# Didactopus Direct Media Rendering Pipeline Layer This update extends the layout-aware graph engine with a **direct media-rendering pipeline** for turning learning animations into shareable artifacts. ## What it adds - SVG frame export integration - GIF manifest generation - MP4 manifest generation - FFmpeg-oriented render script scaffolding - API endpoint for media render jobs - UI prototype for creating export bundles ## Why this matters Didactopus should not stop at interactive playback. It should also be able to produce portable visual artifacts for: - research presentations - learner progress sharing - curriculum review - AI learner debugging - repository documentation This layer provides a structured path from graph animation payloads to: - frame directories - render manifests - GIF/MP4-ready job bundles ## Scope This scaffold produces: - exported SVG frames - JSON render manifests - shell script scaffolding for FFmpeg conversion It does **not** embed FFmpeg execution into the API server itself. That is a deliberate separation so rendering can be delegated to a worker or offline job. ## Strong next step - actual worker-backed render execution - render status tracking - downloadable media artifact registry - parameterized themes, sizes, and captions