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The Concept

Faceless videos are everywhere—TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels. They combine engaging visuals with voiceover narration and captions, but never show a person on camera. Think gaming clips with commentary, stock footage with educational content, or animated explainers. The problem: Creating faceless videos requires scripting, voiceover recording, audio mixing, and video editing—all separate tools and skills. What if you could generate it all programmatically from just a topic?

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What You’ll Build

In this guide, you’ll build a complete faceless video pipeline using VideoDB Editor. You’ll:
  • Generate an engaging script from a topic
  • Convert that script to natural voiceover
  • Layer it with background visuals and music
  • Compile everything into a finished video
All powered by VideoDB’s Editor SDK — pure automation magic.

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Setup

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Install Dependencies

pip install videodb

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Connect to VideoDB

import videodb

# Connect to VideoDB
api_key = "your_api_key"
conn = videodb.connect(api_key=api_key)
coll = conn.get_collection()

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Implementation

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Step 1: Upload Background Assets

# Upload background video (muted - we'll use for visuals only)
background_video = coll.upload(url='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1CHvsUSNo')

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Step 2: Generate AI Script

# Define your video topic
video_topic = "How AI is changing the gaming industry"

# Create prompt for script generation
script_prompt = f"""You are a GenZ content creator writing a script for a faceless video about: "{video_topic}"

Your task: Write an engaging, fun, fast-paced voiceover script.

Style Guidelines:
- Conversational and energetic tone (like you're talking to a friend)
- Use short, punchy sentences
- Include hooks and interesting facts
- Keep it engaging and easy to follow
- No intros like "Hey guys" or "In this video" - jump straight into the content
- Length: 300-400 words (about 2 minutes when spoken)

Critical: Return ONLY the script text. No titles, no commentary, no explanations. Just the pure voiceover script."""

# Generate script using AI
script_response = coll.generate_text(
    prompt=script_prompt,
    response_type="text",
    model_name="pro"
)

script = script_response.get('output', script_response)

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Step 3: Generate Voiceover from Script

# Generate AI voiceover from script
voiceover_audio = coll.generate_voice(
    text=script,
    voice_name="Default"
)

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Step 4: Build Multi-Layer Timeline

Create the composition with background video, voiceover, and music: 
from videodb.editor import Timeline, Track, Clip, VideoAsset, AudioAsset
from videodb import MediaType

# Upload background music as audio
background_music = coll.upload(
    url='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkoIpjQ16YY',
    media_type=MediaType.audio
)

# Initialize timeline
timeline = Timeline(conn)
timeline.background = "#000000"  # Black background

# Track 1: Background video (muted)
video_clip = Clip(
    asset=VideoAsset(
        id=background_video.id,
        start=3,
        volume=0  # Muted - we only want visuals
    ),
    duration=float(voiceover_audio.length)
)

video_track = Track()
video_track.add_clip(0, video_clip)
timeline.add_track(video_track)

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Step 5: Add Voiceover Track

# Track 2: Voiceover (full volume)
voiceover_clip = Clip(
    asset=AudioAsset(
        id=voiceover_audio.id,
        start=0,
        volume=1.0  # Full volume for clear narration
    ),
    duration = float(voiceover_audio.length)
)

voiceover_track = Track()
voiceover_track.add_clip(0, voiceover_clip)
timeline.add_track(voiceover_track)

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Step 6: Add Background Music

# Track 3: Background music (low volume)
music_clip = Clip(
    asset=AudioAsset(
        id=background_music.id,
        start=0,
        volume=0.15  # Low volume so it doesn't overpower voiceover
    ),
    duration= float(voiceover_audio.length)
)

music_track = Track()
music_track.add_clip(0, music_clip)
timeline.add_track(music_track)

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Step 7: Render as Vertical Video

# Set vertical resolution for shorts/reels
timeline.resolution = "608x1080"

# Generate stream
vertical_stream_url = timeline.generate_stream()

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What You Get

A complete faceless video with:
  • AI-generated engaging script
  • Natural voiceover narration
  • Background visuals (your choice)
  • Ambient background music
  • Proper audio mixing (voiceover prioritized)
  • Vertical format ready for social media
Here’s the final rendered video:

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Perfect Use Cases

  • Educational Content - Explainers, how-tos, tutorials
  • Gaming Commentary - Gameplay footage with voiceover analysis
  • News/Updates - Topic-driven news videos
  • Product Reviews - B-roll with narrated reviews
  • Storytelling - Narrative content over visuals

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The Result

With this system, you can:
  • Generate new faceless videos in minutes
  • Scale content production without hiring narrators
  • Maintain consistent voiceover quality across all videos
  • Focus on visual storytelling rather than on-camera performance
No faces. No cameras. Just compelling content powered by AI.

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