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Independent productOpen source · Beta

GuidedReel

An open-source script-to-video editor: write a script, choose a format and template, add your media, and export an MP4 — in the browser or on the desktop.

Role
Creator
Type
Open Source
View source on GitHub(opens in a new tab)Desktop releases(opens in a new tab)
GuidedReel editor with scene list, script, and live video preview

Overview

GuidedReel turns a script and a few assets into a finished video. You write or paste a script, pick a format and a template, drop in images, clips, voiceover, and music, adjust the timing, and export. One shared video engine built on Remotion powers both a Next.js web app and an Electron desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It is MIT-licensed, and a scaffolder lets other developers build their own video products on the engine.

The problem

Short promotional and social videos usually mean either hand-editing every cut or handing your content to a black-box generator. GuidedReel keeps the script and media yours and makes the editing repeatable, with templates and formats you can reuse across videos.

What I built

  • Designed and built the shared video engine, the web editor, and the desktop app.
  • Built script-first editing: paste a plain script, JSON, or CSV and get scenes.
  • Published the engine as reusable packages with a project scaffolder (create-guidedreel).

Architecture & key decisions

  • pnpm and Turborepo monorepo with a core engine package shared by the web and desktop apps.
  • Project → Scenes → Assets → Timeline → Template → Remotion composition → renderer → MP4.
  • Versioned project schema with migrations, so projects move between web and desktop.
  • Local rendering on desktop and server rendering on the web; H.264, H.265, VP9, or ProRes export.

Screenshots