ASCII Cam — Real-Time ASCII Art

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Overview

ASCII Cam is a Python application that converts a live webcam feed into ASCII art in real time. It uses OpenCV for video capture and rendering, and NumPy for efficient pixel-to-character mapping. The output can be displayed in monochrome or colored ASCII characters, with configurable resolution, font size, intensity inversion, and multiple character sets.

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Features

• Real-time ASCII Rendering: Live conversion of webcam input into ASCII art.
• Adjustable Resolution: Dynamically increase or decrease the ASCII grid size.
• Color and Monochrome Modes: Option to render ASCII characters with original frame colors or in white on black.
• Invert Mapping: Reverse brightness-to-character mapping for stylistic variation.
• Multiple Character Sets: Choose between a detailed 70-character set or a simplified 10-character set.
• Frame Export: Save individual ASCII-rendered frames as PNG images.
• Interactive Controls: Modify settings during runtime using keyboard input.

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Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• OpenCV (opencv-python)
• NumPy

Install dependencies via pip:

pip install opencv-python numpy

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Usage

Run the script:

python ascii_cam.py

The application will open a resizable OpenCV window named "ASCII Cam" showing the live ASCII-rendered video stream.

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Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
q / Esc	Exit the application
s	Save the current ASCII frame as a PNG file
[	Decrease ASCII output width (minimum: 20 columns)
]	Increase ASCII output width (maximum: 400 columns)
g	Toggle between colored and monochrome rendering
i	Invert brightness mapping
1	Switch to the detailed ASCII set (70 characters)
2	Switch to the simplified ASCII set (10 characters)
=	Increase font scale
-	Decrease font scale
t	Cycle through font thickness values (1–3)

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Parameters

• ascii_set_id — Character set selection (0 = detailed, 1 = simple).
• cols — Number of columns in the ASCII image (default: 160).
• colorize — Enable/disable color rendering (default: False).
• invert — Invert pixel intensity mapping (default: False).
• font_scale — Font size for ASCII characters (default: 0.45).
• thickness — Font thickness (default: 1).

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Code Structure

• ASCII_SETS: Defines two ASCII character sets (70 and 10 symbols).
• map_to_ascii: Maps normalized grayscale pixel intensities to ASCII characters.
• render_ascii: Draws ASCII characters onto an OpenCV canvas with optional colorization.
• main: Handles webcam capture, frame processing, and interactive controls.

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Notes

• Ensure that your webcam is properly connected and accessible by OpenCV.
• The ASCII image maintains the original aspect ratio.
• Performance may vary depending on system resources and webcam resolution.
• Uses OpenCV’s FONT_HERSHEY_SIMPLEX for cross-platform compatibility.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Acknowledgments

• Built with OpenCV and NumPy.
• Inspired by traditional ASCII art rendering techniques applied to real-time video.