LESSON 02 · 10 MIN READ

Set up your computer

Claude Code, Node.js, Chrome, ffmpeg, Python and whisper on macOS or Windows, with a check for each.

In this lesson

→Each tool and why it is needed
→Copy-paste install commands for Mac and Windows
→How to check everything works

You install these once. Each skill also contains SETUP.md, and Claude Code can check and install everything for you if you ask: “Read SETUP.md and check my computer.”

The tools

Claude Code: the AI that builds the video. Download it from claude.ai/download; it needs a paid Claude plan.
Node.js 20 or newer: runs the renderer. Install the LTS version from nodejs.org.
Google Chrome: the engine draws every frame inside Chrome (without opening a window).
ffmpeg: joins frames and sound into an MP4.
Python 3.10+ with numpy and Pillow: timing, sound mixing and checks.
whisper.cpp and its small English model: finds the exact time of every spoken word so captions and picture land on the voice.

macOS

Install Homebrew first if you do not have it, then in Terminal:

brew install node ffmpeg whisper-cpp
python3 -m pip install numpy pillow

Windows

In PowerShell:

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
winget install Gyan.FFmpeg
winget install Python.Python.3.12
python -m pip install numpy pillow

For whisper on Windows, download the latest release ZIP from github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp, unzip it and add the folder to your PATH.

The whisper model

Download ggml-base.en.bin (about 140 MB) from huggingface.co/ggerganov/whisper.cpp and put it in a models/ folder inside your project.

Check everything

node -v                 # v20 or higher
ffmpeg -version
python3 -c "import numpy, PIL; print('ok')"
whisper-cli -h

Tip: If a command is “not found” right after installing, close the terminal and open a new one so it picks up the new PATH.

Next: Install a skill and make a project

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Install a skill and make a project