asciify --animate
ASCII animation generator: make moving text art
Animated ASCII art from anything that moves: drop an animated GIF, a short video clip or switch on your webcam, and watch it play back as characters. Or start from a still and add a looping retro effect.
;;oooooooo;;:::::: :;;;;oo;;;:::,,,,, ,::::::::::,,,.... ,,,,,,,,,,,....... ............ .....
ooo;;;::,,,,,,,::; ;;;;;:::,,,,,,,::: ;;;::::,,,,,,,,,:: :::::,,,,.....,,,, ,,,,,............. ....... ..
,,... ...,,:::: ,,,........,,,:::: ,,,........,,,:::: ,,,........,,,,,:: ,............,,,,, .... ........
Three consecutive frames of the procedural fire background: an animation is just a sequence of text frames.
Four ways to make an ASCII animation
- Animated GIF to ASCII. The GIF is decoded frame by frame, the GIF disposal rules are applied so partial frames composite correctly, and each frame is converted and replayed with its original delay.
- Video to ASCII.MP4, MOV and WebM files are demuxed and decoded with the browser's WebCodecs API, then every frame becomes ASCII. Great for music video snippets, game clips and memes.
- Webcam to ASCII. A live filter that renders your camera at about 12 frames per second. Freeze a frame when you like the pose.
- Effect loops. Take any still ASCII art or text banner and add matrix rain, glitch, cyber neon, CRT, wave or typewriter motion, then export it as an animated GIF.
Tips for smooth animated ASCII
Motion hides detail, so a smaller width (60 to 100 columns) often looks better than a huge one and keeps playback smooth on phones. High-contrast sources with a clear subject animate best; raise the contrast slider for washed-out footage. Block and Braille render modes keep silhouettes readable at small sizes, while the detailed charset shines on slow, close-up shots. Everything runs on your device: no file is uploaded, and the camera stream never leaves the browser.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I download the whole animation?
- Effect loops (matrix, glitch, CRT and others) export as an animated GIF of about three seconds. Converted GIFs and videos play back in the browser, and you can export any frame as TXT, PNG or HTML. The animated backgrounds export as a self-contained HTML file that loops forever.
- Is there a length or size limit for videos?
- There is no server limit because nothing is uploaded. Decoding happens on your device, so very long or high-resolution clips are limited only by memory. Short clips of a few seconds give the smoothest results.
- Does the animation keep the original timing?
- Yes for GIFs: every frame is shown for its original delay. Videos are sampled from the decoded stream and webcam runs live at about 12 frames per second.