Ascii Theater

Overview

Ascii Theater is a Python-based project that creates and displays animated ASCII art movies. It uses AI to generate a story, converts the story into ASCII art frames, and then plays these frames in a command-line interface, creating a unique animated movie experience.

Features

• AI-powered story and scene generation using OpenAI or local LLM (Ollama)
• Conversion of story scenes into ASCII art frames
• Command-line ASCII art movie player with scene information display
• Customizable frame rate for playback
• Movie selection interface for playing existing movies

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7+
• OpenAI API key (for story generation using OpenAI)
• Ollama (for local LLM support)

Installation

  .
  ├── LICENSE
  ├── README.md
  ├── data
  │   └── movies
  │       ├── cosmic_voyage
  │       ├── crash_landing_a_robots_journey
  │       ├── debug_output
  │       ├── journey_beyond_the_stars
  │       ├── magic_awakening
  │       └── the_quest_for_the_shattered_ring
  ├── requirements.txt
  ├── scripts
  │   ├── generate_movie.py
  │   └── play_movie.py
  └── src
      ├── __init__.py
      ├── frame_generator.py
      ├── llm_config.py
      ├── movie_player.py
      ├── story_generator.py
      └── utils.py

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/jmcdice/ascii-movie-project.git
   cd ascii-movie-project

2. Install the required dependencies:

   python -m venv .venv
   python3 -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Set up your LLM config's, copy the example env and fill it in

   cp .env_example .env.sh

4. Install Ollama (if using local LLM):
   • Follow the instructions at Ollama's official website

Usage

Generating and Playing Movies

To generate a new ASCII art movie, use the generate_movie.py script. You can specify the LLM provider and an optional topic for the movie. Examples:

Using Anthropic's Claude:

  python scripts/generate_movie.py --provider anthropic --topic "Space exploration"

Using OpenAI's GPT model:

  python scripts/generate_movie.py --provider openai --topic "Underwater adventure"

Using local Ollama model:

  python scripts/generate_movie.py --provider ollama --topic "Time travel"

Playing a Movie

To play a generated ASCII art movie, use the play_movie.py script. This script will list available movies and allow you to choose one to play.

  python scripts/play_movie.py

Example output:

  Available movies (most recent first):
  
  1. journey_beyond_the_stars
  2. cosmic_voyage
  3. crash_landing_a_robots_journey
  4. magic_awakening
  5. the_quest_for_the_shattered_ring
  
  Enter the number of the movie you want to play (or 'q' to quit):

You can also adjust the frame delay and scene delay:

  python scripts/play_movie.py --delay 0.5 --scene-delay 3

Contributing

Contributions to the ASCII Movie Generator and Player are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - go nuts.