the project's root directory, ensure your virtual environment is activated, and run:
python run_web.py
- Access the UI:
Open your web browser and go to
http://127.0.0.1:5001(or the port specified in the terminal output). - Generate Videos:
- Fill in the "Title" and "Story" fields.
- Select a background video from the displayed thumbnails.
- Select background music and preview it.
- Choose a TTS voice from the paginated table.
- Click "Generate Video". The video will be processed and then downloaded by your browser. It will also be saved in the
generated_shorts/directory.
The project previously supported a CLI-based generation using stories.txt. While the Web UI is now the primary method, the underlying CLI entry point brainrot-gen (or python -m reddit_shorts.main) might still work for basic generation if stories.txt is populated, but it will not use the UI's selection features for voice, specific background video, or music.
For CLI usage with stories.txt:
- Prepare
stories.txt: (Create this file in the project root if using CLI)- Format: Each story should have a title and the story body:
Separate multiple stories with at least one blank line.
Title: [Your Story Title Here] Story: [First paragraph of your story] ...
- Format: Each story should have a title and the story body:
- Run:
brainrot-gen # or # python -m reddit_shorts.main
--filter: Enables a basic profanity filter.
- Video Editing Logic: Modify
reddit_shorts/create_short.pyto change FFmpeg parameters, subtitle styles, or video composition. - Title Image Generation: Adjust title placement, font, or text wrapping in
reddit_shorts/make_submission_image.py. - TTS Voice Management: Voices are sourced from the
tiktok_voicelibrary and managed inweb_ui/routes.pyfor the UI. - Configuration: Edit
reddit_shorts/config.pyfor resource paths, etc. - Web UI Frontend: Modify
web_ui/static/index.htmlfor UI layout, styling (Tailwind CSS), and Vue.js app logic. - Web UI Backend: Modify
web_ui/routes.pyfor API endpoint behavior.
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'flask'(or other dependencies): Ensure you've installed dependencies usingpip install -r requirements.txt.Address already in usefor port 5001: Another application is using the port. You can change the port inrun_web.py.- 404 Errors in UI / API calls not working: Check terminal logs from
python run_web.pyfor errors. Ensure Flask routes are correctly defined. ffmpeg: command not found: Ensure FFmpeg is installed and in your system's PATH.- Font errors (e.g., "Font not found"): Make sure "Montserrat ExtraBold" (or your chosen font) is installed correctly.
- TTS Issues:
- Check your internet connection.
- The underlying API used by the TTS library can sometimes be unreliable.
- Look for error messages in the console output from
python run_web.py.
- No videos generated / Video generation fails:
- Check
resources/footage/has at least one.mp4file. - Check
resources/music/has music files. - Ensure
resources/images/reddit_submission_template.pngexists. - Examine console output from
python run_web.pyfor detailed FFmpeg or Python errors during generation.
- Check
- This project is a heavily modified fork of gavink97/reddit-shorts-generator.
- Uses the mark-rez/TikTok-Voice-TTS library.
- Web UI uses Vue.js and Tailwind CSS.
This project is currently unlicensed, inheriting the original MIT License from the upstream repository where applicable to original code sections. New modifications by egebese are also effectively under MIT-style permissions unless otherwise specified.
This project builds upon the foundational structure and concepts from the Reddit Shorts Generator by gavink97.