ArcReel: Turn Stories and Scripts Into Editable Videos

Overview

ArcReel is a self-hosted production workspace for making AI-assisted short videos from novels, finished scripts, or product materials. It brings content planning, reusable character and scene assets, storyboards, generated media, and final delivery into one workflow, addressing the coordination and consistency challenges of producing videos across multiple stages.

It is aimed at creators and teams who want reviewable, resumable production rather than a single prompt-to-video step. Users can configure generation providers, inspect costs, redo individual assets, and either render a video or export a Jianying draft for continued editing. Jianying export targets the mainland China edition; compatibility with CapCut is not verified.

Key Features

• Organizes production from source material through planning, character, scene and prop assets, storyboards, video clips, and delivery.
• Reuses reference images across shots to help maintain visual consistency.
• Supports agent-orchestrated workflows with opportunities for user review and adjustment.
• Allows individual media to be regenerated and previous versions to be restored.
• Provides configuration for text, image, video, and text-to-speech capabilities from multiple providers.
• Tracks estimated and actual generation costs and usage.
• Offers final video composition and export to editable Jianying drafts.

Use Cases

• Short-drama creators can adapt a novel or script into episodes with recurring character and location references.
• Video explainers and narration creators can build short-form videos from scripts while managing generated visuals and voice tracks.
• Marketing teams and sellers can turn product materials into promotional or commerce videos and continue refining the result in an editor.
• Production teams evaluating AI workflows can self-host a workspace where stages are reviewable and individual assets can be revised without restarting the entire project.

Getting Started

With Docker and Docker Compose installed, run:

git clone https://github.com/ArcReel/ArcReel.git
cd ArcReel/deploy
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d

Open http://localhost:1241, then configure the Agent and generation providers in settings. See the README for setup and deployment details.

Alternatives

• MoneyPrinter: MoneyPrinter generates YouTube Shorts from a topic, while ArcReel turns source materials into storyboards and editable Jianying drafts.

Considerations

• The workspace needs configured Agent and media-generation providers to produce content; provider access and usage costs are separate considerations.
• The default Compose configuration publishes port 1241 on all host network interfaces. The README advises against exposing the service directly to the public internet and recommends authentication plus HTTPS, a VPN, or a secure tunnel for remote access.
• Jianying draft export is intended for the mainland China edition. CapCut compatibility has not been verified.
• The AGPL-3.0 license may impose obligations when modifying or providing the software as a network service. Review the license and the repository's additional NOTICE terms before deployment.