Tutorial Maker

A Node.js application that creates tutorial videos from instruction files and images.

Installation

Windows (Recommended)

1. Download the latest TutorialMaker.zip from the Releases page
2. Extract the ZIP file to any location
3. Double-click TutorialMaker.bat to start the application

Note: Make sure you have Node.js and FFmpeg installed on your system.

Manual Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 14.0.0 or higher
• FFmpeg (required for video processing)

Steps

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/tutorial-maker.git
   cd tutorial-maker

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Check your environment setup:

   npm run check-deps

   This will verify that all required dependencies are installed and create a sample data directory.

4. Place your tutorial images in the sampleData directory.

5. Edit sampleData/script.xml with your tutorial content. Example:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <tutorial>
     <speak>Welcome to this tutorial!</speak>
     <video src="example.mp4" />
     <speak>This is the next step.</speak>
   </tutorial>

6. Run the application:

   npm start

The output video will be saved as output.mp4 in the current directory.

Script Format

The script.xml file supports the following elements:

• <speak>: Text to be converted to speech
• <video>: Include an existing video file
  • src attribute: Path to the video file

Development

Building the Package

To create a distributable package:

npm run build

This will create a TutorialMaker.zip file containing everything needed to run the application.

Running Tests

Run tests:

npm test

Run tests in watch mode:

npm run test:watch

Troubleshooting

FFmpeg Not Found

If you see an error about FFmpeg not being found:

• Windows:

  1. Download FFmpeg from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
  2. Add FFmpeg to your system PATH
  3. Restart your terminal/command prompt

• macOS:

  brew install ffmpeg

• Linux:

  sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

Node.js Version

If you see a Node.js version error, install a newer version from https://nodejs.org/

Installation Issues

If you encounter any issues during installation:

1. Make sure you have Node.js 14.0.0 or higher installed
2. Make sure FFmpeg is installed and in your PATH
3. Try running npm run check-deps to verify your environment

License

MIT