ari-thumbnail-generation

name	ari-thumbnail-generation
description	NOVA's thumbnail generation pipeline — Ideogram V3 via Fal.ai (primary) + DALL-E 3 fallback, 4-variant strategy, Pokemon TCG copyright rules,
triggers	["thumbnail","nova thumbnail","ideogram","dall-e","fal.ai","youtube thumbnail","thumbnail lab","card image copyright"]

ARI Thumbnail Generation (P1 — NOVA)

Overview

NOVA generates 4 thumbnail variants per video using a two-provider strategy.

Primary: Ideogram V3 via Fal.ai — 95%+ text rendering accuracy, $0.03/image, best for Pokemon TCG content Fallback: DALL-E 3 via OpenAI — $0.04/image, excellent text rendering, wide format available

Monthly cost: 30 videos × 4 variants = 120 images × avg $0.035 = ~$4.20/month (negligible)

4-Variant Strategy Per Video

Variant	Provider	Style	Dimensions	Focus
A	Ideogram V3	"Design"	16:9	Price-focused overlay
B	Ideogram V3	"Realistic"	16:9	Card aesthetic, dramatic lighting
C	DALL-E 3	Standard	1024×1024	Clean text, price comparison
D	DALL-E 3	HD	1792×1024	Wide format, premium content

After generation: all 4 posted to #thumbnail-lab in Discord. Pryce selects favorite. NOVA sets selected variant as the video thumbnail before YouTube upload.

Ideogram V3 Production Prompt Template

Style: Design | Aspect: 16:9 | Quality: Balanced

"Professional Pokemon TCG YouTube thumbnail. Feature [CARD_NAME]
card with holographic foil effect and metallic sheen.
Large bold text: '[CARD_NAME]' in gold metallic lettering.
Red price banner at bottom: 'PRICE DROP $[OLD]→$[NEW]'
in white bold sans-serif, highly legible.
Background: dark gradient with collectible card atmosphere,
dramatic spotlight lighting, TCG rarity sparkle effects.
1280×720 YouTube thumbnail, high contrast, eye-catching colors."

For Variant B (Realistic):

• Same prompt, change Style: Design to Style: Realistic
• Emphasize "dramatic lighting" and "holographic card texture"

DALL-E 3 Prompt Template

"YouTube thumbnail for Pokemon Trading Card listing.
Center: [CARD_NAME] holographic card with dramatic lighting.
Top: '[CARD_NAME]' in large bright gold text.
Bottom red banner: 'PRICE DROP $[OLD]→$[NEW]' in bold white,
highly readable, sans-serif font.
Dark background with TCG marketplace aesthetic.
Professional card collector community style."

Standard: size='1024x1024', quality='standard'
HD (Variant D): size='1792x1024', quality='hd'

TypeScript Implementation

import { FalClient } from '@fal-ai/client';
import OpenAI from 'openai';

const fal = new FalClient({ credentials: process.env.FAL_API_KEY });
const openai = new OpenAI({ apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY });

async function generateThumbnailVariants(spec: ThumbnailSpec): Promise<ThumbnailVariants> {
  // A+B: Ideogram V3 in parallel
  const [variantA, variantB] = await Promise.all([
    fal.run('fal-ai/ideogram/v3', {
      prompt: buildIdeogramPrompt(spec, 'Design'),
      aspect_ratio: '16:9',
      style: 'DESIGN',
    }),
    fal.run('fal-ai/ideogram/v3', {
      prompt: buildIdeogramPrompt(spec, 'Realistic'),
      aspect_ratio: '16:9',
      style: 'REALISTIC',
    }),
  ]);

  // C+D: DALL-E 3 in parallel
  const [variantC, variantD] = await Promise.all([
    openai.images.generate({
      model: 'dall-e-3',
      prompt: buildDallEPrompt(spec),
      size: '1024x1024',
      quality: 'standard',
    }),
    openai.images.generate({
      model: 'dall-e-3',
      prompt: buildDallEPrompt(spec),
      size: '1792x1024',
      quality: 'hd',
    }),
  ]);

  return { variantA, variantB, variantC, variantD };
}

interface ThumbnailSpec {
  cardName: string;
  oldPrice: number;
  newPrice: number;
  rarity: string;
  setName: string;
}

Pokemon TCG Copyright Rules

CRITICAL: Pokemon Company prohibits commercial republication of card images.

Approach	Risk	Rule
Ideogram V3 card-inspired AI art	LOW	✅ SAFE — original AI generation
Card name + price as text overlay	NONE	✅ SAFE — text not copyrightable
pokemontcg.io card image scans as thumbnail	HIGH	❌ PROHIBITED — DMCA risk
Ideogram using card color palette reference	LOW-MEDIUM	✅ SAFE — transformative

NOVA's rule: Generate ORIGINAL AI artwork inspired by card aesthetics. Never embed raw card image scans.

If YouTube Content ID flags a video: Remove all card image references immediately. Use pure AI-generated card-inspired backgrounds.

Rights Gate (runs before thumbnail upload)

interface AssetRights {
  origin: 'generated';          // Thumbnails are always 'generated'
  usageClass: 'commercial_ok';  // AI-generated = commercial_ok
}
// Thumbnails using Ideogram/DALL-E always pass this gate
// Raw pokemontcg.io scans would fail (usageClass = 'restricted')

Discord #thumbnail-lab Routing

After generation:

1. NOVA downloads all 4 images (or gets URLs)
2. Posts embed to #thumbnail-lab with all 4 variants as attachments
3. Embed includes: video job ID, card name, price movement, "Reply with A/B/C/D to select"
4. Pryce replies or reacts to select
5. NOVA records selection: jobs.selected_thumbnail_variant = 'A'
6. Selected variant used as YouTube thumbnail on approval

Environment Variables

FAL_API_KEY          # Ideogram V3 via Fal.ai
OPENAI_API_KEY       # DALL-E 3 via OpenAI API (same key as Whisper + Codex)