Edit: I just saw that he was also saying that whether the animation images are seperate objects or a single large image, there is little to no performance gain either way.

Me? If so, you misunderstood. I say that there is little difference in file size when cropping dead space. As long as it's minimal to begin with. Which it should be. ;)

To be honest I don't actually see much efficiency advantage over using sprite sheets. C2 can PNGCrush files to absolutely minimise the PNG filesize, and modern graphics cards can use non-power-of-two textures so split frames don't use more VRAM than a single sprite sheet, as well as being able to render 2D things so fast that there's nothing to be gained by rendering from one texture instead of many. So what other efficiency gains are you looking for by using sprite sheets?

Huge difference when using sprite sheets. I can take 262kb of images, run them through a sprite sheet editor (I use my own) and get a 156kb sprite sheet. Then I run it through ImageAlpha and ImageOptim (both are Mac only) and get a 49kb sprite sheet. I just wipe off 213kb and my images look exactly the same as before. Now just imagine doing that to all your images. You're saving a lot of memory, faster loading times, and smaller executable. ;)

Now if we can just get everyone using ogg audio. Small file sizes and better quality then mp3.:D

Maybe it's one of those situations where there are pros and cons either way, and you just have to decide what's right for you! :)Sure, there's pro and cons for either way. But it's best to decide what is the best for the cpu and memory. If that means more work on the developing end, so be it. There's nothing worse then purchasing or even playing a free game just to find out it could have been optimized better.

Yes Fimbul, there are certain situations that you can't avoid. Which is fine.

But lets say you have a character who jumps, spins, and then lands. I would not animate his spin in a sheet. That would give you approximately 9 to 14 more images then needed. Just create one image of the character rolled up. Then when it's time for him to spin, clip that frame and do it by code. You just save your sprite sheet from being larger then needed. And also achieved a better frame rate of your spin. Instead of only getting maybe 10 fps on the spin.

As for an actor with a large sword. Let's say you create his right arm in its own sprite sheet with sword. And the character in it's own sprite sheet. You just saved your self a bunch of dead space in your single sprite sheet and you have more animating and rotation options with the arm and sword sheet.

Anyway, just trying to help. Not trying to start anything here. ;)

sprite sheet with cropped frames is literally only a few kb larger then one that does not.

That depends on how your graphics are created. E.g. if you have a character that is dodging and attacking with a sword it might be a *big* difference if frames are cropped or not.

Then you would save some memory and the sword (possibly with arm too) on it own image. This would be for a large sword anyway. As there would definitely be a large amount of transparent image if it was all in one.

exture Packer creates bloated pngs

Currently the file size is about 15% bigger then when using opting. This will be fixed with the 3.0.0 release.

Sometimes even higher but can then be loaded and saved out of another program to reduce.

lso, never have your character or object change positions in your sprite sheet, per frames. Any change in position should be done by code or game editor function.

You have several cases with animations where this is exactly not what you want to do. You want to keep the anchor point steady while the animation moves around it...You have to be kidding me? Animating by code will save more space then within frames. Anything can be animated in a frame but x/y coordinates, zooming, rotating, and so forth is much better by code.

Thanks for the response Ashley.

Yeah, you can use regular/same size cells in a Texture Packer sprite sheet, but as I am sure you know, this is really inefficient.

In my case especially, where I have an animated fighting game character that kicks, punches, jumps, ducks, and so forth so that in each frame, the art changes shape and position dramatically. I would have to have really large cells with tons of dead space to accommodate.

A sprite sheet with cropped frames is literally only a few kb larger then one that does not. Besides that, Texture Packer creates bloated pngs. Try a different program. Also, never have your character or object change positions in your sprite sheet, per frames. Any change in position should be done by code or game editor function. ;)