pixel-art

# Pixel Art Convert any image into retro pixel art, then optionally animate it into a short MP4 or GIF with era-appropriate effects (rain, fireflies, snow, embers). Two scripts ship with this skill: - `scripts/pixel_art.py` — photo → pixel-art PNG (Floyd-Steinberg dithering) - `scripts/pixel_art_video.py` — pixel-art PNG → animated MP4 (+ optional GIF) Each is importable or runnable directly. Presets snap to hardware palettes when you want era-accurate colors (NES, Game Boy, PICO-8, etc.), or use adaptive N-color quantization for arcade/SNES-style looks. ## When to Use - User wants retro pixel art from a source image - User asks for NES / Game Boy / PICO-8 / C64 / arcade / SNES styling - User wants a short looping animation (rain scene, night sky, snow, etc.) - Posters, album covers, social posts, sprites, characters, avatars ## Workflow Before generating, confirm the style with the user. Different presets produce very different outputs and regenerating is costly. ### Step 1 — Offer a style Call `clarify` with 4 representative presets. Pick the set based on what the user asked for — don't just dump all 14. Default menu when the user's intent is unclear: ```python clarify( question="Which pixel-art style do you want?", choices=[ "arcade — bold, chunky 80s cabinet feel (16 colors, 8px)", "nes — Nintendo 8-bit hardware palette (54 colors, 8px)", "gameboy — 4-shade green Game Boy DMG", "snes — cleaner 16-bit look (32 colors, 4px)", ], ) ``` When the user already named an era (e.g. "80s arcade", "Gameboy"), skip `clarify` and use the matching preset directly. ### Step 2 — Offer animation (optional) If the user asked for a video/GIF, or the output might benefit from motion, ask which scene: ```python clarify( question="Want to animate it? Pick a scene or skip.", choices=[ "night — stars + fireflies + leaves", "urban — rain + neon pulse", "snow — falling snowflakes", "skip — just the image", ], ) ``` Do NOT call `clarify` more than twice in a row. One for style, one for scene if animation is on the table. If the user explicitly asked for a specific style and scene in their message, skip `clarify` entirely. ### Step 3 — Generate Run `pixel_art()` first; if animation was requested, chain into `pixel_art_video()` on the result. ## Preset Catalog | Preset | Era | Palette | Block | Best for | |--------|-----|---------|-------|----------| | `arcade` | 80s arcade | adaptive 16 | 8px | Bold posters, hero art | | `snes` | 16-bit | adaptive 32 | 4px | Characters, detailed scenes | | `nes` | 8-bit | NES (54) | 8px | True NES look | | `gameboy` | DMG handheld | 4 green shades | 8px | Monochrome Game Boy | | `gameboy_pocket` | Pocket handheld | 4 grey shades | 8px | Mono GB Pocket | | `pico8` | PICO-8 | 16 fixed | 6px | Fantasy-console look | | `c64` | Commodore 64 | 16 fixed | 8px | 8-bit home computer | | `apple2` | Apple II hi-res | 6 fixed | 10px | Extreme retro, 6 colors | | `teletext` | BBC Teletext | 8 pure | 10px | Chunky primary colors | | `mspaint` | Windows MS Paint | 24 fixed | 8px | Nostalgic desktop | | `mono_green` | CRT phosphor | 2 green | 6px | Terminal/CRT aesthetic | | `mono_amber` | CRT amber | 2 amber | 6px | Amber monitor look | | `neon` | Cyberpunk | 10 neons | 6px | Vaporwave/cyber | | `pastel` | Soft pastel | 10 pastels | 6px | Kawaii / gentle | Named palettes live in `scripts/palettes.py` (see `references/palettes.md` for the complete list — 28 named palettes total). Any preset can be overridden: ```python pixel_art("in.png", "out.png", preset="snes", palette="PICO_8", block=6) ``` ## Scene Catalog (for video) | Scene | Effects | |-------|---------| | `night` | Twinkling stars + fireflies + drifting leaves | | `dusk` | Fireflies + sparkles | | `tavern` | Dust motes + warm sparkles | | `indoor` | Dust motes | | `urban` | Rain + neon pulse | | `nature` | Leaves + fireflies | | `magic` | Sparkles + fireflies | | `storm` | Rain + lightning | | `underwater` | Bubbles + light sparkles | | `fire` | Embers + sparkles | | `snow` | Snowflakes + sparkles | | `desert` | Heat shimmer + dust | ## Invocation Patterns ### Python (import) ```python import sys sys.path.insert(0, "/home/teknium/.hermes/skills/creative/pixel-art/scripts") from pixel_art import pixel_art from pixel_art_video import pixel_art_video # 1. Convert to pixel art pixel_art("/path/to/photo.jpg", "/tmp/pixel.png", preset="nes") # 2. Animate (optional) pixel_art_video( "/tmp/pixel.png", "/tmp/pixel.mp4", scene="night", duration=6, fps=15, seed=42, export_gif=True, ) ``` ### CLI ```bash cd /home/teknium/.hermes/skills/creative/pixel-art/scripts python pixel_art.py in.jpg out.png --preset gameboy python pixel_art.py in.jpg out.png --preset snes --palette PICO_8 --block 6 python pixel_art_video.py out.png out.mp4 --scene night --duration 6 --gif ``` ## Pipeline Rationale **Pixel conversion:** 1. Boost contrast/color/sharpness (stronger for smaller palettes) 2. Posterize to simplify tonal regions before quantization 3. Downscale by `block` with `Image.NEAREST` (hard pixels, no interpolation) 4. Quantize with Floyd-Steinberg dithering — against either an adaptive N-color palette OR a named hardware palette 5. Upscale back with `Image.NEAREST` Quantizing AFTER downscale keeps dithering aligned with the final pixel grid. Quantizing before would waste error-diffusion on detail that disappears. **Video overlay:** - Copies the base frame each tick (static background) - Overlays stateless-per-frame particle draws (one function per effect) - Encodes via ffmpeg `libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 18` - Optional GIF via `palettegen` + `paletteuse` ## Dependencies - Python 3.9+ - Pillow (`pip install Pillow`) - ffmpeg on PATH (only needed for video — Hermes installs package this) ## Pitfalls - Pallet keys are case-sensitive (`"NES"`, `"PICO_8"`, `"GAMEBOY_ORIGINAL"`). - Very small sources (<100px wide) collapse under 8-10px blocks. Upscale the source first if it's tiny. - Fractional `block` or `palette` will break quantization — keep them positive ints. - Animation particle counts are tuned for ~640x480 canvases. On very large images you may want a second pass with a different seed for density. - `mono_green` / `mono_amber` force `color=0.0` (desaturate). If you override and keep chroma, the 2-color palette can produce stripes on smooth regions. - `clarify` loop: call it at most twice per turn (style, then scene). Don't pepper the user with more picks. ## Verification - PNG is created at the output path - Clear square pixel blocks visible at the preset's block size - Color count matches preset (eyeball the image or run `Image.open(p).getcolors()`) - Video is a valid MP4 (`ffprobe` can open it) with non-zero size ## Attribution Named hardware palettes and the procedural animation loops in `pixel_art_video.py` are ported from [pixel-art-studio](https://github.com/Synero/pixel-art-studio) (MIT). See `ATTRIBUTION.md` in this skill directory for details.