CinemASCII is not just an ASCII converter; it's a high-performance real-time video-to-text rendering engine. Powered by @chenglou/pretext, it transforms any video file into fluid, cinematic ASCII art directly in your browser with zero DOM reflow and professional-grade export capabilities.
View Repo on GitHub | Report Bug
Check out the real-time rendering engine in action:
CinemASCII leverages cutting-edge web technologies to deliver an unparalleled ASCII experience.
- 🚀 Real-Time 60FPS Rendering: Experience fluid, lag-free ASCII transformation of any video file (MP4, WebM, MOV).
- ⚡ High-Performance Typography: Uses the Pretext's Canvas font engine for pure arithmetic layout—achieving speeds unreachable by traditional DOM-based tools.
- 🎬 Ultra-HD Export Support: Record and download your ASCII creations in 720p, 1080p, 1440p (2K), or 2160p (4K) WebM format.
- 🎨 Dynamic Visual Styles: Choose from multiple themes: Matrix (Green), Classic Color, Amber Terminal, Cyan Glow, and White Monochrome.
- ⌨️ Custom Character Mapping: Use presets like Standard, Blocks, Binary, or Matrix characters, or define your own custom character density map.
- 📸 High-Res Snapshots: Capture beautiful PNG frames of your ASCII art with a single click.
- 📺 Retro CRT Aesthetic: Toggle scanlines and flicker effects for that authentic vintage terminal look.
CinemASCII is built for performance and modern browser compatibility.
- React 19: Utilizing the latest React features for efficient UI management.
- Vite 8: Lightning-fast HMR and build optimizations.
- @chenglou/pretext: The powerhouse typography engine that makes 60fps ASCII possible.
- Web Audio API: Ensures perfectly synchronized audio capture during video recordings.
- MediaStream Recording API: For high-fidelity, lossless video exports directly from the canvas.
- Node.js (Latest stable version)
pnpm(recommended) ornpm
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/apon133/PretextPlayer.git cd PretextPlayer -
Install dependencies:
pnpm install
-
Launch Development Server:
pnpm dev
- Upload: Drag & drop any video or click "Browse files."
- Customize: Use the sidebar to adjust font size (character density) and select your color palette.
- Render: Press "Play" to watch the real-time conversion.
- Export: Select your resolution (up to 4K), click "Record," and save your ASCII masterpiece.
Yes, but unlike traditional converters that generate static text files, CinemASCII is a real-time player that renders video at 60fps using a specialized font engine.
Yes. CinemASCII supports high-resolution recording (up to 4K WebM) with synchronized audio, making it perfect for creative video editing and social media.
Pretext is a high-performance typography engine that bypasses the browser's slow DOM layout in favor of fast canvas arithmetic.
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.
Built with ❤️ for the ASCII Art Community by apon133
