video2ascii

Convert any video to ASCII art and play it in your terminal.

Demo

# Classic ASCII
video2ascii your-video.mp4

# Retro CRT mode - 80 columns, green phosphor color
video2ascii your-video.mp4 --crt

# Edge detection (sketch-like effect)
video2ascii your-video.mp4 --edge --invert

# Auto-generate subtitles from audio
video2ascii your-video.mp4 --subtitle

The tool extracts frames from the video, converts each to ASCII art using Pillow, and plays them back in sequence in your terminal.

Web GUI

A browser-based interface is also available for easy video conversion without using the command line.

# Install web dependencies
uv pip install -e ".[web]"

# Launch the web GUI
video2ascii --web

Features:

Drag-and-drop video upload
Real-time conversion progress
Presets (Classic, CRT, Sketch, Minimal)
Live playback with scrubbing
Auto-generated subtitles
Font chooser for PETSCII charset
Export to .sh or .mp4

Requirements

System dependencies:

ffmpeg (for video frame extraction and video encoding)
- macOS: brew install ffmpeg
- Linux: apt install ffmpeg (or equivalent)

Optional system dependencies:

whisper-cli (for auto-generated subtitles from audio)
- macOS: brew install whisper-cpp
- Requires a Whisper GGUF model (e.g. ggml-large-v3-turbo.bin)
- Set VIDEO2ASCII_WHISPER_MODEL env var to your model path, or place it in ~/.cache/whisper/
- For accurate subtitle timing, also install the Silero VAD model (ggml-silero-v5.1.2.bin) in the same directory

Python dependencies:

Python 3.10+
Pillow (installed automatically)
uv (recommended) or pip/pipx

Installation

Option 1: Install with uv (recommended)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/funkatron/video2ascii.git
cd video2ascii

# Install uv if you don't have it
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Install the package
uv pip install .

# Or install in editable mode with dev dependencies
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Option 2: Install with pip/pipx

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/funkatron/video2ascii.git
cd video2ascii

# Install with pip
pip install .

# Or install with pipx (recommended for CLI tools)
pipx install .

Option 3: Run directly (no install)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/funkatron/video2ascii.git
cd video2ascii

# Run directly with uv
uv run python -m video2ascii input.mp4

# Or run directly with Python
python3 -m video2ascii input.mp4

Usage

# Basic usage (defaults: 160 width, 12 fps)
video2ascii input.mp4

# Custom width and framerate
video2ascii input.mp4 --width 120 --fps 15

# Enable color output
video2ascii input.mp4 --color

# Retro CRT mode (80 columns, green phosphor)
video2ascii input.mp4 --crt

# Loop forever at 1.5x speed with progress bar
video2ascii input.mp4 --loop --speed 1.5 --progress

# Edge detection (sketch-like effect)
video2ascii input.mp4 --edge --invert --color

# Combine CRT with loop and progress
video2ascii input.mp4 --crt --loop --progress

# Commodore 64 PETSCII style
video2ascii input.mp4 --charset petscii --crt

# Auto-generate subtitles from audio
video2ascii input.mp4 --subtitle --color

# Export as standalone playable file (no dependencies!)
video2ascii input.mp4 --export movie.sh
./movie.sh --loop --crt

# Export as MP4 with subtitles and a specific font
video2ascii input.mp4 --charset petscii --crt --subtitle --font PetMe128 --export-mp4 ascii-video.mp4

# Export as ProRes 422 HQ (larger file size, suitable for video editing)
video2ascii input.mp4 --color --charset braille --export-prores422 ascii-prores.mov

Options

Option	Description	Default
`--web`	Launch browser-based web GUI (see Web GUI)	off
`--width N`	ASCII output width in characters	160
`--fps N`	Frames per second to extract/play	12
`--color`	Enable ANSI color output	off
`--crt`	Retro CRT mode: 80 columns, green tint color	off
`--loop`	Loop playback forever	off
`--speed N`	Playback speed multiplier (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, etc.)	1.0
`--invert`	Invert brightness and colors (dark mode friendly)	off
`--edge`	Edge detection for sketch-like effect	off
`--edge-threshold N`	Edge detection threshold (0.0-1.0)	0.15
`--charset NAME`	Character set: classic, blocks, braille, dense, simple, petscii	classic
`--subtitle`	Auto-generate subtitles from audio (requires whisper-cli)	off
`--font NAME_OR_PATH`	Font for MP4/ProRes export (e.g. PetMe128, /path/to/font.ttf)	auto
`--aspect-ratio N`	Terminal character aspect ratio correction	1.2
`--progress`	Show progress bar during playback	off
`--export FILE`	Package as standalone playable script	-
`--export-mp4 FILE`	Export ASCII frames as MP4 video file (H.265/HEVC encoding)	-
`--export-prores422 FILE`	Export ASCII frames as video file using ProRes 422 HQ codec	-
`--no-cache`	Delete temp files after playback	keep
`-v, --verbose`	Enable verbose/debug logging	off
`-h, --help`	Show help message	-

Modes

CRT Mode (`--crt`)

Applies retro terminal settings:

Fixed 80-column width (like classic terminals)
Green phosphor color tint (#33FF33) - applies green color to all text
Light text on dark background
Enhanced contrast via unsharp filter during frame extraction

Simulates 1980s computer terminal appearance.

Edge Detection (`--edge`)

Uses Sobel-based edge detection with Gaussian blur and thresholding to extract clean outlines from the video. Creates a sketch-like effect by highlighting edges and suppressing other details. Combine with --invert for improved contrast. Use --edge-threshold to control sensitivity (lower = more edges).

Character Sets (`--charset`)

Character sets available:

classic (default): Balanced traditional ASCII art (" .:-=+*#%@")
blocks: Bold Unicode block characters (" ░▒▓█")
braille: Braille characters (Unicode U+2800-U+28FF)
dense: Many characters for fine gradients and detail
simple: Minimal character set (" .oO0")
petscii: True Commodore 64 PETSCII graphics characters using Unicode 13.0+ Symbols for Legacy Computing block
- For Commodore 64 appearance, use KreativeKorp Pet Me fonts in your terminal
- Variants: PetMe, PetMe64, PetMe128, PetMe2X, PetMe2Y, PetMe642Y, PetMe1282Y

You can also provide a custom character string ordered from darkest to lightest.

Subtitles (`--subtitle`)

Auto-generates subtitles from the video's audio track:

If the video already has an embedded subtitle stream (SRT/ASS/etc.), it is extracted and used directly
Otherwise, audio is transcribed locally using whisper-cli (whisper.cpp)
Voice Activity Detection (VAD) provides accurate start/end timestamps
Subtitles display at the bottom of the frame in terminal playback, in the web GUI, and burned into MP4 exports

Setup:

Install whisper-cli: brew install whisper-cpp (macOS) or build from source
Download a Whisper GGUF model (e.g. ggml-large-v3-turbo.bin) to ~/.cache/whisper/
Optionally download the Silero VAD model (ggml-silero-v5.1.2.bin) to the same directory for precise timing

Environment variables:

Variable	Description
`VIDEO2ASCII_WHISPER_CLI_PATH`	Path to `whisper-cli` binary (auto-detected if on `$PATH`)
`VIDEO2ASCII_WHISPER_MODEL`	Path to Whisper GGUF model file
`VIDEO2ASCII_VAD_MODEL`	Path to Silero VAD GGUF model file

# Terminal playback with subtitles
video2ascii input.mp4 --subtitle --color

# Export MP4 with subtitles burned in
video2ascii input.mp4 --subtitle --color --export-mp4 output.mp4

# Export standalone script (subtitles embedded)
video2ascii input.mp4 --subtitle --export movie.sh

Export Modes

Standalone Script (`--export FILE`)

Packages all ASCII frames into a single, self-playing bash script. The exported file:

Has zero dependencies (just bash)
Contains all frames embedded inline (compressed with gzip+base64)
Supports --loop, --speed, --crt, --progress at playback
Is portable and shareable

# Create a standalone ASCII movie
video2ascii video.mp4 --crt --export retro_movie.sh

# Share with friends - they just need bash!
./retro_movie.sh
./retro_movie.sh --loop --speed 1.5

Use cases:

Sharing ASCII art animations
Terminal screensavers
Embedding in dotfiles or scripts
Email attachments

MP4 Video (`--export-mp4 FILE`)

Renders ASCII frames as images and creates an MP4 video file:

Renders ASCII art using system monospace fonts
Preserves color information (if --color was used)
Applies CRT green tint (if --crt was used)
Burns subtitles into the video (if --subtitle was used)
Creates MP4 file playable in any video player

Codec Options:

--export-mp4 FILE: Uses H.265/HEVC encoding (default, better compression, smaller file size)
--export-prores422 FILE: Uses ProRes 422 HQ encoding (larger file size, suitable for video editing)

Font Selection:

The --font flag lets you choose a specific font for MP4/ProRes export. This is especially useful for PETSCII mode where multiple PetMe font variants are available.

# Use a specific PetMe variant
video2ascii input.mp4 --charset petscii --font PetMe128 --export-mp4 output.mp4

# Use an absolute path to any font
video2ascii input.mp4 --font /path/to/MyFont.ttf --export-mp4 output.mp4

Without --font, fonts are auto-selected based on charset:

petscii: PetMe64 (or first available PetMe variant)
braille: Bold braille font preferred, then regular braille, then monospace
everything else: Iosevka, VT323, IBM Plex Mono, Menlo, DejaVu Sans Mono, etc.

Subtitle burn-in uses a separate readable monospace font (Iosevka, IBM Plex Mono, Menlo, etc.).

# Export as MP4 (H.265/HEVC - default)
video2ascii video.mp4 --charset petscii --crt --export-mp4 output.mp4

# Export as ProRes 422 HQ
video2ascii video.mp4 --color --charset braille --export-prores422 output-prores.mov

# With subtitles
video2ascii video.mp4 --color --subtitle --export-mp4 subtitled-ascii.mp4

# PETSCII with specific PetMe font
video2ascii video.mp4 --charset petscii --font PetMe128 --export-mp4 petscii-video.mp4

Use cases:

Sharing on social media
Embedding in websites
Creating demos or presentations
Archiving ASCII art animations

Architecture

video2ascii/
├── cli.py              # CLI entry point (argparse, --web flag)
├── converter.py        # Core: frame extraction (ffmpeg), ASCII conversion (Pillow), edge detection
├── player.py           # Terminal playback engine (ANSI escape sequences, subtitle display)
├── exporter.py         # Standalone .sh script export (gzip+base64 compressed)
├── mp4_exporter.py     # MP4/ProRes video export (renders ASCII to images, encodes with ffmpeg)
├── fonts.py            # Font discovery and resolution (resolve_font, list_available_fonts)
├── subtitle.py         # Subtitle generation: embedded stream extraction, whisper-cli transcription, SRT parsing
├── web/
│   ├── app.py          # FastAPI backend: upload, convert, SSE progress, font list, export endpoints
│   ├── renderer.py     # ANSI-to-HTML converter for web display
│   ├── server.py       # Standalone web server entry point
│   └── static/
│       └── index.html  # Single-page frontend (vanilla HTML/CSS/JS, font chooser)
tests/
├── test_cli.py         # CLI argument parsing and main function tests
├── test_converter.py   # Frame extraction, ASCII conversion, edge detection tests
├── test_exporter.py    # Shell script export tests
├── test_fonts.py       # Font discovery and resolution tests
├── test_mp4_exporter.py# MP4/ProRes export tests
├── test_player.py      # Terminal player tests
├── test_subtitle.py    # Subtitle generation, SRT parsing, whisper-cli integration tests
├── test_web_app.py     # FastAPI endpoint integration tests
└── test_web_renderer.py# ANSI-to-HTML renderer tests

How It Works

Frame Extraction: Uses ffmpeg to extract frames at the specified FPS and scale them to the target width
ASCII Conversion: Uses Pillow to convert each frame to ASCII art (parallelized across CPU cores). Maps pixel brightness to character density ramp: " .:-=+*#%@"
Subtitle Generation (optional): Extracts embedded subtitle streams via ffprobe, or transcribes audio locally via whisper-cli with VAD for accurate timing
Playback: Displays frames sequentially in the terminal using ANSI escape sequences for smooth animation. Subtitles are displayed centered at the bottom of the frame.
Web GUI: FastAPI serves a single-page app; uploads go through multipart form, conversion runs in a thread pool, progress streams via Server-Sent Events (SSE), frames are rendered as colored HTML spans

Tips

CRT Mode: Works best in a terminal with a dark background. Retro fonts like "VT323" or "IBM Plex Mono" can enhance the appearance.
PETSCII Mode: Install and use the KreativeKorp Pet Me fonts in your terminal. Available variants: PetMe, PetMe64, PetMe128, PetMe2X, PetMe2Y, PetMe642Y, PetMe1282Y.
Subtitles: For best results, use a high-quality Whisper model (ggml-large-v3-turbo.bin). The Silero VAD model improves timestamp accuracy significantly.
Width: For CRT mode, 80 is classic. For modern displays, try 120-200 depending on your terminal size.
FPS: Higher FPS = smoother playback but more processing. 10-15 FPS works well for most content.
Speed: Use --speed 0.5 for slow-mo, --speed 2 for double-speed.
Edge + Color: Combining edge detection with color preserves color information along detected edges.
Invert + Color: When both are enabled, RGB values are inverted (negative effect). In grayscale mode, only the character mapping is reversed.
Aspect Ratio: Terminal characters are roughly 2:1 height:width, so the tool automatically adjusts frame height for proper proportions.

Development

This project uses uv for package management and development workflows.

# Install in editable mode with dev dependencies
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Also install web dependencies for full development
uv pip install -e ".[web]"

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Run tests with coverage
uv run pytest --cov=video2ascii

# Run the tool directly (CLI)
uv run python -m video2ascii input.mp4

# Run the web GUI directly
uv run python -m video2ascii.cli --web

Dependency Groups

Group	Install	Contents
core	`uv pip install .`	Pillow
dev	`uv pip install -e ".[dev]"`	pytest, pytest-cov, pytest-mock, httpx
web	`uv pip install -e ".[web]"`	FastAPI, uvicorn, python-multipart

Entry Points

Command	Module	Description
`video2ascii`	`video2ascii.cli:main`	CLI tool
`video2ascii-web`	`video2ascii.web.server:main`	Standalone web server

The project also works with standard pip/pipx workflows if you prefer.

Performance

The tool parallelizes frame conversion across all available CPU cores using Python's multiprocessing, making the processing phase significantly faster on multi-core systems.

Cached frames are stored in /tmp/ascii_FILENAME.XXXXXX/ by default. Use --no-cache to clean up automatically, or manually delete the temp directory.

Controls

Ctrl+C: Stop playback and exit

License

BSD 3-Clause

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 24 Commits
.cursor/rules		.cursor/rules
docs		docs
examples		examples
tests		tests
video2ascii		video2ascii
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
uv.lock		uv.lock

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video2ascii

Demo

Web GUI

Requirements

Installation

Option 1: Install with uv (recommended)

Option 2: Install with pip/pipx

Option 3: Run directly (no install)

Usage

Options

Modes

CRT Mode (`--crt`)

Edge Detection (`--edge`)

Character Sets (`--charset`)

Subtitles (`--subtitle`)

Export Modes

Standalone Script (`--export FILE`)

MP4 Video (`--export-mp4 FILE`)

Architecture

How It Works

Tips

Development

Dependency Groups

Entry Points

Performance

Controls

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video2ascii

Demo

Web GUI

Requirements

Installation

Option 1: Install with uv (recommended)

Option 2: Install with pip/pipx

Option 3: Run directly (no install)

Usage

Options

Modes

CRT Mode (--crt)

Edge Detection (--edge)

Character Sets (--charset)

Subtitles (--subtitle)

Export Modes

Standalone Script (--export FILE)

MP4 Video (--export-mp4 FILE)

Architecture

How It Works

Tips

Development

Dependency Groups

Entry Points

Performance

Controls

License

About

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Languages

CRT Mode (`--crt`)

Edge Detection (`--edge`)

Character Sets (`--charset`)

Subtitles (`--subtitle`)

Standalone Script (`--export FILE`)

MP4 Video (`--export-mp4 FILE`)

Packages