Make Short

make-short — fully-TSX vertical shorts, end to end

Everything is code: no footage, no stock. One short = one Remotion composition fed by a beats contract, with voice and SFX layered on after render. Proven across the 12 example shorts in shorts/. The idea bank + niche ranking lives in IDEAS.md — read it when picking a topic, and grow it when brainstorming.

Run everything from the repo root. Tools are stdlib-only Python 3.10+; ffmpeg/node must be on PATH; API keys live in .env (see .env.example).

Artifact contract

shorts/short-N-<niche>/
  script.md        — hook, beat sheet table (time | on screen | VO), production notes
  beats.json       — machine contract: format, vo[] (text+start/end+words), beats[], niche timeline
  voice/           — per-line TTS clips + voice.wav        (gen_voice.py)   [gitignored]
  sfx-plan.json    — cue sheet on the global timeline       (mix_sfx.py)
  output/          — short-N-sfx.mp4 (+ music auditions)                    [gitignored]
remotion/src/shots/short-N/
  ShortN<Name>.tsx — THE composition (registered by npm run gen)
  vo.gen.ts        — AUTO-GENERATED VO with exact word times (never hand-edit)

Shared kit: remotion/src/lib/shorts.tsx (Captions, Kicker, BigTitle, Stamp, PauseCard, StatChip, ProgressBar, ShortsBackdrop, SAFE areas, prog helper). Niche libs so far: lib/chess.tsx, lib/math.tsx, lib/algo.tsx, lib/sheet.tsx, lib/piano.tsx, lib/prob.tsx, lib/map.tsx, lib/orbit.tsx, lib/chart.tsx, lib/story.tsx… Add at most ONE new niche lib per short, generic enough for a series.

Stage 1 — script + beats

Beat grammar (~38–42s): HOOK (0–3.4s, frame 0 FULLY composed — the payoff already visible, no fade from black) → SETUP → optional QUIZ (PauseCard, ~2.5s — drives comments) → REVEAL in 2–4 steps, each synced to a VO word → TWIST → LOOP (last frame == frame 0, dissolving the payoff back into the intro so it replays seamlessly).

Outros — no fluff. NEVER end on an old-school engagement-CTA — no "what should I do next?", no "comment below", no "which one should I break down". They read as dated. End on the PAYOFF line, and let the visual LOOP blend back into the intro — the loop-into-intro is the ending. Prefer a clean visual dissolve/reset that lands the last frame exactly on frame 0. If a seamless loop genuinely isn't possible for a topic, just end on the payoff with no filler. Don't pad the tail: trim the composition so it ends shortly after the payoff, not seconds of dead air.

VO rules: 100 words total, estimate line windows at **2.7 words/sec with slack to the next line's start** (tighter forces audible atempo squeeze — 3.3wps needed a 1.3× squeeze; 2.7wps peaked at 1.11×). Facts must be verified before scripting. Write script.md + beats.json (vo lines with estimated start/end; niche timeline in global SECONDS).

Stage 2 — the composition

• One .tsx under remotion/src/shots/short-N/, compositionConfig 1080×1920 @30, ~42s. Follow vidtsx-2d-generator's hard rules (frame-based only, monotonic ranges, Easing.bezier).
• Beats = <Sequence> scenes over ONE persistent canvas (the board/equation/array is the continuity — rewinds and evolutions happen in a single component's timeline, not cuts).
• Captions lines={VO} + ProgressBar mounted at the ROOT (global time), scenes beneath.
• THE recurring bug: frames inside a <Sequence> are LOCAL. Converting a global beat second to a scene cue is local_f = global_s*fps − sequence_from. Check every cue twice.
• Frame-0 rule: hook scene uses warm props (BigTitle/EqRow) and negative ats so highlights/ stamps are already on at f0. Loop scene reverses the hook's punch-in (settle 1.06→1 vs grow 1→1.06) so the video loops seamlessly.
• Safe areas: captions block centered ~y1500; nothing critical in bottom 340px / right 160px.

Stage 3 — QA (do not skip, it catches real bugs every time)

cd remotion && npm run gen        # frames.mjs does NOT run gen-registry itself
node scripts/frames.mjs ShortNName 0,<beat-boundaries+hero-frames>,<last> --scale=0.5

READ every PNG (phone scale). Checklist: frame 0 composed & thumbnail-grade · every reveal synced to its beat · nothing covering the payoff element · kickers swap with the narration · captions clear of UI zones · loop frame ≈ frame 0. Fix, re-render frames, only then:

node scripts/render-all.mjs ShortNName --scale=1     # -> remotion/out/ShortNName.mp4

Stage 4 — voice (ElevenLabs, word-exact captions)

python tools/gen_voice.py --beats shorts/short-N-<niche>/beats.json \
    --voice TX3LPaxmHKxFdv7VOQHJ --emit-ts remotion/src/shots/short-N/vo.gen.ts

• Per-line TTS with /with-timestamps → REAL per-word times (tempo-scaled, global) written into beats.json AND vo.gen.ts. The shot imports { VO } from './vo.gen' — captions then highlight on the exact spoken word. Never estimate when a voice track exists.
• Clips are cached by text-hash: rewriting one line only re-bills that line.
• Voice: the examples use ElevenLabs premade "Liam" (TX3LPaxmHKxFdv7VOQHJ); swap in any voice (including your own clone) with the --voice flag + regen.
• Then re-render the composition (captions retimed) and mux: ffmpeg -i remotion/out/<Id>.mp4 -i shorts/.../voice/voice.wav -map 0:v -map 1:a -c:v copy -c:a aac -b:a 192k -t 42 remotion/out/<Id>-voiced.mp4

Stage 5 — SFX (the suggest-sfx machinery, shorts flavor)

Read brand.md §7 + media/library/sfx/catalog.json. Library-first; add generic recipes to palette.json + python tools/gen_sfx.py only for genuine misses. Author shorts/short-N-<niche>/sfx-plan.json (preview = the -voiced.mp4, out = output/short-N-sfx.mp4).

Shorts taste adaptations: diegetic action sounds are the content (piece thocks, digit pops) and may exceed long-form density; decorative cues stay optional: true; layer the 2–3 hero moments (capture+stamp, carry flight+landing+chime). Cue times from EXACT landing frames: at_s = (move.at + move.dur + sequence_from) / fps.

PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8 python tools/mix_sfx.py shorts/short-N-<niche>/sfx-plan.json --print
PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8 python tools/mix_sfx.py shorts/short-N-<niche>/sfx-plan.json

The mix is an AUDITION — the user's ear is the audit gate before anything is called final. Update catalog used_in afterwards.

Stage 6 — music (optional, per video)

Library beds in media/library/music/ (gen_music.py to grow). Audition over the SFX mix: python tools/mix_music.py --all --base shorts/short-N-<niche>/output/short-N-sfx.mp4 (or --bed <id>). Hard-ducked under voice.

Done =

script.md + beats.json authored (facts verified) · composition QA'd frame-by-frame · rendered at scale 1 · voice generated with word-exact captions and muxed · SFX plan authored + audition mixed (~−15.5 LUFS, awaiting the user's ear) · library used_in updated · IDEAS.md queue updated.