In modern life, computers and smartphones are indispensable.
Interest in game development, VR, and app development has been growing, and Unity and Unreal Engine are among the most widely used development environments worldwide.
While game or app features and functionality are essential, visual appeal and readability are equally important.
To speed up development, it’s now common to use graphic resources as “assets.”
Even if you can’t develop a game or app yourself, you can create resources, publish them as assets, and sell them to users around the world.
What Are Assets? Main Types
Assets used in Unity or Unreal Engine include:
- 3D Graphics
- 2D Graphics
- Audio
- Tools
- Effects
- Templates
- AI
- Add-ons
- Essentials
- WEB3
What Can You Make With Aseprite?
Aseprite is a software specialized in 2D graphics and animation, and it can create the following types of assets:
- 2D Graphics (including animation)
- 2D Effects (including animation)
- 2D Character Animations
Think of the walking animations of 2D characters in classic games like the Famicom version of Dragon Quest.
Animations created in Aseprite can be exported as GIFs or sprite data, and you can set animations and timing directly to objects in Unity or Unreal Engine.
You can also create graphics for floors, walls, buildings, furniture, forests, mountains, and other terrain elements, as well as design icons, cursors, and UI elements (menus, scoreboards, etc.).
When animation is not needed, you can export in PNG format.
The Popularity of HD-2D
HD-2D is a style that displays 2D characters in a 3D space and has been attracting attention recently.
Titles like Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest III have adopted this style.
This style is particularly popular among Japanese users familiar with character stylization and anime.
Creating Effects in Aseprite
Using Aseprite, you can create 2D effects such as:
- Damage
- Flames
- Explosions
- Electricity
- Freezing
These effects are essential elements that enhance gameplay feel and immersion.
They can be combined with 3D particles and effects available in Unity or Unreal Engine, and by focusing on 2D effects, you can also reduce processing load.
How to Create Sprite Data in Aseprite
Now, let’s move on to how to export animations as sprite sheets in Aseprite.
This section also covers basic animation creation. If you’re already creating animations in Aseprite, feel free to scroll down to the export instructions.
1. Creating a New Project and Setting the Canvas Size
First, launch Aseprite.
As a simple example, we’ll create a walking animation.
For this sample, we’ve set the canvas size to 64 × 64 pixels.
You can increase the canvas size as needed, depending on your project.
2. Build the Animation Skeleton
To check the overall balance of your animation, start by drawing a simple figure—like a stickman.
This rough draft helps you establish positions and poses early on, making it easier to refine the details later.
To add a new frame, right-click the frame labeled “1” on Layer 1 and select “New Frame”.
This inserts a new frame in the timeline.
3. Add More Frames
In the image above, the second frame was edited using the Eraser and Pen tools.
We’ve redrawn the stickman’s legs in a spread stance and slightly lowered the entire figure to suggest a shift in body weight.
When we play the animation at this point, it looks like this:
(GIF image exported for preview)
Currently, Frames 1 and 3 are identical, so the animation still lacks smooth motion.
In this example, Frame 1 shows the stick figure standing sideways.
Add In-Between Frames for Smoothness
To improve the fluidity of the animation, add intermediate frames between the existing ones.
In the newly created Frame 2 (between Frame 1 and 3), redraw the legs to be halfway between the open and closed positions.
This makes the motion more natural and smooth compared to the earlier version.
You can continue adjusting until the animation’s movement and timing feel just right.
Edit the Image Using the Rough Sketch
Now refine the animation by drawing over your rough sketch.
If you want to reuse the same drawing across multiple frames, simply use the selection tool and copy/paste to save time.
In this sample, we found that Frame 5 was unnecessary for a smooth loop, so we deleted it. We also added movement to the character’s arms.
The image above shows the completed animation exported as a GIF.
Add Animation Variations
When developing a game in Unity or Unreal Engine, you’ll often need more than just walking animations.
Common examples include:
- Jumping
- Climbing
- Attacking
- Victory poses
- Idle animations (just standing still)
In Aseprite, you can manage multiple animations by using tags and separate layers, then export them all at once.
Exporting to a Sprite Sheet
Let’s now export the walking animation as a sprite sheet.
Go to File → Export → Sprite Sheet in the Aseprite menu.
The four animation frames you created will be compiled into one single image.
Benefits of Using Sprite Sheets
🔹 Performance Boost
By combining multiple sprites into a single image, your game engine reduces the number of image loads, lowering memory usage and improving performance.
🔹 Optimized Rendering
Sprite sheets help streamline the rendering process, ensuring more stable frame rates.
This is especially beneficial on mobile devices or low-end hardware.
🔹 Easier Asset Management
Having all frames in a single file simplifies file organization compared to managing many separate files.
🔹 Faster Animation Playback
Since all frames are preloaded, it’s easy to play animations frame-by-frame, making adjustments and previews much faster.
🔹 Efficient Use of Texture Buffers
Packing sprites into one texture reduces GPU load and allows for efficient use of texture memory, enabling you to display more graphics at once.
👉 If your animation has multiple variations (e.g. walking, jumping, idle), the exported sprite sheet will contain multiple rows or columns, depending on how you structure the export.
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