add gh actions workflow + readme changes

Author: minhcrafters

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+name: Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    tags:
+      - 'v*.*.*'
+
+jobs:
+  release:
+    name: Release
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Install Rust toolchain
+        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+
+      - name: Build
+        run: cargo build --release --locked
+
+      - name: Prepare artifacts for Windows
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: | 
+          mv target/release/ascii-rs.exe target/release/ascii-rs-windows-${{ github.ref }}.exe
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Prepare artifacts for Linux
+        if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
+        run: | 
+          mv target/release/ascii-rs target/release/ascii-rs-ubuntu-${{ github.ref }}
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Prepare artifacts for macOS
+        if: matrix.os == 'macos-latest'
+        run: | 
+          mv target/release/ascii-rs target/release/ascii-rs-macos-${{ github.ref }}
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Upload artifacts
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: ascii-rs-${{ matrix.os }}
+          path: |
+            target/release/ascii-rs-ubuntu-${{ github.ref }}
+            target/release/ascii-rs-windows-${{ github.ref }}.exe
+            target/release/ascii-rs-macos-${{ github.ref }}
+
+  create-release:
+    name: Create Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: release
+    steps:
+      - name: Download all artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          path: artifacts
+
+      - name: Create Release and Upload Assets
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+        with:
+          prerelease: ${{ !startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') }}
+          files: |
+            artifacts/ascii-rs-ubuntu-${{ github.ref }}/ascii-rs-ubuntu-${{ github.ref }}
+            artifacts/ascii-rs-windows-${{ github.ref }}.exe/ascii-rs-windows-${{ github.ref }}.exe
+            artifacts/ascii-rs-macos-${{ github.ref }}/ascii-rs-macos-${{ github.ref }}

README.md

@@ -12,21 +12,36 @@ And everyone's favourite:
 
 ![bad_apple.png](img/bad_apple.png)
 
-## Steps to run
+## Pre-requisites
+
+-   CPU with decent performance
+-   FFmpeg (must be on your system PATH)
+-   A terminal emulator that supports Unicode and ANSI escape codes
+
+## Usage
+
+-   Grab the latest release from [releases](https://github.com/minhcrafters/ascii-rs/releases) (Windows-only for now).
+-   Extract the archive and navigate to the root directory.
+-   Run in your terminal:
+    ```bash
+    ./ascii-rs(.exe) <path-to-video> # play the video
+
+    ./ascii-rs(.exe) <path-to-video> --regenerate # force rebuild the ASCII cache
+    ```
+
+## Manual Installation
 
 -   If not already, install Rust [via rustup](https://rustup.rs) and FFmpeg (ffmpeg must be on your system PATH).
--   Put a video file somewhere on your machine (e.g., videos/sample.mp4).
+-   Clone this repository and navigate to the root directory.
 -   From the project root, run in your terminal:
-    -   Debug: `cargo run -- <path-to-video>`
-    -   Release: `cargo run --release -- <path-to-video>`
--   Use Ctrl+C to stop playback at any time.
+    -   Debug: `cargo run -- <path-to-video> # --regenerate`
+    -   Release: `cargo run --release -- <path-to-video> # --regenerate`
 
 ## Notes
 
 -   Larger terminals look better; a minimum of `30 columns x 20 rows` is recommended.
 -   Tested on Windows Terminal (Powershell): Achieved ~30fps with `305 columns x 109 rows` (from a 1080p/30fps video) running on a 3.6GHz CPU.
 -   A cache file is created to speed up subsequent runs of the same video.
--   Add --regenerate to force rebuilding the ASCII cache for that video.
 
 ## Dependencies