Atlas Cam

atlas.cam is a terminal-based webcam viewer and ASCII camera. Part of the Atlas Suite, it brings the retro-futuristic vibe of ASCII art to your video feed with real-time edge detection and GIF recording capabilities.

Me pointing my finger at you! (maybe a gun, I don't know)

✨ Features

• 📹 Live ASCII Feed: View your webcam feed directly in the terminal as ASCII art or ANSI blocks.
• 📸 Snapshots: Take photos that are saved as both high-res filtered JPEGs and corresponding ASCII text files.
• 🎥 GIF Recording: Record short video clips directly to animated GIFs in any mode.
• 🧠 Structure Mode: Real-time edge detection (Sobel operator) converts video into structure-aware ASCII art.
• 🎨 Filters: Apply real-time filters like Grayscale, Invert, Sepia, Red, Green, and Blue tints.
• 🌈 Color Mode: View the full-color feed using ANSI block characters (█).
• 🔄 Multi-Camera Support: Detect and switch between available video input devices.
• 📦 Zero Dependencies: Compiles to a single binary (Windows requires CGO for MediaFoundation).

🚀 Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/fezcode/atlas.cam
cd atlas.cam
gobake build

⌨️ Usage

Simply run the binary:

./atlas.cam

🕹️ Controls

Key	Action
Space	Take Photo (Saves to ~/Pictures/AtlasCam/)
r	Record GIF (Press again to stop)
m	Cycle Mode (ASCII -> Detailed -> Color -> Structure)
f	Cycle Filter (None, Grayscale, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue)
c	Switch Camera (Cycle available inputs)
?	Toggle Help (Show/Hide key bindings)
q / Esc	Quit

📂 Output

Photos and GIFs are saved in your user's Pictures folder:

• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Pictures\AtlasCam\
• Linux/macOS: ~/Pictures/AtlasCam/

🏗️ Building

This project uses gobake for orchestration. You can build for all platforms or specific targets:

# Build for all platforms
gobake build

# Build for specific OS
gobake build:windows
gobake build:linux
gobake build:darwin

⚠️ Compatibility Note for macOS

On macOS, accessing the webcam requires AVFoundation, which uses CGO. You must build from source on a Mac with Xcode command line tools installed. The build recipe automatically handles CGO enabling when running on macOS.

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.