How to Rebuild UI from Video into a Production React App With Material UI

TL;DR: Rebuild complex UIs from screen recordings into production-ready React apps with Material UI, leveraging Replay's behavior-driven reconstruction engine.

The Problem with Pixel-Perfect: Why Screenshots Fall Short#

Building UI from static screenshots feels like trying to understand a movie from a single frame. You get the visual layout, sure, but you miss the crucial context of user interaction, data flow, and underlying logic. Screenshot-to-code tools often produce brittle, unmaintainable code that requires extensive manual tweaking. This approach fundamentally misunderstands that UI is dynamic, not static. The real challenge lies in capturing behavior.

Rebuilding a complex UI involves not just replicating the visual elements but also understanding how users interact with those elements. What happens when a button is clicked? How does the data update? What's the user flow? These are questions that screenshots can't answer.

Introducing Behavior-Driven Reconstruction with Replay#

Replay takes a revolutionary approach: it uses video as the source of truth. By analyzing screen recordings, Replay understands user behavior and intent, allowing it to reconstruct working UI with a deep understanding of the application's logic. This "Behavior-Driven Reconstruction" goes beyond pixel-perfect replication to create functional, maintainable code.

Replay uses Gemini to interpret the video. It's not just recognizing shapes and colors, but understanding the meaning behind the actions. This is the key difference between Replay and traditional screenshot-to-code tools.

Rebuilding UI from Video: A Practical Example with Material UI#

Let's walk through a practical example of rebuilding a UI from a video recording into a production-ready React application using Material UI. We'll assume we have a video of a user interacting with a simple task management application. The video shows the user adding, editing, and deleting tasks.

Step 1: Uploading and Analyzing the Video with Replay#

The first step is to upload your video to Replay. Replay's engine then analyzes the video, identifying UI elements, user interactions, and data flows. This process takes a few minutes, depending on the length and complexity of the video.

📝 Note: Replay supports various video formats and resolutions. For optimal results, ensure the video is clear and the UI elements are easily visible.

Step 2: Generating the React Codebase#

Once the analysis is complete, Replay generates a React codebase with Material UI components. The generated code includes:

• •React components for each UI element (e.g., buttons, input fields, lists)
• •Event handlers for user interactions (e.g., onClick, onChange)
• •Data management logic (e.g., useState, useEffect)
• •Basic styling based on Material UI's design system

Here's a snippet of the generated code for a task list component:

typescript
// TaskList.tsx
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { List, ListItem, ListItemText, IconButton, TextField, Button } from '@mui/material';
import DeleteIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Delete';
import EditIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Edit';

interface Task {
  id: number;
  text: string;
  isEditing: boolean;
}

const TaskList = () => {
  const [tasks, setTasks] = useState<Task[]>([
    { id: 1, text: 'Grocery Shopping', isEditing: false },
    { id: 2, text: 'Pay Bills', isEditing: false },
  ]);
  const [newTaskText, setNewTaskText] = useState('');

  const addTask = () => {
    if (newTaskText.trim() !== '') {
      setTasks([...tasks, { id: Date.now(), text: newTaskText, isEditing: false }]);
      setNewTaskText('');
    }
  };

  const deleteTask = (id: number) => {
    setTasks(tasks.filter(task => task.id !== id));
  };

  const toggleEdit = (id: number) => {
    setTasks(tasks.map(task =>
      task.id === id ? { ...task, isEditing: !task.isEditing } : task
    ));
  };

  const updateTaskText = (id: number, newText: string) => {
    setTasks(tasks.map(task =>
      task.id === id ? { ...task, text: newText } : task
    ));
  };

  return (
    <List>
      {tasks.map(task => (
        <ListItem key={task.id} >
          {task.isEditing ? (
            <TextField
              value={task.text}
              onChange={(e) => updateTaskText(task.id, e.target.value)}
              onBlur={() => toggleEdit(task.id)}
            />
          ) : (
            <ListItemText primary={task.text} />
          )}
          <IconButton edge="end" aria-label="edit" onClick={() => toggleEdit(task.id)}>
            <EditIcon />
          </IconButton>
          <IconButton edge="end" aria-label="delete" onClick={() => deleteTask(task.id)}>
            <DeleteIcon />
          </IconButton>
        </ListItem>
      ))}
      <TextField
        label="New Task"
        value={newTaskText}
        onChange={(e) => setNewTaskText(e.target.value)}
        onKeyDown={(e) => { if (e.key === 'Enter') addTask(); }}
      />
      <Button variant="contained" color="primary" onClick={addTask}>
        Add Task
      </Button>
    </List>
  );
};

export default TaskList;

This code snippet demonstrates how Replay generates a functional task list component with basic editing and deleting capabilities, all based on the analysis of the video recording.

Step 3: Customizing and Enhancing the UI#

While Replay generates a functional codebase, you'll likely want to customize and enhance the UI to meet your specific requirements. This may involve:

• •Modifying the styling to match your brand guidelines
• •Adding new features or functionality
• •Integrating with your backend API

💡 Pro Tip: Replay's generated code is designed to be easily customizable. You can use standard React and Material UI techniques to modify the components and add new functionality.

For example, you might want to add persistent storage using

or integrate with a database to store the tasks. Here's how you could integrate with Supabase:

typescript
// TaskList.tsx (modified)
import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js';

const supabaseUrl = 'YOUR_SUPABASE_URL';
const supabaseKey = 'YOUR_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY';
const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseKey);

useEffect(() => {
  const fetchTasks = async () => {
    const { data, error } = await supabase
      .from('tasks')
      .select('*');

    if (error) {
      console.error('Error fetching tasks:', error);
    } else {
      setTasks(data);
    }
  };

  fetchTasks();
}, []);

const addTask = async () => {
  if (newTaskText.trim() !== '') {
    const { data, error } = await supabase
      .from('tasks')
      .insert([{ text: newTaskText }])
      .select();

    if (error) {
      console.error('Error adding task:', error);
    } else {
      setTasks([...tasks, ...data]);
      setNewTaskText('');
    }
  }
};

This code snippet demonstrates how to integrate with Supabase to persist the tasks in a database.

Step 4: Deploying the Application#

Once you're satisfied with the UI and functionality, you can deploy the application to your hosting provider of choice (e.g., Netlify, Vercel).

Replay vs. Traditional Screenshot-to-Code Tools#

Here's a comparison of Replay with traditional screenshot-to-code tools:

As you can see, Replay offers significant advantages over traditional screenshot-to-code tools, especially when it comes to rebuilding complex UIs with dynamic behavior.

⚠️ Warning: While Replay significantly reduces development time, it's not a magic bullet. You'll still need to review and customize the generated code to ensure it meets your specific requirements.

Key Benefits of Using Replay#

• •Faster Development: Rebuild UIs in minutes instead of hours or days.
• •Improved Code Quality: Generate more robust and maintainable code.
• •Better Understanding of User Behavior: Gain insights into how users interact with your application.
• •Reduced Manual Effort: Minimize the need for manual coding and tweaking.
• •Seamless Integration: Integrate with your existing development workflow and tools.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Is Replay free to use?#

Replay offers a free tier with limited usage. Paid plans are available for higher usage and access to advanced features. Check the Replay pricing page for the most up-to-date information.

How is Replay different from v0.dev?#

While both aim to accelerate UI development, they differ significantly in approach. v0.dev relies on AI to generate UI based on prompts, whereas Replay reconstructs UI from existing video recordings, capturing actual user behavior and application logic. Replay excels when you need to replicate or iterate on existing UIs with known user flows.

What kind of video should I use?#

Clear, high-resolution videos showing all UI elements and interactions are ideal. Videos with minimal distractions and consistent lighting will yield the best results.

What frameworks does Replay support?#

Currently, Replay primarily supports React with Material UI. Support for other frameworks is planned for future releases.

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