VariantX

PNG / XNB

JSON / XNB

Downloads

Atlas Converter

Convert array/hash JSON to SpeedRunners format.

Upload JSON

No image loaded.

Preview

0 Total 0 Removed 0 Active

No frames selected

X Delete

•

Ctrl+C Duplicate

•

Ctrl+Z Undo

•

Shift+Click Multi

Frame Descriptions

321GO

Game start animation

Double-Jump-Fall

Falling after double jump

Double-Jump

Double jump action

Flip

Flip after swinging

Grabbed

Grabbed by golden hook

Hookshot

Initial grapple

Long-Fall

Moving single jump fall

Long-Jump

Moving single jump

Roll

Roll after landing

Run

Running animation

Running-Hook

Run w/ hook/ice

Skid

Turn around

Slide

Slide build-up

Sliding

Stationary slide

Spiked

Death by spikes

Stand

Idle standing

Straight-Fall

Stationary jump fall

Straight-Jump

Stationary jump

Swing

Swinging

Taunt

Global taunt/flex

Tumble

Hit box / Tumble

Wall-Hang

Wall hang / climb

Basic Workflow

Generate an organized sprite sheet by uploading a Texture file and its corresponding Atlas data. The tool natively supports PNG/JSON pairs and compiled .xnb assets.

Verified File Patterns

Texture: animation_variant00.png / win_variant00.xnb
Atlas: animation_atlas_variant00.json / win_atlas_variant00.xnb

Designed for compatibility with any game asset following the standard coordinate structure, with extensive testing on Characters folder assets.

Conversion & Export

The conversion engine reconstructs your assets into a precision grid layout while preserving all metadata and image quality.

Standard Exports

PNG/JSON: The reconstructed sprite sheet and its SpeedRunners-compliant atlas.
Sprites: A ZIP archive of every frame as standalone, cropped PNGs.
GIF: Instant animation preview at 12 or 24 FPS.

Visual Overlays

Grid Overlay: Visual guide showing cell boundaries.
Bounding Boxes: Shows the bounding_box for each frame.

Tip: De-duplication
Game animations often reuse identical frames to control timing. The export process automatically detects and removes these duplicate frames to optimize file size, updating the JSON to reference the same source sprite. This explains why you might see gaps in the numbering (e.g., Flip0015 jumping to Flip0017).

If you require a raw sprite sheet containing all redundant frames, use the Download PNG option inside the Frame Editor tab.

Packed Export

Generate production-ready sheets with Duplicate Detection and Whitespace Trimming. Available algorithms:

Auto: Automatically selects the best algorithm based on frame count.
Best Long Side Fit: Optimizes for standard sprite sheets.
Best Area Fit: Minimizes wasted space (best for 35-50 frames).
Bottom Left: Traditional packing, best for large sheets (200+ frames).

Specialized Utilities

Atlas Converter

Bridge the gap between external texture packers and SpeedRunners. Converts Array or Hash formats into the game's native structure while ensuring proper frame naming conventions.

Frame Editor

Manage animation sequences by duplicating or stripping individual frames. Leverage existing vanilla assets as templates to build custom character sheets in minutes by removing unwanted frames and reconfiguring the composition of animation groups.

How does it work?

This tool reconstructs the game's unified coordinate space. It uses the base_w and base_h values from the JSON to define a consistent grid canvas for every frame. Each sprite is then precision-placed within its cell using its bounding_box_x and bounding_box_y offsets from the top-left corner.

The result is an unpacked sprite sheet where every frame occupies its full visual boundaries. Because this layout mirrors the game's internal rendering system, anything you place within a cell will appear perfectly aligned in-game relative to the character's pivot point.

Why aren't sprites centered in their cells?

SpeedRunners uses a fixed anchor point rendering system. Instead of centering frames, it draws them relative to the character's static world position. This ensures smooth transitions between animations of varying sizes without any visual "jittering" or jumping.

Modifying Canvas Dimensions (base_w / base_h)

You can increase these values before conversion to provide more drawing space, but note that the canvas only expands downward and to the right. Since all coordinates are absolute offsets, reducing these dimensions is not recommended as it will lead to sprite clipping and visual artifacts.

Tip: Packing & Optimization
After editing your frames, you can run the new sprite sheet through this tool again to generate a Packed version with optimized spacing and duplicate detection.

Aseprite Workflow

Integrate directly into your pipeline with the variantx.lua script. It automatically imports your assets into a structured animation timeline with tags, allowing for immediate editing and playback.

variantx.lua

Installation: Place the script in File › Scripts › Open Scripts Folder.

Usage: Run File › Scripts › variantx. The script auto-detects imported sprites and offers:

Import: Load PNG + JSON with automatic animation tags from frame names.
Export (Aligned): Grid-based sheet preserving all frames in order.
Packed: Optimized export with trimming and duplicate detection.

Zero-configuration: Both exports generate PNG + JSON ready for use in SpeedRunners, no additional setup required.

This tool uses xnb.js (LGPL v3) for xnb file handling.

Quick Guide