mirror of
https://github.com/YusufB5/ASCILINE.git
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87 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
87 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
# 🌌 ASCILINE Engine
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**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.
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<p align="center">
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<img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cc38d219-b4d2-4873-82dc-2abb179b5665" width="600" alt="Animation" />
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<br>
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<br>
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<img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6bd7f5c0-81de-49fe-ba0d-9a8872ec8ae3" width="600" alt="Animation-after" />
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<br>
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<sub><i>* Showcases rendered using Mode 3 (32K Colors)</i></sub>
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</p>
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## 🎯 Strategic Vision & Core Capabilities
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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## 🚀 Technical Features
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- **Real-Time Streaming**: Low-latency video-to-ASCII conversion.
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- **High Performance**: Uses **HTML5 Canvas** for rendering instead of heavy DOM elements, enabling 60 FPS playback.
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- **Binary Protocol**: Frames are encoded into `Uint8Array` (binary) for efficient bandwidth usage.
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- **Multiple Color Modes**: Supports everything from classic B&W to 16M color ultra-fidelity.
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- **Modern Aesthetic**: Premium dark-mode UI with interactive ripple dissolve effects.
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## 🛠️ Architecture
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1. **Backend (Python/FastAPI)**: Decodes video using OpenCV, maps pixels to ASCII characters via NumPy, and streams binary data.
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2. **Frontend (Vanilla JS)**: Receives binary frames via WebSockets, manages a jitter buffer, and renders to a Canvas grid.
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3. **Communication**: Optimized WebSocket protocol with a custom `INIT` handshake for dynamic resolution/FPS adjustment.
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## 📦 Installation
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### 1. Clone the repository
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ASCILINE.git
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cd ASCILINE
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```
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### 2. Install dependencies
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```bash
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pip install fastapi uvicorn opencv-python numpy websockets
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```
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### 3. Run the engine
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Place a `video.mp4` in the root directory and start the server:
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```bash
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python stream_server.py
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```
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Open `http://localhost:8000` in your browser.
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## 🎨 Customization
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You can easily customize the look and feel of the engine:
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### Styling
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Edit `style.css` to change the accent colors and typography using CSS variables:
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```css
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:root {
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--accent-color: #00ff41; /* Classic Matrix Green */
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--bg-color: #050505;
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}
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```
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### Rendering Modes
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The engine supports different fidelity levels via the `--mode` flag:
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- `1`: Black & White (DOM mode)
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- `2`: 512 Colors
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- `3`: 32K Colors
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- `4`: 262K Colors
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- `5`: 16M Colors (Ultra)
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```bash
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python stream_server.py --mode 5 --cols 240 --rows 100
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```
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## 📜 License & Ethical Guardrails
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**MIT License (with Anti-Ad Restriction)**
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ASCILINE is distributed under the MIT License, but with a strict ethical guardrail.
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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.
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See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for the full text, which includes the **ANTI-ADVERTISEMENT RESTRICTION** clause.
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