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What is dbbasic-face?

askrobots/dbbasic-face — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

1PythonAudience · vibe coderComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

In one sentence

A browser puppet that lip-syncs a cartoon character to text-to-speech audio and follows typed stage directions like an actor's script.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Animates SVG puppets
      Lip-syncs to speech
      Follows script directions
    Tech stack
      Node.js
      SVG and JSON
      Rhubarb Lip Sync
    Use cases
      Build a talking avatar
      Prototype a virtual presenter
      Direct multi-character scenes
    Audience
      Vibe coders
      Creative developers

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Build a simple talking avatar for a browser based project or demo.

USE CASE 2

Prototype a virtual news anchor or interview scene with multiple characters.

USE CASE 3

Direct a puppet character live from the command line or an API.

USE CASE 4

Design a custom animated character by editing SVG and JSON, no coding required.

What is it built with?

Node.jsJavaScriptSVGffmpeg

How does it compare?

askrobots/dbbasic-face0xustaz/streamgatea-bissell/unleash-lite
Stars111
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Setup difficultymoderatehardhard
Complexity3/54/54/5
Audiencevibe coderdeveloperresearcher

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Node, ffmpeg, and a text-to-speech engine like macOS say or espeak installed first.

No license information is stated in the README.

So what is it?

Puppet Stage is a tool that turns a simple cartoon character in your browser into a talking, gesturing puppet, controlled by typed text instead of animation software. You write lines like an actor's script, mixing plain spoken dialogue with bracketed stage directions such as walk, wave, or look left, and the character performs them live in the browser. The speech comes from a text to speech engine already built into your computer, such as macOS's built in voice or the free espeak program on Linux. A separate open source tool called Rhubarb Lip Sync then listens to that generated speech and works out which mouth shape the character should show at each moment, so the lips move roughly in time with the words. If that lip sync tool is missing, the mouth still moves based on how loud the audio is at each instant, as a fallback. Each character is defined by an SVG image and a small JSON file describing its parts, such as which shape is the mouth, how the eyes blink, and what named actions like waving or bowing look like, so new characters can be created without writing any code. Two sample characters are included to show a simple version and a more detailed one. The project runs as one small Node.js server plus a static web page, with no external JavaScript packages required beyond what is built in. You can control the puppet from a text box in the browser, from a prewritten script, or by sending commands from the command line, and multiple browser tabs watching the same server will all show the same performance at once. It also supports splitting the screen into multiple framed characters side by side, similar to a news broadcast, complete with captions and simple scene transitions. The README does not mention a license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing Puppet Stage and getting Ava to say her first line.
Prompt 2
Explain how Puppet Stage's screenplay language mixes dialogue and stage directions.
Prompt 3
Show me how to create a brand new character using an SVG file and manifest.json.
Prompt 4
Help me set up a two-character split screen scene like a news broadcast.

Frequently asked questions

What is dbbasic-face?

A browser puppet that lip-syncs a cartoon character to text-to-speech audio and follows typed stage directions like an actor's script.

What language is dbbasic-face written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Node.js, JavaScript, SVG.

What license does dbbasic-face use?

No license information is stated in the README.

How hard is dbbasic-face to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is dbbasic-face for?

Mainly vibe coder.

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