Overview & Workflow

Loop Animator enables you to rig 2D character art, generate complex looping animations, finetune them frame-by-frame, and export them as sprite sheets, image sequences, or GIFs.

The workflow is designed to be sequential, following the tabs from left to right:

1. Rigging: Assemble your character, define part connections, and manage assets.
2. Animation Preview: Generate and adjust procedural animations.
3. Finetune: (Optional) Make precise, frame-by-frame adjustments for polish.
4. Export: Configure and export your final animations.

1. Rigging Tab

This is the primary workspace for building your character. Here you position parts, set pivots, manage art, and add accessories.

• Main View & Sidebars: The Rigging tab uses a flexible 2 or 3-column layout.
  • 2-Column View (Default): Shows the Canvas and the main Tools/Transforms sidebar. This is for positioning, rotating, and scaling parts.
  • 3-Column View: Activated by selecting a part and clicking Edit Art / Assets. This view adds a new sidebar on the left for managing the selected part's artwork source, mirroring, and parenting (for accessories).
• Body Type Preset: Choose a base rig (e.g., Default, Heroic, Chibi). This sets initial part scales and positions. You can save your own custom rig as a new preset.
• Canvas Tools (Right Sidebar):
  • Move : Click and drag a part to change its position relative to its parent.
  • Rotate : Click and drag a part to rotate it around its red pivot point.
  • Scale : Drag handles on a selected part to resize. Hold Shift with corner handles for uniform scaling.
  • Pivot : Drag the red pivot circle to change its rotation and scaling origin.
• Asset Management (Left Sidebar - 3-Column View):
  • Source: Choose between a colored Placeholder, uploading a new image (Upload), or selecting from the preloaded asset library (Select).
  • Use Opposite Art: For paired limbs (e.g., Left Arm), check this to automatically use the artwork assigned to the opposite limb (e.g., Right Arm).
  • Parent Part (Accessories Only): A dropdown appears here allowing you to attach an accessory to any other body part. The tool will maintain the accessory's world position when you reparent it.
  • Add Accessory: Creates a new accessory part, which you can then rig and assign art to.
• Manage All Assets: Clicking this button opens a dedicated view showing all part slots, allowing you to manage art and accessories more efficiently. This is the same view that was previously on a separate "Upload" tab.
• Rig Export/Import: Save your entire character setup (part transforms, hierarchy, art sources, and accessories) to a JSON file, or load one to continue your work.
• Generate/Update Animation: When your rig is ready, click this button to unlock the other tabs and see your character come to life.
• Shortcuts:
  • Arrow Keys: Nudge the selected part (in Move mode). Hold Shift for larger nudges.
  • Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z: Undo last rigging change.
  • Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Y: Redo last rigging change.

2. Animation Preview Tab

Preview and adjust global animation parameters to define the motion style.

• Animation Mode: Select a base motion like Walk, Run, Jump, Fight, Fall, etc. Each mode has its own unique set of parameters.
• Shared Controls: Adjust properties that affect all animations, like overall speed, head angle, and torso swing.
• Mode-Specific Parameters: Dive deep into detailed sliders for each animation mode to control everything from stride length and body tilt in a walk to the force and hang-time of a jump.
• Prebuilt Styles: Select from a list of presets like "Casual Walk" or "Standard Run" to get a quick starting point. Any parameter change will switch this to "Custom".
• Accessory Animation: If you have accessories, a new section appears here allowing you to apply independent procedural animations (like rotation or swinging) to each one.
• Add to Export Queue: Saves the current complete animation setup (base parameters + any finetune overrides) to the Export Queue on the final tab. This is how you build a list of animations to export.
• Clear Finetune Overrides: A convenient button to reset any frame-by-frame adjustments you may have made in the Finetune tab, without leaving the preview.
• Shortcuts:
  • Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z: Undo last parameter change.
  • Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Y: Redo last parameter change.

3. Finetune Tab

Make precise adjustments to individual parts on specific frames. Ideal for polishing, fixing intersections, or adding secondary motion.

• Frame Navigation: Use the "Prev/Next Frame" buttons or the play controls to navigate to the exact frame you want to adjust.
• Select and Adjust: Click a part on the canvas to select it for that frame only. Use the Move, Rotate, or Scale tools to adjust it. Your changes are saved automatically for that frame.
• Onion Skin: Display semi-transparent "ghosts" of previous and next frames. This is essential for understanding the flow of motion and making smooth adjustments.
• Apply to... Buttons: After making a change with the numerical input fields on the right, you can propagate that exact value to other frames.
  • All: Applies the value to the selected part on ALL frames of the animation.
  • < (Prev): Applies the value to all frames BEFORE the current one.
  • > (Next): Applies the value to all frames AFTER the current one.
• Clear Overrides: You can clear all adjustments for just the current frame, or for the entire animation cycle.
• Shortcuts:
  • Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z: Undo last finetune change (including 'Apply to...' actions).
  • Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Y: Redo last finetune change.

4. Export Tab

Generate and download your final animation outputs.

• Export Settings: This top panel configures the output for ALL exports on this page.
  • Format: Choose Sprite Sheet, Image Sequence (ZIP), or Animated GIF. Only the relevant options (e.g., Columns for a sprite sheet) will appear.
  • Character Scale & Frame Size: Control the resolution of the output.
  • Best Fit & Transparent BG: Common options to automatically fit your animation in the frame and export with a transparent background.
• Current Animation:
  • This section displays the animation currently active in the Preview/Finetune tabs.
  • The Export Current button will render this animation using the settings defined above. The button's text will dynamically update to show what format it will export (e.g., "Export as Sprite Sheet").
• Animation Export Queue:
  • This section lists all animations you've saved using the "Add to Export Queue" button from the other tabs.
  • Export List / Import List: Save or load your entire queue of animation settings to a JSON file for later use.
  • Each item in the queue has its own Export button, which also updates dynamically to show the current export format.