https://github.com/bquenin/interpreter
This application can translate text captured from any application running on your computer.
https://github.com/bquenin/interpreter
game live on-the-fly subtitles translate video-game videogame vision
Last synced: 5 months ago
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This application can translate text captured from any application running on your computer.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/bquenin/interpreter
- Owner: bquenin
- Created: 2022-05-25T22:27:14.000Z (about 4 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-01-19T17:28:44.000Z (6 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-01-19T23:29:36.986Z (6 months ago)
- Topics: game, live, on-the-fly, subtitles, translate, video-game, videogame, vision
- Language: Python
- Homepage:
- Size: 5.28 MB
- Stars: 556
- Watchers: 9
- Forks: 14
- Open Issues: 9
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Interpreter
Offline screen translator for Japanese retro games. Captures text from any window, performs OCR, translates to English, and displays subtitles in a floating overlay.
## Features
- **Fully offline** - No cloud APIs, no internet required after setup
- **Free** - No API costs or subscriptions
- **Private** - Text never leaves your machine
- **Optimized for retro games** - Uses MeikiOCR, trained specifically on Japanese game text
- **Two overlay modes** - Banner (subtitle bar) or inplace (text over game)
- **Translation caching** - Fuzzy matching avoids re-translating similar text
- **Multi-display support** - Overlay appears on the same display as the game
## Requirements
- **Windows 10 version 1903+**, macOS, or Linux (X11/XWayland/Wayland)
### Linux Notes
- **Global hotkeys** require `input` group membership. The installer will show instructions.
- **Native Wayland capture** requires GStreamer PipeWire plugin. The installer will attempt to install it automatically.
- **Inplace overlay** on Wayland only works with fullscreen windows (Wayland's security model prevents knowing window positions).
## Installation
### One-liner Install
**macOS/Linux:**
```bash
curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bquenin/interpreter/main/install.sh | bash
```
**Windows (PowerShell):**
```powershell
powershell -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bquenin/interpreter/main/install.ps1 | iex"
```
Then run with `interpreter-v2`.
## Upgrading
To update to the latest version, run the installer again (see Installation above).
## Uninstalling
**macOS/Linux:**
```bash
curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bquenin/interpreter/main/uninstall.sh | bash
```
**Windows (PowerShell):**
```powershell
powershell -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bquenin/interpreter/main/uninstall.ps1 | iex"
```
This removes interpreter-v2, config files, and cached models.
## Usage
```bash
interpreter-v2
```
This opens the GUI where you can select a window to capture and configure all settings.
## Overlay Modes
### Banner Mode (default)
A subtitle bar at the bottom of the screen displaying translated text. Draggable, opaque background, centered text.
### Inplace Mode
Transparent overlay positioned over the game window. Translated text appears directly over the original Japanese text at OCR-detected positions. Click-through so you can interact with the game.
## How It Works
1. **Screen Capture** - Captures the target window at the configured refresh rate
2. **OCR** - [MeikiOCR](https://github.com/rtr46/meikiocr) extracts Japanese text (optimized for pixel fonts)
3. **Translation** - [Sugoi V4](https://huggingface.co/entai2965/sugoi-v4-ja-en-ctranslate2) translates Japanese to English
4. **Display** - Shows translated text in the selected overlay mode
## Troubleshooting
### Poor OCR accuracy
Try adjusting the OCR confidence slider in the GUI. Lower values include more text (but may include garbage), higher values are stricter.
### Slow performance
First run downloads models (~1.5GB). Subsequent runs use cached models from `~/.cache/huggingface/`.