diff --git a/GUI.py b/GUI.py
index 47dfc25..76058e9 100644
--- a/GUI.py
+++ b/GUI.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def index():
 
 @app.route("/backgrounds", methods=["GET"])
 def backgrounds():
-    return render_template("backgrounds.html", file="backgrounds.json")
+    return render_template("backgrounds.html", file="background_videos.json")
 
 
 @app.route("/background/add", methods=["POST"])
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ def videos_json():
     return send_from_directory("video_creation/data", "videos.json")
 
 
-# Make backgrounds.json accessible
-@app.route("/backgrounds.json")
+# Make background_videos.json accessible
+@app.route("/background_videos.json")
 def backgrounds_json():
-    return send_from_directory("utils", "backgrounds.json")
+    return send_from_directory("utils", "background_videos.json")
 
 
 # Make videos in results folder accessible
diff --git a/GUI/backgrounds.html b/GUI/backgrounds.html
index 541e39f..438aa90 100644
--- a/GUI/backgrounds.html
+++ b/GUI/backgrounds.html
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@
 
     // Show background videos
     $(document).ready(function () {
-        $.getJSON("backgrounds.json",
+        $.getJSON("background_videos.json",
             function (data) {
                 delete data["__comment"];
                 var background = '';
diff --git a/GUI/settings.html b/GUI/settings.html
index f3f1751..f6317fe 100644
--- a/GUI/settings.html
+++ b/GUI/settings.html
@@ -200,9 +200,9 @@
                 </div>
             </div>
             <div class="row mb-2">
-                <label for="background_choice" class="col-4">Background Choice</label>
+                <label for="background_video" class="col-4">Background Video</label>
                 <div class="col-8">
-                    <select name="background_choice" class="form-select" data-toggle="tooltip"
+                    <select name="background_video" class="form-select" data-toggle="tooltip"
                         data-original-title='Sets the background of the video'>
                         <option value=" ">Random Video</option>
                         {% for background in checks["background_video"]["options"][1:] %}
diff --git a/TTS/GTTS.py b/TTS/GTTS.py
index bff100f..53f78dc 100644
--- a/TTS/GTTS.py
+++ b/TTS/GTTS.py
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@ from gtts import gTTS
 
 from utils import settings
 
+from typing import Optional
+
 
 class GTTS:
     def __init__(self):
         self.max_chars = 5000
         self.voices = []
 
-    def run(self, text, filepath):
+    def run(self, text, filepath, random_voice: bool = False, voice: Optional[str] = None):
         tts = gTTS(
             text=text,
             lang=settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"] or "en",
@@ -18,5 +20,5 @@ class GTTS:
         )
         tts.save(filepath)
 
-    def randomvoice(self):
-        return random.choice(self.voices)
+    def random_voice(self):
+        return random.choice(self.voices)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/TTS/TikTok.py b/TTS/TikTok.py
index 3c83e9a..561c234 100644
--- a/TTS/TikTok.py
+++ b/TTS/TikTok.py
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ vocals: Final[tuple] = (
     "en_female_ht_f08_wonderful_world",  # Dramatic
 )
 
+all_voices: Final[tuple] = disney_voices + eng_voices + non_eng_voices + vocals
+# comment out a voice to make it unavailable to be randomly selected
 
 class TikTok:
     """TikTok Text-to-Speech Wrapper"""
@@ -95,12 +97,13 @@ class TikTok:
         # set the headers to the session, so we don't have to do it for every request
         self._session.headers = headers
 
-    def run(self, text: str, filepath: str, random_voice: bool = False):
-        if random_voice:
-            voice = self.random_voice()
-        else:
-            # if tiktok_voice is not set in the config file, then use a random voice
-            voice = settings.config["settings"]["tts"].get("tiktok_voice", None)
+    def run(self, text: str, filepath: str, random_voice: bool = False, voice: Optional[str] = None):
+        if not voice:
+            if random_voice:
+                voice = self.random_voice()
+            else:
+                # if tiktok_voice is not set in the config file, then use a random voice
+                voice = settings.config["settings"]["tts"].get("tiktok_voice", self.random_voice())
 
         # get the audio from the TikTok API
         data = self.get_voices(voice=voice, text=text)
diff --git a/TTS/aws_polly.py b/TTS/aws_polly.py
index 58323f9..98134b4 100644
--- a/TTS/aws_polly.py
+++ b/TTS/aws_polly.py
@@ -30,13 +30,16 @@ class AWSPolly:
         self.max_chars = 3000
         self.voices = voices
 
-    def run(self, text, filepath, random_voice: bool = False):
+    def run(self, text, filepath, random_voice: bool = False, voice: str = None):
         try:
             session = Session(profile_name="polly")
             polly = session.client("polly")
-            if random_voice:
-                voice = self.randomvoice()
-            else:
+
+            if voice:  # If voice is explicitly provided, use it
+                voice = voice.capitalize()
+            elif random_voice:  # Else if random_voice is set to True, pick a random voice
+                voice = self.random_voice()
+            else:  # If none of the above, use the voice from the settings
                 if not settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["aws_polly_voice"]:
                     raise ValueError(
                         f"Please set the TOML variable AWS_VOICE to a valid voice. options are: {voices}"
@@ -56,11 +59,8 @@ class AWSPolly:
 
             # Access the audio stream from the response
             if "AudioStream" in response:
-                file = open(filepath, "wb")
-                file.write(response["AudioStream"].read())
-                file.close()
-                # print_substep(f"Saved Text {idx} to MP3 files successfully.", style="bold green")
-
+                with open(filepath, "wb") as file:
+                    file.write(response["AudioStream"].read())
             else:
                 # The response didn't contain audio data, exit gracefully
                 print("Could not stream audio")
@@ -75,5 +75,5 @@ class AWSPolly:
             )
             sys.exit(-1)
 
-    def randomvoice(self):
+    def random_voice(self):
         return random.choice(self.voices)
diff --git a/TTS/elevenlabs.py b/TTS/elevenlabs.py
index ab6dbb0..f37d871 100644
--- a/TTS/elevenlabs.py
+++ b/TTS/elevenlabs.py
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ class elevenlabs:
         self.max_chars = 2500
         self.voices = voices
 
-    def run(self, text, filepath, random_voice: bool = False):
-        if random_voice:
-            voice = self.randomvoice()
-        else:
-            voice = str(
-                settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["elevenlabs_voice_name"]
-            ).capitalize()
+    def run(self, text, filepath, voice=None, random_voice: bool = False):
+
+        if not voice:  # If voice is not provided directly
+            if random_voice:
+                voice = self.random_voice()
+            else:
+                voice = str(settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["elevenlabs_voice_name"]).capitalize()
 
         if settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["elevenlabs_api_key"]:
             api_key = settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["elevenlabs_api_key"]
@@ -42,5 +42,5 @@ class elevenlabs:
         )
         save(audio=audio, filename=filepath)
 
-    def randomvoice(self):
+    def random_voice(self):
         return random.choice(self.voices)
diff --git a/TTS/engine_wrapper.py b/TTS/engine_wrapper.py
index a78aef7..d28ad6c 100644
--- a/TTS/engine_wrapper.py
+++ b/TTS/engine_wrapper.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import re
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Tuple
+from typing import Tuple, Optional
 
 import numpy as np
 import translators
@@ -72,42 +72,38 @@ class TTSEngine:
         print_step("Saving Text to MP3 files...")
 
         self.add_periods()
-        self.call_tts("title", process_text(self.reddit_object["thread_title"]))
-        # processed_text = ##self.reddit_object["thread_post"] != ""
+        # Select a voice for the title and thread body if in story mode
+        voice = self.tts_module.random_voice() if settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["random_voice"] else None
+        self.call_tts("title", process_text(self.reddit_object["thread_title"]), voice)
+
         idx = 0
 
         if settings.config["settings"]["storymode"]:
             if settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 0:
                 if len(self.reddit_object["thread_post"]) > self.tts_module.max_chars:
-                    self.split_post(self.reddit_object["thread_post"], "postaudio")
+                    self.split_post(self.reddit_object["thread_post"], "postaudio", voice)
                 else:
-                    self.call_tts(
-                        "postaudio", process_text(self.reddit_object["thread_post"])
-                    )
+                    self.call_tts("postaudio", process_text(self.reddit_object["thread_post"]), voice)
             elif settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 1:
                 for idx, text in track(enumerate(self.reddit_object["thread_post"])):
-                    self.call_tts(f"postaudio-{idx}", process_text(text))
-
+                    self.call_tts(f"postaudio-{idx}", process_text(text), voice)
         else:
-            for idx, comment in track(
-                enumerate(self.reddit_object["comments"]), "Saving..."
-            ):
+            for idx, comment in track(enumerate(self.reddit_object["comments"]), "Saving..."):
+                comment_voice = self.tts_module.random_voice() if settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["random_voice"] else None
                 # ! Stop creating mp3 files if the length is greater than max length.
                 if self.length > self.max_length and idx > 1:
                     self.length -= self.last_clip_length
                     idx -= 1
                     break
-                if (
-                    len(comment["comment_body"]) > self.tts_module.max_chars
-                ):  # Split the comment if it is too long
-                    self.split_post(comment["comment_body"], idx)  # Split the comment
+                if (len(comment["comment_body"]) > self.tts_module.max_chars):  # Split the comment if it is too long
+                    self.split_post(comment["comment_body"], idx, comment_voice)  # Split the comment
                 else:  # If the comment is not too long, just call the tts engine
-                    self.call_tts(f"{idx}", process_text(comment["comment_body"]))
+                    self.call_tts(f"{idx}", process_text(comment["comment_body"]), comment_voice)
 
         print_substep("Saved Text to MP3 files successfully.", style="bold green")
         return self.length, idx
 
-    def split_post(self, text: str, idx):
+    def split_post(self, text: str, idx, voice: Optional[str] = None):
         split_files = []
         split_text = [
             x.group().strip()
@@ -126,7 +122,7 @@ class TTSEngine:
                 print("newtext was blank because sanitized split text resulted in none")
                 continue
             else:
-                self.call_tts(f"{idx}-{idy}.part", newtext)
+                self.call_tts(f"{idx}-{idy}.part", newtext, voice)
                 with open(f"{self.path}/list.txt", "w") as f:
                     for idz in range(0, len(split_text)):
                         f.write("file " + f"'{idx}-{idz}.part.mp3'" + "\n")
@@ -148,11 +144,12 @@ class TTSEngine:
         except OSError:
             print("OSError")
 
-    def call_tts(self, filename: str, text: str):
+    def call_tts(self, filename: str, text: str, voice: Optional[str] = None):
         self.tts_module.run(
             text,
             filepath=f"{self.path}/{filename}.mp3",
             random_voice=settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["random_voice"],
+            voice=voice
         )
         # try:
         #     self.length += MP3(f"{self.path}/{filename}.mp3").info.length
@@ -188,4 +185,4 @@ def process_text(text: str, clean: bool = True):
             text, translator="google", to_language=lang
         )
         new_text = sanitize_text(translated_text)
-    return new_text
+    return new_text
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/TTS/pyttsx.py b/TTS/pyttsx.py
index a80bf2d..fa5c78a 100644
--- a/TTS/pyttsx.py
+++ b/TTS/pyttsx.py
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import pyttsx3
 
 from utils import settings
 
+from typing import Optional
+
 
 class pyttsx:
     def __init__(self):
@@ -15,9 +17,17 @@ class pyttsx:
         text: str,
         filepath: str,
         random_voice=False,
+        voice: Optional[str] = None,
     ):
         voice_id = settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["python_voice"]
         voice_num = settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["py_voice_num"]
+
+        if not voice:
+            if random_voice:
+                voice = self.random_voice()
+            else:
+                # if pyTTS is not set in the config file, then use a random voice
+                voice = settings.config["settings"]["tts"].get("python_voice", self.random_voice())
         if voice_id == "" or voice_num == "":
             voice_id = 2
             voice_num = 3
@@ -33,12 +43,8 @@ class pyttsx:
         if random_voice:
             voice_id = self.randomvoice()
         engine = pyttsx3.init()
-        voices = engine.getProperty("voices")
-        engine.setProperty(
-            "voice", voices[voice_id].id
-        )  # changing index changes voices but ony 0 and 1 are working here
         engine.save_to_file(text, f"{filepath}")
         engine.runAndWait()
 
-    def randomvoice(self):
-        return random.choice(self.voices)
+    def random_voice(self):
+        return random.choice(self.voices)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/TTS/streamlabs_polly.py b/TTS/streamlabs_polly.py
index 721dd78..beec60b 100644
--- a/TTS/streamlabs_polly.py
+++ b/TTS/streamlabs_polly.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class StreamlabsPolly:
 
     def run(self, text, filepath, random_voice: bool = False):
         if random_voice:
-            voice = self.randomvoice()
+            voice = self.random_voice()
         else:
             if not settings.config["settings"]["tts"]["streamlabs_polly_voice"]:
                 raise ValueError(
@@ -62,5 +62,5 @@ class StreamlabsPolly:
                 except (KeyError, JSONDecodeError):
                     print("Error occurred calling Streamlabs Polly")
 
-    def randomvoice(self):
+    def random_voice(self):
         return random.choice(self.voices)
diff --git a/reddit/subreddit.py b/reddit/subreddit.py
index f2f8419..6107ae8 100644
--- a/reddit/subreddit.py
+++ b/reddit/subreddit.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import re
-
 import praw
 from praw.models import MoreComments
 from prawcore.exceptions import ResponseException
@@ -14,9 +13,7 @@ from utils.voice import sanitize_text
 
 
 def get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID: str):
-    """
-    Returns a list of threads from the AskReddit subreddit.
-    """
+    """Returns a list of threads from the AskReddit subreddit."""
 
     print_substep("Logging into Reddit.")
 
@@ -40,7 +37,7 @@ def get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID: str):
             client_secret=settings.config["reddit"]["creds"]["client_secret"],
             user_agent="Accessing Reddit threads",
             username=username,
-            passkey=passkey,
+            password=passkey,
             check_for_async=False,
         )
     except ResponseException as e:
@@ -49,7 +46,10 @@ def get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID: str):
     except:
         print("Something went wrong...")
 
-    # Ask user for subreddit input
+    min_upvotes = settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["min_upvotes"]
+    sort_type = settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["sort_type"]
+    subreddit_choice = settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["subreddit"].lstrip('r/')
+
     print_step("Getting subreddit threads...")
     similarity_score = 0
     if not settings.config["reddit"]["thread"][
@@ -99,9 +99,10 @@ def get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID: str):
             threads, subreddit, similarity_scores=similarity_scores
         )
     else:
-        threads = subreddit.hot(limit=25)
+        threads = list(getattr(subreddit, str(sort_type))(limit=25))
         submission = get_subreddit_undone(threads, subreddit)
 
+    # Check submission
     if submission is None:
         return get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID)  # submission already done. rerun
 
@@ -129,45 +130,43 @@ def get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID: str):
             f"Thread has a similarity score up to {round(similarity_score * 100)}%",
             style="bold blue",
         )
+    if submission.score < min_upvotes:
+        print_substep(
+            f"Thread has {submission.score} upvotes which is below the minimum threshold of {min_upvotes}. Skipping.")
+        return get_subreddit_threads(POST_ID)
 
     content["thread_url"] = threadurl
     content["thread_title"] = submission.title
     content["thread_id"] = submission.id
     content["is_nsfw"] = submission.over_18
     content["comments"] = []
+    content["thread_post"] = ""  # Default value
     if settings.config["settings"]["storymode"]:
         if settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 1:
             content["thread_post"] = posttextparser(submission.selftext)
         else:
             content["thread_post"] = submission.selftext
     else:
-        for top_level_comment in submission.comments:
-            if isinstance(top_level_comment, MoreComments):
+        # Process comments
+        min_comment_length = int(str(settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["min_comment_length"]))
+        max_comment_length = int(str(settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["max_comment_length"]))
+        min_comment_upvotes = int(str(settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["min_comment_upvotes"]))
+
+        for comment in submission.comments:
+            if isinstance(comment, MoreComments) or comment.body in ["[removed]", "[deleted]"] or comment.stickied:
+                continue
+
+            sanitised = sanitize_text(comment.body)
+            if not sanitised or sanitised == " ":
                 continue
 
-            if top_level_comment.body in ["[removed]", "[deleted]"]:
-                continue  # # see https://github.com/JasonLovesDoggo/RedditVideoMakerBot/issues/78
-            if not top_level_comment.stickied:
-                sanitised = sanitize_text(top_level_comment.body)
-                if not sanitised or sanitised == " ":
-                    continue
-                if len(top_level_comment.body) <= int(
-                    settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["max_comment_length"]
-                ):
-                    if len(top_level_comment.body) >= int(
-                        settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["min_comment_length"]
-                    ):
-                        if (
-                            top_level_comment.author is not None
-                            and sanitize_text(top_level_comment.body) is not None
-                        ):  # if errors occur with this change to if not.
-                            content["comments"].append(
-                                {
-                                    "comment_body": top_level_comment.body,
-                                    "comment_url": top_level_comment.permalink,
-                                    "comment_id": top_level_comment.id,
-                                }
-                            )
+            if min_comment_length <= len(comment.body) <= max_comment_length and comment.score >= min_comment_upvotes:
+                if comment.author and sanitised:
+                    content["comments"].append({
+                        "comment_body": comment.body,
+                        "comment_url": comment.permalink,
+                        "comment_id": comment.id,
+                    })
 
     print_substep("Received subreddit threads Successfully.", style="bold green")
     return content
diff --git a/utils/.config.template.toml b/utils/.config.template.toml
index 211cc97..151329f 100644
--- a/utils/.config.template.toml
+++ b/utils/.config.template.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ max_comment_length = { default = 500, optional = false, nmin = 10, nmax = 10000,
 min_comment_length = { default = 1, optional = true, nmin = 0, nmax = 10000, type = "int", explanation = "min_comment_length number of characters a comment can have. default is 0", example = 50, oob_error = "the max comment length should be between 1 and 100" }
 post_lang = { default = "", optional = true, explanation = "The language you would like to translate to.", example = "es-cr", options = ['','af', 'ak', 'am', 'ar', 'as', 'ay', 'az', 'be', 'bg', 'bho', 'bm', 'bn', 'bs', 'ca', 'ceb', 'ckb', 'co', 'cs', 'cy', 'da', 'de', 'doi', 'dv', 'ee', 'el', 'en', 'en-US', 'eo', 'es', 'et', 'eu', 'fa', 'fi', 'fr', 'fy', 'ga', 'gd', 'gl', 'gn', 'gom', 'gu', 'ha', 'haw', 'hi', 'hmn', 'hr', 'ht', 'hu', 'hy', 'id', 'ig', 'ilo', 'is', 'it', 'iw', 'ja', 'jw', 'ka', 'kk', 'km', 'kn', 'ko', 'kri', 'ku', 'ky', 'la', 'lb', 'lg', 'ln', 'lo', 'lt', 'lus', 'lv', 'mai', 'mg', 'mi', 'mk', 'ml', 'mn', 'mni-Mtei', 'mr', 'ms', 'mt', 'my', 'ne', 'nl', 'no', 'nso', 'ny', 'om', 'or', 'pa', 'pl', 'ps', 'pt', 'qu', 'ro', 'ru', 'rw', 'sa', 'sd', 'si', 'sk', 'sl', 'sm', 'sn', 'so', 'sq', 'sr', 'st', 'su', 'sv', 'sw', 'ta', 'te', 'tg', 'th', 'ti', 'tk', 'tl', 'tr', 'ts', 'tt', 'ug', 'uk', 'ur', 'uz', 'vi', 'xh', 'yi', 'yo', 'zh-CN', 'zh-TW', 'zu'] }
 min_comments = { default = 20, optional = false, nmin = 10, type = "int", explanation = "The minimum number of comments a post should have to be included. default is 20", example = 29, oob_error = "the minimum number of comments should be between 15 and 999999" }
+min_upvotes = { default = 20, optional = false, nmin = 1, type = "int", explanation = "The minimum number of upvotes a post should have to be included. default is 20", example = 29, oob_error = "the minimum number of comments should be between 15 and 999999" }
+sort_type = { default = "hot", optional = false, options = ["hot", "top", ], explanation = "the way to sort the reddit threads", example = "top" , oob_error = "the sort type needs to be hot, top, etc." }
 
 [ai]
 ai_similarity_enabled = {optional = true, option = [true, false], default = false, type = "bool", explanation = "Threads read from Reddit are sorted based on their similarity to the keywords given below"}
@@ -55,3 +57,10 @@ python_voice = { optional = false, default = "1", example = "1", explanation = "
 py_voice_num = { optional = false, default = "2", example = "2", explanation = "The number of system voices (2 are pre-installed in Windows)" }
 silence_duration = { optional = true, example = "0.1", explanation = "Time in seconds between TTS comments", default = 0.3, type = "float" }
 no_emojis = { optional = false, type = "bool", default = false, example = false, options = [true, false,], explanation = "Whether to remove emojis from the comments" }
+
+[settings.codecs]
+VCODEC = { optional = false, default = "h264", example = "h264_nvenc", explanation = "The codec used to encode the videos. to find a list of avaliable codecs run ffmpeg " }
+VCODECPRESET = { optional = false, default = "slow", example = "fast", explanation = "The codec preset used to encode the videos. to find a list of avaliable codecs run ffmpeg " }
+VIDEO_BITRATE = { optional = false, default = "20M", example = "12M", explanation = "The bitrate of the video in megabytes per second ie 50M " }
+AUDIO_BITRATE = { optional = false, default = "192k", example = "256k", explanation = "The bitrate of the audio in kilobytes per second ie 256k " }
+CPUTHREADS = { optional = false, default = "4", example = "8", type = "int", explanation = "The amount of CPU threads to use during encoding " }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/utils/cleanup.py b/utils/cleanup.py
index 8c73b15..9b65259 100644
--- a/utils/cleanup.py
+++ b/utils/cleanup.py
@@ -3,18 +3,33 @@ import shutil
 from os.path import exists
 
 
-def _listdir(d):  # listdir with full path
-    return [os.path.join(d, f) for f in os.listdir(d)]
+def count_items_in_directory(directory):
+    """Count all items (files and subdirectories) in a directory."""
+    return sum([len(files) for _, _, files in os.walk(directory)])
 
 
 def cleanup(reddit_id) -> int:
-    """Deletes all temporary assets in assets/temp
+    """Deletes all temporary assets in temp/
 
     Returns:
         int: How many files were deleted
     """
-    directory = f"../assets/temp/{reddit_id}/"
-    if exists(directory):
-        shutil.rmtree(directory)
+    # Check current working directory
+    cwd = os.getcwd()
+    print("Current working directory:", cwd)
+
+    directory = os.path.join(cwd, "assets", "temp", reddit_id)
+    print("Target directory:", directory)
 
-        return 1
+    if not exists(directory):
+        print("Directory does not exist!")
+        return 0
+
+    count_before_delete = count_items_in_directory(directory)
+    try:
+        shutil.rmtree(directory)
+        print(f"Successfully deleted the directory with {count_before_delete} items!")
+        return count_before_delete
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Error encountered while deleting: {e}")
+        return 0
diff --git a/utils/gui_utils.py b/utils/gui_utils.py
index 9d644d8..9864e5c 100644
--- a/utils/gui_utils.py
+++ b/utils/gui_utils.py
@@ -137,21 +137,21 @@ def modify_settings(data: dict, config_load, checks: dict):
 
 # Delete background video
 def delete_background(key):
-    # Read backgrounds.json
-    with open("utils/backgrounds.json", "r", encoding="utf-8") as backgrounds:
-        data = json.load(backgrounds)
+    # Read background_videos.json
+    with open("utils/background_videos.json", "r", encoding="utf-8") as background_videos:
+        data = json.load(background_videos)
 
-    # Remove background from backgrounds.json
-    with open("utils/backgrounds.json", "w", encoding="utf-8") as backgrounds:
+    # Remove background from background_videos.json
+    with open("utils/background_videos.json", "w", encoding="utf-8") as background_videos:
         if data.pop(key, None):
-            json.dump(data, backgrounds, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)
+            json.dump(data, background_videos, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)
         else:
             flash("Couldn't find this background. Try refreshing the page.", "error")
             return
 
     # Remove background video from ".config.template.toml"
     config = tomlkit.loads(Path("utils/.config.template.toml").read_text())
-    config["settings"]["background"]["background_choice"]["options"].remove(key)
+    config["settings"]["background"]["background_video"]["options"].remove(key)
 
     with Path("utils/.config.template.toml").open("w") as toml_file:
         toml_file.write(tomlkit.dumps(config))
@@ -193,8 +193,8 @@ def add_background(youtube_uri, filename, citation, position):
     filename = filename.replace(" ", "_")
 
     # Check if background doesn't already exist
-    with open("utils/backgrounds.json", "r", encoding="utf-8") as backgrounds:
-        data = json.load(backgrounds)
+    with open("utils/background_videos.json", "r", encoding="utf-8") as background_videos:
+        data = json.load(background_videos)
 
         # Check if key isn't already taken
         if filename in list(data.keys()):
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def add_background(youtube_uri, filename, citation, position):
             return
 
     # Add background video to json file
-    with open("utils/backgrounds.json", "r+", encoding="utf-8") as backgrounds:
+    with open("utils/background_videos.json", "r+", encoding="utf-8") as backgrounds:
         data = json.load(backgrounds)
 
         data[filename] = [youtube_uri, filename + ".mp4", citation, position]
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ def add_background(youtube_uri, filename, citation, position):
 
     # Add background video to ".config.template.toml"
     config = tomlkit.loads(Path("utils/.config.template.toml").read_text())
-    config["settings"]["background"]["background_choice"]["options"].append(filename)
+    config["settings"]["background"]["background_video"]["options"].append(filename)
 
     with Path("utils/.config.template.toml").open("w") as toml_file:
         toml_file.write(tomlkit.dumps(config))
diff --git a/video_creation/final_video.py b/video_creation/final_video.py
index 0739df8..b4c563c 100644
--- a/video_creation/final_video.py
+++ b/video_creation/final_video.py
@@ -65,12 +65,14 @@ class ProgressFfmpeg(threading.Thread):
 
 
 def name_normalize(name: str) -> str:
-    name = re.sub(r'[?\\"%*:|<>]', "", name)
-    name = re.sub(r"( [w,W]\s?\/\s?[o,O,0])", r" without", name)
-    name = re.sub(r"( [w,W]\s?\/)", r" with", name)
-    name = re.sub(r"(\d+)\s?\/\s?(\d+)", r"\1 of \2", name)
-    name = re.sub(r"(\w+)\s?\/\s?(\w+)", r"\1 or \2", name)
-    name = re.sub(r"\/", r"", name)
+    name = re.sub(r'[?\"%*:|<>]', "", name)
+    # Note: I've changed [w,W] to [wW] and [o,O,0] to [oO0]
+    name = re.sub(r"([wW])\s?/\s?([oO0])", r"without", name)
+    name = re.sub(r"([wW])\s?/", r"with", name)
+    name = re.sub(r"(\d+)\s?/\s?(\d+)", r"\1 of \2", name)
+    # This one handles "this/that" as "this or that". The words won't overlap with the earlier "w/ or w/o"
+    name = re.sub(r"(\w+)\s?/\s?(\w+)", r"\1 or \2", name)
+    name = re.sub(r"/", "", name)
 
     lang = settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"]
     if lang:
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@ def name_normalize(name: str) -> str:
         return name
 
 
-def prepare_background(reddit_id: str, W: int, H: int) -> str:
+def prepare_background(reddit_id: str, W: int, H: int) -> Tuple[str, float]:
     output_path = f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/background_noaudio.mp4"
     output = (
         ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/background.mp4")
@@ -92,10 +94,15 @@ def prepare_background(reddit_id: str, W: int, H: int) -> str:
             output_path,
             an=None,
             **{
-                "c:v": "h264",
-                "b:v": "20M",
-                "b:a": "192k",
-                "threads": multiprocessing.cpu_count(),
+                # these settings improve the encoding a lot and reduce visual errors in the video
+                # plus its now super easy to configure your codec settings
+                "c:v": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VCODEC"]),
+                "preset": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VCODECPRESET"]),
+                "b:v": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VIDEO_BITRATE"]),
+                "b:a": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["AUDIO_BITRATE"]),
+                "threads": int(str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["CPUTHREADS"])),
+                "force_key_frames": "expr:gte(t,n_forced*1)",
+                "g": 250,  # GOP size
             },
         )
         .overwrite_output()
@@ -144,8 +151,8 @@ def make_final_video(
         background_config (Tuple[str, str, str, Any]): The background config to use.
     """
     # settings values
-    W: Final[int] = int(settings.config["settings"]["resolution_w"])
-    H: Final[int] = int(settings.config["settings"]["resolution_h"])
+    W: Final[int] = int(str(settings.config["settings"]["resolution_w"]))
+    H: Final[int] = int(str(settings.config["settings"]["resolution_h"]))
 
     opacity = settings.config["settings"]["opacity"]
 
@@ -162,33 +169,28 @@ def make_final_video(
 
     # Gather all audio clips
     audio_clips = list()
-    if number_of_clips == 0 and settings.config["settings"]["storymode"] == "false":
-        print(
-            "No audio clips to gather. Please use a different TTS or post."
-        )  # This is to fix the TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'NoneType'
+    audio_clips_durations = []
+    storymode = settings.config.get("settings", {}).get("storymode")
+    storymodemethod = settings.config.get("settings", {}).get("storymodemethod")
+    if number_of_clips == 0 and not storymode:
+        print("No audio clips to gather. Please use a different TTS or post.")
         exit()
-    if settings.config["settings"]["storymode"]:
-        if settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 0:
+
+    if storymode:
+
+        if storymodemethod == 0:
             audio_clips = [ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3")]
-            audio_clips.insert(
-                1, ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio.mp3")
-            )
-        elif settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 1:
-            audio_clips = [
-                ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio-{i}.mp3")
-                for i in track(
-                    range(number_of_clips + 1), "Collecting the audio files..."
-                )
-            ]
-            audio_clips.insert(
-                0, ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3")
-            )
+            audio_clips.insert(1, ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio.mp3"))
+
+        elif storymodemethod == 1:
+            #i find it weird that I have to increase it by one to make it work, it kind of makes sense but not really
+            number_of_clips += 1
+            audio_clips.extend(
+                [ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio-{i}.mp3") for i in track(range(number_of_clips))])
+            audio_clips.insert(0, ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3"))
 
     else:
-        audio_clips = [
-            ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/{i}.mp3")
-            for i in range(number_of_clips)
-        ]
+        audio_clips.extend([ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/{i}.mp3") for i in range(number_of_clips + 1)])
         audio_clips.insert(0, ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3"))
 
         audio_clips_durations = [
@@ -228,24 +230,19 @@ def make_final_video(
     )
 
     current_time = 0
+
     if settings.config["settings"]["storymode"]:
-        audio_clips_durations = [
-            float(
-                ffmpeg.probe(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio-{i}.mp3")[
-                    "format"
-                ]["duration"]
-            )
-            for i in range(number_of_clips)
-        ]
-        audio_clips_durations.insert(
-            0,
-            float(
-                ffmpeg.probe(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3")["format"][
-                    "duration"
-                ]
-            ),
-        )
+        #that logic didnt actually work seeing as the mp3 names are way different for each mode
         if settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 0:
+            audio_clips_durations = [
+                float(
+                    ffmpeg.probe(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio.mp3")["format"]["duration"]
+                )
+            ]
+            audio_clips_durations.insert(
+                0,
+                float(ffmpeg.probe(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3")["format"]["duration"]),
+            )
             image_clips.insert(
                 1,
                 ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/png/story_content.png").filter(
@@ -254,15 +251,27 @@ def make_final_video(
             )
             background_clip = background_clip.overlay(
                 image_clips[0],
-                enable=f"between(t,{current_time},{current_time + audio_clips_durations[0]})",
                 x="(main_w-overlay_w)/2",
                 y="(main_h-overlay_h)/2",
             )
             current_time += audio_clips_durations[0]
         elif settings.config["settings"]["storymodemethod"] == 1:
-            for i in track(
-                range(0, number_of_clips + 1), "Collecting the image files..."
-            ):
+
+            audio_clips_durations = [
+                float(
+                    ffmpeg.probe(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/postaudio-{i}.mp3")["format"]["duration"]
+                )
+                for i in range(number_of_clips)
+            ]
+            audio_clips_durations.insert(
+                0,
+                float(ffmpeg.probe(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/mp3/title.mp3")["format"]["duration"]),
+            )
+
+            print("the number of clips originally is: " + str(int(number_of_clips)))
+            for i in track(range(number_of_clips + 1)):
+                print("appending image: " + str(i) + ".png")
+                print("at time :" + str(current_time))
                 image_clips.append(
                     ffmpeg.input(f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/png/img{i}.png")["v"].filter(
                         "scale", screenshot_width, -1
@@ -274,6 +283,7 @@ def make_final_video(
                     x="(main_w-overlay_w)/2",
                     y="(main_h-overlay_h)/2",
                 )
+                print("Total image clips: " + str(len(image_clips)))
                 current_time += audio_clips_durations[i]
     else:
         for i in range(0, number_of_clips + 1):
@@ -291,6 +301,11 @@ def make_final_video(
             )
             current_time += audio_clips_durations[i]
 
+    #fade and cut video at appropriate time
+    total_audio_duration = sum(audio_clips_durations)
+    background_clip = background_clip.filter('tpad', stop_duration=1)
+    background_clip = background_clip.filter('fade', type='out', start_time=total_audio_duration, duration=1)
+
     title = re.sub(r"[^\w\s-]", "", reddit_obj["thread_title"])
     idx = re.sub(r"[^\w\s-]", "", reddit_obj["thread_id"])
     title_thumb = reddit_obj["thread_title"]
@@ -346,10 +361,8 @@ def make_final_video(
                 height,
                 title_thumb,
             )
-            thumbnailSave.save(f"./assets/temp/{reddit_id}/thumbnail.png")
-            print_substep(
-                f"Thumbnail - Building Thumbnail in assets/temp/{reddit_id}/thumbnail.png"
-            )
+            thumbnailSave.save(f"results/{subreddit}/thumbnails/{filename}.png")
+            print_substep(f"Thumbnail - Building Thumbnail in results/{subreddit}/thumbnails/{filename}.png")
 
     text = f"Background by {background_config['video'][2]}"
     background_clip = ffmpeg.drawtext(
@@ -385,10 +398,13 @@ def make_final_video(
                 path,
                 f="mp4",
                 **{
-                    "c:v": "h264",
-                    "b:v": "20M",
-                    "b:a": "192k",
-                    "threads": multiprocessing.cpu_count(),
+                    "c:v": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VCODEC"]),
+                    "preset": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VCODECPRESET"]),
+                    "b:v": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VIDEO_BITRATE"]),
+                    "b:a": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["AUDIO_BITRATE"]),
+                    "threads": int(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["CPUTHREADS"]),
+                    "g": 250,  # GOP size
+                    "force_key_frames": "expr:gte(t,n_forced*1)",
                 },
             ).overwrite_output().global_args(
                 "-progress", progress.output_file.name
@@ -417,10 +433,13 @@ def make_final_video(
                     path,
                     f="mp4",
                     **{
-                        "c:v": "h264",
-                        "b:v": "20M",
-                        "b:a": "192k",
-                        "threads": multiprocessing.cpu_count(),
+                        "c:v": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VCODEC"]),
+                        "preset": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VCODECPRESET"]),
+                        "b:v": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["VIDEO_BITRATE"]),
+                        "b:a": str(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["AUDIO_BITRATE"]),
+                        "threads": int(settings.config["settings"]["codecs"]["CPUTHREADS"]),
+                        "g": 250,  # GOP size
+                        "force_key_frames": "expr:gte(t,n_forced*1)",
                     },
                 ).overwrite_output().global_args(
                     "-progress", progress.output_file.name
diff --git a/video_creation/screenshot_downloader.py b/video_creation/screenshot_downloader.py
index 6226adf..45fb8fe 100644
--- a/video_creation/screenshot_downloader.py
+++ b/video_creation/screenshot_downloader.py
@@ -16,6 +16,37 @@ from utils.videos import save_data
 __all__ = ["download_screenshots_of_reddit_posts"]
 
 
+def translate_comment_body(page, comment: dict, lang: str):
+    """Translate a Reddit comment and update its content on the page.
+
+    Args:
+        page: The Playwright page object.
+        comment (dict): The Reddit comment data.
+        lang (str): The target language to which the comment should be translated.
+    """
+    # Check if language setting is present
+    if not lang:
+        return
+
+    # Translate the comment body
+    comment_tl = translators.translate_text(
+        comment["comment_body"],
+        translator="google",
+        to_language=lang
+    )
+
+    # Update the content on the page with the translated text
+    page.evaluate(
+        '''(tl_content, tl_id) => {
+            const commentElement = document.querySelector(`#t1_${tl_id} > div:nth-child(2) > div > div[data-testid="comment"] > div`);
+            if (commentElement) {
+                commentElement.textContent = tl_content;
+            }
+        }''',
+        comment_tl, comment["comment_id"]
+    )
+
+
 def get_screenshots_of_reddit_posts(reddit_object: dict, screenshot_num: int):
     """Downloads screenshots of reddit posts as seen on the web. Downloads to assets/temp/png
 
@@ -26,8 +57,8 @@ def get_screenshots_of_reddit_posts(reddit_object: dict, screenshot_num: int):
     # settings values
     W: Final[int] = int(settings.config["settings"]["resolution_w"])
     H: Final[int] = int(settings.config["settings"]["resolution_h"])
-    lang: Final[str] = settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"]
-    storymode: Final[bool] = settings.config["settings"]["storymode"]
+    lang: Final[str] = str(settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"])
+    storymode: Final[bool] = bool(settings.config["settings"]["storymode"])
 
     print_step("Downloading screenshots of reddit posts...")
     reddit_id = re.sub(r"[^\w\s-]", "", reddit_object["thread_id"])
@@ -106,12 +137,8 @@ def get_screenshots_of_reddit_posts(reddit_object: dict, screenshot_num: int):
         page.set_viewport_size(ViewportSize(width=1920, height=1080))
         page.wait_for_load_state()
 
-        page.locator('[name="username"]').fill(
-            settings.config["reddit"]["creds"]["username"]
-        )
-        page.locator('[name="password"]').fill(
-            settings.config["reddit"]["creds"]["password"]
-        )
+        page.locator('[name="username"]').fill(str(settings.config["reddit"]["creds"]["username"]))
+        page.locator('[name="password"]').fill(str(settings.config["reddit"]["creds"]["password"]))
         page.locator("button[class$='m-full-width']").click()
         page.wait_for_timeout(5000)
 
@@ -189,14 +216,15 @@ def get_screenshots_of_reddit_posts(reddit_object: dict, screenshot_num: int):
                 # as zooming the body doesn't change the properties of the divs, we need to adjust for the zoom
                 location = page.locator('[data-test-id="post-content"]').bounding_box()
                 for i in location:
-                    location[i] = float("{:.2f}".format(location[i] * zoom))
+                    location[i] = float("{:.2f}".format(location[i] * float(zoom)))
                 page.screenshot(clip=location, path=postcontentpath)
             else:
                 page.locator('[data-test-id="post-content"]').screenshot(
                     path=postcontentpath
                 )
         except Exception as e:
-            print_substep("Something went wrong!", style="red")
+            print_substep("Something went wrong inside screenshot_downloader!", style="red")
+            print_substep(f"Error: {str(e)}", style="red")
             resp = input(
                 "Something went wrong with making the screenshots! Do you want to skip the post? (y/n) "
             )
@@ -238,16 +266,8 @@ def get_screenshots_of_reddit_posts(reddit_object: dict, screenshot_num: int):
 
                 # translate code
 
-                if settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"]:
-                    comment_tl = translators.translate_text(
-                        comment["comment_body"],
-                        translator="google",
-                        to_language=settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"],
-                    )
-                    page.evaluate(
-                        '([tl_content, tl_id]) => document.querySelector(`#t1_${tl_id} > div:nth-child(2) > div > div[data-testid="comment"] > div`).textContent = tl_content',
-                        [comment_tl, comment["comment_id"]],
-                    )
+                translate_comment_body(page, comment, settings.config["reddit"]["thread"]["post_lang"])
+
                 try:
                     if settings.config["settings"]["zoom"] != 1:
                         # store zoom settings
@@ -263,7 +283,7 @@ def get_screenshots_of_reddit_posts(reddit_object: dict, screenshot_num: int):
                             f"#t1_{comment['comment_id']}"
                         ).bounding_box()
                         for i in location:
-                            location[i] = float("{:.2f}".format(location[i] * zoom))
+                            location[i] = float("{:.2f}".format(location[i] * float(zoom)))
                         page.screenshot(
                             clip=location,
                             path=f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/png/comment_{idx}.png",