acestep-simplemv

---
name: acestep-simplemv
description: Render music videos from audio files and lyrics using Remotion. Accepts audio + LRC/JSON lyrics + title to produce MP4 videos with waveform visualization and synced lyrics display. Use when users mention MV generation, music video rendering, creating video from audio/lyrics, or visualizing songs.
---

# MV Render

Render music videos with waveform visualization and synced lyrics from audio + lyrics input.

## Prerequisites

- Remotion project at `scripts/` directory within this skill
- Node.js + npm dependencies installed
- ffprobe available (for audio duration detection)

### First-Time Setup

Before first use, check and install dependencies:

```bash
# 1. Check Node.js
node --version

# 2. Install npm dependencies
cd {project_root}/{.claude or .codex}/skills/acestep-simplemv/scripts && npm install

# 3. Check ffprobe
ffprobe -version
```

If ffprobe is not available, install ffmpeg (which includes ffprobe):
- **Windows**: `choco install ffmpeg` or download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html and add to PATH
- **macOS**: `brew install ffmpeg`
- **Linux**: `sudo apt-get install ffmpeg` (Debian/Ubuntu) or `sudo dnf install ffmpeg` (Fedora)

## Quick Start

```bash
cd {project_root}/{.claude or .codex}/skills/acestep-simplemv/
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio /path/to/song.mp3 --lyrics /path/to/song.lrc --title "Song Title"
```

Output: MP4 file at `out/<audio_basename>.mp4` (or custom `--output` path).

## Script Usage

```bash
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio <file> --lyrics <lrc_file> --title "Title" [options]

Options:
  --audio        Audio file path (absolute paths supported)
  --lyrics       LRC format lyrics file (timestamped)
  --lyrics-json  JSON lyrics file [{start, end, text}] (alternative to --lyrics)
  --title        Video title (default: "Music Video")
  --subtitle     Subtitle text
  --credit       Bottom credit text
  --offset       Lyric timing offset in seconds (default: -0.5)
  --output       Output file path (default: out/<audio_basename>.mp4)
  --codec        h264|h265|vp8|vp9 (default: h264)
  --background   Background image file path (if omitted, uses animated gradient)
  --browser      Custom browser executable path (Chrome/Edge/Chromium)
  --max-size     Max output file size in MB (e.g. 24). Auto-compresses if exceeded.
                 Use for IM platforms (WhatsApp≤16MB, Discord≤25MB, Telegram≤50MB)

Environment variables:
  BROWSER_EXECUTABLE  Path to browser executable (overrides auto-detection)
```

## Browser Detection

Remotion requires a Chromium-based browser for rendering. The script auto-detects browsers in this priority order:

1. `BROWSER_EXECUTABLE` environment variable
2. `--browser` CLI argument
3. Remotion cache (`chrome-headless-shell`, downloaded by Remotion)
4. System Chrome (auto-uses `--chrome-mode=chrome-for-testing`)
5. **System Edge** (pre-installed on Windows 10/11, auto-uses `--chrome-mode=chrome-for-testing`)
6. System Chromium (auto-uses `--chrome-mode=chrome-for-testing`)

**Important**: New versions of Chrome/Edge removed the old headless mode. When using regular Chrome/Edge/Chromium, the script automatically sets `--chrome-mode=chrome-for-testing` (which uses `--headless=new`). When using `chrome-headless-shell`, it uses the default `headless-shell` mode (which uses `--headless=old`). This is handled transparently.

If no browser is found, Remotion will attempt to download `chrome-headless-shell` from Google servers. **This will fail if Google servers are inaccessible from your network.**

### Workarounds for restricted networks

Since **Edge is pre-installed on Windows 10/11**, it should be auto-detected without any manual configuration. The script automatically detects Chrome/Edge and uses the correct headless mode. If auto-detection fails:

```bash
# Option 1: Set environment variable
export BROWSER_EXECUTABLE="/path/to/msedge.exe"

# Option 2: Pass as CLI argument
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio song.mp3 --lyrics song.lrc --title "Song" --browser "/path/to/msedge.exe"

# Option 3: Enable proxy and let Remotion download chrome-headless-shell
```

## Examples

```bash
# Basic render
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio /tmp/abc123_1.mp3 --lyrics /tmp/abc123.lrc --title "夜桜"

# Custom output path
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio song.mp3 --lyrics song.lrc --title "My Song" --output /tmp/my_mv.mp4

# With subtitle and credit
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio song.mp3 --lyrics song.lrc --title "Song" --subtitle "Artist Name" --credit "Generated by ACE-Step"

# With background image
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio song.mp3 --lyrics song.lrc --title "Song" --background /path/to/cover.jpg

# Compress for Discord upload (max 25MB)
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio song.mp3 --lyrics song.lrc --title "Song" --max-size 24

# Compress for WhatsApp (max 16MB)
./scripts/render-mv.sh --audio song.mp3 --lyrics song.lrc --title "Song" --max-size 15
```

## IM Platform Upload Limits

When sending MV to chat platforms, use `--max-size` to auto-compress:

| Platform | Limit | Recommended `--max-size` |
|----------|-------|--------------------------|
| WhatsApp | 16MB | 10 |
| Discord (free) | 25MB | 10 |
| QQ | 10MB | 10 |
| Telegram | 50MB | 20 |
| Slack (free) | 1GB | - |

The compression uses ffmpeg two-pass encoding to achieve the best quality within the size constraint.

## Container / Docker Font Support

When running in containers (e.g. OpenClaw), CJK fonts may not be pre-installed, causing lyrics to render as □ boxes. The script automatically:

1. **Detects** if CJK fonts are available (via `fc-list`)
2. **Attempts to install** `fonts-noto-cjk` (Debian/Ubuntu), `font-noto-cjk` (Alpine), or `google-noto-sans-cjk-fonts` (Fedora/RHEL)
3. **Falls back** with a warning and manual install instructions if auto-install fails

If auto-install doesn't work, manually install fonts before rendering:
```bash
# Debian/Ubuntu
apt-get install -y fonts-noto-cjk

# Alpine
apk add font-noto-cjk

# Fedora/RHEL
dnf install -y google-noto-sans-cjk-fonts
```

## File Naming

**IMPORTANT**: Use the audio file's job ID as the output filename to avoid overwriting. Do NOT use custom names like `--output my_song.mp4`. Let the default naming handle it (derives from audio filename).

Default output uses the audio filename as base:
- Audio: `acestep_output/{job_id}_1.mp3`
- Lyrics: `acestep_output/{job_id}_1.lrc`
- Video: Pass `--output acestep_output/{job_id}.mp4` (use the job ID from the audio file)

Example: if audio is `chatcmpl-abc123_1.mp3`, pass `--output acestep_output/chatcmpl-abc123.mp4`

## Title Guidelines

- Keep `--title` short and single-line (max ~50 chars, auto-truncated)
- Use `--subtitle` for additional info
- Do NOT put newlines in `--title`

Good: `--title "Open Source" --subtitle "ACE-Step v1.5"`
Bad: `--title "Open Source - ACE-Step v1.5\nCelebrating Music AI"`

## Notes

- Audio files with absolute paths are auto-copied to `public/` by render.mjs
- Duration is auto-detected via ffprobe
- Typical render time: ~1-2 minutes for a 90s song
- Output resolution: 1920x1080, 30fps

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• PiMPStudios/ACE-Step-1.50