> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pixelatestudio.tomblack.ca/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Pixelate Asset
> Every setting of a Pixelate Asset: source, rendering and camera views, animation or particles, and output.
A Pixelate Asset describes one thing you turn into sprites: a character, a prop or an effect. It stores the source, the camera views, the clips, and where the output goes. The look comes from its linked [Style Profile](/guides/style-profiles).
## Create a Pixelate Asset
* **From a model (recommended):** select models, prefabs or particle prefabs in the Project window and choose **Assets > Create > Pixelate > Pixelate Asset**. Each new asset is framed, has its clips added and a Style Profile linked. See [Quick start](/quickstart).
* **Empty:** choose **Assets > Create > Pixelate > Pixelate Asset**, then assign a Source.
## The Inspector at a glance
From top to bottom:
1. **Export**, which writes the sprite sheets. Messages about the export, and anything that blocks it, appear right under the button.
2. **Pixelate Asset Settings**, with the sections **Source**, **Rendering**, **Animation** (or **Particle Settings**) and **Output**. Until you assign a Source, only the Source section shows.
3. The **Style Profile** slot and its effects. See [Style Profiles](/guides/style-profiles).
4. The **Preview**, at the bottom of the Inspector. See [Preview](/guides/preview).
Every field has a tooltip; hover a label for details. Sections remember whether you left them open or closed, per asset, without changing the asset file.
## Source
| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Source** | The model, prefab or particle prefab to turn into sprites. Drag one in from the Project window. Assigning a Source also sets the Output **File Name** to the source's name. |
| **Source Scale** | Scales the source before capture, so you can make it bigger or smaller in the sprite without changing Cell Size. The link button keeps all three axes equal. |
| **Source Type** | Read-only. Model, Prefab or Particle Prefab, detected from the Source. It decides whether you see **Animation** or **Particle Settings**. |
Pixelate Pro renders your source with its own materials. It never replaces or edits them.
An Animation Clip is not a Source. Assign the model or prefab as Source, then add the clip under **Animation**.
## Rendering
Rendering decides what the capture camera sees and how big each sprite is.
### Cell size and pixel size
| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Cell Size** | Size of one sprite frame in world units. Make it just big enough to fit the source in every frame. |
| **Camera Offset** | Moves the capture camera relative to the source, in world units. Use it to recenter a source whose pivot isn't in the middle, for example a character whose origin is at its feet. |
The grey **Output** line under Cell Size shows the sprite size in pixels: **Cell Size × Pixels Per Unit** (Pixels Per Unit is set on the Style Profile). For example, a 2 × 2 cell at 48 PPU gives `Output: 96 x 96 px`.
To get chunkier pixels, lower Pixels Per Unit on the Style Profile or reduce the source with **Source Scale**. To add detail, raise Pixels Per Unit.
### Camera views and directions
**Views** is the list of camera angles to capture. Each view exports its own sheets and is named after its **Label**.
| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Label** | Name of the view. Used in file names (for example `Knight_Run_E.png`) and in the Preview's view menu. |
| **Rotation** | Camera angle around the source in degrees. **X** tilts the camera down toward the source. **Y** turns it around the source: 180 looks at the source's front, 0 at its back. |
**Add Directions** (in the Views header) adds 4, 8 or 16 views evenly spaced around the source at the first view's tilt:
* **4 Directions:** S, W, N, E
* **8 Directions:** S, SW, W, NW, N, NE, E, SE
* **16 Directions:** S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW, N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE
Labels name the way the character faces on screen, like a map with north up: **S** faces the viewer, **N** faces away. If the list already has views, you choose **Replace** or **Append**. Append adds only the directions the list doesn't have yet. The change is one Undo step.
If two views share a name, a warning under the list tells you which ones. Export keeps them apart by naming the later one `{Label}_2`; rename one of them to choose the name yourself.
### Shared Camera Rigs
Views live on the asset by default. To reuse the same views across many assets (for example every 8-direction character), save them as a **Camera Rig** asset:
* **Save As...** saves the current views as a new Camera Rig asset and links it.
* **Camera Rig** links an existing rig. You can also create one with **Assets > Create > Pixelate > Pixelate Camera Rig**.
* With a rig linked, edits you make to the views stay local to this asset and are marked in blue. **Apply Changes** writes them back to the rig (every asset using it gets them). **Revert Changes** returns to the rig's views.
## Animation
Shown for models and prefabs.
**Source Clips** lists the animation clips to capture. Each enabled clip exports its own sheet per camera view. Leave the list empty to capture a single still frame.
| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| Checkbox | Capture and export this clip. Turn it off to skip the clip without removing it. |
| Clip | The Animation Clip to play on the source. |
| **Speed** | Playback speed. 2 plays twice as fast, so it exports half as many frames. |
| **FPS** | Frames captured per second of the clip. It is also the frame rate of the exported Animation Clip. |
## Particle Settings
Shown for particle prefabs. The number of frames follows the particle system's duration.
| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Seed Mode** | **Random Seed (Default)** picks a seed for you, and **Seed Variations** exports several different takes. **Fixed Seed** always uses the **Seed** you enter, so exports are repeatable. |
| **Seed** | The simulation seed. Editable in Fixed Seed mode. |
| **Seed Variations** | How many different takes to export per view, each with its own seed. Sheets end in `_0`, `_1`, and so on. Random Seed mode only. |
| **FPS** | Frames captured per second of simulation. |
| **Start Frames** | Positive values add empty frames before the effect starts; negative values skip frames at the start. |
| **End Frames** | Positive values add empty frames after the effect ends; negative values cut frames from the end. |
## Output
Output decides where files go and what Export creates besides the sprite sheets.
| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Output Folder** | Folder inside `Assets` for exports. Empty (the default, shown as *Same folder as this asset*) exports next to the Pixelate Asset. `{Asset}` in the path stands for the Pixelate Asset's name. Click to choose a folder. Right-click for **Use Same Folder as This Asset**. |
| **File Name** | Base name of the exported files. |
| **File Name Pattern** | How sheet files are named, from `{File}`, `{Asset}`, `{Clip}` and `{View}`. Empty (the default) gives `{File}_{Clip}_{View}`. It must contain `{Clip}` and `{View}`. New assets start with the pattern from [Settings](/guides/settings). |
| **Pivot** | Where the pivot of every sprite sits. See [Pivot](#pivot). |
| **Overwrite Existing** | On: Export replaces existing sheets and updates generated clips, controller and library in place, so references stay intact. Off: Export writes new numbered files (`_1`, `_2`, ...) and leaves existing ones untouched. |
A grey line under File Name shows the exact folder, for example `Exports to Assets/Characters/Knight/`.
### File layout
```text theme={null}
{Output Folder}/{File Name}/
{Clip}/
{File Name}_{Clip}_{View}.png sprite sheet
{File Name}_{Clip}_{View}.anim Animation Clip (optional)
Normals/
{File Name}_{Clip}_{View}_N.png normal map (optional)
{File Name}.controller Animator Controller (optional)
{File Name}_SpriteLibrary.asset Sprite Library (optional)
```
Particle sheets use `Particles_{seed}` in place of the clip name, and still sources use `Static`. Exports always stay inside your project's `Assets` folder.
Each sheet is imported as a Sprite in Multiple mode and sliced on a fixed grid. Every frame of a sheet has the same size and the same pivot, so sprites never jitter between frames. Filtering is Point when the profile's **Pixelated** option is on, and Pixels Per Unit comes from the profile.
### Pivot
* **Center:** the middle of the cell.
* **Bottom Center (Feet):** the point where the source stands, so characters line up with the floor in every view. Particle effects use the bottom of the cell.
* **Custom:** set the pivot yourself as a fraction of the cell. (0, 0) is the bottom-left corner, (1, 1) the top right. Switching to Custom starts from the pivot the previous choice produced, so nothing jumps.
### Animation Clips, Animator Controller and Sprite Library
These options show only when they apply to the asset.
On by default for animated sources. Export writes one `.anim` per camera view and clip, next to its sheet. It plays the sheet's sprites on a SpriteRenderer at the clip's FPS and loops when the source clip loops. Export again to update the clips in place; references to them, and events you added, stay intact.
Shown under Create Animation Clips when the asset has more than one clip or camera view. Off by default. Export writes `{File Name}.controller` with one state per clip, starting in the first clip. With several views, each view gets a sub-state machine named after it. No parameters or transitions are added. Export again to update the states; transitions and parameters you add are kept.
Shown only when the 2D Animation package is installed. Off by default. Export writes `{File Name}_SpriteLibrary.asset`. Each clip and view becomes a category named like its sheet (`{Clip}_{View}`, for example `Run_S`) and each frame a label (`0`, `1`, `2`, ...), so a Sprite Resolver can swap direction and frame at runtime.
### Normal maps for 2D lights
When the Style Profile has a [Lighting](/effects/lighting) effect with **Export Normal Map** on, Export also writes a normal map for every sheet into a `Normals` folder. Each normal map is linked to its sprite sheet as the `_NormalMap` secondary texture, so the sprites react to URP 2D Lights with no extra setup.
## Reuse settings with Presets
Unity's Preset button (the slider icon at the top of the Inspector) saves an asset's general settings, such as Cell Size, Camera Offset, camera views, Output options and the linked Style Profile, as a `.preset`. Apply it to other Pixelate Assets to start them the same way. Presets never copy the Source, Source Scale, clips, particle settings or Style Profile overrides. The Samples folder includes ready-made presets (Side-Scroller Character, 8-Direction Top-Down Character, Prop, VFX) that set only the camera views, pivot and generated outputs.
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