Animation Render

Overview

This is the "exit" for an animation. It evaluates the upstream graph once for every frame and combines all frames into a single sprite sheet. Its role is to bake the results of parameters driven by time_source into a form that a game engine can use directly.

Usage tips

• Basic setup: time_source(progress) → waveform node (such as motion (Wobble)) → parameter to animate, then place this node at the end of the graph that creates the artwork (→ Guide "07 Animation").
• Select this node to use the playback preview in the inspector (play/pause, frame stepping, and current-frame display). Check the motion here before exporting.
• For looping motion such as rotation or an idle animation, make the waveform complete exactly one cycle over total_frames to avoid a visible seam (one sawtooth cycle per loop is the standard setup).
• columns=0 (automatic) produces a roughly square layout. If the target engine requires a single horizontal row, explicitly set columns = total_frames.
• Send the result to downstream batch_render or output nodes. If you need frame information, pass along the metadata output as well (frame_count / fps / columns, and so on).

Common pitfalls

• Every frame looks identical: no waveform is connected to the parameter you want to animate; it still has a direct numeric value. Check the connection to the parameter's input port.
• Frame dimensions change during the animation: rendering fails explicitly to avoid losing content. Set an upstream solid_render or model_render to frame_mode = FixedCanvas so every frame uses fixed dimensions and center.
• The sheet layout is not what you expected: check columns. A value of 0 uses automatic layout, so set it explicitly when ordering matters.
• Motion looks choppy: total_frames is too low, or the motion has no easing. Increase the frame count or insert ease_in_out.

Technical details

• Multi-frame evaluation runs at the evaluate_graph level. This node's process() is the fallback for single-frame evaluation.
• Starting with P07A, AnimationRender outputs the dedicated SpriteSheet type.
• It also provides frame_count + fps + columns + rows + frame_width + frame_height + fill_order as helper metadata pins.
• With columns=0, it automatically chooses a roughly square layout. Use columns>0 for an explicit layout.
• Promoted total_frames, fps, and columns use their resolved connected values.
• Every frame image must have identical dimensions. A mismatch reports an error with FixedCanvas guidance instead of silently cropping to the first frame.
• It is designed to be used with an upstream TimeSource node.

Examples

1. Connect TimeSource → transformation nodes → AnimationRender in that order.
2. Check AnimationRender's output sprite sheet in Preview, then save it as PNG.

Solid turntable

When baking a Solid rotation animation, set Solid Render to FixedCanvas.

TimeSource.progress
  -> SawtoothWave.input
  -> SolidTransform.rotate_z
  -> SolidRender.image
  -> AnimationRender.image

If Solid Render remains set to AutoFit, the size or center of individual frames may change with the angle, causing the sprite sheet to jitter.

Related nodes

• time_source — supplies frame progress (almost always paired with this node)
• motion / motion / keyframe_clip — convert progress into motion
• sprite_sheet_playback / sprite_sheet_pack — play or repack an existing sprite sheet
• spritesheet_to_aseprite — when you want to export an Aseprite project