Reddit Story to Short Video Generator

** work in progress **

Project Motivation

Social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels are dominating the entertainment space with quick, engaging content that captures millions of views. A popular trend involves creators narrating dramatic Reddit stories (like r/AmItheAsshole posts) over dynamic visuals such as Minecraft parkour. These videos have proven to be highly lucrative for content creators.

As a CS student, I thought: “Why spend hours creating these videos manually when I can automate the process?”

What Does This Project Do?

This application automates the process of creating short-form videos by:

1. Scraping Reddit Stories: Fetches popular stories from threads like r/AmItheAsshole.
2. Generating Narration: Converts the story text into AI-generated narrator audio.
3. Creating Videos: Combines narration with a Minecraft parkour or other background video.
4. Providing Downloads: Outputs a completed, ready-to-post video in MP4 format.

Key Features

• Multi-Platform Compatibility: Produces videos optimized for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, etc.
• Reddit Integration: Dynamically fetches top stories from subreddits like r/AmItheAsshole.
• Text-to-Speech: Generates smooth, natural-sounding voiceovers using gTTS.
• Video Automation: Combines narration and engaging backgrounds into a single polished video.
• Effortless Output: Users can generate videos with minimal effort and share them instantly.

Technologies Used

Backend:

• Python:
  • PRAW: Reddit API integration for story scraping.
  • gTTS: Converts text to audio for narration.
  • moviepy: Handles video editing, background cropping, and audio integration.
  • Flask: Provides a simple API for interacting with the app.

Tools:

• FFmpeg: Processes video and audio files efficiently.

How It Works

1. Story Selection:
   • Fetches a random popular story from a subreddit like r/AmItheAsshole.
2. Narration:
   • Converts the story's title and body into a smooth voiceover using gTTS.
3. Video Creation:
   • Combines the narration with a dynamic background video.
   • Crops the video to a 9:16 aspect ratio for TikTok compatibility.
4. Output:
   • Generates a ready-to-post video in MP4 format.

How to Use

1. Setup:

   • Clone the repository.
   • Navigate to the backend directory and set up the virtual environment:

     python3 -m venv venv
     source venv/bin/activate
     pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Environment Variables:

   • Create a .env file in the backend directory with the following keys:

     CLIENT_ID=your_reddit_client_id
     CLIENT_SECRET=your_reddit_client_secret
     REDIRECT_URI=your_redirect_uri
     

   • Replace the placeholders with your Reddit API credentials.

3. Background Video Usage:

• Download the .zip File:

  Download the background video file (minecraft_background.mp4.zip) at:

  OR upload your own mp4 file for the video background in backend/static and move on to step 4

• Unzip the File:

  • On Windows: Right-click the .zip file and select Extract All....
  • On macOS: Double-click the .zip file to extract its contents.
  • On Linux: Use the unzip command in the terminal:

    unzip minecraft_background.mp4.zip

• Place the Video: Ensure the extracted file (minecraft_background.mp4) is placed in the correct directory as specified by the application configuration (e.g., backend/static).

4. Run the App:

   • Navigate to the root directory:

     backend/venv/bin/python backend/app.py

   • The script will fetch a story, generate narration, and create the video.

5. Output:

   • The final video (generated_video.mp4) and audio (narration.mp3) files will appear in the root directory.

📜 License

This project is open-source under the MIT License.