ASCILINE/README.md

# 🌌 ASCILINE Engine

**ASCILINE** is a high-performance, real-time ASCII video rendering engine. **Our core objective is to transform the web into a highly dynamic and interactive typographic canvas.** By moving away from traditional video players, ASCILINE streams visual data from a Python backend directly into the browser at **60 FPS** as raw, manipulable text.

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cc38d219-b4d2-4873-82dc-2abb179b5665" width="600" alt="Animation" />
  <br>
  <br>
  <img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6bd7f5c0-81de-49fe-ba0d-9a8872ec8ae3" width="600" alt="Animation-after" />
  <br>
  <sub><i>* Showcases rendered using Mode 3 (32K Colors) from a 30 FPS source video. The engine naturally synchronizes up to 60+ FPS depending on the source material.</i></sub>
</p>

## 🎯 Strategic Vision & Core Capabilities

1. **Pure Typographic Manipulation**: The visual stream is not a standard media file—it's raw HTML/Canvas text. This makes the impossible possible: you can apply real-time CSS filters (neon glows, text shadows) to a playing video, dynamically manipulate colors, or let users literally copy a moving visual element with their cursor.
2. **Local AI & LLM Ready**: By reducing complex pixel streams into structured logical strings, ASCILINE acts as a perfect bridge for AI. Instead of feeding heavy computer vision models, lightweight text blocks can be fed directly to Local LLMs. Analyzing visual changes becomes as simple as taking a "diff" between two text strings.
3. **Ultra-Low Bandwidth & IoT Compatibility**: Standard codecs (H.264/VP9) choke microcontrollers and weak networks. ASCILINE processes the heavy lifting once on the backend, streaming only a few kilobytes of String packets per second via WebSockets. It enables zero-latency live streams on satellite connections, embedded systems, and extreme low-bandwidth environments.
4. **Bypassing Browser Constraints**: Modern browsers aggressively throttle autoplay videos, and ad-blockers restrict traditional media frames. To the browser, ASCILINE is simply "JavaScript updating text on a page." This circumvents traditional restrictions, allowing for immediate, unblockable visual streams.

## 🚀 Technical Features

-   **Real-Time Streaming**: Low-latency video-to-ASCII conversion.
-   **High Performance**: Uses **HTML5 Canvas** for rendering instead of heavy DOM elements, enabling 60 FPS playback.
-   **Binary Protocol**: Frames are encoded into `Uint8Array` (binary) for efficient bandwidth usage.
-   **Multiple Color Modes**: Supports everything from classic B&W to 16M color ultra-fidelity.
-   **Modern Aesthetic**: Premium dark-mode UI with interactive ripple dissolve effects.

## 🛠️ Architecture

1.  **Backend (Python/FastAPI)**: Decodes video using OpenCV, maps pixels to ASCII characters via NumPy, and streams binary data.
2.  **Frontend (Vanilla JS)**: Receives binary frames via WebSockets, manages a jitter buffer, and renders to a Canvas grid.
3.  **Communication**: Optimized WebSocket protocol with a custom `INIT` handshake for dynamic resolution/FPS adjustment.

## 📦 Installation

### 1. Clone the repository
```bash
git clone https://github.com/YusufB5/ASCILINE.git
cd ASCILINE
```

### 2. Install dependencies
```bash
pip install fastapi uvicorn opencv-python numpy websockets
```

### 3. Run the Web Server

**Single video:**
```bash
python stream_server.py video.mp4
```

**Folder mode — drop your videos into `videos/` and run:**
```bash
python stream_server.py --folder videos
python stream_server.py --folder videos --loop          # infinite loop
python stream_server.py --folder videos --mode 5 --vol 2  # all videos same settings
```
Videos play in **filesystem order** (top to bottom as they appear in the folder, not alphabetically). Just add/remove files from the `videos/` folder to control the queue.

**JSON Playlist — full control per video:**
```bash
python stream_server.py --playlist playlist.json
python stream_server.py --playlist playlist.json --loop
```
Use `playlist.json` when you need different `--mode` or `--vol` settings for each video.

Open `http://localhost:8000` in your browser.

### 4. Run directly in Terminal (Standalone)
If you prefer to bypass the web interface, you can render the video directly inside an ANSI-supported terminal (zero-flicker, true color):
```bash
python ascii_video_player2.py video.mp4 --quality 0
```

## 🎨 Customization

You can easily customize the look and feel of the engine:

### Styling
Edit `style.css` to change the accent colors and typography using CSS variables:
```css
:root {
    --accent-color: #00ff41; /* Classic Matrix Green */
    --bg-color: #050505;
}
```

### Rendering Modes
The engine supports different fidelity levels via the `--mode` flag:
- `1`: Black & White (DOM mode)
- `2`: 512 Colors
- `3`: 32K Colors
- `4`: 262K Colors
- `5`: 16M Colors (Ultra)

```bash
python stream_server.py --mode 5 --cols 240 --rows 100
```

### Server-Side Volume Control
Volume is controlled at the server level via the `--vol` flag (scale 0–5).
When set to `0`, the audio engine (FFmpeg) **never runs**, saving CPU and bandwidth.

| `--vol` | FFmpeg Multiplier | Description |
|---------|------------------|-------------|
| `0`     | —                | Muted (no processing) |
| `1`     | 1.0×             | Normal (default) |
| `3`     | 1.5×             | Loud |
| `5`     | 2.0×             | Double volume |

```bash
python stream_server.py video.mp4 --vol 0   # Silent
python stream_server.py video.mp4 --vol 3   # Loud
```

### Playlist Format (`playlist.json`)
Each entry can override the global `--mode` and `--vol` defaults:
```json
[
    { "video": "intro.mp4",  "mode": 1, "vol": 1 },
    { "video": "main.mp4",   "mode": 5, "vol": 3 },
    { "video": "outro.mp4",  "mode": 3, "vol": 2 }
]
```
Video paths are resolved automatically — the engine checks the project root and the `videos/` subfolder, so you can write just the filename.

## 📜 License & Ethical Guardrails

**MIT License (with Anti-Ad Restriction)**

ASCILINE is distributed under the MIT License, but with a strict ethical guardrail.
Because this engine bypasses standard browser constraints and ad-blockers (by rendering pure text instead of video), we strictly prohibit its use by ad-networks to serve unblockable advertisements. 

See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for the full text, which includes the **ANTI-ADVERTISEMENT RESTRICTION** clause.