🎓 dots — See Mathematics

A full-stack MERN application that converts math questions into 3Blue1Brown-style Manim animations using Gemini AI.

🏗️ Architecture

User Question → Gemini (Prompt Engineer) → Gemini (Manim Code Gen) → Manim Render → FFmpeg (+ Music) → Video

📋 Prerequisites (Windows)

1. Node.js v18+ → https://nodejs.org
2. Python 3.10+ → https://python.org
3. Manim Community → pip install manim
4. FFmpeg → https://ffmpeg.org/download.html (add to PATH)
5. MiKTeX (LaTeX for Windows) → https://miktex.org/download

Verify everything works:

node --version
python --version
python -m manim --version
ffmpeg -version

🚀 Setup & Run

1. Install server dependencies

cd server
npm install

2. Generate background music (run once)

cd server/python
python generate_music.py

3. Install client dependencies

cd client
npm install

4. Start the server (Terminal 1)

cd server
npm run dev

5. Start the client (Terminal 2)

cd client
npm run dev

6. Open your browser

http://localhost:5173

🎬 How It Works

1. You type a math question in the chat interface
2. Gemini AI re-engineers your prompt with deep mathematical intuition
3. Gemini AI writes complete Manim Python code for a 3Blue1Brown-style animation
4. Manim renders the animation frame-by-frame into an MP4
5. FFmpeg mixes in soft ambient background music
6. You watch the beautiful math visualization!

If Manim code has errors, Gemini automatically fixes and retries (up to 3 times).

⏱️ Expected Time

• Gemini API calls: ~10-20 seconds
• Manim rendering: ~60-180 seconds (depends on animation complexity)
• Total: 2-4 minutes per visualization

🎨 Tech Stack

• Frontend: React + Vite
• Backend: Node.js + Express
• Database: MongoDB Atlas
• AI: Google Gemini 2.0 Flash
• Animation: Manim Community Edition
• Audio: FFmpeg

📁 Video Storage

Generated videos are saved in server/videos/ and served at:

http://localhost:5000/videos/final_[id].mp4

🐛 Troubleshooting

Manim fails with LaTeX errors:

• Make sure MiKTeX is installed and added to PATH
• Run MiKTeX Console and install missing packages automatically

FFmpeg not found:

• Download FFmpeg, extract it, and add the bin/ folder to Windows PATH
• Restart your terminal after adding to PATH

MongoDB connection fails:

• Check your Atlas IP whitelist (add 0.0.0.0/0 for development)
• Verify the connection string in server/.env

Video not found after rendering:

• Manim creates nested folder structures; the server searches recursively
• Check server/temp/videos/ for the rendered file