From aad38bc831c8bba90688df2cc28c46a46cac1112 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sadeep Madurange Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 01:10:18 +0800 Subject: Matrix post as a journal entry. --- _site/log/matrix-digital-rain/index.html | 100 +++++++++++-------------------- 1 file changed, 34 insertions(+), 66 deletions(-) (limited to '_site/log/matrix-digital-rain/index.html') diff --git a/_site/log/matrix-digital-rain/index.html b/_site/log/matrix-digital-rain/index.html index 26244b3..ac4a536 100644 --- a/_site/log/matrix-digital-rain/index.html +++ b/_site/log/matrix-digital-rain/index.html @@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ - The Matrix digital rain + Recreating the Matrix rain with ANSI escape sequences - The Matrix digital rain + Recreating the Matrix rain with ANSI escape sequences @@ -41,61 +41,30 @@
-

THE MATRIX DIGITAL RAIN

+

RECREATING THE MATRIX RAIN WITH ANSI ESCAPE SEQUENCES

22 AUGUST 2022

-

“All I see is blonde, brunette, red head.” The iconic digital rain from The -Matrix in C, with zero dependencies—not even ncurses.

+

Over the weekend, I came across Domsson’s Fakesteak: a beautifully lean rendition of the +Matrix rain in raw C using ANSI escape sequences—zero dependencies, not even +ncurses.

+ +

The project’s README noted that it didn’t support Japanese characters and that +it used 8-bit color mode. The latter meant that the ghosting effect has to rely +on different foreground colors rather than shades of the same color.

+ +

As a tip of the hat to Domsson’s impressive work, I decided to add Unicode and +24-bit truecolor support to it, aiming to faithfully recreate the original +Matrix from the first movie during Neo and Cypher’s conversation:

-

Overview

- -

This is my fork of Domsson’s beautiful Fakesteak. While going through his code, I -wondered what it would take to faithfully recreate the original Matrix from the -first movie without sacrificing its minimalism.

- -

My implementation supports:

- -
    -
  • Unicode characters.
    • -
  • 24-bit RGB colors (truecolor).
    • -
  • Glitches in the matrix.
    • -
  • Ghosting effect of old monochrome CRT displays.
    • -
  • Closely resembles the Matrix seen in the background during Neo and Cypher’s -conversation.
    • -
- -

With no dependencies, compilation is trivial:

- -
$ cc -O3 main.c -o matrix
-$ ./matrix
-
- -

How does it work?

- -

The program tracks the state of the terminal, such as code points, background -and foreground colors, and cursor position, using multiple internal data -buffers. On each frame, it updates these buffers and repaints the screen using -ANSI escape codes:

- -
static void term_print(const matrix *mat, size_t row, size_t col)
-{
-    size_t idx;
-    idx = mat_idx(mat, row, col);
-    wprintf(L"\x1b[%d;%dH\x1b[38;2;%d;%d;%dm%lc",
-        row, col,
-        mat->rgb[idx].color[R],
-        mat->rgb[idx].color[G],
-        mat->rgb[idx].color[B],
-        mat->code[idx]);
-}
-
- -

The ghosting effect is achieved by carefully scaling the RGB -channels before mixing them:

+

Adding Unicode support via wchar_t and wprintf() was easy enough. +Implementing the ghosting effect with truecolor support, however, turned out +harder than expected. To achieve the ghosting effect, I treated phosphor decay +as a multiplier, allowing me to emulate a dim afterglow by gradually +transitioning each raindrop’s RGB values towards the background color:

static void mat_shade(matrix *mat, size_t row, size_t col) 
 {
@@ -107,26 +76,25 @@ channels before mixing them:

 }
-

The ghosting function emulates the dim after glow by gradually transitioning -each raindrop’s color towards the background color. This approach provides two -key benefits: straightforward color configuration that integrates naturally -with (Unix) ricing and high-fidelity recreation of the Matrix aesthetic.

- -

Customization

+

Looking back at the implementation, there are still a few improvements to be +made. Instead of using a dedicated buffer, I should have bit-packed the +phosphor decay into the RGB data buffer to save memory. I’m not entirely +satisfied with the Unicode support as it’s restricted to contiguous code +points. The glitch effect, which I implemented with characters unexpectedly +changing, really should flash white as well.

-

While you can alter almost every aspect, including speed, glitch frequency, and -rain density, the most common customizations are the color scheme and character -set.

+

Nonetheless, the rain closely resembles the original, is highly customizable, +and is gentle on the CPU. Not too bad for a weekend project. I tested the +program with xterm and urxvt terminal emulators on OpenBSD and Arch Linux +systems. Someone has managed to get it moving on a Raspberry Pi as well.

-

There are three color settings: head, tail, and background. You can configure -them using COLOR_*_RED, COLOR_*_GRN, and COLOR_*_BLU definitions found in -main.c.

+

Lastly, to compile and run:

-

The UNICODE_MIN and UNICODE_MAX values control the Unicode block used. For -example, setting them to 0x30A1 and 0x30F6 rains Katakana, if a font that -supports Katakana is present on the system:

+
$ cc -O3 main.c -o matrix
+$ ./matrix
+
-

+

“All I see is blonde, brunette, red head.”

Files: source.tar.gz

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