How to Use SpriteCook Animate for Custom Pixel Art Motion

If you want a full character pack fast, use /characters. That flow is built for the usual set of idle, walk, run, jump, and attack.

/animate is for the cases that need more control. A tree swaying. A furnace glowing. A chest opening. A character doing one specific move. You bring the sprite, describe the motion, and get back a spritesheet.

This route works for characters, objects, and background pieces. The source sprite needs to be pixel art, 256x256 or smaller, with an aspect ratio between 128x256 and 256x128.

Step 1: Pick the source sprite

Start by choosing the sprite you want to animate from your existing assets.

This page only accepts sprites that fit the animation constraints, so it works best with art you already trust.

Step 2: Reframe before you animate

You can add margin around the sprite and snap it to a position inside the square. That helps when the motion needs more room on one side, or when the sprite should sit lower or higher in the final frame.

This is useful for windups, tall props, floating objects, and background pieces that should stay anchored in one spot.

Keep the margin as low as possible though. The model produces the best results when the sprite fills most of the frame. Too much empty space around it gives the model less to work with and can lead to weaker animations. Only add margin when the motion actually needs the room — for example, a jump that needs headroom or a swing that extends past the original bounds.

Step 3: Describe the motion

The preset buttons are a good starting point. Right now the built-in options are Idle, Jump, Walk, Run, and Attack.

You can also skip the presets and write exactly what you want. This is where /animate pulls ahead of /characters. You are not asking for a whole pack. You are asking for one motion.

The model works best with very descriptive prompts. In most cases the easiest move is to keep Enhance prompt on and start from a shorter prompt anyway. It expands that short request into something more detailed for you.

Short prompts that work well here:

• "tree sways gently in the wind"
• "furnace flame flickers and breathes"
• "chest opens slowly"
• "mage raises staff and releases a burst"

You can also set the frame count and background removal mode here before you run the job.

A couple practical notes

Background removal has two modes:

• Basic uses the standard cleanup pipeline
• Pro uses stronger AI background removal for cleaner edges

Frame count and framerate both change how the final motion reads. If the animation feels too stiff or too fast, those are the first controls to revisit.

When to use /animate instead of /characters

Use /characters when you want the normal character pipeline and a full set of motions in one pass.

Use /animate when you want more control over a single motion, or when the thing you are animating is not really a character at all.

That includes:

• props
• environment pieces
• UI-like pixel elements
• one-off custom character motions

If you are not sure which route to use, the simple rule is this. Full character pack, use /characters. One custom motion, use /animate.

Make sure the base sprite already matches the perspective you want. If the sprite is front-facing, animate it as front-facing. If it is top-down, keep it top-down.

If you want to try it yourself, open SpriteCook Animate, pick one sprite, and start with a simple prompt. If you do not have a sprite yet, make one first in SpriteCook Create.

A few examples

Here are a few simple idle animations made with /animate: