Hello,
Question on optimal workflow when you have multiple skins (50+) and use meshes...
I have a front, side, and back run animation that I intend to have 50+ characters use (all of their skeletal structures will pretty much be the same). I've set up my "template" mesh and animated all 3 animations and everything looks good. Now, going forward, I'm wondering how I should replicate the animation for 50+ characters as efficiently as possible and I came up with two approaches:
#1 - Use Skins feature
- In one Illustrator file... for every character, I will have every asset on its own separate layer each with its own unique label/name. For example, for the front Boy character's run animation, I will name the assets BoyFrontHead, BoyFrontBody, BoyFrontLArm, etc. For the Girl character, I will name the assets GirlFrontHead, GirlFrontBody, GirlFrontLarm, etc. Then I do the same thing for both back and side assets as well.
- I will then export all of these layers into an Image folder using the LayerstoPNG script so that all my images are in one folder.
- In Spine, I have my template mesh and animation set up and looking good. I will then create a Boy and Girl skin and, for each skin, I will copy/paste the template mesh then change every asset's name to match the images' names so that the correct character images get updated (e.g. from FrontHead to BoyFrontHead).
#2 - Copy/paste old skeleton to create a new skeleton
- Create an individual Illustrator file for every character using the same asset names FrontHead, FrontBody, FrontLArm, etc.
- Export each Illustrator file's assets into its own Image folder using LayerstoPNG script.
- In Spine, copy/paste the entire template skeleton and reference the respective character's Image folder. The images should automatically update since they're all Image folders are using the same asset names.
After browsing the forums, I think workflow #1 is supposed to be the "correct" way to do it but I foresee myself spending a lot of time just naming and renaming things both in Illustrator and Spine. I feel like workflow #2 would be quicker and accomplish the same thing but, since I'm new to Spine, I'm not sure if I'm missing something that will require me to go back to workflow #1 later down the line. I feel like #2 will result in cleaner Illustrator files as well. In #1, I will have one Illustrator file with 750 layers (50 characters * 5 assets * 3 animations)... Any advice?
Edit - I suppose one potential problem with workflow #2 is that I won't be able to use linked meshes so, if I have a change, I have to update all my skeletons. Am I thinking about that right? Or is it still possible to use linked meshes across multiple skeletons?
Thank you!