FrameForge is a complete video production system that runs on one rule: every stage produces one artifact, every artifact passes a gate, and no video is called done until a self review proves it. The video below was made by the system itself, end to end, at a total cost of $0.
Researched from four named sources, narrated by a local voice, designed cards, a music bed, burned in captions, and a passed self review. Press play.
Inspect the real run files yourself: checkpoints - final review - decision log - research brief - script - subtitles - metadata
Every stage of the GPS run, with the gate it had to pass. The proposal stage is a hard stop: without recorded approval, the run waits there and nothing after it starts. That was tested first, before the approved run.
The engine is small on purpose. Four Python parts, one pipeline file, and four short director files that tell the agent how to run each stage.
Runs the stages in order, enforces every gate, writes checkpoints and the decision log, and stops the run when a gate fails.
The gate rules: sourced facts, at least two concepts, script word budget, scene coverage, files on disk, timeline completeness.
Local voice narration, designed scene cards, a music bed, FFmpeg compose with zoom and fades, and the self review.
One short file per stage pair, written in plain words: what good looks like, and the common failure to avoid.
Every production choice is recorded with what was rejected and why. No silent swaps.
| Decision | Chosen | Rejected | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narration voice | Piper, local and free | Cloud voice APIs | No key needed, cost stays at zero |
| Composition engine | FFmpeg direct | Remotion, HyperFrames | Designed cards plus zoom and fades cover this pipeline, with fewer moving parts |
| Music bed | Made in the run itself | Library music | No licence questions, no download needed |
Real and proven above: the full explainer pipeline, research to publish, with gates that were seen stopping a run without approval, and a visual check that caught and fixed two design faults before delivery, cropped edges from an over strong zoom, and text running under the diagram.
Not yet built: AI generated footage and images, which need paid provider keys, and the documentary and clip pipelines, which exist as a studied design, not as code. FrameForge v0.1 makes designed card explainers. It does not pretend to be more than that.
FrameForge was designed after a full study of the OpenMontage open source project: its pipeline pattern, approval gates and self review ideas were studied in depth, then written fresh here. All FrameForge code and text are original.