ASCII animation studio
Convert videos and GIFs to editable text animations, then export code, GIF or video.
About ASCII animation studio
Create a moving character-art version of a clip instead of converting only its first frame. Crop and trim the source visually, inspect a live character sample, then generate a timeline with editable frames and individual durations. Start from a video, GIF, saved project, blank canvas or sample animation.
Steps, and limitations
How to use it
- Drop a GIF or browser-playable video. Drag the crop handles and trim endpoints, or try the animated sample. Use the source-position slider to inspect a moment before converting.
- Choose ASCII or Braille, detail, frame rate, a density ramp and optional source colors. Adjust brightness, contrast, gamma and character proportions, then convert the clip.
- Play or scrub the timeline. Edit text and timing, duplicate, reorder or delete frames, use onion skin, resize the canvas, and choose loop, play-once or ping-pong playback.
- Export an animated GIF, MP4 or WebM video, a standalone HTML player, JavaScript module, Python terminal player, text frames or PNG frame archive. Save an editable JSON project to continue later.
Things to know
- GIF inputs are limited to 40 MiB and videos to 100 MiB. GIF transparency, interlacing and disposal are decoded; videos must be playable by the current browser. Very complex GIFs are rejected before allocating unbounded frame buffers.
- Animations support up to 300 editable frames, 160 columns, 100 rows, 3 million total character cells and 60 seconds of original frame durations. Slow speed and ping-pong can extend playback. Very large rendered exports require smaller font sizes or fewer frames.
- Exports are silent. GIF has a 256-color palette and timing rounded to hundredths of a second. HTML and JavaScript retain character colors; plain text does not. Braille and block ramps use Unicode, not seven-bit ASCII.
- MP4 and encoded WebM load the existing browser-based video encoder on demand. The optional browser WebM recorder works in real time and must stay in a visible tab; fast frames may be dropped by the browser.
- Work is held in browser memory. A JSON project includes frames and settings but not the original video, source crop settings or undo history. Save a project before navigating away. Source files and frame contents are not placed in URLs or search metadata.