ViMax
Open-source tool that turns a short idea into a storyboarded, AI-generated video using agents.
- Stars
- 12.8k
- Forks
- 1.9k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Python
- Last update
- 1 months ago
- Type
- App
What it is
ViMax is an open-source Python project that takes a short concept, script, or novel and uses AI agents to plan the story, write the script, design characters and storyboards, and generate the final video. It aims to cover the director, screenwriter, producer, and video generator roles in one workflow. People use it to make multi-shot videos without assembling each step by hand.
- Turn a one-paragraph concept into a structured story, characters, script, and storyboard
- Convert an explicit screenplay into a multi-scene video with controlled shots
- Adapt long-form fiction into episodic visual narrative plans
- Place a person or pet from a reference photo into generated stories
Great for
- Creators who want to prototype short story videos from a written idea
- Developers exploring agent-based video production pipelines
- Writers who want to adapt a screenplay or novel into visual scenes
- Users who want an interactive planning and revision workflow before rendering
Not ideal for
- People who need a fully polished video with no manual review, since the README describes an automated pipeline but shows no quality guarantees
- Users without access to image, video, or LLM provider accounts, because the pipeline depends on external generation services
- Non-technical users who cannot run a Python project from the command line or a Web UI setup
How to get it
- 1
Clone and build from source
You'll need: Python 3.12 · uv (Python package manager, per README badge)
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/HKUDS/ViMax.git - 2
Run it
- Clone the repository and open its folder
- Follow the Quick Start section of the README to install dependencies
- Configure your model provider settings as described in the README
- Launch the Web UI or Agent Loop and enter a short concept to begin
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the Agent Loop to revise plans and review text artifacts before rendering
- Use Script2Video if you already have a screenplay, for more control over scenes
- Use the Web UI to manage named projects and preview storyboards
- Try AutoCameo with a reference photo to keep a person or pet consistent across shots
Downloads
Strengths
- Covers the whole pipeline from idea to assembled video in one project
- Offers several entry points: Idea2Video, Script2Video, Novel2Video, a Web UI, and a terminal interface
- Released under the MIT license, so it is free to use and modify
Trade-offs
- Output quality and consistency depend on the external image and video models you connect; the README lists consistency as an ongoing challenge
- Setup requires configuring provider API access, which the README README-excerpt does not fully detail here
- The project is actively changing (v1.2.0 with frequent news updates), so features and commands may shift
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ViMax (this) | 12.8k | App | intermediate | 1 months ago | Creators who want to prototype short story videos from a written idea |
| MoneyPrinterTurbo | 137k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Creators who want quick draft short videos from a topic |
| Toonflow-app | 20.2k | App | intermediate | 6 days ago | Independent creators making short dramas or motion comics who want a self-hosted workflow |
| brag | 20k | AI model / agent | beginner | 13 days ago | Developers who want a quick promo video for a project they just finished |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.