Asconv

CLI tool to convert images or video to ascii

Build from source

Compiled binary in zig-out/bin/asconv

zig build -Dvideo -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

Omit the -Dvideo flag to not require Ffmpeg libraries.

Omit the -Doptimize=ReleaseFast flag for a debug build.

Install dependencies

Required to compile with flag -Dvideo

Arch:

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev

Windows:

choco install -y ffmpeg-shared

Mac:

brew install ffmpeg coreutils

Usage

asconv [command] [options]

Commands

ascii                                    Convert image to ascii
asciivid                                 Convert video to ascii
playback                                 Play converted ascii video
size                                     Show size of the image
gen-completion                           Generate shell completion script [bash|zsh|fish]

Options

-i, --input       <path>                 Input file or url
-o, --out         <filename>             Path of the output file (omit to output to stdout)
-W, --width       <int>                  Width of wanted image
-H, --height      <int>                  Height of wanted image
-s, --scale       <float>                Scale the image to size
-f, --fit                                Scale the image to fit the terminal
-b, --brightness  <float>                Set brightness boost
-r, --reverse                            Reverse the charset
    --charset     <string>               Set custom characters to use
-c, --color       <?color256|truecolor>  Output with ANSI colors and set color range [default: color256]
-e, --edges       <?sobel|LoG|DoG>       Turn on edge detection and set algorithm [default: sobel]
    --sigma       <float>                Sigma value for DoG and LoG [default: 1.0]
-t, --time                               Show the time taken to convert the image
    --config      <string>               Set custom config path to use
    --ccharset    <key>                  Use custom characters that are saved in the config
    --fps         <float>                Set target FPS for video
-l, --loop                               Loop the video
-p, --progress                           Display the progress of converting video to ASCII
-d, --dropframes                         Enable frame dropping to maintain target FPS
-V, --version                            Print version
-h, --help                               Print help

Option arguments prefixed with ? are optional.

Config

The config is stored in a TOML file. The file config.toml can be placed in standard config directories based on the operating system. For instance, on Linux, it can be located at ~/.config/asconv/config.toml.

Example:

# config.toml

[charsets]

utf = "░▒▓"