How a Designer Built an ASCII Animation Tool with GitHub Copilot
In this video, Cameron Foxly from GitHub demonstrates how he used GitHub Copilot to build an ASCII animation tool for the terminal, detailing the technical and creative steps involved.
How a Designer Built an ASCII Animation Tool with GitHub Copilot
In this behind-the-scenes video, designer Cameron Foxly shares the journey of bringing the Copilot mascot to life inside the terminal. Leveraging GitHub Copilot, Cameron built an ASCII animation tool from scratch—a project that combined creative design, animation principles, and engineering challenges.
Key Highlights
- Prototyping a Frame Editor: Cameron walks through designing and building a frame editor, enabling the creation of animated ASCII art.
- Painting with ANSI Colors: The video explores techniques for adding ANSI color support, enhancing visual richness within terminal constraints.
- Generating Animation Loops: Cameron discusses approaches for creating and optimizing animated sequences, making the Copilot mascot come alive in ASCII.
- Shipping Code with Copilot: After nearly a decade away from engineering, Cameron successfully shipped a pull request for the Copilot CLI project, demonstrating how GitHub Copilot can empower creative and technical work alike.
The Creative Engineering Process
- Ideation and Design: Merging design thinking with coding to solve unique animation challenges in text-based environments.
- Development Workflow: Using GitHub Copilot's AI suggestions to rapidly prototype features, fix bugs, and accelerate engineering tasks.
- Open Source Collaboration: Contributing to Copilot CLI, Cameron illustrates the open-source nature of the project and encourages community participation.
Resources
About the Author
Cameron Foxly, featured in this GitHub video, is a designer with a passion for blending creativity and technology, as reflected in this unique ASCII animation tool project.