Spritesheet and XML Generator — Starling / Sparrow XML
Sparrow XML stores every frame as a SubTexture with its trim as frameX/frameY; engines such as HaxeFlixel group animations by frame-name prefix. This export writes one XML per page — loaded and drawn by Phaser in the verification run. HaxeFlixel and FNF engines were not tested.
- Starling / Sparrow XMLVerified· Phaser 4.2
- Godot 4Verified· Godot 4.7.2
- Unity 6Verified· Unity 6000.5.3f1
- Phaser 3 / 4Verified· Phaser 3.90 + 4.2
- PixiJS 8Verified· PixiJS 8.21
- Aseprite JSONVerified· Phaser load.aseprite · PixiJS 8.21
- .asepriteVerified· Aseprite 1.3.18
- Spine / libGDXVerified· spine-canvas 4.2
- LÖVEVerified· LÖVE 11.5
- DefoldBuilt· Defold bob.jar 1.13.1
- GameMakerUNVERIFIED
- CSS spritesVerified· Chromium
- GIF / APNGDecoded· Pillow
What it does
- Per-page XML with SubTexture entries, frameX/frameY for trimmed frames and pivots.
- Two presets: Starling / Sparrow XML (trim on) and "Sparrow XML (Phaser 3)" with trim off.
- Phaser 4.2 draws both; Phaser 3.90 mis-draws trimmed XML frames (its own bug), so use the Phaser 3 preset there.
- Rotation refused for this target.
How to do it
- Drop numbered frames, a GIF, an .aseprite file or a sheet (then Apply).
- Check the frame names on the timeline; each one becomes a SubTexture name.
- In Pack & Export choose Starling / Sparrow XML, or Sparrow XML (Phaser 3).
- Load the PNG and XML in your engine.
Engine exports and how each was checked
"Verified" means the exported files were loaded by the real engine or tool on real CC0 assets and the result was compared with the source. Anything that was not loaded is labelled as such.
| Target | Files | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Godot 4 | .tres SpriteFrames · .tscn AnimatedSprite2D · .png.import | Verified Godot 4.7.2Loaded by Godot; every animation frame drawn and compared with the source file. The scene uses Nearest filtering; rotation is never used. |
| Unity 6 | .unity.json · Editor/NerulioSpriteImporter.cs · AnimationClip | Verified Unity 6000.5.3f1Batch mode: sprite rects, pivots, pixels, clip keys and durations checked. |
| Phaser 3 / 4 | atlas JSON (multiatlas) · .anims.json | Verified Phaser 3.90 + 4.2Frames and animations drawn by both versions. |
| PixiJS 8 | spritesheet JSON · animations · anchor · meta.scale | Verified PixiJS 8.21Rotated and multi-page atlases included. |
| Aseprite JSON | hash / array · frameTags · slices | Verified Phaser load.aseprite · PixiJS 8.21Tags keep their direction and repeat count. |
| .aseprite | layers · tags · durations · slices | Verified Aseprite 1.3.18Opened and rendered by the Aseprite command line. |
| Spine / libGDX | .atlas | Verified spine-canvas 4.2Every region drawn by the Spine runtime, rotated and trimmed; libGDX itself was not run. |
| Starling / Sparrow XML | XML per page | Verified Phaser 4.2Phaser 3.90 draws trimmed XML frames wrongly (its own bug); the "Sparrow XML (Phaser 3)" preset turns trim off and passes in 3.90 and 4.2. |
| LÖVE | Lua quads · nerulio_atlas.lua · main.lua | Verified LÖVE 11.5Every frame drawn and every animation stepped through the shipped helper. |
| Defold | .atlas · .tilesource | Built Defold bob.jar 1.13.1Built by Defold's command-line builder; the built texture's UVs were read back. |
| GameMaker | spr_<name>_stripN.png · gamemaker.json | UNVERIFIEDNot loaded in GameMaker (no headless GameMaker). The strips are cut the way its strip importer cuts them. |
| CSS sprites | .css · preview .html | Verified ChromiumEvery class drawn from the shipped stylesheet. |
| GIF / APNG | one file per animation | Decoded PillowEvery frame and delay decoded again after export; APNG is exact. |
Evidence
Exports: 49 runs in the real engines on real CC0 assets, 47 pass — the 2 failures are Phaser 3.90's trimmed-XML bug, which the Phaser 3 preset avoids. Packer head-to-head on 5 real frame sets (CodeAndWeb free web packer, GAPTools, free-tex-packer): smallest sheet on all 5 with rotation allowed, 4 of 5 without; every frame restored pixel-exact.
Limits
- Polygon (mesh) packing is not offered: none of the verified engines draws a mesh atlas from exported data.
- GameMaker strips are UNVERIFIED in GameMaker itself.
- Scale variants (@0.5x–@4x) use nearest-neighbour only.
- Trimmed Starling XML is drawn wrongly by Phaser 3.90; use the "Sparrow XML (Phaser 3)" preset there.
Questions
Does it work in Friday Night Funkin' / HaxeFlixel?
Not tested: the XML was verified in Phaser only. The format is the same Sparrow XML, but no HaxeFlixel build was run here.
Why does Phaser 3 show my trimmed frames shifted?
Phaser 3.90's XML parser passes the trimmed and full sizes in the wrong order; the "Sparrow XML (Phaser 3)" preset turns trim off and passes in 3.90 and 4.2.
Is it free, and do I need an account?
Everything on these pages is free and works without an account. There is no watermark and no export that is held back.
Are my sprites uploaded?
No. The Studio decodes, packs and exports in this browser tab. Projects are autosaved in the browser (IndexedDB) and can be saved as a .nerulio file.
Does it need Aseprite or an engine plugin installed?
No. .aseprite files are read and written in the browser, and each engine bundle carries what that engine needs (for Godot, the import settings and scene; for Unity and the Godot TileSet, a small editor script).