ASCIIDEIA

ASCII Art Media Converter, Player & Renderer — Python Package

A Python package for converting images and videos to ASCII art with multiple color modes, rendering algorithms, and export capabilities. This is the lightweight, automation-friendly version of the full ASCIIDEIA tool, designed for integration into pipelines, scripts, and other applications.

What it does

ASCIIDEIA converts images and videos into ASCII art with real-time terminal playback, interactive controls, and standard media rendering (PNG/MP4 export). It supports multiple color modes, character algorithms, render modes, and background options.

Supported formats:

• Images: PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, WebP, TIFF, TIF, ICO, PPM, PGM, PBM
• Video: MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV, WebM, FLV, WMV, M4V, MPG, MPEG, 3GP, OGV, GIF
• URLs: YouTube and TikTok (requires yt-dlp)

Installation

pip install asciideia

Requirements: Python 3.8+, OpenCV, NumPy, Pillow. FFmpeg optional (required for video rendering and audio features).

Usage

As a Python Library

import asciideia

# Convert an image to ASCII string
ascii_art = asciideia.convert_image("photo.png", color="colored", algo="chars", bg="dark")

# Convert a video frame (numpy array) to ASCII
ascii_art = asciideia.convert_frame(frame, width=120, color="colored", algo="blocks")

# Render image to PNG file
out_path = asciideia.render_image(
    "photo.png",
    output_dir="./output",
    color="colored",
    algo="chars",
    render_mode="modern",
    bg="dark"
)

# Render video to MP4 file
out_path = asciideia.render_video(
    "clip.mp4",
    output_dir="./output",
    color="colored",
    algo="chars",
    render_mode="modern",
    bg="dark"
)

# Get video metadata
meta = asciideia.get_video_metadata("clip.mp4")

# Check if video has audio
has_audio = asciideia.has_audio_track("clip.mp4")

Command Line

# Interactive mode
asciideia

# Image to terminal
asciideia image photo.png

# Video to terminal
asciideia video clip.mp4

# With options
asciideia image photo.png color bw algo blocks bg none

# Render to file
asciideia image photo.png render ./output
asciideia video clip.mp4 color colored algo chars rm retro bg dark r ./output

# Show help
asciideia help

Options

GitHub Repository

For the full-featured interactive application and source code: https://github.com/HAKORADev/ASCIIDEIA

License

MIT License