====ANIMESCROLLER====

A very simple Python script that allows to make simple text scrolling animations
that can be then played back on the AniMe Matrix of ASUS ROG Zephyrus laptops
via asusctl (https://gitlab.com/asus-linux/asusctl) on Linux

===DEPENDENCIES===
1. Python 3
2. ffmpeg in PATH
3. asusctl for playback


===INSTALLATION===
Simply clone this repository


===USAGE===
There are essentially two ways to use this program. The first is to generate a
GIF, then play it manually via asusctl:

1. Generate a GIF animation of your text with
   $ ./generate_gif.py -t "Lorem Ipsum" -o scroll.gif
2. Play the generated GIF on the AniMe Matrix
   $ asusctl anime gif -p scroll.gif -l 0

If the image persists when you stop playback with Ctrl+C, you can reset the
matrix to the off state by first generating a solid black image:
   $ ffmpeg -t 10 -f lavfi -i color=c=black:s=100x50 -frames:v 1 blank.png
And then sending this image to the matrix
   $ asusctl anime image -p blank.png

The second is to use the GIF playback server and send the gif to it for 
playback:

1. Start the server with
   $ ./gif_playback_server.py --socket "ipc:///tmp/anime_gif_sock"
2. Send GIFs to the server for playback
   $ ./generate_gif.py -t "Lorem Ipsum" --socket "ipc:///tmp/anime_gif_sock"

The second way allows for a degree of automation because the server will
multiplex the access to the AniMe matrix based on a priority queue, and
because the received GIFs are played automatically. This allows for commands 
like
   $ curl -s "wttr.in/New%20York?format=%l:+%C+%t\n" | ./generate_gif.py \
     --textfile - --loops 3 --socket "ipc:///tmp/anime_gif_sock"
which will automatically get the current weather in NY and display it on the 
matrix.

Please note that the server relies on ZeroMQ and Pickle, which
in theory, give anyone with access to the socket an ability to run
arbitrary python code in the context of the server. The correct thing
to do here is to run the server with limited access to stuff with e.g.
bubblewrap.

===TODO===
* Add the ability to reverse scrolling direction for e.g. Hebrew texts