Pitch Countdown Video Generator

Overview

A small utility that programmatically renders a pitch/hackathon countdown video: a 7-minute timer, an animated transition, and a closing Q&A screen, generated frame-by-frame and stitched into an MP4 for use on stage during events.

Why It Exists

Live pitch sessions need a clear, branded countdown the room can see. Rather than build one by hand in a video editor, this tool generates the whole clip from code so timings and branding can be tweaked and re-rendered in seconds.

What We Built

A Python script (make_timer.py, with a make_timer.sh wrapper) that renders each second of a 7:00 (420s) countdown as an SVG frame composited over a branded background.png, transitions through an animated segment, and ends on a Q&A screen. Frames are rendered at 30 FPS with configurable text sizing and positioning, then encoded to pitch_timer.mp4. It’s a focused, single-purpose event asset generator that complements the platform’s live-event tooling.

Technologies & Approach

Plain Python orchestrating SVG frame rendering and FFmpeg-based video encoding, with layout constants (center, baseline, font sizes, FPS, total duration) exposed at the top of the script for quick adjustment. No heavy dependencies, deliberately lightweight and reproducible.

Outcome / Impact

Produced a ready-to-play, on-brand countdown video for pitch events, demonstrating quick, code-driven generation of presentation media as part of the broader event-engagement toolkit.

Capabilities Demonstrated

• Programmatic, frame-by-frame video generation from code
• SVG compositing over branded backgrounds and FFmpeg encoding
• Fast, parameterized creation of live-event presentation assets