What a video to ASCII converter does
A video is a series of still pictures shown 24 to 60 times a second. A video to ASCII converter takes each of those frames, divides it into a grid of cells, measures how bright every cell is and swaps it for a character with the matching amount of ink. Done fast enough, the characters move like the original film, and you get the look of a 1990s terminal demo, a music video effect or a hacker scene from a movie.
This converter does the work live in your browser. The animated demo above is a short scene drawn in code; choose your own file to replace it. Each frame is sampled at character resolution on the CPU, and all the characters are drawn by a WebGPU shader on your graphics card, which is what keeps a 150-character-wide video smooth. Browsers without WebGPU use Canvas 2D for the same result at a somewhat lower frame rate.
How to convert a video to ASCII
- Open the Video tab (it is already selected on this page) and press Choose video, or drag a video file onto the preview.
- Let it play. The video starts muted and loops. Use Play / Pause to stop on a frame.
- Adjust the look. Width, characters, style, contrast and edges all apply to the running video immediately.
- Record or capture. Record video saves the ASCII preview as WebM; Record GIF saves up to 10 seconds as an animated GIF; Capture frame freezes one frame so you can copy its text.
Best settings for ASCII video
Width and frame rate
A width of 100 to 160 characters is the sweet spot for ASCII video: enough detail to recognise faces and motion, and light enough to run at full frame rate on most laptops. Go up to 300 for a sharper picture on a fast computer, or down to 60 for a chunky retro look and faster GIFs.
Character sets for motion
The Standard set flickers less than Detailed, because neighbouring frames are more likely to land on the same character. Blocks give a bold, almost pixel-art look that suits music videos. Braille produces the smoothest motion at small sizes. Binary 0/1 on the Green terminal style gives the classic "digital rain" look.
Contrast and edges
Video is often darker and flatter than photos. Raise contrast by 20 to 40 and lower gamma slightly to lift shadows. Edge detection keeps moving outlines readable, which is especially useful for dance, sports and animation.
Recording: GIF vs. WebM
| Record GIF | Record video | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Animated GIF | WebM (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) or MP4 (Safari) |
| Length | Up to 10 seconds | As long as you like |
| Frame rate | 10 frames per second | Up to 30 frames per second |
| Size | Up to 560 pixels wide | Same size as the preview |
| Best for | Chats, forums, README files | YouTube, TikTok, editing |
GIF files grow quickly with size and length, which is why recording stops automatically after 10 seconds. For anything longer, record video and convert it later if you need another format. Both recordings capture exactly what the preview shows, including colors and the background style.
Ideas for ASCII video
- Music videos and lyric clips with the Blocks or Color on black style.
- Intro and outro animations for streams and YouTube channels.
- Retro terminal effects with Green or Amber terminal and Binary characters.
- Animated README headers as short GIFs for GitHub projects.
- Memes and reaction clips at 60 to 80 characters wide, saved as GIF.
Converting animated GIFs
Browsers show an animated GIF as an image, so when you open one in the Image tab only the first frame is converted. To convert every frame, turn the GIF into an MP4 or WebM first (most phone galleries and online converters can do this), then choose it here. You can then record the ASCII result as a new GIF.
Private by design
Video files are often large and personal, and uploading them to an online converter takes time and trust. This video to ASCII tool reads the file directly from your device, converts it frame by frame in your browser and lets you download the result locally. There is no server, no account and no watermark.
To use a live camera instead of a file, open webcam to ASCII. For still pictures, the image to ASCII converter offers the same settings, and the ASCII art generator home page has every source in one place.