ascii-art skill
ascii-art builds a dot-grid figure from a photo and animates it into a seamless loop: dust, growth, voids
- 269 ★ on the repository
- Last commit
- MIT
Minimal access
Why this level
- Scripts run locally on your images with a Chromium browser.
Install
- Works in
In your terminal, with SkillFoxx CLI
npx skillfoxx add skills/ascii-artDetects the agents on your machine, shows the access level and pins the version.
Other ways to install
Access and checks
How we reviewMinimal accessThe tool runs nothing and makes no network calls.
- Scripts run locally on your images with a Chromium browser.
This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.
What it does
A skill and engine that turns a photo, sculpture or drawing into a figure of dots on a fixed grid: charcoal ground, two grey tones and a rare crimson. The figure is then animated into a seamless loop: wind-blown disintegration, growth, voids, tentacles, fine-stipple creatures. The pipeline: `photo_dots.py` builds a dot map, `render_map.py` shows a still, `build_scene.py` turns scene JSON into a self-contained HTML page, `grab_frames.py` captures frames through Playwright and ffmpeg encodes MP4. Example scenes are in `examples/scenes/`.
Who it is for. Motion designers and digital artists who want a signature dot style and a finished clip without hand-made frame animation.
Good fit when
- A portrait or sculpture should become an art clip for a cover or a site.
- The style must repeat from piece to piece under the same rules.
- You want to see the static dot map before animating.
- The animation is built as an HTML page and the MP4 is captured from it frame by frame.
Not a fit when
- You need a photorealistic result: the style is deliberately coarse and graphic.
- Python 3.10, Playwright with Chromium and ffmpeg are not at hand.
- You want a one-click result without editing the scene.
Example request
Turn this bust photo into a dot map, show the still and then build a 12-second dust disintegration loop.Limitations
Python 3.10 or newer with `numpy`, `scipy`, `Pillow`, `scikit-image`, `playwright` with a Chromium build, and ffmpeg for encoding are required. Look at the still first and only then animate: a poor dot map ruins the whole loop. Map parameters (row count and tone percentiles) are tuned per photo. Browser frame capture takes a long time for long clips. The skill works on your images, and rights to the source photos remain yours.
How to disable. Remove the repository from the agent skills directory. Uninstall the Python packages and the Playwright Chromium separately.
FAQ
What do I get at the end?
A static dot map, a self-contained HTML page with the animation and an MP4 clip if ffmpeg is present.
Which effects are supported?
Dust disintegration, growth from the figure, voids, tentacles and fine-stipple creatures.
How do I capture frames?
With `python scripts/grab_frames.py out.html frames 30 12` (frame rate and seconds), then ffmpeg.
What must be installed?
Python 3.10 with `numpy`, `scipy`, `Pillow`, `scikit-image`, `playwright` and a Chromium build, plus ffmpeg for video.
How do I preview before animating?
`python scripts/render_map.py map.txt still 0.6` renders a still.
Discussion
No questions or reviews yet.
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README in short
Method, engine and scripts for dot graphics and seamless animation from a photograph.