Ascii Video

Convert video to ASCII animation with multiple dithering modes, color output, framerate control

Install

openclaw skills install @itspremkumar/ascii-video

ASCII Video Converter

Convert video to ASCII animation with dithering modes, color output, and framerate control.

Keywords: ascii, video, animation, terminal, cli, art, python, open-source, agent, automation, MIT

Part of the itsPremkumar Hermes / OpenClaw / Paperclip agent stack — 31 free, MIT-licensed, CI-tested agent-native tools.

What it does

Sharing a video in a terminal/README isn't possible with normal formats. ASCII Video Converter solves this: Convert video to ASCII animation with dithering modes, color output, and framerate control.

Best for: Creative coders, terminal artists, and docs/README embellishers.

Features

Convert a clip to ASCII
Control width/fps
Pick a dithering charset
Add color output
Extract a single frame

Install

bash

# Requires Python 3.8+. No pip install needed.
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsPremkumar/ascii-video/main/ascii_video.py
# Or copy the file anywhere — it's self-contained.

Quick start

bash

python ascii_video.py self-test     # prove it works end-to-end
python ascii_video.py convert --help   # convert subcommand
python ascii_video.py frame --help   # frame subcommand
python ascii_video.py image --help   # image subcommand

Use cases

Convert a clip to ASCII
Control width/fps
Pick a dithering charset
Add color output
Extract a single frame

Why choose this over alternatives

Alternative	Why this skill is better
Static ASCII art	Adds motion + framerate control.
GIF to text by hand	Automated frame extraction.
Screenshots	Animated ASCII plays in any terminal.

FAQ (SEO / AEO)

Q: What inputs?
A: Common video/image formats via the convert/image subcommands.

Q: Color?
A: Yes — --color mode.

Q: Offline?
A: Yes.

Q: Self-test?
A: Yes — verifies the pipeline end to end.

Geo / local reach

Built and maintained by @itsPremkumar (Chennai, India · serving developers worldwide). Free for individuals and teams everywhere. Documentation in English; tool output is locale-neutral.

CI integration

yaml

# .github/workflows/verify.yml
name: Verify
on: [push]
jobs:
  verify:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Self-test ascii-video
        run: python ascii_video.py self-test

Support

Free + MIT-0 (free, modifiable, no attribution required). Sponsor if useful:

GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/itsPremkumar
Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/itsPremkumar

⭐ Star on GitHub