Aseprite

Sketch base poses on layers.

Enable Onion Skinning.

Use 'Duplicate Frame' (Alt+N) to create intermediate frames.

Apply Pixel-Perfect stroke for clean outlines.

Export as a vertical Sprite Sheet.

Open a 16x16 or 32x32 canvas.

Activate View > Tiling > Tiling in both axes.

Draw patterns across the borders.

Observe real-time wrapping in the center.

Export as a tileable PNG.

Write a shell/bash script calling 'aseprite -b'.

Define tags in the .aseprite file (e.g., 'Idle', 'Run').

Run the script to generate separate PNG strips per tag.

Auto-generate a JSON metadata file for the engine's animation player.

Trigger script on file save.

Create a master .gpl or .ase palette file.

Import palette into Aseprite.

Switch to 'Indexed' color mode.

Use the 'Remap' tool to force existing pixels to match the master palette.

Lock the palette to prevent accidental color additions.

Select the Gradient tool.

Choose a Dithering pattern from the brush settings.

Select two colors from the palette.

Drag the gradient across the desired area.

Fine-tune pixels using the Dithering Brush.

Design the 'Active' icon state.

Use 'New Layer' for the 'Hover' effect.

Apply a Hue/Saturation adjustment to the 'Disabled' state layer.

Use the CLI to export each layer as a separate file.

Compile into a single UI Atlas.

Import a low-res video or image sequence as a background layer.

Lower opacity of the reference layer.

Create a new layer and draw pixels over the reference frames.

Delete the background reference.

Apply pixel-cleanup techniques to the resulting animation.