From e0ffffefb324d3befbbcb9b0bddf6532de864fa5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: calesthio Date: Sat, 4 Apr 2026 10:20:44 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Promote reference-video workflow in README --- README.md | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 39 insertions(+) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 61e3ad16..75c8e7c1 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -7,6 +7,7 @@

The first open-source, agentic video production system.

+ Paste A Video  ·  Quick Start  ·  Try These Prompts  ·  Pipelines  ·  @@ -29,6 +30,35 @@ Turn your AI coding assistant into a full video production studio. Describe what > **"SIGNAL FROM TOMORROW"** — a cinematic sci-fi trailer fully produced through OpenMontage: concept, script, scene plan, Veo-generated motion clips, soundtrack, and Remotion composition. +--- + +## Start From A Video You Already Love + +Most people are bad at prompting from scratch. They are much better at saying: "I want something like this." + +OpenMontage can start from a **YouTube video, Short, Reel, TikTok, or local clip** and turn it into a grounded production plan: + +1. **Paste a reference video** +2. **The agent analyzes transcript, pacing, scenes, keyframes, and style** +3. **You get 2-3 differentiated concepts, an honest tool path, cost estimates, and a sample before full production** + +```text +"Here's a YouTube Short I love. Make me something like this, but about quantum computing." +``` + +What you get back is not "best guess prompt spaghetti." You get: + +- **What it keeps** from the reference: pacing, hook style, structure, tone +- **What it changes**: topic, visual treatment, angle, narration approach +- **What it will cost** at your target duration, before asset generation starts +- **What it will actually look like** with your currently available tools + +**Why this matters:** the reference-video path is the easiest way into OpenMontage. You do not need to reverse-engineer prompts, name camera moves, or describe an aesthetic perfectly. Just point at something that works. + +**Guardrail:** OpenMontage does not aim for carbon copies. The agent is instructed to propose original, creatively differentiated variants of the reference. + +**Free-first workflow:** the reference analysis path is designed around local/free tooling for transcript extraction, scene detection, frame sampling, and structure analysis. Paid providers only enter once you approve a production direction. +

@@ -146,6 +176,14 @@ You don't need any API keys to make real videos. Out of the box, `make setup` gi Copy any of these into your AI coding assistant after setup. Each one runs a full production pipeline. +### Start from a reference video + +> "Here's a YouTube short I love. Make me something like this, but about CRISPR for high school students." + +> "Analyze this Reel and give me 3 original variants I could make for my own product launch." + +> "I like the pacing and hook in this video. Keep that energy, but turn it into a 45-second explainer about black holes." + ### Zero keys needed > "Make a 45-second animated explainer about why the sky is blue" @@ -212,6 +250,7 @@ Edit your own talking-head footage. Generate a fully animated explainer from scr - **11 production pipelines** — explainers, talking heads, screen demos, cinematic trailers, animations, podcasts, localization, and more - **49 production tools** — spanning video generation, image creation, text-to-speech, music, audio mixing, subtitles, enhancement, and analysis - **400+ agent skills** — production skills, pipeline directors, creative techniques, quality checklists, and deep technology knowledge packs that teach the agent how to use every tool like an expert +- **Reference-driven creation** — paste a video you like and the agent turns it into a grounded, differentiated production plan instead of forcing you to invent the perfect prompt from scratch - **Live web research built in** — before writing a single word of script, the agent runs 15-25+ web searches across YouTube, Reddit, news sites, and academic sources to ground your video in real, current data - **Both free/local AND cloud providers** — every capability supports open-source local alternatives alongside premium APIs. Use what you have. - **No vendor lock-in** — swap providers freely. The scored selector ranks every provider across 7 dimensions (task fit, output quality, control, reliability, cost efficiency, latency, continuity) and picks the best match automatically.