The Spritesheet Generator creates a complete set of animation frames for an existing character in a single AI request. You describe the motion, choose how many frames you want, and the app asks the provider for one sheet containing every frame. A crop tool then lets you adjust the boundaries of each frame before they are saved to the character.
It is the fast alternative to posing frames one at a time in the Pose Editor.
Accessing the Spritesheet Generator¶
Click Spritesheet Generator in the sidebar. You need:
- an active project with an AI provider configured, and
- at least one character saved from the Character Designer. If the project has none, the page says "No characters found. Create characters in the Character Designer first."
Step 1: Choose a Character¶
Select the character from the Character dropdown. Its saved sprite is used as the reference image for the generation, and its properties drive the whole process:
| Character property | How it is used |
|---|---|
| Processed sprite | Sent to the provider as the reference image |
| Dimensions (e.g. 64x64) | Size of every generated frame |
| Palette and color count | The sheet is quantized to the same number of colors and remapped to the character's exact palette |
| Transparent color (or the project background color) | Background color requested from the provider and used to pad frames |
Step 2: Describe the Animation¶
Type what the character should be doing in the Animation description field, for example:
- "character walking with a torch in a hand"
- "idle breathing loop, slight bounce"
- "two-handed sword swing from left to right"
Describe the motion, not the character. The character's look comes from the reference sprite and the project style guide.
Step 3: Frame Count¶
The generator always asks for 10 frames of the described action, laid out as a sheet of two rows of five. This fixed count gives the model enough room per frame for clean pixel art while covering a full cycle (walk, run, attack, idle). You do not have to keep all ten: after generation you can untick any frame you do not want before saving (see Step 5).
Step 4: Generate¶
Click Generate Spritesheet. The button shows the progress ("Generating...", then "Processing pixel art...") and the controls are locked until it finishes. Behind the scenes the app:
- Builds a prompt that asks for the frames laid out in a grid of two rows, with the number of columns needed for your frame count, at the character's frame size and background color.
- Sends the prompt, the project style description, and the character sprite to the configured provider as a wide (21:9) image request.
- Pixel-snaps the result so that each row of the sheet lands exactly on the character's frame height.
- Reduces the colors to the character's color count and remaps them to the character's palette, so the frames match the original sprite.
Generation takes the same time as any other image request, typically 10 to 60 seconds depending on the provider.
Step 5: Adjust the Frame Boxes¶
When the sheet arrives, it is displayed with one numbered, colored box per frame. The boxes start as an even grid split (two rows, equal columns). Because AI output rarely lines up perfectly, you can correct each box:
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Move a box | Drag anywhere inside it |
| Change width | Drag the small handle on the box's right edge |
| Change height | Drag the handle on the bottom edge |
| Change both | Drag the handle in the bottom-right corner |
| Zoom the view | Use the − / + buttons above the sheet (25% steps, 25% to 400%) |
| Skip a frame | Untick the checkbox in the box's top-right corner. Skipped boxes turn dashed and dimmed |
| Start over | Click Reset to even split to restore the equal grid |
Boxes cannot leave the image bounds. The number in each box's corner is the order in which the frames will be saved. All boxes are ticked by default; the header shows how many are selected and offers select all if you unticked some.
Step 6: Save or Discard¶
- Save Frames crops every ticked box and saves each one as a new frame of the character (the button shows how many frames will be saved; it is disabled when none are ticked):
- Each crop is centered on a canvas of the character's exact frame size. If the box is smaller than the frame, the padding uses the transparent color (or the project background color) so it keys out cleanly. If the box is larger, it is cropped to the frame size.
- Frames are appended after any frames the character already has and named
frame-001,frame-002, and so on. - When saving finishes the app switches to the Spritesheet Editor with the same character already selected, so you can preview the animation right away.
- Discard throws the sheet away and returns to the form with your description intact, so you can regenerate.
Getting better sheets
- Keep the character palette small and clean before generating; the remapping step can only use colors that exist in the character.
- If limbs are cut off at the frame borders, regenerate with fewer frames or widen the boxes in the crop step and let the padding fill the rest.
- Save a first pass, then fix individual frames pixel by pixel in the Spritesheet Editor, or regenerate a single pose with the Pose Editor.
Limitations in the Alpha¶
- The provider decides the final layout. If the model ignores the two-row grid, use the crop boxes to pick the frames out manually.
- Frames are saved immediately; there is no undo after Save Frames, but unwanted frames can be deleted in the Spritesheet Editor.