Introduction
# Video Message
Generate avatar video messages from text or audio. Outputs as Telegram video notes (circular format).
## Installation
```bash npm install -g openclaw-avatarcam ```
## Configuration
Configure in `TOOLS.md`:
```markdown ### Video Message (avatarcam) - avatar: default.vrm - background: #00FF00 ```
### Settings Reference
| Setting | Default | Description | |---------|---------|-------------| | `avatar` | `default.vrm` | VRM avatar file path | | `background` | `#00FF00` | Color (hex) or image path |
## Prerequisites
### System Dependencies
| Platform | Command | |----------|---------| | **macOS** | `brew install ffmpeg` | | **Linux** | `sudo apt-get install -y xvfb xauth ffmpeg` | | **Windows** | Install ffmpeg and add to PATH | | **Docker** | See Docker section below |
> **Note:** macOS and Windows don't need xvfb — they have native display support.
### Docker Users Add to `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES`: ``` build-essential procps curl file git ca-certificates xvfb xauth libgbm1 libxss1 libatk1.0-0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 libgtk-3-0 libasound2 libnss3 ffmpeg ```
## Usage
```bash # With color background avatarcam --audio voice.mp3 --output video.mp4 --background "#00FF00"
# With image background avatarcam --audio voice.mp3 --output video.mp4 --background "./bg.png"
# With custom avatar avatarcam --audio voice.mp3 --output video.mp4 --avatar "./custom.vrm" ```
## Sending as Video Note
Use OpenClaw's `message` tool with `asVideoNote`:
``` message action=send filePath=/tmp/video.mp4 asVideoNote=true ```
## Workflow
1. **Read config** from TOOLS.md (avatar, background) 2. **Generate TTS** if given text: `tts text="..."` → audio path 3. **Run avatarcam** with audio + settings → MP4 output 4. **Send as video note** via `message action=send filePath=... asVideoNote=true` 5. **Return NO_REPLY** after sending
## Example Flow
User: "Send me a video message saying hello"
```bash # 1. TTS tts text="Hello! How are you today?" → /tmp/voice.mp3
# 2. Generate video avatarcam --audio /tmp/voice.mp3 --output /tmp/video.mp4 --background "#00FF00"
# 3. Send as video note message action=send filePath=/tmp/video.mp4 asVideoNote=true
# 4. Reply NO_REPLY ```
## Technical Details
| Setting | Value | |---------|-------| | Resolution | 384x384 (square) | | Frame rate | 30fps constant | | Max duration | 60 seconds | | Video codec | H.264 (libx264) | | Audio codec | AAC | | Quality | CRF 18 (high quality) | | Container | MP4 |
### Processing Pipeline 1. Electron renders VRM avatar with lip sync at 1280x720 2. WebM captured via `canvas.captureStream(30)` 3. FFmpeg processes: crop → fps normalize → scale → encode 4. Message tool sends via Telegram `sendVideoNote` API
## Platform Support
| Platform | Display | Notes | |----------|---------|-------| | macOS | Native Quartz | No extra deps | | Linux | xvfb (headless) | `apt install xvfb` | | Windows | Native | No extra deps |
## Headless Rendering
Avatarcam auto-detects headless environments: - Uses `xvfb-run` when `$DISPLAY` is not set (Linux only) - macOS/Windows use native display - GPU stall warnings are safe to ignore - Generation time: ~1.5x realtime (20s audio ≈ 30s processing)
## Notes
- Config is read from TOOLS.md - Clean up temp files after sending: `rm /tmp/video*.mp4` - For regular video (not circular), omit `asVideoNote=true`