Rundown Studio
Plan a recurring video update with a timed rundown and ready-made modules.
Working Runs in your browser, and nothing is uploaded. Try it below on sample data. There is a download too.
The problem
A monthly team update often starts from scratch, even though every month uses the same building blocks.
What I built
A tool that turns a brief into a timed rundown and a recording plan, plus an After Effects module pack to put together a sample update.
- A timed rundown from a brief
- Six modules with fields you can edit
- The show put together in After Effects
Download for After EffectsOpen the tool
Features and limits
Built and tested
- Brief to rundown: sections, owners, script length, key numbers and points become a timed list of modules.
- Overlays (lower thirds, numbers, captions) sit on the talking part and add no time; the total is real speaking time plus titles.
- Checks: total within the target, each script within its slot at an easy speaking pace, number inserts short enough to read.
- Recording runbook per person: what to say, which numbers to land, how to record; plus the editor's drop-in list.
- Export the rundown for After Effects: the module pack builds six editable modules and assembles the show from it.
Limits
- The planner runs in the browser. The module pack runs in After Effects. Premiere Pro import and Windows are outside the previous test record.
- The module pack was tested in After Effects 26.5.0 on macOS 27.0.1 with the sample rundown. The modules use the default font and flat shapes, made to be restyled.
- Talk time is estimated from word count at about 150 words a minute.
Planned
Theme tokens and semi-automatic segment assembly.
How to use
- Edit the sections: title, owner, script words and key point.
- Watch the total and the checks.
- Export the runbook and send each person their part.
- Export the rundown as JSON, then run the module pack in After Effects to build the six modules and lay out the show.
How it works
- Modules are data with default durations; the rundown is built in order with overlays marked.
- Times are cumulative over non-overlay rows only.
Tested versions & limits
- Pass Unit: timed rundown; overlays add no time Node 22, Linux
- Pass Unit: checks for length and script slots Node 22, Linux
- Pass Unit: per-person runbook Node 22, Linux
- Pass Browser: rundown, check, runbook export Chromium (Playwright), 1280px
- Pass Unit: numbers and captions play inside their talk (fixed: they started after it); export splits module text into fields Node 22, Linux
- Pass Pack script on a mock After Effects project: six modules with Essential Graphics controls, .mogrt export calls, show assembled from the rundown Node 22, Linux
- Pass Host: six modules built in After Effects with their Essential Graphics controls, exported as .mogrt files, show assembled from the page's rundown After Effects 26.5.0, macOS 27.0.1
Last verified 2026-11-01.
The rundown and runbook planner works and exports the rundown for After Effects. Building the host side found that numbers and captions started after the talk they belong to; fixed. The module pack script ran in After Effects 26.5.0 on macOS 27.0.1: six modules with their fields and accent color in Essential Graphics, six .mogrt files whose definitions list those controls in reading order, and the show assembled from the sample rundown, 132 s, every module at its time with its text. The first run found three script bugs, fixed before the second. Evidence: labs/host-tests/results/2026-11-01-mac-t21-run2.
Details
- Input
- Fictional monthly update brief
- Output
- Reusable scenes and recording runbook
- Runs in
- The planner runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded or stored. The module pack installs as an After Effects script (tested in After Effects 26.5.0 on macOS 27.0.1).
- Source
- Original, rebuilt from scratch