govertor

A powerful Go-based tool that converts images and videos into beautiful ASCII art

Features

• Image to ASCII: Convert PNG, JPG, and other image formats to ASCII art
• Video to ASCII: Transform videos into ASCII animations (GIF output)
• High Quality Output: Maintains visual clarity while converting to text
• Multiple Format Support: Works with various input formats
• Batch Processing: Convert multiple files efficiently ( NOT YET IMPLEMETED )

Installation

go install github.com/asaft29/govertor/cmd/govertor@latest

Or clone and build from source:

git clone https://github.com/asaft29/govertor.git

cd govertor

make build

⚠ Disclaimer: If you are not using Docker, ffmpeg must be installed on your system for video conversion to work properly

Usage

The program automatically detects whether the input is an image or a video based on its file extension.

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Using Go

Convert a Single File

./govertor -i assets/ferris.png -s
# Converts an image and saves it

./govertor -i assets/ferris.mp4 -f 100 -s
# Captures the first 100 frames of a video, converts to ASCII, and saves it

Notes

• Frames (-f): Default is 50 frames for videos if not set.

• Output path (-o): If not provided, outputs are automatically saved to:

  • converted/images/ for images
  • converted/videos/ for videos Only occurs if the save flag (-s) is set.

• Save flag (-s): Enables saving the ASCII output. Without this, the ASCII art is printed to the terminal.

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Using Docker

Run govertor without installing Go or dependencies locally. Below is an example that runs the docker container:

docker build -t govertor .

docker run --rm -it govertor -i assets/videos/cartman.gif -f 100

This captures the first 100 frames of the video and prints the ASCII conversion to the terminal.

Examples

Image Conversions

Original	ASCII Version

Video Conversions

For further details you can take a look at the converted folder

Rotating object, pretty cool :)

Title screen of Doom

The beloved Rust mascot, Ferris the crab

Zagreus, son of Hades

Kratos unleashing his fury

Command Line Options

Global Flags

• -h, --help: Show help information

Commands

-f int
      Frames for video (default 50)

-i string
      Path to input file (image or video)

-o string
      Output of saved file

-s    Flag for saving

⚠ Video Saving ⚠

When converting videos, you must press q to quit playback in order for the output to be saved.
If you exit with Ctrl+C, the video will not be saved.

Technical Details

Supported Input Formats

• Images: PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, WEBP, ICO
• Videos: GIF, MP4, AVI, MOV, SVG, MKV, FLV, WEBM

Output Formats

• Images: PNG with ASCII art overlay
• Videos: Animated GIF